Just Friends ▻ Jughead Jones

2

At Seven-thirty the next morning, Victoria was fast asleep in her bedroom, even though she should have been getting for school. Suddenly, she was awoken when felt herself be soaked by water.

"Oh, my God!" Victoria screamed out as she jumped out of bed. She was both soaking wet and freezing cold. She moved her damp hair out of her face to see her older sister standing in front of her with a smirk on her face, holding a empty metal pot in her hand, "Did you just pour a pot of water on me to wake up?" Victoria asked Alex shocked.

"Of course, I did," Alex slyly smirked, "Mom told me to wake you up. I was telling you to wake your ass up for the past hour and you kept going back to sleep. I have to get to work, not make sure you don't crawl back into bed when I leave." Alex explained in a calm tone, "Get ready for school, Jughead's here."

Victoria stared at her sister in confusion, "Wait, Jughead's here?" She stated quietly.

"Dude, you've been walking each other to school since the first grade." Alex groaned, "He's waiting in the kitchen, hurry up and get dressed. I gotta get to Pop's for my morning shift, I can't afford to be late again. Mom's at the bar, handling some business."

Victoria sighed, nodding her head. She quickly changed out of her soaking wet pajamas and put on an outfit for the first day of school. She put on jeans, like always, with a plain black v-neck shirt and her leather jacket.

Of course, it wasn't like her mother's signature leather jacket, which had a Southside Serpent Logo on the back of it, but it still meant something to Victoria for some odd reason.

After she got ready and quickly blow-dried her hair, who was in done in under seven minutes, Victoria walked into the kitchen part of her family's trailer to see Jughead pacing back and forth. He seemed nervous for some odd reason, "You okay, Jug? You seem nervous." She asked him in concern.

Jughead looked up and smiled at the blonde haired girl who was his best friend, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just wondering how bad the first day's going to end up."

"Such a pessimist." She sighed as she opened her front door and Jughead followed her out.

"Can't help it, you know that." He reminded her with a small smile.

Victoria frowned when she turned her head to look at Jughead's family trailer, which was right next door to hers, "You know, I could have met you at your trailer this morning, you didn't have to wait."

"It's fine" Jughead assured her before quickly changing the subject, "So, are you trying out for football this year?" Jughead asked the blonde, who smiled brightly.

"Why, yes, I am, Jughead. Coach Clayton says I'll have a great chance at Varsity this year. Chuck's going to be put in a good word for me, too." She explained to him.

Victoria could have sworn she heard Jughead scoff when he heard the mention of Chuck Clayton's name, "And what did Chuck ever do to you?" She laughed at him.

Jughead rolled his eyes, "I just don't get why you would waste your time on a douche bag like Chuck. I know I'm not the only one who knows how he treats girls. You could do so much better than him, Tori."

Victoria sighed, "Jug, it's not like I'm marrying the dude. We just hooked up a couple times over the summer, nothing else." She reassured him and Jughead just nodded his head.

"Mhmm, you say that now. Next thing you know, you're going with him to homecoming. Then, soon after, it'll be prom." Jughead said sarcastically and Victoria scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest as the two continued to walk in the direction of Riverdale High school.

"What are you insinuating, Jughead? I would never go out with Chuck. Never in a million years. And I sure as hell wouldn't let him take me to neither Homecoming nor Prom." She argued before smiling at him, "You know what? You're just jealous."

Jughead let out a laugh, "Of what?" He asked her, "That you can get a date to the dance and I can't? Please, I would never even step foot in one of those stupid dances at Riverdale High. They're trash anyway."

"Hmm, why don't you let the school committee hear you say that. They'll rip you to shreds in seconds. Especially Cheryl Blossom." Victoria stated jokingly.

Before they knew it, the duo had arrived at Riverdale high, "Damn, I could have sworn we just started walking." Victoria commented quietly as she looked up at the high school.

"Shall we?" Jughead asked in a jokingly way, holding out his arm for her to take.

Victoria smiled brightly as she locked arms with the Jones boy. The two friends walked into the school together without a care in the world what people might think of them.

_ _ _ _

At the student assembly, instead of sitting with Archie and the rest of the Bulldogs, Victoria decided to sit with Jughead while he typed away at his computer, working on his novel about Jason Blossom's murder.

Cheryl stood at a podium in the middle of the gym as she began to speak to the students, "Many of you were lucky enough to have known my brother personally. Each and every one of you meant the world to Jason. I loved my brother. He was and always will be my soulmate. So I speak with the confidence only a twin could have. Jason wouldn't want us to spend the year mourning. Jason would want us to move on with our lives. Which is why I've asked the School Board not to cancel the Back-to-School semiformal." She announced and everyone around her began to cheer, "But rather, to let us use it as a way to heal, collectively and celebrate my brother's too, too short life on the mortal coil. Thank you all."

----

  At lunchtime, Victoria was going to sit with Archie and the rest of her friends until she ended up being dragged to the jock table by Reggie and Moose.

  "Not this time, Munroe. If you want a chance at Varsity, you gotta start hanging with us more. And definitely not with that loser Jughead." Reggie informed her and Victoria scoffed, "He's from the Southside, he's probably a Serpent, too."

  Victoria rolled her eyes as she sat at the end of the table next to Moose. She picked up her apple and took a bite before speaking up, "Are you forgetting that I'm from the Southside, too?" Victoria questioned them, but they just brushed it off like she didn't say anything.

"So, who are you taking to the Back-to-School formal?" Chuck asked curiously as he took a seat across from.

"I don't know, yet," she shrugged, "I'll probably go stag."

Chuck shook his head in disagreement, "Uh, Uh, no way am I Let one of our newest varsity members go to the Back-to-School by herself. Not when you're that good looking," He smirked and Victoria playfully rolled her eyes, "I was thinking about asking Tina, but I'll gladly go with you. You down?" He asked her.

Victoria looked over at Jughead, who was sitting alone at a table, typing away at his computer. She sighed before looking back over at Chuck, "You know what? Sure. I'll go with you." She agreed with him and Chuck only smiled.