The Girl Next Door // Betty & Archie

one

                                                    archie.

they say absence makes the heart grow fonder. i find that hard to believe.

the relationship between jughead and i had only soured the more we avoided each other. and that couldn't last much longer. what seemed to be an endless summer will actually and finally come to an end, and on monday i will settle back into routine.

i peer out the window as i hear hal cooper's old mustang pull up out the front of pop's. i stumble up to greet betty as she enters.

she beams, standing on her tip toes while she wraps her arms around me. "i've missed you a ton, arch." she whispers.

and it hits me just how much i've missed her. a summer may not seem like much, but when someone plays that big a part in your life, it's impossible to pretend not to notice they're gone. "me too."

"so tell me everything," she drops into the booth seat. "how was working for your dad?"

"same old, same old. what about you; how was your summer?"

"the internship was amazing. working with tony morrison was insane! he's like-"

"your literary hero. i know." i smirk. she's only told me a thousand times.

betty rolls her eyes.

i continue "well, it's good to hear you enjoyed yourself. for me, this summer has been uneventful, to say the least."

"really? before i left it sounded as if you and jughead had heaps planned."

i sigh and lean back in my seat. "jughead and i aren't exactly on the best of terms."

betty's eyes widen "what? did something happen?" she gushes.

"he said i was spending too much time with reggie. that soon enough i'd have lost the rest of my brain cells and would probably start picking on kids or taking advantage of girls."

"you aren't like that, archie." betty sighs. "why are you hanging out with reggie though?"

"oh, well i figured it'd be nice to have a friend on the team. practice would be hard without someone to complain to." i grin.

"no way!" betty squeals, lightly punching me on the arm. "you made the team?"

"i sure did."

biting her lip, she leans over and squeezes my hand momentarily "i'm so so proud of you, archie."

as if on schedule, my phone lit up with a text from reggie.

dude, you'll never guess who arrived today. veronica lodge- fresh off daddy's private jet from new york!