POISONOUS LOVE II Riverdale [2]

sixteen

"Where do you want to go now?", I asked Jug when we arrived at the bus station.

"I thought I could go to Tolido, visit my mom, maybe stay with her. I.. it's a stupid question but will you come with me?"

"Of course I will, Jug. We've been best friends since we were babies, I would do anything for you."

"Can you call her? I don't want to tell her that dad was arrested and you're the better liar of us."

"Sure, I'll be right back."

"Hey, Gladys, it's Liz. Jug and I bought a bus ticket to Tolido so we can visit you and Jellybean for some time. Jughead could sleep on the couch and I on the floor. You know that I'm not too comfortable."

"I'm really glad that you call, Liz. Jellybean misses you two a lot but I am busy right now. Can you come some other time? It's really not a good moment now."

"It's okay, I understand that, Jug will too", I lied, he will be even more hurt.

"What did she say?"

"She's got things to do and hopes that we would visit her in a few weeks. I didn't tell her about your dad."

"That's fine, she shouldn't know about it."

"Should we go somewhere else? We could do anything we want", I suggest.

"Let's just take the next bus that brings us out of this town."

After we had bought our tickets to Florida, the woman told us that we couldn't wait at the bus station during midnight. So we headed to Pops, the only place that had open for such a long time.

"Jug, Liz", Archie spoke up to us after we've finished our coffees.

"Jug, we're really sorry", Betty told him quietly, "Trust me, just everything."

"Juggie, we've made a mistake, everyone of us. We shouldn't have went to your dad's trailer but there was a good thing about it."

"As far as I know my dad was arrested for the suspicion of murder."

"When we were searching the trailer, the gun wasn't there. Someone put it there after we had left."

"I don't understand.. what do you mean?"

"We need to go to the police station", I whispered shocked after they've told us everything.

If there was a slight chance that Archie and Veronica could help FP, we had to try it.

"Sheriff, we need to talk to you about FP Jones."

"What about him?"

"He's innocent!"

"Someone tries to make him look guilty."

"So why did he confess just a few minutes ago then?", Keller said looking at Jughead who watched his dad walking with police officers directing him.

The next day, I've been waiting at Jason's locker for about ten minutes when he finally arrived.

"I thought you would spend your time with your new boyfriend now", he looked at me surprised.

"This isn't about you and I", I hissed angrily, "FP didn't try to kill you and you know that! We all know it. How can you run around school happily while he's arrested?"

"He confessed it so he sounds pretty much guilty to me."

"Okay", I sighed, "Would you be honest if I said I'd be your girlfriend again then? That's what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"It is but he did it so I can't lie about that."

Okay so FP was a hundred percent not guilty but he still said that. I offered him being his girlfriend again which he wanted all the time and he declines it. Jason must be really afraid of something or so and I needed to find out about it.

Jug, Archie and I would meet Archie's mom and my dad to talk about the FP's case.

"It's personal for me, too, Jughead so I'm going to be honest. It doesn't look really good. His criminal record is filled and he had the gun in his trailer."

"Not to forget about the damn confession."

"Actually, it's bad. FP and I have been friends since we were around three years old. So I know him well enough to say that there has to be something going on. He told me the same as he did to Keller with the exception that I know when he lies."

"But you went to him as soon as you heard about it so he didn't need to call you. Who was the person he called?", I asked puzzled.

"Joaquin DeSantos."

"Kevin's friend?", Archie remembered.

"Jughead", Archie's mom started caringly, "You should visit your dad, tell him everything that you want to tell him. The process will be really fast as soon as he's accused."

"It won't go that far, Mary. I won't let him stay there, Jug", my dad assured.

"He lied to me, Liz, he lied! Why in the damn world would he lie and say he's done it when we all know that him and Jason lie?!"

"I don't get it. Someone must blackmail them or something. Who could have done it? Who does FP try to protect?"

"We should see who we can preclude."

"We know why Uncle Hal acted weirdly so I don't think that he has done it", I started taking the picture of him, "Hermione Lodge, she's been in New York."

"So only Hiram Lodge and Clifford and Penelope Blossom are left."

"And this should help FP?", Archie looked at Jason's jacket unbelievingly.

I was surprised we've found it. Jason never wore it again since he was shot and told me he lost it in Sweetwater River.

"I don't know but it doesn't look like an evidence to me", Kevin shook his head.

"Yeah, that only confirms that my dad has set fire to Jason's car."

"And that the confession is true."

"No, guys, wait-", I remembered something laying the jacket around Archie's shoulders, "Jason always wore this jacket when we went out on dates. He used to complain that he didn't like coin money because it gets lost in his jacket."

"What, Liz-"

I searched the pockets for the hole that Jason hated and was taken aback when I felt something in it. This felt like a memory stick which I put out and showed them.

I gave it to Betty so she could start the laptop. We sat on the couch in Archie's garage, I was next to Jughead holding his hadn't highly.

Betty pressed the play button so we could see Jason tied up on a chair, he had bruises all over his face. Now I felt bad that I was actually mean sometimes. He looked horrible. A Serpent shouted at him and became angry but when he left, he didn't come back. Instead we could see Clifford Blossom with a gun in his hand, shooting at Jason's chest.

Ronnie and Betty had tears in their eyes, Archie and Kevin were shocked and Jug was probably relieved that his dad didn't to that to him. I was glad for FP but Jason got shot by his own dad. If only I had known this..

"We need to call Cheryl", I said to everybody around.

Hopefully they would get out of that house of hell before their parents could do anything to them. I couldn't believe it. Now I understood him better but I still didn't know why he would lie about it. What would his dad say to blackmail his own son after trying to kill him?