lost - betty cooper // bughead au

III

Betty sat in the principle's office with her head low and mascara smudged. She did not make an attempt to look at Principle Weatherby, as well as any of her peers. She felt small strokes of a shoe on her calf—Jughead was trying to comfort her. Betty knew that wasn't going to help, especially now.

"Now Miss Cooper, will you please explain to me what all this commotion is about?" the principle asked. Betty continued to stare at her pink and white tennis shoes. She moved her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Betty hated being in trouble, it made her feel anxious. She would never tell anyone that though, because that would make her seem too "good." There once was a Betty they didn't care, though, what other people thought of her. That girl disappeared, and Betty didn't know if she was ever going to find her again.

"Betty?" he asked again. She moved her eyes up towards the desk. "I—"

"She called me fat! And Archie beat Danny in the face! Look!" said the strawberry blonde girl, holding the boy named Danny's face. It was true, his face was all different shades of purple and blue from Archie's hand. Betty supposed they were dating, because she looked at him with puppy dog eyes and he looked at her like he was "protecting" her. Betty looked up at Jug, and he gave her an apologetic but also humorous smile. She somehow managed to return it.

"Is this true, Betty?" the principle asked her, his glasses on the low bridge of his nose and his face suddenly hard and concerned. She sighed. She didn't care that this girl was making up stuff. She honestly couldn't care less. The only thing she was thinking about was her friends, and she didn't want them to be in this mess. It was her fault that they were even in here, and this could ruin Archie's future. Of course Betty knew that she wanted to obtain scholarships and go to scholarly collages, but this was something that Betty started, and she was responsible.

"If you can't tell, she clearly is hurt. But you only see what is on the outside, don't you Principal?" Veronica snapped. Betty wished she would stop, she knew this would only make things worse. But she knew for a long time now that Veronica never quits.

"These people are bullies," she said while pointing at the two girls and boy, "They call people names and slut shame anyone they encounter just to make themselves feel better. It is disgusting. And i'm not going to sit here and watch them make up lies about my best friend and i'm certainly not going to let this bitch—"

"Excuse me?" said the brunette raising her voice and standing up. Principal Weatherby stood and said, "Hey hey hey—there is no need for that. This school should be a safe place for everyone. Now, sit down, Jessica."

The girl sat down hesitantly, her daring gaze fixed on Veronica. She stared right back.

"Betty, I need you to talk. If you want everyone else to go out of the room, I can do that."

Betty didn't want to talk. She didn't want to be here, she just wanted her friends to be out of this situation and her to be back in her bed staring at the ceiling. But, if it meant getting her friends out of trouble, she had to do what he asked.

"I—" she stumbled on her words. She continued to look down at the bottom of the desk. "Just—just punish me. I did everything. Just please don't jeopardize my—"

"Bullshit!" Jughead exclaimed jumping out of his seat. "Betty, tell him the truth! Don't you want these scums out of here!"

Betty shut her eyes and tried not to cry. She didn't know what she wanted. She just wanted this to be over, to rewind back just a couple years when things were great.

"Let her tell the truth!" said the boy, Danny, loudly. The commotion continued and now it was a battle, with Betty in the middle. Truth, truth, lie, truth, lie, lie, truth. That's all Betty could hear and think. The voice grew louder and louder in her head until she couldn't take it anymore. She stormed out of the office, wet liquid running down her face rapidly. She ran and ran, not knowing where she was heading. She just ran.

She suddenly felt something wrapping around her and pulling her backward. She screamed no, she felt trapped. She heard a slow "shhhh" and looked up to see it was Jug. If it were any other moment she would have let him comfort her, but she didn't need comfort anymore. Nothing would change how she felt.

"Let go, Jug!" He let go and they were now looking at each other face to face, on the floor of the hallway. Betty got up, not caring that there were many people watching them. "I'm done! I'm done with you! With all of you! You try to help me but you fail! You try to comfort me but you just make it worse! Do you think I need to be in a relationship with you right now, Jughead? Do you think I need a boyfriend to give me teddy bears and chocolate right now! No! You think I do but I don't."

Jughead stared at her with wide eyes, a small tear forming in the corner. She looked up at the crowd, then at Principle Weatherby, standing in the center. "Go ahead and suspend me, principal. Tell everyone that I called Rachel and Jessica a slut, that I had sex with a pig, tell them anything you want! I couldn't care less."

She turned around and walked out the door. She had no need to look back at their expressions because she already knew what they looked like. She stopped at a sidewalk way beyond the school, and stood there. She looked up at the sky. The last sentence she said was that she couldn't care less. But inside she knew she cared too much, and that is when she stepped out onto the highway, as a car swept her legs from under her.