Lost (in Your Emerald Eyes)

T E N

The following day, Jughead waltzed into the diner, very hungry, and not in the best mood. His father had come home drunk at night again but had been gone by the morning, leaving him worried and angry. Just the other day, FP had promised him, again, to stop drinking. By now Jughead knew the words were never genuine, but still, every time the older man promised something, a small piece of hope was planted in his heart. Which of course ripped it open the following day, always ending up betrayed.

Jughead knew he needed to stop believing the words that left his father's mouth. But it was his father. The only family he had. And so, he was ready to get his heart broken every week as long as he still had a roof over his head and someone to see once in a while.

The bell on the door rang as he entered, and both Betty and Joaquin looked up. They didn't usually have many shifts together, but as Jessy couldn't come to work and Joaquin was more than happy to make more money, they were working together the upcoming week, and probably the one after that.

"Hey Jug," the guy said and turned his attention back on the cards in his hands. Flipping one over, he announced, "I win."

Betty smiled at Jughead when his friend looked away, and the beanie-wearing boy answered the same way, with a tired smile of his own, and took a seat in front of the counter, watching the game they had going on. Betty picked the whole pack up with a sigh and dropped it down again, making Joaquin laugh.

"Sore loser."

Betty made a face she hadn't hear that and directed her eyes to Jughead, picking up her small notebook and a pen. "Usual?"

The boys both sniggered, and Jughead quickly made a mental note about the fact that she didn't like to lose. "Uh, double it?"

"Wow," she murmured, but wrote a number two and an X behind his name, passing it to the kitchen where Pop was sitting at, practically on his break, but not really. There weren't many people around the diners and coffee shops on Monday afternoons, after lunch, so Jughead was the only customer as of now, except for the two preteens sitting by the door, drinking milkshakes.

"What got you that hungry, dude?"

"It's me," Jughead simply stated, smirking dryly.

Joaquin shrugged, not making much out of it. "True."

Jughead's eyes moved to Betty who now returned to the two and took a seat on the stool she always used while working. "Can I play with you guys?"

"Sure," the blonde smiled and started shuffling the cards as if she were a poker dealer. "I'm gonna beat your ass," she murmured to both of them.

"That's what you said the last four times," Joaquin sniggered.

Jughead smiled a bit and murmured his own, "We'll see."

"We will."

He watched the way she concentrated. It wasn't the kind that had made her beam just the day before. He had observed the way she took photos, the way her eyes lit up every time someone brought up the topics she liked, and the way she looked around herself in nature. The expressions she had were so different now, compared to the ones he had seen yesterday, and Jughead could make out the need to win from her face. That girl was nothing about losing. She liked doing things the best.

He didn't share that quality with her, and so, after winning the first game and seeing the pout on her lips afterward, he made sure to play as bad as he could, only hoping Joaquin would do the same. His friend didn't share his thoughts, though.

"Let her win just once," Jughead murmured when Betty went to get his food from Pop, after losing another one.

"No way," Joaquin chuckled, rolling his eyes at him playfully.