The Serpent and His Girl

Sorry

Sighing, he dials her number. Anxiety courses through him as it goes straight to voicemail again. He opens up his messages, still nothing but the text she sent three hours ago: "Hey Arch! I'm almost to Pop's, I'm about two minutes away! I hope to see you and a vanilla milkshake in our booth, love Betty"

Said vanilla milkshake had melted two hours ago, it's glass next to four empty chocolate milkshake glasses, each one sucked down in a matter of minutes. The redhead grabs his wallet, and gets up to pay the check. Walking to the counter, he hears the bell above the door jingle, signifying that a new customer has entered the building. Whipping his head around, he checks to see if there's a blonde ponytail swaying, or her heading towards their booth. Instead he sees raven brown hair, and a string of pearls. Veronica.

He sighs, hoping she doesn't notice him. Lately, her overly flirty attitude has been annoying him far more than usual. Getting all jealous whenever he talked to another girl, even Betty. It bothers him, and he's not willing to talk to her. Especially now, when he has to find his blonde best friend.

Turning around, he comes face to face with the New York sophisticate, immediately internally groaning.

"Oh, well hello there Archiekins! Fancy seeing you here, well, this place isn't really all that fancy, some may say quaint. Very...homey," she laughs as if she had said anything even remotely funny, aggravating Archie even more than when she called him her pet name: Archiekins. He hates it even more than her flirting.

"Hey Veronica. I'm just here waiting for Betty, ya know just hanging out." He replies through a brittle smile. At this, Veronica's shiny smile drops into a scowl, which she quickly covers up with a quiet "oh".

"Well, Archiekins, where is B? Cause I mean, shouldn't she be here by now?You know, cause you guys probably walked here together, right?" The Latina inquires nosily, hoping to get a confession out of him.

"Oh, Betty had some homework and a deadline for the Blue and Gold. You know her, always working hard. Well, Ronnie as nice as this chat was, I think I'm going to go home." Veronica's eyebrows raise at his answer, a smirk spreading across her face. The 'cat killed the canary' look on her face scares Archie, and he pays Pop hastily, practically bolting to the door. A pair of high heels clicking on the floor stop him, along with her calling out to him.

"Oh Archiekins, why would you just leave if you were waiting for her? Are you just going to go to her house instead? Maybe I should come with you, you know, to talk to my B" her hands on her hips, Veronica strides over to Archie, pressing his back against the door, cornering him. "And maybe...we can stop by your house later, Archiekins." Trailing off, she bites her lip.

  Throwing a frantic look at Pop, he backs up further against the door. Pop just smiles, shaking his head. The redhead knows he means well, though, so he can't find it in himself to be angry. Archie touches Veronica's arm, then knowing that he's got her attention with that small touch, pushes her back a bit.

"Heh, uh, Ronnie...oh shoot! Look at the time, I gotta get going, but uh...see you later?" He scrambles out the door as fast as possible, leaving a stunned Veronica Lodge in his wake.

As he heads up his driveway, he is alarmed immediately by the sight of Alice and his dad. They seem to be having a heated conversation, and as Archie tries to sneak past them, Alice sees him and calls out.

"Oh, Archiblald! Come back here! Where is my daughter? Huh? And don't say you aren't with her, because you and I both know that she's hiding out waiting for me to leave so you can go back to making out or whatever disgusting acts you've convinced my daughter to do with you." She sneers, all sweetness gone.

"With all do respect, Mrs.Cooper, Betty and I are just friends. And finally, I actually haven't seen Betty since the end of the school day." Archie responds sweetly, the picture of innocence. Alice just scoffs, unimpressed.

"Well then, you must know where Elizabeth went, right? After all you're her friend. Huh, Ginger Judas? Tell me where she is or so help me God..." Alice practically screams in his face, livid. Archie shrinks back, and responds quietly.

"Or what, you'll hit me like you hit Betty? Or are you going to save that for when you find her?" His words the last straw for Alice, she slaps him across the face. Fred audibly gasps, anger fully visible on his face, veins popping out of his forehead.

"Step away from my son. Now." He practically growls, his voice deep and gravelly. Alice looks at Fred with disdain, and sniffs haughtily.

"Fine. But your son better watch himself. Such nonsense will get somebody in trouble, mark my words. Oh and Archie? Trust me, when I find her, she'll be sorry she ever scared me like that. And she'll be in so much trouble, it won't even be funny."