Young-Bughead

Chapter Three: Somebody I Used to Know

"So, are we still up for Pops after school?" Kevin asked the girls who were now excitedly bubbling about the new science teacher. 

"Of course, it's tradition!" Veronica squealed before she got the usual glimmer in her eye, the same glimmer she got before she would say something devious that usually got Betty grounded or in detention or worse. Usually, it was a scheme involving Archibald Andrews but she figured that since the Archie and Veronica incident that happened over the summer, Betty would never be hearing of Archie ever again.

"Oh and Betty, feel free to bring a plus one!" She laughed and Kevin chuckled along, they weren't letting Betty get away with being ex-best friends with a now hot person go away anytime soon. Quite frankly, Betty didn't really care, she knew that she and Jughead had a very slim chance of ever talking again, sure she had missed him but was certain that now they were in completely different friendship circles and would probably never even have a proper conversation. 

"Not happening. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to hurry along, Mr. Hynes will have a go if I'm late on the first day back!" Betty said, gathering her things and heading off alone to her last class of the day, Physics. She would now spend the next hour of her life not understanding a word of what Sir was talking about and jotting down the majority of a presentation in a hope to not fail the class. 

Later that evening, Betty was sitting alone in a booth at Pops waiting for Kevin and Veronica. After a fight with her mother over Betty's slightly low-cut pink v neck, she had decided to leave the house almost an hour ahead of schedule just in case her mother would change her mind about letting her go out in the first place. So now she sat in their usual booth sipping a strawberry milkshake all alone, all alone until he walked in at least. 

His beanie was still lying on his head and he hadn't changed since school, in fact, he still had his backpack slouching on one shoulder. Pops used to be their favorite hang out spot, Betty wondered if he had come here looking for her but soon deemed the idea absolutely ridiculous. Afterall, they hadn't talked in years, he obviously didn't want to be a part of her life anymore. She tried not to stare as he searched for a booth, she was shocked when he made straight eye contact with her and walked towards her. She was searching for a conversation starter in her head, she didn't want to come off as nosy or rude but realized at the moment that she had so many questions to ask him, starting with "Why he left?" and ending in "Why did he come back?". She knew his father had just been let out of prison but the whole time he'd been in Riverdale, so why did Jughead move? 

"Betty Cooper, you're a sight for sore eyes..." He said, scooting in the other side of the booth and looking her straight in the eye. His eyes were still the same old shade of boring green, nothing special here, no drastic change. 

"Jughead Jones, nice to see you again!" Betty said as he quickly nabbed the strawberry from the top of her shake, a classic old trick he used to pull when they were younger. It made her chuckle then and seemed to have not lost its charm with age as she felt herself chuckling once more. 

"You here alone?" Jughead asked and in his mind, he instantly knew what answer he wanted to hear. He had been debating it all day but was now certain he wanted to try and maintain his friendship with Betty, he'd heard about her reputation, she was still the same ambitious soul that she was when he left. She had kept writing and so had he, in fact, she now ran the school's newspaper and although most of the stories covered were dull and drab, Betty's writing style seemed to bring them to life. 

"No, I'm just waiting for some friends," Betty smiled but couldn't help but catch a slight look of disappointment in his eye, was he hoping to join her? She didn't have time to decide as soon caught the sights of a familiar redhead walking into the diner. Archie Andrews. Sure Betty had never ever spoken to him properly but she still had a little hope in her heart that he would one day be interested in her, a hope that was quickly killed when she heard about the Archie and Veronica incident. 

"Betty!" she was surprised when he called her name, she was even more surprised when she looked up from her milkshake to find Archie standing right next to the booth looking like he wanted to sit down. "Who's this?" He signaled to Jughead, it all made sense now, Archie wasn't here to talk to Betty about anything, he was just trying to get the gossip on the new kid. 

"Oh this is Jughead, he's kind of the new kid around here..." Betty chuckled, trying not to burst into red cheeks when she looked into the dreamy eyes of the redheaded heartthrob. 

"Actually, I was just leaving, but thanks for the cherry Betty!" Jughead said, grabbing his backpack and scurrying out of Pops. He looked flustered as he basically ran out of the diner but Betty didn't have time to read the confusion as Archie slid into his place and immediately started up a conversation. 

"So Betty, who is Jughead to you?" Archie said, he sounded slightly amused but Betty was just happy to be talking to the star of Riverdale High's varsity football team. 

"He's.... just somebody I used to know," Betty stuttered, she was certain she was full blown red now but chose to ignore it. Luckily, she was saved by Kevin and Veronica walking into the diner, her face lit up when she saw them and Archie must have noticed as he turned round to see what the smiling was all about. 

"Betty, I'll see you around..." he kind of yelled, getting out of the booth and storming past Veronica and Kevin. Veronica looked all sorts of embarrassed as she scooted into the booth next to Betty. 

"What the hell was he doing here? You weren't like on a date were you?" Veronica whispered spitefully at Betty, usually, Betty would make jokes or say she was just to get Veronica jealous but this time it wasn't worth it. She knew that Veronica no longer had the same feelings for Archibald Andrews as she once had and that no matter what, this conversation was not going to end pretty.