IMAGINES ▹ ROSS BUTLER

↳ change of heart

( CHANGE OF HEART )
by certifiedskywalker

You had heard about the activity in small towns; while they were quiet from the outside, gossip spread like wild-fire from within. Your family's arrival to the tiny town of Riverdale sparked the same reaction. On your first day of school, you received the undivided attention of a cheery blonde named Betty Cooper. From there, you merged into her friend circle and found that there was hope for a happy life in the rinky-dink town. You grew close with Veronica, Archie, and Kevin, all thanks to Betty. It was when you were introduced to Jughead Jones, when things started to take a turn. The situation became very apparent to after lunch period, only a month after you started attending Riverdale High School.

"Alright, ready for this English quiz, Jug?" You teased him and a soft smile grew on his features. After hanging around Betty, you found that you and Jughead shared a nearly identical schedule; and a shared passion for sarcasm.

"Yeah, gonna ace it," he answered dryly. You let out a laugh at his answer. You fell back in step beside your new friends, quietly joking about the quiz.

"Hey! Jones!" Jughead stopped in his tracks. You keep walking until you realized he was no longer beside you. You turned around and saw him, face to face with a towering boy. His broad chest and shoulders lead to a smooth face. Dark hair was pushed back slightly, out of the way of his deep brown eyes. You locked eyes with him from over Jughead's shoulder and his jaw went slack. His gaze traveled down your face, as if he was seeing you for the first time; which indeed it was. You had never ran into the boy before you, if you had you would've remembered.

"What do you want Reggie?" Your thoughts derailed when you heard the tone of hostility in Jughead's voice. The boy, Reggie, moved his eyes from you back to Jughead.

"I-I," Reggie glanced back at you, "nothing. See ya around." With that, Reggie turned his back to the two of you and sauntered off. You watched as he walked away, but after he left your line of sight, you looked back at Jughead.

"Who was that," you asked. Jughead rolled his eyes and turned around to walk to class. You followed close behind him, still wanting an answer.

"That's Reggie Mantle," he said angrily, "he's nothing but trouble Y/N. Do yourself a favor and stay away from him." You bit your lip at Jughead's harsh words. Your mind still working over Reggie's appearance, you turned you head to look back in the direction he walked off in; as if he were still there. You smiled unexpectedly when you saw him leaning against the corner of the wall, watching you walk away.

After your encounter with Reggie, Jughead started to act differently around you. Whenever one of the jocks, especially Reggie, walked by, Jughead would touch you in someway. At first it started with the brushing of hands, but now he went as far to have an arm around your shoulders. Jughead also made it a point to tell you every horrible thing Reggie had done to him in past years. Reggie was foil to Jughead's character; the antagonist of Mr. Jones personal memoir. It didn't take you long to understand that Jughead wanted you to have nothing to do with the rude jock.

His stories, no matter how mean, didn't deter you from thinking about Reggie. You saw him in the hallways and sometimes you'd even catch his eye; however, a mere word was yet to be spoken to him. But Jughead didn't want that to happen.

"So who's going to the homecoming dance?" Veronica beamed as she asked. Betty smiled and asked Kevin if he was going with Joaquin. He nodded of course, a pink blush on his cheeks. Archie shrugged at Veronica's question and Betty rolled her eyes.