the other boys ⇨ jarchie

1

jughead.

my name is jughead jones. some would call me julia, but i'd rather not talk about that. i'm 17 years old and starting senior year. another year of straight A's, getting picked on by the one and only assface reggie mantle, and being ignored by archie andrews.

archie and i have been friends since 3rd grade, as well as betty cooper who is my best friend (if it makes you feel better she calls me her gay best friend, even though kevin keller already has that place.) she's sweet, bubbly and energetic and i wouldn't trade her for the world. ever since archie started talking to the bulldog's football team, he's different. the bad different that leaves an acidic taste in your mouth. to be frankly honest, i'd rather eat my own hand than look him in the eyes.

i am transgender. female to male to be exact. i'm lucky that i have a supportive dad, but there's also a downside. my dad is a southside serpent, one of the gangs in riverdale. he's a drug dealer, an alcoholic, and has a serious problem with sarcasm and witty comments snaking off his tongue every now and then (what can i say, it runs in the family). while we're on the topic of family, my parents are split up - my sister, jellybean, lives with my mom somewhere in florida and i haven't seen her since she left when i was 12. i live in a trailer with my dad, but it's alright for the two of us.

my life is turmoil. oh, what's bad about getting straight A's? no. being transgender is stressful, it's hard work, and it's always a constant battle with your mind. my father has payed for hormones, which i have been on testosterone for almost a year now, and i have had top surgery - all at the young age of 17, he had to pull a few strings of course (does threatening the doctor with a gun count as a string?)

you may think i'm rushing, but i want people to recognise me earlier than later. when i went into the surgery, it was like i couldn't breathe, i held my breath, the adrenaline was like fire burning all around my veins. of course, i didn't feel what it was like because i was under anaesthetic, but when i woke up, i cried - all of the emotions just hit me at once, i was happy that it was finally over, my breasts were gone. i was a wreck.

currently, i'm looking at my timetable at home for the new school year. english, my specialty, and then the worst, p.e. at least i get to watch hot guys like archie take their shirts off!

kidding. who do you think i am?

i have come out to my teachers, and occasionally they call me julia by mistake, which makes me cringe. they make me do p.e with all of the other boys, which doesn't really make me uncomfortable apart from when they hit on me - don't they realise i'm a guy? that would make you gay, but i can't lie, i'd bang me too. if you really want to know why i despise archie andrews so much, it's because in 4th grade, he cut off all of my hair, when it was long. with school scissors. i came home crying, but then my dad took me to get it smartened up, and i loved it. i was ravishing, i was fantastic, i was alive, i had never felt more confident. i think that's when my dad knew, to be honest.

ever since then i hated archie, but secretly thanked him for the fabulous glow-up he gave me.

archie and i are still friends, but middle school started and we just... drifted. we stopped talking, and soon enough he became a... how do i put this... a fuckboy. not the one that hooks up with every bitch at the party, the one who tries to be a fuckboy but is really a tortured soul. he's not so straight, i can see the way he looks at me sometimes. betty is my last resort, she's been there for me since day 1 and has stuck by my side throughout my transition. she used to be crushing on archie, but then i told her about all of the drama in grade school and she never looked his way ever since. he wonders why too, since we called ourselves the 'tremendous trio' when we were younger.

archie andrews is not a nice person. you may think, that his chestnut hair, freckles and coffee coloured eyes make him look sexy, but underneath, he's cold-hearted. he picks football over his friends he's had for almost 13 years, and then doesn't even talk to them. betty lives next door to him, and she tries texting him and they occasionally walk to school together. on some days, he'll sit with us at lunch but that's only if the football team are singling him out. he's using her, and true friends don't do that.

as i'm getting lost in my train of thought, a text pops up on my phone screen from betty.

betty
omg juggy there's gonna be a new girl on monday! her name is veronica and apparently she's from new york... I WANT TO MAKE FRIENDS!

she needs to calm down. newbies aren't a big deal, you just watch them rise to popularity and then when they do some really bad things like publishing the burn book to the whole school their social blade drops lower than my ass when i hear burnin up by the jonas brothers (facts.) i smile, just because it's fun seeing betty like a hyper puppy.

speaking of popularity, let's talk about cheryl blossom. now, don't get me wrong, she is a bitch. i was watching betty do her cheer routine for the next game a few weeks ago and she had the audacity to walk by and say 'stop eyeing her up, hobo, she definitely won't be interested in you.' i had so many comebacks in my head but i just rolled my eyes and watched as the vixen strutted away.

cheryl blossom comes from one of the most wealthiest families in riverdale, the blossom family which has lived at thorn hill mansion for generations. she has long, silky, curly ginger hair, big brown eyes, snow white skin and luscious red lips. her twin brother, jason blossom, is co-captain of the football team, and looks exactly the same apart from his eyes - his eyes are like voids, just grey orbs of nothingness. i guess he's friendly, but again, i would rather stick needles in my eyes than talk to him.

oh, did i tell you that betty's mom hates me? yeah. every time i come over it's 'betty! no boys in your room!' as if i'm about to get her pregnant. i don't even have a dick yet. she only hates me because my dad and her used to date in high school (he hasn't told me the full story, but apparently there was lots of drama between them) and it ended badly. he's a southside serpent, and in the cooper terms, that's an ultimate red light. betty has a sister, polly, but i never see her at their house. must be at college or something.

tomorrow's the big day of going back to annoying jocks and thirsty freshmen, so i'm gonna need my beauty sleep.

peace out.