Definition of Want (Bughead)

UNEXPECTED LOCATION

Betty had not heard from her parents for the better part of two weeks. She was almost sure that one day there would be a legal document on her doorstep which informed her she'd been taken out of the will. Or maybe, they'd simply never contact her again. Either would be preferable, Betty considered, when she thought about how angry she was about the entire night.

She usually always caved and apologized. Betty was never very good at letting things end on a bad note. It was part of her youngest-child syndrome, always wanting to please. Always wanting to be seen.

But usually, this apology was kick-started by her mother making some comment. Even if it was always something snide and catty, Betty was pulled to grovel by her mom making her feel like shit.

It was not so this time.

Alice was shockingly silent.

She'd had one lone interaction from her father. In a nondescript envelope, he'd sent her $200 bucks with a quickly penned 'sorry'. Betty wondered if this was the last assistance she'd ever get from her parents.

Betty tried not to over-analyze her mother's stony silence.

With Polly though, Betty wasn't trying to ignore her. Not actively.

When Polly called the first time, Betty was in the shower. Despite the memory of the talk at the diner rising to the surface of her mind, and that they'd left things in a better place than usual, she didn't call her back. Polly had not left a voicemail or a text, so Betty didn't think it urgent.

When Polly called back when Betty was making dinner, she let it ring nearly to voicemail before her mental battle with herself had a winner. With a sense of trepidation, since Polly wasn't one to contact often, Betty put it on speaker.

"Betty! Oh, hi!" Polly sounded surprised, as though she was not the one who had reached out.

"What's up, Polls," Betty asked, trying to make her voice sound lighter than she felt answering. She forced a smile in front of the stove. She'd read somewhere that smiling actually made you feel happier, even if you weren't.

"Do you have plans for this weekend?"

Betty stirred her stir-fry, "That depends entirely on what you're going to say next."

"I got offered this really fantastic training seminar for my job," Polly began. She worked in a bank as a glorified assistant, though Betty knew she was intelligent enough to do more, "So Juniper and Dagwood need watching."

"Oh." Betty put down her spatula, "I mean, yeah, I love watching them. I honestly don't have anything else happening this weekend, so I can really spoil them, as an aunt should. When would you drop them off?" She questioned, turning to survey her apartment. She would need to clean a lot, plus vacuum. Jughead's papers and books would need to be brought into his room, lest he wanted pages torn out by toddlers. They'd also need to move furniture in front of outlets, just for safety.

"Well," Polly coughed on the other end of the phone, "You see, the seminar is in Watertown, completely in the opposite direction of New York City. So, since you mentioned you don't have 'anything else happening', I was hoping you'd come back to Riverdale."

Betty clenched her jaw, "No."

"Betty, you already said-," Polly began to protest.

"No, no, no! God, how much money did mom give you to do this?" Betty said, half-way sure she was just going to hang up now.

"Mom and dad won't be home, which is why I'm calling you," Polly said quickly, "They're at some Journalism Symposium from Wednesday to Tuesday in..." Polly hummed, trying to recall, "Phoenix? Maybe San Diego? Somewhere hot and far away, point being. They wouldn't even know you're in the house."