Weirdo - Jughead Jones

11: News

"I swear. The Twilight closing is just one more nail in the coffin that is Riverdale. Forget Riverdale— the American dream. Not only am I losing my job, but the drive-in should mean something to us. It's our place."

We listened as Jughead ranted about the closing of his place of employment, the Twilight Drive-In. "We" meaning Kevin, Veronica, Betty, Jug and I in a booth at Pop's. An anonymous buyer had recently given our mayor an offer she couldn't refuse, and so the land was sold. Seeing Jughead so passionately open about something was rare, and I think it was why we were so quiet while he ranted.

"But, in this age of Netflix and HBO," Veronica spoke. "Who still goes to a drive-in?"

"Cinephiles and car enthusiasts," Jughead said defensively.

"But mostly people who want to buy crack," Kevin said.

Jughead ignored this. "I need to play something good on closing night. I'm thinking American Graffiti. Or is that too obvious? What do you guys think?"

"Betty?"

Betty looked distracted. She'd been staring at the table the whole time, not engaging. She looked up at her name.

"You okay?" I asked.

She met my eyes for a second and looked away. "Huh? Yeah. Just thinking. Um... what about... Rebel Without A Cause?" She exchanged a smile with Jughead, who looked pleased at her answer.

Later, Kevin looked up at the entry bell of Pop's. "Well that's an odd mix of people."

We turned to see Archie, his dad, and Ms. Grundy take a booth. That table was the definition of awkwardness.

Upon seeing them, Betty got up from her seat.

"Betty," Jughead warned. "No, don't—!"

"B!"

But she was already at their table, asking to talk to Archie and leading him out to the parking lot. Jughead and I exchanged a worried glance. Did Betty figure it out? Archie glared in our direction before they exited the shoppe.

"Shit," I muttered. Jughead lowered his head.

"What?" Veronica asked. "What are they talking about? Is it about me?"

"I have an inkling." Jughead sighed. He looked at Veronica. "And no."

My phone started buzzing in my back pocket, singing Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. The rest turned their heads and looked at me.

"Why am I not surprised?" Veronica asked, referring to my ringtone.

I laughed and pulled my phone from my pocket.

Ur Mom

I swiped to answer the call. "Hey, Mom." I snatched a French fry from Jughead's plate and returned his look of disapproval with my tongue stuck out at him. I was about to eat the fry but I stopped raising it midway when I heard my mom.

"Maddie, where are you?" Her voice was shaky.

"Pop's, why?" Well deja vu this shit.

"I need you to come home." She said. She almost sobbed when she said, "It's about your father."

My eyes widened and my friends' expressions grew worried. Jughead met my eyes, silently asking what was wrong.

"Um. Okay," I said slowly. "I'll see you in a minute." I hung up and looked at them.

"What's wrong, hon?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know," I said, tugging my bangs. "My mom just said to come home. She said it was something... something about my dad." Kevin put his hand on my arm supportively. "I'm sorry, guys, I need to go." I climbed out of the booth.

"I'll walk you home," Jughead said. He hopped over the bench and joined me.

I nodded, smiling at him gratefully.

"Bye, Maddie."

"Bye, sweetie."

"Bye, guys."

I took a deep breath as Jughead and I walked.

"You okay, Mads?" He asked, concerned.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I haven't heard anything from my dad in five months. Back there on the phone, my mom scared me. She didn't sound too good." Minutes ago I was stressed about hurting Archie's feelings for something I didn't do. The whole situation seemed so small compared to what was now going on.

He said nothing, but instead he put an arm around me and rubbed my shoulder.

Immediately my heart and stomach did the same thing they did the last few times we shared this contact. But this still surprised me. This was more than just our legs or arms touching. I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed. I made myself hold back tears as I thought about what would be waiting when I got home. "Thank you," I said to him quietly, my voice breaking.

"For what?"

I looked at him and smiled softly. "For walking me home all the time. For being a good friend. You've been really good to me, Jug."

"Well, I'm glad I haven't scared you away, Mads." He smiled at me.

"To be honest, I'm surprised I haven't scared you away," I chuckled.

"Let's just accept the fact that we're two weirdos who most people don't understand, or want to be around. But, being weirdos, we stick together. Weirdos attract weirdos." He paused before smirking and adding, "Weirdo."

"Nerd."

"Dork."

"Bitch." We both laughed. I felt weight gradually lifting from my shoulders as he made me relax.

"Mads?"

"Jugs?"

"Could you... call me? When you find out what's going on?" He looked at me carefully.

"Okay."

"Okay. Can I give you my number?"

"Yeah, Jug," I laughed. He was so nervous. I stopped walking and pulled out my phone, unlocking it and creating a new contact. I handed it to him and he, unfortunately, unwrapped his arm from around me to type his information in.

He smirked at the glow of my screen. "I'm adding myself to your favorites."

"Makes sense." I took my phone back to see that he'd labeled his contact 'Weirdo.' I grinned as we started walking again, but my smile faded once we approached my house. The living room light was on. I took another deep breath as we stopped in front of it.

"Hey," Jughead turned to me with a look of concern and reassurance. He put a hand on my arm. "Please call, okay? I don't care what time it is, I don't care if you wake me up. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. I will," I said. "Thank you."

His blue-green eyes searched me one more time and he squeezed my arm before letting me go.

I turned to the house and walked to the front door, looking back once at Jughead, and braced myself for what was next.