The Festival - A Bughead Story

Part Five - The Sofas

A few minutes later, they had pulled the sofas in a circle with a small table in the middle. Bowls of chips and popcorn surrounded the place where the real fun began: the deck of cards. Reggie had poured a bunch of spirits into a very unappealing brown mixture resting in a red solo cup, surrounded by the cards, turned so the teens couldn't see their number and color.

"So, the rules are simple." Veronica took a sip of her drink, a very pink Mai Tai. "There are actions for every card you can draw from the deck, and I've added a few of my own, since some were pretty boring. In the original game, there are about six important cards: the king, the queen, the jack, the ten, the nine and the ace. Those we'll explain as we go. As for house rules, two is you, I pick someone to drink, three is me, I drink, four is floor, the last person to touch the floor drinks, five is guys, they drink, six is chicks, they drink, seven is heaven, the last one to put their hands up drinks, eight is mate, you pick someone to drink every time you do until the next eight is drawn. Get it?"

Betty couldn't remember for the life of her the rules Veronica had just thrown, but she realized that she was alone as Archie, Reggie and Moose were nodding, having already played the game, while Jughead didn't care and Dilton was processing the whole thing with his super smart brain.

"Let's do it!" Reggie put down his drink. "Nobody drinks if they don't have to. We'll only get drunk with the game!" He slapped his thigh, a smile on his lips. "I start."

He drew a card from the deck.

"Two is you." He stated, showing the two of hearts to prove it. "Veronica, you drink."

The girl laughed and downed a big part of her drink. Reggie whistled.

Moose took a card. "Ten. It's category, isn't it?"

"Exactly." Veronica explained. "You say a word and we have to say words that fit into the category without repeating a word that was already said. If someone repeats it or doesn't find a word, he or she drinks."

"Dog."

Betty smiled. Animals was a pretty basic category, but she didn't expect anything else from Moose Mason, frankly.

The teens added to the category one by one. Even Jughead, who looked bored as hell, sipping his glass of water, muttered things like cat and hamster. Finally, Archie repeated Guinea Pig, which had been said by Betty, and he drank from his own beer.

They continued on for a few more rounds. Veronica got a lot of drinking dares, but she downed every with calm eyes. When she went to the counter to renew her drink, Moose slurred something about going to the bathroom and Dilton turned to Archie, telling him about all the bad aspects of alcohol. The smart teen kept cleaning his glasses with a maniac energy and his diction had considerably lessened.

Betty turned to Jughead. From bored, he had become only uninterested. He threw her a lazy smile, which she returned. She was about to comment his enthusiasm when Reggie spoke from behind her.

"Still not drinking, you two?"

Betty rolled her eyes. That guy couldn't understand for the life of him people who didn't think like him.

"I don't need to get drunk to have fun." Jughead looked over Betty's shoulder.

"That I understand. But I don't think that's the real reason why you're not drinking."

"Oh really? What do you think is the reason why I don't lessen my senses for no reason with a foul beverage?"

"You don't have the balls."

Jughead let a small sarcastic laugh escape him. "The balls? This has nothing to do with my genitals."

"On the contrary, it has a lot of things to do with your balls."

Jughead scoffed. "Please enlighten me."

"Of course. You don't have the balls to drink because you have zero tolerance and you know it. You'll be K.O. by your second drink."

"That's what you think?"

"Yes."

Betty had never seen Jughead that way. He normally ignored Reggie's stupid behavior, but today, it seemed to have touched a sensible cord. He was fuming.

He brutally got up.

"Well, you're wrong. Do you have coke?"

"You mean-ean the drug?" Reggie stuttered, visibly shaken by the odd request.

Jughead looked offended. "What? No! I don't mean cocaine! I meant the beverage, you know, Coca-Cola."

Betty heard Reggie sigh. "Oh. Makes more sense. In the fridge."

"Good."

He power-walked to the counter, looking angrily at Veronica as they crossed paths. The raven-haired beauty threw a surprise look over to her light-haired best friend. Betty shrugged, her mouth still hanging open.

She had never seen Jughead so mad at anything (she had never seen him express that much emotions, actually) and she longed to know why it had bothered him that much.

Jughead came back a few seconds after Moose, a large rum and coke in his hand. He sat back next to Betty, looked straight at Reggie and downed half the drink in one gulp. The football star slightly shuddered.

"Okay! Back to the game!" he shouted.

Betty threw a look at Jughead. He had drank that alcohol without even a wince, something no first drinkers could have been able to do – which was how she thought of him.

He was hiding something and she needed to know what.