Weirdo - Jughead Jones

10: Pressing Further

I met Jughead at Pop's later that day. I was ready to be able to relax and drink a milkshake; the past few days have been hectic. But when we entered the Chock'lit Shoppe I noticed one of the customers in a booth, getting his sundae.

"Hey." I got Jug's attention. "It's that kid from earlier."

He followed my gaze to see Dilton Doiley's scout. "Let's see if he wants to talk."

I followed him to the booth. Jughead reached over the table and plucked the cherry from the top of the boy's sundae. The scout looked up, startled. I tried not to laugh as Jughead crouched in the seat across from him.

"What's going on?" The scout asked, more nervous than defensive.

"We saw you." I said, sitting next to Jughead as he pulled the sundae over to us. I leaned with my elbows on the table. "On the field. When we questioned Doiley."

"Something you want to tell us?" Jughead ate a spoon of the ice cream, raising his eyebrows. So I guess that eating was his intimidation tactic.

The scout sighed and looked around nervously. He then turned to us, leaning in. Jughead handed me the spoon without looking away and I helped myself to a bit of the sundae.

"Scout master Doiley," the boy started quietly. "He was lying about the gunshot. He was the one who fired the gun."

Jughead and I stopped eating to listen more closely.

"He was showing us how to shoot targets."

Jughead and I exchanged a look. This whole time we'd thought that the shot was fired at Jason, and that whoever was behind the gun was his murderer. But Doiley had just been teaching a lesson. Jason's killer was not at Sweetwater River on July fourth, and with this discovery, it was hard to tell if we were getting closer to solving the mystery, or farther away.

*    *    *    *

I felt a little too much like Nancy Drew today. Taking photos, interrogating, and now I was with Betty, Veronica, Ethel, Kevin, and Cheryl as we snuck into school after hours. We all were wielding flashlights as we walked through the hall.

Apparently Betty had learned from a former Bulldog named Trev Brown where the boys had been keeping their playbook. Betty found it and opened it up.

There were pages of notes that were surprisingly neat. They made a list; the name of the boy across from the name of the girl, something describing her, and the points attached to her.

Veronica's name was at the bottom, next to Chuck's. He'd labeled her the 'new girl,' and wrote '(+9).'

"Nine points?" Veronica said. "That's what I'm reduced to?"

Ethel's name was there, but what caught Betty's attention was—

"There's Polly's name," she said. "Right next to Jason's."

We all looked to Cheryl, who creased her eyebrows and shook her head. "No. Jason would never be apart of this. He wouldn't—"

"The proof is right there, Cheryl," Betty interrupted. "This is what they do. They treat women like objects."

Cheryl turned away, looking hurt. "Maybe I didn't know my brother as well as I thought."

Veronica snapped a few photos with her phone, and I followed with my camera. "This is disgusting." I stared at the book.

"We have to do more than expose them," Betty said, almost to herself. "You want to get revenge, Veronica? I'm in. Full dark, no stars."

*    *    *    *

The night after my detective work continued. Jughead and I were going to attend the Taste Of Riverdale Jubilee to catch Doiley and confront him.

I met Jughead on the balcony that looked over the party. I spotted my mother talking to Fred Andrews. Jughead was sitting and looking over the barrier, watching. I joined him. "Hey."

He looked at me and smiled. "Hey. Weirdo."

I chuckled and watched the party with him, looking for Doiley. Soon Josie and the Pussycats, a popular three-piece band of girls that went to Riverdale High, took the stage and started to play.

In that moment I felt so close the the boy next to me. As we looked off the edge I could feel his arm and shoulder meeting mine. And then I felt his gaze. I turned to him and we locked eyes. He was almost going to say something before he looked behind me. I followed his gaze to see Archie Andrews sneakily climbing up the stairs and ducking behind the barrier of the balcony.

"Archie?"

He looked in our direction. "Mads. Jughead."

"What are you doing? Aren't you grounded?" He'd told us how his dad created a strict curfew for Archie after he'd gone to the police about the gunshot.

"I snuck out," Archie whispered.

"For the Jubilee?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

He had a smile that was both humble and proud. "I helped write that song."

We all looked over the edge to the stage and listened.

"It's good," Jughead admitted.

"That's awesome, Arch." I smiled at him before turning back to the party. "Jug, there's Doiley. He's heading for the staircase."

"Archie, we'd love to stay," Jughead said. "But we've got a scout master to interrogate."

Archie nodded, still absorbed in the music he had helped to create. Jughead and I stood and took to the staircase, where we found Doiley at the end. "Dilton," Jughead called. He turned as we made our way down the steps. "We talked to one of your scouts, and we know you fired the gun on July fourth, which makes you a liar and a public menace."

Dilton looked around him to make sure no one was listening. He then looked up at us. "Yeah, I shot it. With the way this town is going, someone needs to teach them how to defend themselves."

"Save it for your statement, Doiley," Jug said. "Which you can give to either the sheriff or me."

"I'd recommend the latter," I added.

"Okay," Doiley surrenders.

"Meet us at the Blue and Gold offices tomorrow," I instructed.

*     *     *     *

The next day Chuck Clayton and his friends were escorted out of the school. His father, being the coach of the football team, was forced to kick them off of the Riverdale Bulldogs team after they had been exposed as harassers of women. I stood with the female student body as we watched the boys walk away. Many of the girls were taking photos, and I myself raised my Canon. Chuck's expression was livid.

"Thanks, you guys," I heard Ethel say. "You finally brought them down."

"Ethel," I turned to her. "So did you. You were brave enough to go on record." She smiled at me.

"Hashtag 'Justice For Ethel.'" Cheryl smiled.

Dilton Doiley did as he was told, as he met us at the Blue and Gold headquarters to plead his case. Betty, Jug and I listened to his statement.

"Okay," Doiley said. "What if we kept the gunshot just between us, and instead I give you another story?" He didn't want to ruin his reputation.

"We won't publish it if you can give us something better," Jughead said.

"I saw something that no one else did," said Doiley. "At Sweetwater River on July fourth. It was Ms. Grundy's car by the river's edge. She was there."

Jughead and I exchanged a glance, worried about what was to come of our friend and his secrets.