The Diplobrats

Chapter 4

It had been a week since Jughead's "initiation" into Stonewall Prep. Betty and Jughead had continued their investigation into what was happening at the school. Why did Mr Chipping push Moose away? Why were the Stonies being so secretive? The pair had yet to find out what the students and staff of Stonewall Prep were hiding, but they knew that something was wrong. 

Jughead and Betty gathered at Pop's diner with their friends, Archie and Veronica. The four of them sat around their usual booth, with a milkshake in front of each of them and a basket of fries in the middle of the table. Jughead had his head in his laptop, typing away as he usually would while the rest of them were chatting about the latest news at Riverdale High.

"So, Jughead," Veronica started, "made any new friends?"

"Yeah, Jug. Are you gonna leave us for your Prep school Pals?" Archie teased.

"Well, I'd hardly call them 'pals' Archie." Jughead muttered.

"More like monsters." Betty added, taking a sip from her strawberry milkshake.

"Are you talking about those weirdos that put you in that coffin?" Veronica inquired. The pair nodded slightly. "Yeah, Jug those are not your friends."

"They put you in a coffin?" Archie gasped.

"You are very out of the loop, Arch." Jughead said, lifting his head from his screen for the first time and grabbing a fry from the center of the table. "But it doesn't matter, enough about me. What's been happening at Riverdale High?" 

Jughead's three friends tried their best to fill him in about the drama, as though Jughead actually cared, as though he wasn't just saying that so he could exit the conversation without notice, but when the groups conversation turned to Thanksgiving, his ears perked up.

"I know that Cheryl and Toni  are having dinner with Cheryl's family, she mentioned something about getting revenge, I'm not sure what she has planned but it can't be good." Veronica laughed.

"Yeah, I'm not sure what my mom has planned for Thanksgiving. It's just me, her, and Charles. She mentioned something about your family coming over, Jughead. Has your dad said anything?" Betty asked.

"Uh, no. He hasn't said much about Thanksgiving. I think he doesn't want to rush anything. With Mom and Jellybean coming back he doesn't want to scare them away. We're just trying to enjoy having them here while we can." 

The group nodded with him and Betty wrapped her arm around him, moving closer as he turned  back to his writing.

Later in the day, Betty and Jughead found themselves in Jughead's room, back at Stonewall Prep. Betty was sat on the bottom bunk while Jughead sat at his desk and wrote on the typewriter that Betty had gifted him for Christmas. They were sat quietly, the only noise being the tapping of Jughead's fingers against the keys, until there was a knock at the door. Betty and Jughead glanced at each other, eyebrows furrowed as they weren't expecting visitors and Bret was away, visiting family. Jughead stood to answer the door, and when he did, he was faced with his classmate, Donna Sweett. 

"Uh, hey, Donna. What's up?" Jughead questioned as he held open the door.

"Can I come in?" Donna asked, walking through the door before he had a chance to answer. "I wanted to talk to guys. About Bret."

Betty stood up from the bed to meet Donna's eye-line.

"What about Bret?" Jughead inquired, growing suspicious of Donna.

"I just think you should know that.. he doesn't like you guys." Donna mumbled as she crossed her arms.

"..Wow. I would have never guessed." Jughead remarked sarcastically. Donna rolled her eyes and stepped towards the pair.

"Look," Donna began, "Bret is a diplobrat. The son of a diplomat. He can get away with anything and I think he's gonna take advantage of that. You should be careful." 

Jughead sighed and nodded his head. "We appreciate the warning, but we can handle ourselves." He looked over to Betty and she nodded.

"Okay, well. That's it. I'll see you in class, Jughead. Bye, Betty."

Jughead and Betty waved at Donna as she left the room. When the door closed, the both of them sat back in their original positions.

"Did that seem weird to you?" Betty asked Jughead, placing her hands on her knees and furrowing her eyebrows.

Jughead glanced at her and nodded.

"Bret and Donna are close right? Why would she tell us that?" Betty continued.

"Maybe she knows something, or it could be a red herring. Either way, something's going on."

"Okay well, whatever it is, we can deal with it tomorrow. It's getting late, I should go." Betty stood up and kissed Jughead's head before leaving Stonewall Prep and heading home.

When Betty got back, her mom was asleep and Charles was gone. She headed upstairs and tried to sleep but she couldn't stop thinking about what Donna said. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Bret's smug face and the only thing she could hear were Donna's words. "Be careful" what was about to happen and how were Betty and Jughead going to avoid it? The light vibes in Betty's bedroom were masked by a mist of mystery and darkness. Needless to say, Betty didn't get much sleep that night.