*important question at the end*
"no! mrs.quint, i can't be archie's partner." jughead complained
"and why is that?" mrs.quint questioned
jughead glanced at archie who was at his desk watching the conversation intently. archie gave jughead a glare that said 'don't you dare fucking tell her'.
"i-i just can't." jughead said
"not a valid excuse. now go sit with your partner and discuss who's doing what like the rest of the class." mrs.quint snapped
jughead huffed and rolled his eyes before taking a seat by archie who looked all too amused by the situation.
"why the fuck are you smiling?" jughead said, grimacing at archie's expression
"because. this is great. i get to work with the person i hate the most in the class i hate the most on a project that's worth twenty percent of our grade. wonderful." archie said sarcastically "and the best part is, i'm gonna make you do it all." archie finished, whispering the last part
"umm, no. that's not how this is gonna work." jughead snapped
"oh yes it is. you wouldn't want a little recap of what happened yesterday, would you?" archie whispered
jughead immediately got flashbacks of the beating he had gotten yesterday from archie and his clique. his body was still aching from the bruises and scratches.
"why?" jughead asked looking archie in the eyes with the most serious expression he could muster
"why what?" archie questioned
"why do you treat me the way you do? like shit. i have never done anything to you, but you continue to make my life a living hell."
archie was taken aback by jughead's words because he quite honestly didn't know why he treated jughead so horribly. he tried to think of a reason or an excuse but nothing came to mind, and an immediate feeling of guilt rushed over him. it was very noticeable to jughead who watched as archie's whole demeanor changed as if he were defeated.
"see, you don't even have a reason and now you feel bad huh?" jughead asked
archie just looked at jughead before reverting his gaze to his lap
"i won't make you do the project by yourself." archie mumbled
"excuse me, what?" jughead asked, not fully hearing what the boy said
archie huffed
"i said, i won't make you do the project by yourself."
jughead smiled, feeling as though he had accomplished something.
"good. we should probably start on it today." jughead said
archie rolled his eyes
"whatever, just meet me in the front of the school and we'll start it at my house."
archie looked completely and utterly disgusted at the words that had just came out of his mouth. he couldn't believe that he actually invited jughead to his house. even if he didn't know why he hated jughead, he did. for some reason just the thought of jughead made archie aggravated, let alone him coming to his house to work on a stupid project that could make or break his grade.
jughead noticed the repulsed look on archie's face so he decided not to say anything and the two of them remained silent for the rest of the class period.
•••
after school, jughead waited for archie at the front steps of the school. he stood there for a good ten minutes before archie showed up with his clique following close behind.
