Miss Atomic Bomb (Jughead Jones)

Part 2

"Marina, how have you been feeling lately?" Mrs. Harbor asked.

"Fine." I answered bluntly.

She wrote something down on her notepad and looked up at me, "Are you ready to talk about what happened yet?"

I shook my head curtly.

She sighed, "Marina, I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"I know."

"Allright." She got up and walked over to her desk and pulled out a manilla folder.

"This is a picture of her right?"

I looked up and saw myself staring at my mother.  Her reddish brown hair complimented her pale skin and fell neatly on her shoulders.  She was smiling brightly and her eyes were full of light, unlike the last time I saw her.

"Y-yes."

"And she died in a car accident early this summer, correct?"

I nodded my head without looking at her.

She sat back down on the couch across from me.

"Based on what your father told me you were in the car with her and you watched her," she paused, trying to find the right way to say it, "watched her pass on."

I tried my best to block out her blunt retelling of the story.

"The day you came back from the hospital you tried to kill yourself and your father found you." 

I stood up and stormed out of the room.

"Marina, you can't jus-"

I slammed the door shut and left the building. 

I walked out and looked back at the sign plastered above the door.

"Harbor's Therapy and Rehabilitation." I said to myself quietly.

That couldn't be farther from the truth.

I walked down the street and into Pop's.

I noticed Betty and Archie chatting and decided to say hello.

"Marina! Long time no see!" Betty exclaimed while getting up and hugging me.

"Hello Betty." I smiled.

Archie was looking at me and grinning.

"Archie." I nodded.

"Marina." He nodded back.

I slid in next to Archie.

"So what are you talking about?" I asked.

Betty's face lit up, "Umm, well I was going to ask Archie something, but it can wait."

There was an awkward silence until Archie spoke up, "Sorry about your Mom. We should have been there for you."

"Yeah, we know how close you were." Betty chimed in.

I felt a few tears threatening to fall, "It's not your fault, I distanced myself from everyone anyway."

"Well yeah bu-" Betty started.

"Can we just not talk about it?" I asked while letting out a breath.

They both smiled knowingly.

The bell on the door rang and a girl strutted inside wearing a black cloak.

Archie appeared starstruck and Betty had a sour look on her face.

"Hi." She said with a smile.

Archie smiled back "Hey."