Loner and a Writer |Jughead Jones|

A Gift |chapter 1|

Katherine's POV

Day old hamburgers, flat sodas, and the stench of our own bodily fluids filled the 1969 black camaro as we drove on the highway. The same highway we've been driving on for the past two days. I put in my ear buds as my parents were finishing up their conversation about what we should have for dinner. As I put my playlist on the duffel, I stared out the window at night shy. Considering the light pollution this world has created, I could see the stars shining where the clouds would be. I looked over to one star in particular. That star shined brighter than any other star in the sky. I looked over to the empty seat next to me. I wish it was him. I wish he was sitting next to me and not thousands of miles away in the night sky.

"Katherin," I heard a voice yell. I took out my earbuds to hear. "Hum?" I asked the voice in front of me. "Do pancakes sound good for dinner?" the voice asked. "Yeah sure," I responded. "Come on Katherine, is it really okay if we have pancakes?" a deeper voice repeated. "Yeah dad, I said pancakes were fine," I repeated. I looked out the window again. But instead of being greeted once again by the sky, trees started to rush by. The green leaves and the brown tree bark all started to blow down together. As we drove more we were greeted with a sign that said, "Welcome to Riverdale." The sign wasn't as colorful as any other statute sign like Arizona or Nevada. The colors were settled but pleasing at the same time. Nothing that would scream 'big town drama'. The more we drove, it finally seemed like where we were supposed to be. The small town my parents talked about way too much. I started to close my eyes to think about the times were we didn't have to uproot our intire life for two or the murder causes.

When I started to feel the car come to a halt, I looked out the window once more. I opened the car door to step out to be greeted by what looked like a dinner that had the words, 'Pop's dinner and Chocolate Shop' on it with big red neon lights. I looked out to see my dad and his wife get out of the car. As they looked at the sign, they had this look of hopefulness and satisfaction. I rolled my eyes and started to walk into the dinner. As I entered I heard the chime of the bell on the door. As the old man looked up from wiping down counters, he had a surprised look on his face. I mean, why wouldn't he? I've never been here before. I heard the door chime again and saw my dad coming in. When I looked back at the old man he had a wide grin on his face. "Axel and Cynthia," the old man said. As they and I had a seat on the stools near the counter, they started to make small talk with the man. I was still pondering the reason my old man knew dad and his wife's names. When I looked at the old man, he glanced my way and turned his body. "Oh Katherin. It's so nice to see you again," he said. I gave my father a confused look. When I turned back to the old man he chucked. "I know you don't remember me but I remember you. Last time I was you, you were only a week old and leaving this town," he told me.

He looked over at my dad and whispered something to him but he just shook his head and mouthed, 'Not anymore' to him. The man straightened his back and took out a pad and pen. "So what can I get you folks," he said cheerfully. My dad told him to have three orders of old fashioned pancakes, one strawberry milkshake, one vanilla milkshake, and one chocolate milkshake. After he wrote everything down, he said he would be back and headed to the back of the dinner. As my father and his wife were talking. I heard a small tapping sound behind me, so I looked over my shoulder to find a boy who looked about in high school. He was wearing mostly black and a gray beanie covering most of his hair but a few small curls in the front. He stopped taping and looked over in my direction. Briefly when our two eyes met, his blueish green eyes danced in the neon lights all around the dinner. I quickly turned back and saw the waiter bring out our food. He placed the plate of pancakes near me and also placed down the strawberry milkshake. He gave me a wink. For a second I was confused because I didn't tell him that I was one who wanted the strawberry shake. But I picked it up and took a sip, thinking nothing of it. I kept on glancing over at the boy on the computer.

Anytime it seemed I was remotely looking at him he knew. I got him and told my dad I was heading to the bathroom. The waiter pointed to a small hallway that led to the bathroom. As I went inside I looked at myself in the mirror. My mid length brunette hair was frizzy and all over the place. The mascara on the bottom of my lashes had smudged. My nose was partially red from how cold the car was since we were driving for so long. I turned in the sink. As the cold water rushed down my hands, for a second it really seemed like things were going to change. As I turned the sink off I looked at myself in the mirror once more. I ran my old wet hands through my hair praying that some of the hair would stick down. As I started to walk out of the bathroom to go back to my seat. Before I sat back down, I saw that the mysterious boy had moved from the red booth to the seats on the right of mine. I sat back down in my chair and started to eat my dinner. While I was eating I saw that I had finished my milk shake. I didn't want to burn my father by asking him to get another one so I felt it alone.A bit later the waiter came to the mysterious boy and they started to whisper about something. But in this town I'd just arrived. Was none of the business what they were talking about.

But when the waiter placed another strawberry milk shake in front of me. I looked confused. I looked at the waiter's name tag and said, "Pop, I didn't order another one." He pointed to the writer and said, "It was a gift."