Blackmailed by Betty (Jughead Jones III)

La Grande Illusion Part One

The next few days were unbearable. Jughead was staying in my house and seemed to be around every corner. "Alex, you know you can't avoid me forever. You tried that once and look where we ended up! Is this about the kiss?" Jughead asked as he followed me into my room.

"You can't just go around yelling about that Jug! If my dad finds out we kissed he won't let you stay under this roof another minute. And for your information this has nothing to do with that!" Shoving past him I walked towards the closet to find clothes for school. "Can you please leave me alone so I can get ready?"

"No. You're being childish and if you hadn't been acting this way for weeks this whole thing could've been solved a long time ago." He shut the door and walked towards me. "How about you tell me what's going on and we figure it out together?"

"Jughead check your text messages." Walking to the closet I grabbed a red plaid shirt and black skinny jeans. As he scrolled through his phone I leaned down and grabbed some black heeled boots and a leather jacket. Placing the items on my bed I turned to face him. "Tell me I don't have some reason to be mad right now."

He tapped the screen a few more times before a look realization crossed his face. "I'm so sorry Alex. I just got caught up with everything and I didn't make it back until late. Are you really that upset?"

"Would you be mad if I text you I needed to talk and never showed up? What if I was with Reggie, or Veronica, or even my dad? None of that would matter because the anxiety of the words 'we need to talk' is enough to make someone go mad." Sitting on my bed I checked my phone to see a few messages from Veronica and surprisingly Cheryl, but those could wait. "I thought you were coming back to tell me to give up."

He sat down beside me and put his arm around my waist pulling me towards him. "I know things are complicated as hell right now but I would never tell you that. Betty is going through a lot of stuff right now and me breaking up with her would make it all worse and even I have enough of a heart to realize that." Leaning my head on his shoulder I took a deep breath. "Plus we all know that kiss wasn't a one time thing." I could practically hear the smirk.

"What makes you think I'm gonna kiss you if you ditched me?" I said looking up at him with a smirk of my own. "Plus with all those cheeseburgers your breath must smell."

"Oh please you eat them just as much as me." When he looked back at me I forgot all about being upset with him. "So about that kiss?"

"Maybe just one." Just as our lips were about to touch a knock sounded at my door causing us to jump apart. "Yes?" I shouted at whoever was on the other side.

"We have to go to school! Hurry up!" Thankfully I had only yelled at Archie, but it was enough to ruin the moment.

"He's right, I still have to get dressed." Standing up from the bed I pulled him up by his hands but was stopped when he let go of my hands and wrapped his around my waist. Before we could get interrupted again he quickly kissed me and pulled away. Stepping out of the embrace he walked towards the door and winked before walking out. "Damn tease."

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School was mostly uneventful. Everyone seemed to have their own set of problems which left me with a day of peace and quiet, that was until the person I had been avoiding stepped in between me and the classroom door. "You can't just avoid me and think I'm gonna go away." Reggie Mantle must have a thicker skull than we thought.

"I can and oh! Looks like I'm gonna keep doing it!" Stepping around him I went to open the door only to see Moose leaning against the other side. "Are you kidding me Mantle? You had your football goon block the door?"

"We need to talk!" At this point I was banging against the door with my fists trying to make Moose move. Ignoring Reggie I pulled out my phone and dialed the one person who may be able to help me.

"Cheryl Blossom at your service."

"How much hold do you have over Reggie Mantle?" I asked looking over at a now confused football player. "He's holding me hostage in room 312."

"Tell him I'll post the picture from April fourteenth if he doesn't let you out. He'll know what I mean."

With a smirk I took a step closer to Reggie. "Cheryl says the whole school will know about a picture from April fourteenth if you don't let me leave. Any idea what that could be?" His confusion quickly turned into fear and embarrassment as he stepped past me and knocked in a pattern for Moose to let me out. "Lovely doing business with you boys."

Walking down the hall and towards the parking lot I met up with Cheryl. "After that you better hope your brother agrees." She said with an eye roll as we matched pace as we walked towards her car.

"Even if Archie agrees you have to remember why we made this deal in the first place."

"Right, of course. Take down Betty Cooper. Easy enough."