Rosemary ⋇ Jughead Jones

XXIII

Mommy Dearest

⧊

Rosemary laid across the couch in the Andrews Construction trailer with Archie and Jughead. Archie sat on the arm of the couch throwing a tennis ball back and forth across the wall while Jughead sat on the chair typing away on his laptop, every now and then looking up at Rosemary with hopeful eyes. Rosemary was wrapped up in a blanket Archie had given her, her eyes staring at the floor as she stayed completely zoned out.

The door of the trailer opened, gaining the teenager's attention. Rosemary listened, but she stayed looking at the floor, her mind empty of any thoughts. She felt empty and drained. She stayed up all night crying and had dark circles under her eyes. She wore no makeup for the first time in weeks, making her dark circles noticeable.

"Oh," Jughead called out when he saw that it was Fred Andrews and FP walking into the trailer. "How was your first day back?"

"Oh, it was great," Fred answered. "Your dad is the hardest-working guy on the crew, as always."

"In that case," Jughead said as Fp threw his helmet at him, placing the white construction hat over his beanie. "Why don't we celebrate to mark the occasion?"

"Yeah," Archie nodded. "Jug and I were thinking the five of us could have dinner or something."

"Tonight?" Fred asked. "Oh, I, Uh-"

"I'm game if you're game," FP added, pulling out his phone and sending a text. "and make it six. I'm inviting Amelia. It's on me."

Rosemary heard everything but didn't budge. All the guys went silent and looked down at her. A look of worry and guilt crossed over Jughead's face, and his eyes widened as FP knelt in front of Rosemary and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You alright there, sweetheart?" Fp asked the teenage girl, whose eyes slowly moved to lock eyes with him. "You don't have to come if you don't feel up to it."

Rosemary was silent as she felt the group's eyes on her. Was she okay? Rosemary didn't know what to feel. She felt empty. Like Ben Newman had sucked out all of what made Rosemary, Rosemary, in just six short minutes. She knew Jughead didn't mean too, but the night prior he triggered something in Rosemary's mind. It was like he flipped a switch that was stuck and couldn't be switched back.

"No," Rosemary shook her head as she slowly sat up. Her voice was faint and airy, almost not sounding like her at all. "I'm fine. Everything's fine."

⧊

FP Jones, Amelia Holland, and Fred Andrews all sat in a booth with Amelia sitting between the two men. Across the table sat their children, Rosemary sitting across from her mother and between Archie and Jughead.

"Anyway," FP laughed. "The three of us spent the whole summer fixing up that old VW bus. Remember what we called it, Ami, Fred?"

"The Shaggin' Wagon," All three of the adults laughed, Fp slamming his fist into the table and Amelia leaning against Fred as she belly laughed. Across the table, Archie had a wide grin on his face while Jughead smiled softly and ate his food. Rosemary didn't touch her food and stared at the table with an expressionless face, her eyes clouding over.