Weirdo - Jughead Jones

9: Guilt

"Cheryl? Find out what?"

"That I'm guilty."

These words replayed in our heads for the rest of the day. We would replay the scene of Cheryl rising from her seat, holding out her wrists and saying she was guilty. A man with greying hair and tired green eyes was standing in the door to biology class, next to Mr. Weatherbee. When I saw his uniform I discovered that this was Sheriff Keller, Kevin's dad. He waited as Cheryl was taken out of the room, to be interrogated in another.

Cheryl claimed she was guilty. But of what?

We wouldn't find out until an article was released in the Riverdale Register, the newspaper that Betty's parents worked. In it was confirmation, but also details that made the mess deeper; the plot thicker.

Cheryl had not killed Jason. But she was guilty of lying to the police. Jason had not drowned on July fourth. His plan was to run away. Cheryl helped him to stage his death so that he could run. They would go on the boat ride, Jason would get off safely on the other side of Sweetwater River, and he would say goodbye to his sister and leave. They had heard a gunshot that day, but it hadn't harmed them. Cheryl said that Jason was supposed to contact her, but time passed and she heard nothing.

Jason's autopsy showed that he hadn't been shot on July fourth, but over a week later.

Cheryl's confession inspired Archie to speak up. He went to the sheriff and Weatherbee to tell them that he, too, had heard the gunshot. He kept his relationship with Geraldine Grundy out of this, lying and saying he'd been there working on songs, his dog with him.

Betty found me at the end of the school day. "Hey," she said. "Can I walk with you?"

I laughed. "No. Let's awkwardly walk to the same place on opposite sides of the street." I rolled my eyes dramatically. "Betty. You are my best friend. I don't think you have to ask."

"I missed your sarcasm, Mads." She laughed. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you about something."

"Oh, shit." I looked at her. "Sorry. Sarcasm. What?"

"I've been thinking, and I want to bring back the Blue and Gold."

"What's the Blue and Gold?"

"It's the school newspaper."

"Okay," I said. "Cool. But why? Why now?"

"Because," she sighed. "There's more to Jason's death than everyone thinks there is, and no one wants to admit it. I want to make sure people know what's really going on."

"Show everyone what they don't want to see? Tell them what they don't want to hear?"

"It's a battle against fake news. A place where everyone will know the absolute truth."

"No bullshit." I nodded. "That's really cool."

"And I was wondering if you'd want to join my team?"

"What team?"

"It's just me and Jughead so far."

"I'm not a writer, though."

"But you take photos, right?" She asked with a smile. "Maybe you could be our photographer?"

I grinned. "Of course. One problem, though. I only have an old film camera."

"No problem. There's a bunch of unused digital cameras at school. I'll get you one."

"Oh. Well cool. That's great. And I'll get some kind of cheap editing software...." I thought about it and smiled. "Yeah. I'll do it."

"Yes!" Betty leaned on me for a second. "Thanks, Mads."

"Yeah." I nudged her. "Wait. How did you know I took photos?"

She smirked at me and looked around. "Don't tell him I told you this," she said. "But Jughead mentioned it. He asked me to get you on the team."

"Ah." I blushed a little, looking straight ahead. I felt eyes on me and turned to Betty, seeing her raising an eyebrow and grinning. "What?"

"Nothing." She bit her lip and kept smiling, shaking her head. "Oh, speaking of Jughead, I gave you both your first assignment. Dilton Doiley was at Sweetwater River on July fourth, but no one is talking about him. So I want you guys to check it out."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * * *

Dilton Doiley kind of creeped me out. The way he held himself, the way he talked, what he said; he was a hardcore survivalist and it was like everything was life or death to him.

Jughead and I exchanged glances as we watched Doiley's scout training. "I'll talk to him while you take photos?" I nodded and he approached Doiley.

While he talked I looked down at the Canon that Betty had brought out for me. It was brand new, and it even came with a camera bag that fit perfectly around my waist. I felt like a legitimate photographer for a newspaper.

I raised the camera to my face and took photos of Dilton and his scouts, who were dispersed around the field. I lowered my camera when I saw one of the scouts look between Jughead and I. He looked nervous.

Jughead left Dilton to join me, and we exited the field.

"What did he say?" I asked him.

"He didn't hear a gunshot, or see anything unusual," he sighed. "But you saw that one kid?"

"Yeah."

"Looks like he's got something to say."

I nodded. My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket.

Betty:
Hey, can you come to school?

Me:
On my way

"Betty wants me at school," I told Jughead.

"See you at Pop's later?"

"Yeah, sure."

* * * *

I joined Veronica when I saw her at school. She looked tired and pissed off. "V," I said. "What does Betty want?"

"Well she better have found out a way to destroy that bastard, Chuck."

"Chuck Clayton? What happened?"

She sighed. "I went on this stupid date with him and the next morning he posts photos and tells everyone he gave me a god forsaken 'sticky maple.'"

"What is that?"

Veronica stopped to pull out her phone. She held it out to me to show me a post of a photo of her and Chuck together, but a brown stain was photoshopped over her face.

"Oh my god." I stared in disbelief at the photo. "What the hell?"

"It's a slut shaming thing," she rolled her eyes. "We didn't even do anything." I could tell that she was trying to hide how hurt she really was.

"Asshole," I muttered. "Come on. Let's find Betty. She's probably plotting." I linked arms with her to comfort her as we walked. She sighed again and leaned her head on my shoulder.

We found Betty sitting in the Blue and Gold headquarters with other girls. They all surrounded a girl I knew to be named Ethel Muggs. Betty explained how the girls had come forth, empathizing with Veronica and sharing their personal stories of how a group of bulldogs had harassed them. Ethel was willing to go on record for the Blue and Gold, so Betty wanted me to take photos of her.

"They have a book of conquest, too," Betty added.

"What?"

"Whenever one of them does something like this they write it down and keep score. It's like a game to them."

I breathed out in frustration, taking a few more photos of Ethel. "Thanks, Ethel." I moved to her and hugged her. "That was really brave."

She smiled gratefully and nodded.

"Now we're gonna kick their sorry asses."