Timing is Everything

The Aftermath( Chapter 22 )

* Your POV as Jughead *

The silence continues into the parking lot outside of school. You don't know what's worse, how your predicament will affect the family or the fact that those hearing aids have not arrived yet and you are already starting to feel the affects of why you need them. You stumble into your dad's truck, aching at every move, and can't help but huff when it looks like he doesn't realize just how much pain you are in. Avoidable pain, you may add, because that's what really infuriates you; the fact that this whole situation could have been avoided if it weren't for Reggie Mantle.

FP starts the truck engine and growls a bit when his truck doesn't start right away. He's angry. You can tell. You try your best to stay quiet and close your eyes, leaning your head against the car window.

"Ughh.... old truck has a mind of its own..." FP mumbles once the truck starts. He swerves out of the school parking lot with a scrunched forehead. You can't help but open your eyes to look at him, looking at him a second too long to get his attention.

"What?" He snorts at you with a glare.

You shrug and try to lean back against the window again.

"What is it Jughead?" He loses his cool at you. You know it's not really personal, it's not you necessarily who he is angry with, but rather with the whole situation.

"I mean the obvious answer would be my face..." you sarcastically retort, starting to blow off some steam you held in at the nurse's office, "... and the not so apparent answer would be the ringing in my ears."

FP looks like he is about to lecture you on watching your tone with him, but his look becomes softer and not as hard as before. "I'm sorry boy. I'm sorry for making this about me." He takes a deep breath while driving, ".... I knew it Jug..."

You look at him quickly with wide eyes. "What? Knew what?"

FP shakes his head and takes a while to respond. "I knew this would happen one day. Kids can be cruel and it aches me inside that this punk messed with you.... how long has this been going on for?"

"Dad" you whine not feeling like talking about it anymore.

"Answer my question Jughead!" Your dad yells at you while driving onto the Sunnyside Trailer Park lot.

"Reggie has always..." you roll your eyes, "... picked on me. But NOTHING like this." You lean your head back and close your eyes feeling a headache begin to consume you.

"Ooh-h, the Mantle kid? Makes sense, him and his friends have bad mouthed the serpents in the past.... just let me know if he does anything again. Not typical bullying, you're a tough kid Jug, you can handle that.... I mean something more in the lines of taking away your hearing for gosh knows when." He sternly warns you while parking the car.

"I didn't lose all my hearing dad." You say lowly unbuckling your seatbelt.

"You sure as heck know what I mean boy! And I mean it, I don't want you getting hurt again... you hear me?!" He raises a finger at you after he shuts the truck door.

"Ok dad. I promise" you weakly smile and then it hits you. Mom and Jellybean. Just as they make it back to this town, all the ugly in it begins to overtake them. It's Jones luck that you would get hurt once things were starting to be ok at home.

                                                                                              ________

You walk quickly into your room and close the door. After being interrogated by your dad in the car, the last thing you want is round two with mom. You can vaguely make out the voices of your parents speaking together in the kitchen about you. You can hear your name along with your actual hearing, or lack of it,  come up often in their conversation. After a while you strain to make out what they are saying, and suddenly realize this is not a joke, you seriously can barely hear them fight about the situation, and you're not too far from the kitchen.