Jughead woke at two male voices shouting at each other somewhere in the distance. He blinked his eyes open, glaring at the dirty ceiling above him, and with a groan sat up on the pull-out couch. Understanding the voices were coming from the trailer park, outside somewhere, he stood tiredly and tugged sweatpants over his boxers, leaving them to loosely rest over his hips as he tiredly made his way to the front door.
It was unlocked, signifying his father was gone already. Jughead hoped it was for work and not to go to the Wyrm with other Serpents.
With his eyes adjusting to the bright light outside, he thanked the Lord for school holidays and blinked twice more before his pupils focused on the two men screaming at one another, both wearing leather, about to knock each other's heads open.
"Jones," Toni murmured, suddenly appearing next to his doorstep. "Do something before they kill each other." And just like that, she walked back to her trailer where her grandfather was standing on the door, looking towards Jughead for help as well.
The guy registered all the heads poking out of the trailer doors and windows, somewhere a child crying because of this mess. He sighed, sliding sandals onto his feet, and walked towards the two.
It was a guy he probably hated the most in the world, Tall Boy, and Sweet Pea, a boy his age who always got on Jughead's nerves. The beanie-wearing boy was about to reach them when the teenager cracked his knuckles and Tall Boy twisted a knife out of his pocket.
"Whoa, easy there," Jughead grumbled, glaring the two down as both of them turned their focus on him.
"Jones," the tallest of the two, Sweet Pea, spat. "It's none of your business here, get lost."
"He's about to kill you with that kitchen knife, but sure," Jughead said, rolling his eyes and looking at the man. Nudging his head at him, he said, "And you? Getting into fights with teenagers? Don't you have anything fucking better to do?"
"You better shut that mouth, Jones," the man screamed, holding the knife in front of him.
Jughead arched his eyebrows, not scared of him. He had gotten some fists from his own dad, not even starting to talk about this old man in front of him. If he was scared of anything, it was the child crying in one of the trailers, afraid the parents had hurt her like his hurt him. "Or what? You gonna stab me with that rusted knife? For what exactly?"
Tall Boy took a step closer, making Jughead's jaw clench. "Drop it."
"Scared?" he sneered.
"I said. Drop. The fucking. Knife!" the boy growled loudly; a murdering look in his green eyes. Tall Boy clenched his fist, shaking his head, not about to give up that easily.
"Your father is the king here, boy," he said angrily, almost jumping on his place. "You may be a Jones, but you are no leader! You have no Serpent bone in your body and I will take it up to myself to prove that!"
And with that, Jughead's fist flew up, connecting with his jaw, and knocking the man off his feet. Everything around him seemed to be quiet as he squatted down, in front of the steaming angry man, collecting his knife. "I don't care about how my father deals with your bullshit, Tall Boy. But I will make sure that the next time you'll come searching for trouble from the Serpents—your family... You won't be on the ground without this knife in your leg."
Jughead stood up after the threat and sighing, offered the man a hand to get up. Tall Boy spat on it and got up by himself, Jughead rolling his eyes while cleaning his palm in his sweatpants.
"Put some clothes on, Jones," the man growled and turned around, walking away, from the half-naked Jughead, and Sweet Pea who had been watching them the whole time.
"Looking good without that hat on your head, Jones," the older boy sneered.
"Fuck off, Pea."
Jughead dragged his feet back into his trailer, and, after sharing a look with a smirking Joaquin at his trailer, slammed the door shut, falling back to the couch, whilst hoping to get some more sleep.
Jughead sat at his trailer, the old laptop sitting on the table in front of him. His eyes directed to it while cursing himself for not being able to write when he actually had time for it. He loved writing. The net wasn't down. His dad wasn't home. All seemed like the perfect opportunity.
But then there was this blonde who had occupied his thoughts ever since he had first seen her and tasted her amazing baking abilities.
The day before while sitting in the diner with his best friend, the blonde Northsider, Betty, had caught Jughead's eye again, after a long night of thinking about her. He didn't want to be a creepy asshole or the womanizer people seemed to judge him for being, but damn, that girl had great legs.
And not only legs, but also waist and hands and shoulders, that smile, and those collarbones. However, what bothered Jughead most were those eyes. Those incredible emerald eyes of hers seemed to be so full of life and joy. The ones that hid something deeper behind them. The ones that he could see through, but not completely.
Those eyes were constantly in his thoughts.
Betty.
Betty.
Breathing her name as a curse, Jughead rolled his eyes and shut the lid of his laptop before walking towards the door. The name of the pretty waitress flew around his brain the whole way to the diner.
She was there, of course. Smiling happily while talking to an old couple he had seen around there quite some times. She didn't look at him when he entered, and Jughead being Jughead, took the direction to his favorite booth—the one in the very back where not many people would notice him.
Stopping abruptly on his way, the boy used her name as a curse again, rolling his eyes at himself as he sat down in a booth closer to the front door instead. It would leave him less privacy, but a lot more space to look at the perky blonde behind the counter.
Throwing his feet to the seat on the other side of the booth, he directed his eyes at the girl again. The old couple was gone, probably walking in the parking lot towards their old car, and the blonde was standing behind the counter, looking at him.
The moment their eyes met, Betty's dropped quickly, cheeks growing slightly pinker as she tried to make herself busy. Jughead's lips twitched a bit upward, moving his eyes to the menu in front of him before pushing it aside, the blonde on her way towards his booth.
"Hello," she perkily greeted. The beanie-wearing boy gave his head a quiet nod as a greeting, amusement in his eyes at her energetic form. "What can I get for you?"
"Uh, coffee; black, no sugar."
"Wonders," Betty murmured under her breath, leaving him with a frown on his face. "Something else?"
He scoffed, or when she directed her eyes at him, she understood it was more of a chuckle. "Um, you know my usual?"
