Timing is Everything

(Chapter 11)

*Your POV as Jughead*

"Jughead! Hey, wait up" Archie calls out to you walking over to your locker.

You nod at him when he approaches your locker.

"Jughead, are Jellybean and your mom now living back at home?" Archie asks.

"For now" you respond.

"Is that a good thing?" Archie asks looking at you concerned.

"I feel like it should be a good thing, but lets just say I won't believe it until I see it" you respond closing your locker and walking into the cafeteria.

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"Juggie, how much can you eat?" Betty asks watching you eat a second burger in the school cafeteria during lunch.

"Never question a teenage boy's desire for food in a cafeteria. If there's food,  I eat" you respond with a full bite from your burger.

Betty laughs shaking her head with amusement at you, "Ok, you're really something Jones"

"Something awesome" you give Betty a cheesy smile when Archie and Veronica walk over to the table to join the two of you.

"Hello you two. What gossip have I missed during this mundane school day?" Veronica announces sitting down her tray of food next to Archie.

"Well Reggie was a total jerk earlier in the student lounge" Betty responds.

"What did he do now?" Archie asks looking at Betty while pouring popcorn from his bag into his open mouth.

"It's not what he did, it's what he said. He said that the Dark Circle group will begin nightly patrols every day after school" Betty stares at you.

"Well Reggie is a jerk, let this club of his babysit him for the time being... No offense Archie" you say shifting your eyes to glance at Archie.

"I agree Jug. But it's where he said he wants to target... the Southside." Betty says staring at you eat.

You swallow your last bite and narrow your eyes at Archie, "Archie did you know about this? Your buddies are targeting a select group of people"

"Jughead, I had no idea about this. I'll talk to Reggie later, talk him out of this idea"

"Thank you" you respond nodding your head at Archie with a serious face. You can't help but think how this dumb group of kids can mess everything up with Jellybean and mom now living with you on the southside of Riverdale.

"Ok, now that that fiasco is under the bridge, moving on to you Jughead" Veronica close smiles at you, "What gossip have you vacuumed up today?"

You just look at Veronica, still thinking of your 'new' family and eventually say, "Sorry Veronica, dead men tell no tales"

"So you got nothing?" Veronica asks unamused at your attempted humor to dodge her question.

"No. I haven't heard anything particularly gossipy today" you sarcastically smile at her.

Veronica huffs and continues to eat her lunch.

                      _________________

You walk into your next class of the day; History. You do your best to blend in this class and not draw attention to yourself. This is not too particularly difficult being that you sit towards the back of the classroom.

You walk over to your usual desk, open to a new sheet of paper in your binder, and stare blankly into space waiting for the teacher to enter the classroom. Unfortunately this moment of relaxation is interrupted by a thump on your desk.

You look up to see Reggie with his goons surrounding your desk. "Hey there serpent!" Reggie sarcastically grins at you.

You look up at him not moving your head, take a deep breath, and roll your eyes.

"What? You suddenly don't speak? I thought Jughead Jones always has lots of opinions to share ... with all the wrong people" he laughs with his posey.

"What do you want Reggie?" You finally speak up in an annoyed tone.

"It's not that I want anything, from you that is. I just want to warn you to be careful." Reggie retorts.

You raise  an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

'You heard me" Reggie says raising his hand up and then walking away to sit down at his desk when Mr.Smith, your History teacher, enters the room.

"Wait... Reggie" you hiss back in a whisper.

"Mr.Jones. Do you mind? I'm about to start class." Mr.Smith says while setting down his brief case and turning on the projector.

"Sorry" you mutter trying to go back into blending into the class; your original intention.

Reggie has always been on your avoidance list. Nevertheless, he always finds a way to find you and continue to irk you. But seriously, what does he mean to warn me? Whatever he means by that, you now will look after yourself and Jellybean back on the south side a bit more than usual.

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As soon as the bell rings, you swiftly walk out of class to the hallway.

"Hey Jughead, remember what I said earlier" Reggie snarls using his hand to press your back against a locker.

You push him back and moving your face inches from his you hiss, "Stay away from me."

You suppose he was surprised by your dramatic comeback because he merely stares at you and  joins his buddies outside the door of his next class.

Walking the opposite direction you look behind your shoulder to make sure he isn't coming after you. Relieved to see him inside a new classroom, you walk over to Betty's locker. At some point you do plan on letting her know about mom and Jellybean's return.