Miss Atomic Bomb (Jughead Jones)

Part 20

"Is it me or did the temperature just drop like it does in horror movies?" Betty whispered as she walked into Jason's room.

Jughead grabbed my hand for the secind time that day. It might've just been me, but I swear Betty flinched.

"That's just the icy chill of the dead." He muttered sardonically.

"Where does a teenage boy hide things?" Betty asked.

"Under the mattresses," Jughead answered a little to fast, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "Maybe in the drawers, behind the headboard, in the closet."

"I can't believe tha-" I started to say, but was cut of by an old woman wheeling around her wheelchair.

"Hello." She smiled with a raspy voice.

I practically jumped into Jughead as he wrapped his arms around my waist fine behind instinctively.

"Holy... I'm so sorry, we were just leaving." Betty rambled.

She began to wheel her chair out into the open, "Oh. It's you. How lovely to see you again. Come closer, I wanna get a good look at you."

"The horror. The horror." Jughead whispered, eyes wide.

Betty slowloy walked towards her as we followed.

"Come closer, Polly dear."

Polly? How had she known Polly?

Betty turned back to us begging silently for help that we couldn't give her.

She gingerly say down on he edge of Jason's bed, "It's nice to you again, too. I'm sorry it had to be under such terrible circumstances."

The old lady, who I assumed was Cheryl's grandmother, grabbed Betty's hand with her own shaky one. "Well, of course you're not wearing it. God bless."

"Wearing what?"

"The ring, Polly!" The old woman exclaimed urgently. "That ring has been in the Blossom family for generations. You keep it close to your heart, always. But don't tell Penelope I gave it to you. Or she'll likely come and snip it off your finger!"

"I won't, I promise." Betty said with shirt breaths.

"Such a shame. Your wedding was the last thing I was living for." They were going to get married! "I lost a grandson, but you, you've lost the love of your young life. Poor child."

I looked up at Jughead and in shock and he returned the favor.

"Excuse me. I have to... I can't..." Betty stuttered as she stumbled out of the room in tears.

9:00 pm.

"I just can't believe this." I said out of the blue.

Jughead and I were walking around the town doing pretty much nothing.

"I know.  Doesn't that mean that Jason was a freshman when he asked her?"

"It does!" I said in realization and then looked down at the ground, "We need to figure this out of we want to know anything about his murder."

"Yeah, I mean the whole thing is inexplicable, which is why it fascinates me so much."

I stopped walking and turned to face him.

"What?" He asked with an awkward chuckle.

I bit my lip, "I don't deserve you."