"Your usual?" she asked, arching her eyebrows, one hand moving to rest on her hip in a sassy pose. He thought she looked incredibly cute this way. "Oh, so you've been here so many times before that you have a usual, but don't know what the menu is?"
Jughead smirked, only the left corner of his mouth rising, forming a dimple on his cheek. "Yes, usual," he said, clearly amused by her sassy behavior. He had known she wasn't all soft, pastel-wearing, pretty blonde from the Northside. Something was hiding behind those beautiful eyes of hers that made her special—different, even.
Betty dropped her hand, her attempt of getting some kind of explanation out of him having failed. She sighed and rolled her eyes. Too much, he thought. She had wanted him to see that. "Well, Mr...?"
"Jones," Jughead told her, eyes even more amused.
"Jones," Betty repeated quietly, staring directly into his greenish eyes. "Jones?" She hummed. "World really is small, huh?"
"I guess so, Cooper."
Their families were enemies. His father and some others from the gang had trashed the local newspaper that Betty's parents owned quite a few times. They always said the Coopers deserved it after publishing these horrible articles about the Serpents. Jughead had suggested finally letting them know about the Ghoulies, but as always, nobody listened to him.
"Well, Mr. Jones," she continued, he raising his eyebrows, surprised she wasn't bothered by his name or who he was. "Assuming I know your usual is bold, considering I'm new here."
"Well," he flicked his tongue. "Then ask."
"And read you the whole menu again?"
Jughead smirked, nodding sarcastically. "My usual—and you better get this the next time I'm here—is three cheeseburgers, cheese-chili fries, and a large chocolate milkshake."
Betty frowned, wondering how much that guy had to work out to eat like this and look like that, but nodded while scribbling it down. "Um, the cheese-chili fries—"
"Are something that Pop does extra for me," Jughead finished her sentence and observed the way the blonde bit her pink lip. "I deserve it," he murmured with a smirk. "Really, I'm not kidding, you can believe me."
"You're not?"
"I'm not."
"Okay," Betty breathed and nodded. She gave him a small smile and turned away, about to walk off when he grabbed her wrist gently, stopping her. The girl froze on her spot, rapidly turning around, and Jughead quickly dropped his hand, frowning at her panicky reaction.
"And then after that, I'd like whatever you've baked today, Betty."
The blonde gave him a nod and quickly walked away, pressing her palms flat against her thighs over that yellow Pop's uniform.
Betty had a smile on her face again when she came with his food, the cup of coffee on the table already empty. Jughead nodded thankfully when she placed it in front of him, and brought the burger to his lips, taking a huge bite when he realized the blonde hadn't gone away.
He looked up at her and smiled with his eyes when seeing the genuine smile on her face, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing. He knew he probably had some sauce on his face, but shrugged it off and before taking a new bite, asked, "What?"
"Um," the girl sniggered. "You said you'd like something I baked. Well, we just ran out of the pie, so if you'd like that, it'll take time before it's ready. There are still some cupcakes and cheesecake, though."
"I have time," he said with a full mouth, opening it to take a new bite right after swallowing.
"So, pie?"
"Everything," he nodded.
"Everything?"
When he met her emerald eyes again, she looked puzzled, almost like she thought he was making fun of her again. Jughead nodded. "Everything you've baked, thanks."
Betty sighed while nodding, the guy confusing him, and he heard her murmuring something about chocking on his food. Jughead wasn't sure if it were a warning for him to slow down or something she wished he'd do—choke on his food. The latter didn't seem like her, but then again, her parents were the worst, and usually, usually the kids took after them.
He didn't. Maybe she did. Who knew?
Betty's lips formed into a smile when a guy in a letterman jacket entered the diner. He walked up to the counter and leaned on it, wearing a sly smirk on his face. "Hey, babe."
"Hi," the blonde smiled.
Jughead narrowed his eyes a bit, crossing his arms on his chest, and kept watching the two interact, not even planning to make it a secret. His jaw clenched at the way she smiled at the guy. The boy didn't look like he was worth it. But then again, who was he to speak?
"So, you're sure about working here now?"
"Yep." Her smile changed from a genuinely happy one to a tight one, eyes losing their spark. Jughead wanted to smirk, understanding the girl clearly wasn't happy with his question. But then, he didn't want to see her unhappy, and so his face stayed neutral.
"Why?"
Betty rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to talk about this again, Trev."
Trev. Jughead felt like a creep, listening to their conversation, learning their names... He was an asshole.
"Really, Betty," the boy spoke, her name stumbling over his lips like it was something hard to pronounce. "Your parents said they'll pay for your college. This isn't worth it. Let's just go and hang out."
"I told you," the girl sighed, the smile wiped off her face. "I told you that I'm not going to take their money for this."
"Why?"
"Because," she emphasized, "they don't get to choose a career for me. If they want someone to study law, then they should be the ones to do it. I'm either going to college for something I want to do, or not going at all."
Jughead was impressed. If someone offered him a free college degree, he would've taken it. But then, he also knew what it was like when your family made you do things you didn't want to. He knew what it was like to have everything decided for him.
"Fine, Betty," the guy rolled his eyes. "Look, I can't hang out tonight."
The girl's face dropped, even more than before. "What? Really?" she asked softly, the previous fierce tone replaced by a sad one.
"Yeah, the guys are doing a hangout, so I have to go there."
"Oh... okay."
So much for standing up for herself, Jughead thought.
"Yeah, um, so... I'll see you in a few days or something." Betty nodded with a neutral face, and the boy gave her a short smile. "You look pretty, by the way," he said before stepping out of the diner.
Jughead frowned, getting more and more frustrated with the guy by second. Pretty? That was a whole insult. Betty Cooper wasn't pretty. She was breathtaking.
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