Varchie series

Chapter 9 - lies

Archies POV
I lay alone in my bed, buried in my own tears. To say I was hurting would be a lie. I wasn't. I didn't feel anything anymore. I was numbed, beyond heartbroken. I was terrified I'd never feel anything ever again. I gave Veronica all of myself. She was supposed to be mine, and we were supposed to grow old together. I wanted that for us. But it felt so pathetic, knowing that I fell in love with a lie. That the person I loved, the person I'd die for, was just playing a sick game. She never even liked me. Every single word she said, the ones that made me love her. We're lies. All of it. Everything made sense now. We started this relationship Of with a lie. And the lie continued. I told her I loved her, and she couldn't say it back. It all made sense. I should have known it was to good to be true. And the stupidest part? I still loved her, maybe our relationship was fake, but the way I felt about her... it was real. All of a sudden, there was a knock on my bedroom door. I made a pathetic attempt to look natural, before opening the door to see Betty. "Hi" I said weakly. "Oh Archie" she said pulling me into a hug. Obviously, she had seen that I'd been crying. "I'm sorry I blamed you for the article" I apologized. An odd expression, I couldn't read crawled upon Betty's face. "Don't be sorry" she said quickly. But then shook the look away, and sat down. "Archie are you okay?" She asked. "No" I said bluntly. Betty looked down. "I'm sorry Archie, I promise it will get better" she said, hugging me again. "I just..." I started. "Yes?" Betty asked. "I just loved her so damn much" I admitted in tears. Silence filled the room

Veronica's POV
I didn't sleep that night. I couldn't stop thinking. My brain wouldn't shut off. Archie probably hated me. And I wanted to tell him the truth... so badly. But if I did.. I'd be betraying Betty. I knew this was the right thing to do. I knew because the better option, is always the harder one. I had to sacrifice something important to me, so the people important to me could be happy. Archie would be better off. He didn't need me. Not like he needed Betty. I got dressed, and started walking to school. What would I do now? I was the the bad guy in this arrangement, so did that mean I had to go and sit with Cheryl? And Forget about jughead, Betty and.... and Archie? As soon as I got to school, I headed to the library, to make sure I didn't bump into them in the halls. I decided to avoid confrontation at all costs. Because if I saw Archie, would I be able to look him in the eyes, and tell him I felt nothing. Let him believe I wanted to hurt him. I was scarred I wouldn't be strong enough. If I had to tell Archie I hated him one more time, my heart would break quicker then his. The day went by pretty quickly, I successfully managed to avoid everyone I felt necessary, until my class right before lunch. My only class with Archie. As I looked around the room, my heart almost stopped. I usually sat with Archie in this class, but at the moment, he was sitting with Valerie. And worse? He was laughing. Maybe, I wasn't so great at breaking peoples heart's as I thought. Because Archie seemed unaffected. Fine. Happy. And somehow I was the one who felt broken. He said he loved me, and I told him I hated him, I had no right to be mad about anything Archie did. He was no longer mine to worry about, and this is what I wanted. For him to be happy, and for him and Betty to stay friends, and from the text Betty sent me last night, Archie and her are back on good terms. As I started walking in to the class, Valerie jumped up from my usual seat, expecting me to be mad she had sat there, and clearing a path so I could sit next to Archie. I guess she hadn't heard the news. I can't explain how hard it was, to walk right past Archie, without acknowledging his existence. I felt my eyes start to water, but quickly wiped them away. It was time to put on a brave face. time to be strong. I didn't glance in his direction the rest of class.

At lunch time, I hesitantly walked out to the courtyard with my lunch. I picked a random table, far away from where I usually sat, and started eating lunch. I tried to eat quickly, so the loneliness wouldn't last long, until I heard a voice. "Veronica, why are you sitting all the way over here?" I heard Betty question. I looked up in surprise, well do you expect me to sit with Archie after what happened?" I questioned. "Yes, I do" Said Betty. I rolled me eyes. "I don't think archie wants to talk to me" I said. "Well he will, because your going to go over there, apologize, and get back together" Betty said. I sighed. "Betty that would defeat the purpose of even doing any of this. I made my choice. It's done. I'm fine" I said. Betty sat down beside me. "Veronica?" She asked. I looked up in response. "Your not fine" she said simply. I looked away, collecting my tears before Betty could notice. "I feel bad. I should have never posted that article. It ruined you and Archie" admitted Betty. "Of course you shouldn't have, but you did. And you didn't make me take the blame for it. That was my choice. So any of the consequences I suffer because of it, fall on me. But I accept those consequences, you wanna know why? Because it was the right thing to do. So it doesn't matter that you feel bad about it, it's what I choose. And it's what I want. What I don't want is you over here trying to make it up to me" I said. Betty looked down. "Well maybe I'm not okay with loosing you as a friend" Betty said. I sighed. "How about this? You and Archie can at least be civil, and sit at the same table, and that way we can stay friends" Betty smiled. "Have fun trying to get Archie to agree to that" I responded, "our group is a democracy, archie doesn't make the calls by himself" Betty stated. I laughed, and nodded my head in agreement. I wasn't sure if it was a mistake, but maybe this could work. Being civil with Archie. As Betty led me to our usual table, archie locked eyes with me right away, and my instincts told me to run. But that wasn't really an option anymore. "What the hell are you doing here?" Archie sneered as I sat down across from him. "Veronica has something she wants to tell you" Betty stated. I started at her in shock. What did she expect me to do? Apologize? I couldn't do that. It wouldn't make sense. Archie starred at me intently. "Do you?" He asked. I looked down, and tried to stay zen. "Nope" I responded. "Nope?" Archie questioned angrily. I Sighed. This was the last thing I wanted to be doing. But it was the only thing I could do. "I think I made my position very clear last night, nothing has changed" I stated simply, "then why are you even here?!" Archie questioned, "because Archie, unlike you, I'm not sour about our break up. I didn't loose anything of value, or anything I cared about, or anything worth my anger. I'm unaffected by this whole situation. I don't care about our stupid break up. Why would I? It wasn't even real in the first place" I stated calmly, but on the inside, I was dying. I looked down, pretending to be busy with my nails. I had to look away, because there were tears threatening to spill out of my eyes.

                     Archie's POV
I couldn't believe Veronica, I thought I could do it. Pretend to be fine. But Veronica was killing me. It would have even been easier if she was mad. If she felt any kind of emotion towards what we had. If she was at least  angry about it, it would have meant she cared, or had some sort of feelings. But she didn't. The way she could act like nothing ever happened. It hurt. I didn't want what we had to be forgotten. I didn't want it to be something that we'd all move on from. "I have to go to get something from my locker" said Veronica, looking down, and leaving. She wouldn't even make eye contact with me. I wondered if she forgot I existed, if my presence was that unnoticeable, or if she just thought that nothing about my presence was worth looking at. The more I thought about it, the more angry I got. "Who gave her the right to come sit with us?!" I asked angrily. "Uhh... I did" Betty said. But I was too mad at Veronica, to hear Betty's comment. "You know what? I'm not letting her get away with all this shit, I'm going to go put her in her place!" I decided, going after her. I stormed into the hallway where her locker was located, and look around. I was ready to give Veronica hell on earth. And then, I heard a sound. A sound that changed everything. I turned the corner in confusion, following the sound,  it couldn't possibly be what I thought it was could it? I looked up, and that's when I saw it happening. It was exactly what I thought. Veronica sat down against a wall, crying into her knees, such she was hugging tightly with her arms. Veronica was crying. She was crying about our breakup. I thought she didn't care. I was wrong.