Weirdo - Jughead Jones

16: Closing Night

I had calmed down by the time the Kellers' truck came around. I hadn't gone back into the house; I just stayed there on the steps. Once the truck came I hopped up and climbed into the back. Kevin was at the wheel with Veronica riding shotgun. I stared out the window while the other two chatted, replaying the scene with my mom.

At the Drive-In Kevin, Veronica and I lined up in the bed of the truck, sitting on a blanket. Kevin sat in between Ronnie and I so that we could both make a pillow out of his shoulder.

I tried focusing on the movie, but my mom kept coming back through my head. I never liked having fights with my parents; I was scared of them being disappointed in me. Before, I was scared of my mom looking annoyed with me, let alone yelling or even snapping at me. And now she had become violent, and it was a whole new level of fear.

After a while we heard voices behind us. There was rustling and laughing. Kevin and I turned and looked out from the side of the truck. In the back of the Drive-In were a group of people in folding chairs, all wearing leather jackets. Their motorcycles were parked with them.

Kevin shushed them, which made them laugh mockingly. He turned back to the screen, embarrassed.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"South Side Serpents."

I froze. These were the people my mom had talked about. My dad was one of them.

Veronica stood up and turned. "Hey," She said to them. "You know what happens to a snake when a Louboutin heel steps on it? Shut the hell up or you'll find out." The Serpents stopped their noise. Numerous cars honked and people cheered. Veronica curtsied and lowered with a smile.

Kevin and I gawked at her. "V," Kevin started. "Did you actually just threaten a group of gang bangers?"

"Oh, I've dealt with worse in the East Village," she replied simply. "I just hate when people disrupt my cinematic experience."

I chuckled and nervously looked again at the group behind me. What if they knew something about my dad?

"Refill?" I asked Kevin suddenly. "I can get it."

"Uh, yeah, I can show you where—"

"No, I'll find it." I took the popcorn carton and left the truck bed.

I walked behind the Serpents. To my right was a structure which I assumed to be the projection booth. A light traveled from it to the large screen. Jughead was behind that wall.

As I made my way to the popcorn booth I noticed a guy with a leather jacket pass me in the opposite direction. I turned around to see him. He had shoulder length jet black hair. The patches on his jacket labeled him a South Side Serpent, along with an illustration of a hissing snake with a head on both ends of its body.

The jacket made him look so intimidating. I took a deep breath. "Excuse me?" He turned around and I was shocked by the piercing blue eyes and the face I saw. "Joaquin?"

His eyebrows furrowed for a second before he realized who I was. He grinned. "Madison? No way!"

I couldn't believe it. My dad and Joaquin's were close, so Joaquin and I practically grew up together. "Can I hug you or are you too much of a macho biker now?"

"Only you," he said, and tackled me in a hug. He jokingly squeezed a little too tightly and made me cough and gasp for air.

I laughed as I pulled away. "So, you're a Serpent now?"

"Yeah. Took after the old man, I guess."

"Your dad's a Serpent, too?" How many Serpents did I actually know? How many was I related to?

He nodded. "Uh." He looked behind me. "You were sitting in that red truck, right?"

"Yeah."

"Who's that kid with you?"

"Kevin."

"He's gay, right?"

"Um. Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing, sorry." He looked back at me.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." I said. "My dad is...."

"He's missing," Joaquin said sympathetically. "We know."

"Do you know anything about this? Like why? Or how?"

"I wish we knew more," he shook his head. "But your dad, he did something for my family a while back. Something really great. He helped us out. We're going to do whatever we can to help you." He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed a bit.

I nodded. "Thank you."

"It's good to have you back again, Maddie."

"It's good to be back." I let him return to his gang.

I walked up to the food booth and turned in the popcorn carton.

"You're Jones's girlfriend, yeah?" The boy behind the counter questioned.

"Guilty," I said.

"He told me to save these for you." He retrieved a box of Junior Mints and a medium soda cup.

I couldn't help grinning like an idiot. "Can you tell him he's amazing?"

"You can tell him yourself," he replied. He pointed to the projection booth. "He'll be in the booth all night. I'm sure he won't mind if you stop by. What would you like to drink?"

For some reason I imagine this guy as Oliver Wood. Idk why I just thought of him when I was writing this

"A root beer, please." I gave him Kevin's popcorn carton. "And can I get this refilled?"

I arrived back at the truck and gave Kevin the popcorn. "Got free stuff, bitches!" I laughed as I took my place beside Kevin in the truck bed.

"What? How?"

"Junior Mints? They never have Junior Mints. What the hell?" Kevin's jaw dropped. "Jughead! He sent those to you, didn't he?"

"Shut up, I'm trying to watch the movie." I took a sip of my drink to try to hide my blush.

"He is so into you," Veronica piped up.

"Shipping it already!" Kevin exclaimed.