Moving On

C h a p t e r 1 3

The phone rang. I lay there on the pullout frozen for a second.
"Jughead. Phone." Alice said.
"Right, sorry." I picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Is this Jughead Jones?"
"This is he."
"Good. I'll transfer you to Hermosa."
"Great." I said rolling my eyes. She was so full of herself. I couldn't stand it.
"Jughead?"
"Yup?"
"I got information on Donna."
"Alright, what you got?"
"She's in New York. She has a daughter. She's a publisher for the New York Times. Seems like she's got her life together."
"Hermosa, do you have an address?"
"Yeah, grab a pen and paper."
"Okay." I wrote the address down on a notepad on the fridge. I then hung up the phone.
"What is that?" Alice asked.
"Leads."
"On what?"
"Betty's disappearance. I think we're getting closer, Alice. I really do." We hugged. It felt so nice to have hope again. That's when it hit me. "Hope." "Save
Hope." What did it mean?
"Alice, I think I need to go to New York."
"Why?"
"To investigate. And, I don't know wether or not to bring Julie."
"Well, what are you going to be doing there?"
"Visiting Donna."
"What if she doesn't allow you to see her?"
"Oh, she will. I always find a way at in. Loop holes."
"Ah, yes. Like the ladder that somehow always appeared when you wanted to go up to see Betty." We both laughed. It was nice to look back on our memories of Betty and think happy thoughts. That's actually how we got Julie's name. I climbed up the ladder in Betty's room. I climbed up and when she opened the window I said, "hey there, Juliet." Then, when Julie was born, it just felt right. That was probably one of my best memories of Betty. That was the first kiss we shared. It was passionate. Everything about it was perfect. That moment was perfect.

The next morning, I packed up the car. Toni agreed to come with Kiara on the trip with me. So, me and Julie had to drive to thistle house to pick them up. Toni said her goodbyes to her family. Then, we were off. Of course I had to explain everything else to her. I didn't really want to ask Archie considering what had happened last time. Me and Toni talked a lot in the car. Meanwhile, the girls slept most of the car ride. Soon enough, we were in New York City. I hadn't really been here much. Betty I know had been here quite a lot in the past. Holidays, conferences, family. I came out here once to see JB. She came here for a conference so, I decided to come out and see her. It's a big, big city. We pulled into the hotel parking lot. Then, we went to bed. Toni was in one bed with Kiara, and Julie and I were in another. I'm sure people would probably guess we were together, which we aren't. We just got one room to not have to spend so much money trying to find out who killed my wife. I mainly needed Toni to watch Julie and all that kind of stuff. I woke up around 7:00, the next morning.
"Daddy, get up!" Julie whisper yelled.
"What is it?" I said drowsily.
"I'm hungry!"
"Alright, I guess we can go get donuts." I rolled my eyes jokingly.
"Yay!!"
"Alright, let's get dressed, okay?"
"Okay!" We walked down the sidewalk and I held her hand closely. We were definitely not in Riverdale anymore. It was crowded, it smelled bad, and everywhere you look, there's people. It was overwhelming. When we got to the street corner, I picked up Julie. I was not taking my chances on loosing Julie in a big city like New York. Then, we went to the donut shop, and walked back to the hotel. We got to the room, Kiara was up. We all had breakfast up in the room. Then, I got dressed for real. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and even combed out my hair.
"So, your going?"
"Yeah, wish me luck. And also, don't let Julie out of your sight."
"Got it. Say bye, Julie."
"Bye bye, Daddy."
"Bye bye." I kissed her on the head. I still don't know why but, I almost cried. As if when I came back, my life would be forever changed. I don't know if I had mentioned this already. When we got the laptop back, one email was missing: the "save hope" email. It was gone. I checked the trash, nothing. Whoever did it, must have deleted from the trash, too. I walked down to the sidewalk next to the hotel and called out for a taxi. This takes a long time. To find a taxi that doesn't have anyone in the back, is hard to find. But, there are always a few, I guess. He drove me down to Wall Street. He dropped me at a street corner and I began to walk. Once I reached Donna's apartment building, I put my game face on. This was super serious. I went up the elevator, her apartment building was super nice. Like, pretty darn rich, kind of nice. That's when I reached her apartment. Or, her penthouse. She was rich. I knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"Delivery man." I answered.
"Oh, coming!" She yelled from across the penthouse.
"Hi, s-" I then saw the puzzled look on her face. She raised an eyebrow. Confused. But, also, the shock on her face was unexplainable. Her jaw had dropped. She was wearing blue, skinny jeans with a plaid jacket that was open with a white shirt underneath. She had slip-on toms on. I could tell, it was almost like she was dressed like a mom.
"Can I come in?"
"Uh, s-sure." She stuttered. I could tell she realized she had to play it cool. I sat down in a couch in her living room. There was a fancy, spiral staircase in the back of the next room.
"This place is really nice, Donna."
"Want anything to drink?" She ignored me.
"Remember, last time you did that and I got drugged and next thing I knew I was in a coffin? Remember that? Oh, how I loved stonewall prep. It was definitely a learning experience."
"Jughead, I just want you to know, I'm not the same person anymore."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Well, I got a job, an apartment on Wall Street, and now, I even have a family."
"Sorry?"
"You see that picture, there?"
"That's my baby girl. Her name is Hope." There, was a picture of a little girl, maybe around 3 or 4 years old, with green eyes, and light brown hair. That's when I knew, something wasn't right here.