Timing is Everything

The Brawl(Chapter 19)

* Your POV as Jughead *

You are as stunned as ever, never expecting to be the first to test out the school swimming pool. You swim as fast as you can to the top of the pool and gasp for air once your head is above the water.

You tread water and shift your head quickly from left to right, to find Reggie and a few of the red circle laughing at your expense.

"What is wrong with you?!" you yell out exasperated while swimming over to the pool stairs.

"Nothing is wrong with me Jones" Reggie smiles devilishly while continuing to laugh with the other bullies, "It's you who is the freak with clothes on in the pool!"

He uses his foot to push you under the water as you get closer to the stairs. Not expecting this second round, you swallow a good amount of water and force your eyes to open underneath the water in search of your whereabouts, causing your eyes to burn. You gasp for air on your way up and begin to panic through spurts of coughing. How much longer will these goons torture you?

"Come on man!" you shout back tiredly, "Give it up!"

"Look" Reggie says eerily low sitting down on the edge of the pool, with his legs dangling in the water, "I let you go at the trailer park...but that wasn't good enough, now was it?"

You raise an eye at him, "Excuse me?" you shout swimming further out, afraid of what he is capable of, "What are you talking about?"

"What I'm trying to say, is that you just couldn't be content... trashing the drive-in was a move the red circle made collectively, and you just had to say something." Reggie shouts snarling at you.

"What is wrong with you Reggie? I only mentioned something to you... it's not like Betty and I wrote an article about the red circle in the Blue and Gold paper!" you smirk and then add after coughing up more water, "We don't need to display to the school what kind of mess you all get yourselves into... your reputation is already made known when you all run around Riverdale causing unnecessary havoc!"

You feel water stuck in your ears and climb out of the pool in silence, walking very quickly past the red circle, and into the locker room. Walking over to your locker, soaking the floor as you make your way in, you hear students whisper about you and your new wet look, but continue to look down and ignore them. The only thing on your mind is changing as fast as you can to avoid another battle with Reggie and the red circle. You can feel your heart skip one too many beats and you consider hiding in the bathroom stall. But no, you are a Jones. You have too much pride for that. Instead you take a deep breath and shakily change into your regular clothes and try to dry yourself off with a spare towel from the pool section.

After putting on your black boots, you begin to gather your books and make your way to the door of the locker room. Luckily next period is English with Betty, so you are able to let out a small sigh of relief.

You feel yourself pulled back from the door, causing your books to fall to the ground. This time it's only Reggie who is facing you with a huge snarl on his face.

You hold your hands up as if to say you forfeit the fight before it's even begun. "Hey man" you say calmly, "just leave me alone and I'll do the same to you. Ok?"

Reggie is breathing heavily and shakes his head, "No can do serpent freak" he takes a deep breath, "you've had this coming to you for a while now!" and with that comment, Reggie takes his first swing right at your face.

You try your best to duck out of the way, but it doesn't help that Reggie also has a sturdy hold on your collar bone.

You let out a loud groan and immediately bring your hand up to your pulsating eye. You can now add your eye to the list of injuries given to you by the infamous Reggie Mantle, along with your throbbing back and aching ears filled with pool water.