The Theory Of Chaotic Perfection |BUGHEAD|

Chapter VII - We Are Not Our Parents

"I forbid you to see that Jughead boy ever again!" 

Her mother was giving her a lecture. Betty wasn't surprised, she did come home late. Since it happened for a second time in the same week her mother was furious. If there was even a mention of Betty failing at something, her mother would go into a rage mode and lock her daughter up in her room practicing on whatever it was that Betty failed at. She had to be perfect, anything less than that was unacceptable in the Cooper household. 

Patiently sitting on her chair and watching her mother, Alice Cooper, storm around the room explaining to her daughter the importance of being punctual Betty sighed. It wasn't the first time she was given a lecture, but it was the first time she didn't feel bad about whatever her mother found wrong in her. 

"What were you thinking? Being out so late! For Heaven's sake Betty, you were alone and in our dark town! You could have gotten raped!" Her mother loved to jump to extremes to prove her point. 

Betty rolled her eyes, "I wasn't alone," she mumbled, but then regretted it immediately as her mother stared her down. 

"Oh, and who were you with?" Alice raised an eyebrow. She knew that it wasn't Archie, the whole block could hear him playing on his guitar since 4 pm. Betty couldn't lie to her mother, because she would find out eventually and the consequences would be worse. 

Facing her defeat Betty reclined on the chair, "Jughead Jones." She loved seeing the scared expression on her mother's face, perhaps she could now notice that Betty was falling out of her standards.

"Jones? His father is in a gang! Everyone knows about the Jones family, they're dangerous, manipulative! You're not to hang out with him ever again, I don't know what Archie would think if he saw you two!" Alice said, a bit comforted by knowing exactly what her daughter was up to. 

"Archie wouldn't care!" Betty now stood up, her anger taking over her. Alice didn't know, she still had hopes for Archie being with Betty, but her daughter knew that there was no way he'd like her. 

Alice calmly walked up to her daughter, she took a stern look at her and lifted her hand, slapping her daughter across the cheek. Betty jumped back in surprise and yelped in horror. There was a moment of silence between them, until Betty looked up at her mother with betrayed eyes. 

"Never say such things Betty. You know that you're going to marry Archie one day, if you give up now you throw your entire future away," Alice walked up closer to her daughter and put her hand on the red cheek, "you know I only do this because I love you Betty. The Coopers belong with the Andrews'." 

Without saying a word Betty marched up the stairs to her room. She made sure to lock it with a key and sat on her bed. Feeling alone, Betty didn't want it to be dark. Bad things happen in the dark and she hated it. In her own perfect little world everything was light. Perhaps darkness was exactly what she needed. Pushing all her stuffed animals off the bed she lied down and cried. From the corner of her ear she could her the slow strumming of guitar strings. She used to love that sound, but now she could no longer stand it. Running up to her window and slamming it she slid down on the ground, her back to the wall and continued to cry. 

___ 

His father was drunk again, Jughead was used to it. He'd walk in through the doors of the trailer house and there would be beer bottles on the floor. His father's jacket was on the floor, next to a pack of cigarettes. Shaking his head Jughead picked them up and put them on the counter. Taking a cigarette out from the pack he looked at it, something so small, but so deadly. 

"Don't smoke that, it'll kill ya son," he heard the slurred words of his father. 

Jughead dropped the cigarette and sat down next to him on the couch, "tough day?" 

"You can say that," his father got up, "how was school?"

"Oh you know the usual, drama queens, venomous snake women, jocks, the perfect people," Jughead joked. 

His father put his palm on his face, guarding himself from the pain the little amount of light brought him, "it's the perfect ones you need to stay away from, they ruin your life." 

"No one is perfect dad," Jughead whispered. 

His dad laughed, which came out more as a cough, "except for the Coopers! Perfect family since the 60s!" 

Jughead knew that The Jones and Cooper family were not the best of friends, but he never understood why. Perhaps it was the fact that all Coopers graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA and a future in the best college, but the Jones' would fail and drop out, join some gang and scare the neighborhood.

"Why the long face?" His father asked, noticing the pain in his sons eyes. 

Jughead shook his head, "it's nothing. I just don't understand why all families are so messed up." 

"Everyone has skeletons. Look, I know I messed up, but you're not gonna be like your old man are you? You're gonna study, go to work, get a girl, settle down!" His dad repeated this every day. He believed that his son could be better than the cruel history which repeated itself in the Jones family. 

Jughead was not hopeful, however, "yeah, then I'm gonna get fired, my wife will leave me and I'll become a drunk left alone in a trailer park with a loser son!" 

His father knew he went too far this time and Jughead looked at him apologetically, "who called you a loser? Some boys at school? I'll beat em up!" 

"Relax dad, you're too drunk for this," Jughead tried to calm him down. 

Lying back down on the couch his father was falling fast asleep, "this is why you marry the girl of your dreams son, not just someone comfortable to live with." 

Jughead's mind quickly jumped to the thought of Betty. She was taking over his life, but he didn't mind that much. He'd observed her for too long at school to say that he wasn't falling for the perfectly blonde wreck which was Betty Cooper. Ever since 5th grade when the Coopers finally let their daughter go to school and not be homeschooled for the rest of her life did Jughead notice her. She automatically fit in with the cool kids. Even then they were all segregated. It was in 8th grade that Jughead finally tried approaching her, but she was a cheerleader and they weren't easy to talk to. Jughead thought that if he could catch her in the library or perhaps somewhere outside he could ask her about homework or something irrelevant for her to notice him. Soon he realized that you don't get thick skin unless you get hurt. It all started with Reggie, he punched him in the bathroom. Archie, who was his friend once didn't do anything, although he didn't laugh either. The next day he punched him in the hallway where any teacher could see him. They didn't react either.

Telling his dad didn't help Jughead either. On the first day of 9th grade Jughead went out of his way to build his bad boy reputation. When Reggie tried to make Jughead drink toilet water, a typical bully task, Jughead punched him right in the face. Of course, he got in trouble for it, but the football team never touched him after it again, especially on school grounds. They started fighting him in town, and Jughead never fell down, when he did, he would always get back up again. Soon enough beating him up wasn't enough, so they started spreading rumors about him. Jughead became avoided by all human beings, except for the occasional son or daughter of a serpent who also feared him, but out of respect.

His dreams of trying to be friends with Betty Cooper crashed and burned, so it came as a complete shock to him when she approached him and offered to be friends with him. And to think it only took him about 8 years to get her attention.