Smokestacks - Jughead Jones [1] ✔

Chapter Five

SMOKESTACKS

CHAPTER | FIVE

Death happens to someone, the pitch black that looms behind the back of your eyelids each time you blink finally consumes you whole.

Dying, however, is so much more painful. Sometimes at the end of the long, dark tunnel when you stare at the bright light that paralyses every fibre of your being, you find that your heart is still beating, your blood is still pumping and you, are, alive.

Dying is the process of standing at the edge of fresh, bunched up soil, staring at the cold stone that now defines a person. A pain so intense, you can almost see your bloody heart dripping from a tight fist inside a mahogany coffin, six feet beneath you.

Dying isn't when your heart stops beating, it's when the one that you love's does.

Savannah could remember how it felt when her dad died. She locked herself in her room and cried for two days.

After she left the confines of those four walls, she acted as if nothing had happened. She always had been a rather good actress, not allowing herself to be vulnerable. She knew better than that.

For Jason Blossom, she couldn't help but feel for Polly.

She wanted nothing more than for Jason to have sought out Polly and told her how much he loved her before he died. She figured it was quite selfless of her, considering how selfish she had been.

"Savannah?" Her friend asked from across the booth, the blonde offering a smile. "Are you okay?"

Savannah nodded in return. She could remember the day so clearly when she had become friends with Elizabeth Cooper.

Jughead had brought her to the diner for lunch one day, both of them talking about Archie and how they hadn't seen him all summer. They missed him - Betty admitted, Jughead avoided talking about it.

When a group of boys from school came into the diner wearing their football jerseys, talking about the loss of their captain, arguing over who would take his place after the break, Savannah threw a tray in their direction at how insensitive they were.

The boys jumped up immediately, recognition flashing in their eyes at the sight of the furious girl. One moved toward the girl angrily when Betty slid in front of him, eyes determined and unwavering.

"I think you need to leave." She had said firmly, "You aren't wanted here."

The boy looked over her shoulder at Jughead, who was leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest, a daring expression pulled across his face.

The group of boys had left after that, not saying another word and Savannah turned to Betty, offering a thankful smile. Betty had taken Savannah's hand and led her over to their vacated booth, the same booth where they sat today.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Betty asked, looking up from her book. "I hate to think of how you and Polly must feel."

Savannah's head snapped up at that. She didn't know that Betty knew about her secret romance with Jason Blossom, and she couldn't believe Betty was mentioning it in such a casual manner.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it." Betty frowned and placed the bookmark inside her book, marking the page and setting it down. "I just can't stop thinking about her. My parents won't let me speak to her."

The brunette didn't say anything and took a fry from Jughead's bowl. He scowled at the girl, who stuck her tongue out at him.

Savannah pushed the bowl away and leaned back against the leather of the booth with a sigh, "Is it horrible if I say that I don't really feel anything about it?"

Betty pursed her lips and frowned, "You were with him for six months. It's probably just not hit you yet."

Savannah scoffed, "We were in some twisted affair that he believed he could turn into more. I don't know, Betty. Maybe I just didn't let myself feel for him, I didn't want to let him in so he could hurt me."

Jughead supported himself with his elbows on the table of the booth, sharing a look with Betty. "What makes you say that?"

"Uh." Savannah had slipped up, she hadn't meant to say that. "Nothing, it's just... he hurt Polly, right?" She laughed awkwardly and slid out of the booth. "More coffee?"

The two both nodded in agreement, but they knew that Savannah was hiding something from them.

*

Piper didn't understand how Savannah was taking everything so well. She had been approached by a few people, older customers who had seen her with Jason on occasion, and was told that they were sorry for her loss.

Was she?

Did this not make it all easier for her? That she didn't have to worry about repeating her parents' mistakes?

Savannah shook her head and sighed, pouring another cup of coffee for Piper, who was watching her like a hawk. The blonde took the cup of coffee and sipped on it slowly.

"Want to hang out tonight?" Piper asked quietly, wanting to be there for her friend in the event that she broke down.

"Sure." Savannah nodded, placing the pot back on the counter. "Charmed marathon?"

"Obviously." Piper scoffed, as if there had been any other option. "I'm in it."

"Of course you are, Piper."