Jellybean Jones

Chapter 6: It'll Be Okay

Jellybean POV
There was no way I was going to walk through those double doors. I shook my head. "We have to go and get your schedule now." Jughead said softly. "Come on." He started walking. I couldn't move my legs, they were glued in place. I felt my face go red and I quickly blinked back tears. I took a step. And another one. And another one.

I was slowly getting over my anxiety about today. I was now walking forward at a slow pace. "There you go." Jughead exclaimed. But then I stopped. I took a sharp breathe. "No." I whispered. "No." Jughead bent done. "Hey bud." He breathed. "You were doing so good, okay? So good." He paused and smiled. "And I know it's scary, but you, uh, you've gotta do this."

I looked down and continued walking. Soon enough, we were walking into the old building. The hall was crowded and I was continuing to feel overwhelmed. We turned into the office. Jughead was talking to the secretary. I couldn't focus on what they were saying and I believed I could no longer do this, but right now was really not a great time to breakdown.

Jughead motioned for me to come out of the office. He passed me a piece of paper. "I've gotta get going, Jellybean." This was the moment I had been dreading. "You're in room 138 just down the hall. You don't want to be late, so you best start heading down there." I nodded. "Bye." I practically whispered. "Bye." Jughead said. He knew how terrified I was. But I thought I was going to start sobbing as soon as he walked away.

I forced myself to find the classroom. "138, 138." I muttered. I tried to control my breathing, I could not do this. I will not do this. I felt like this might be the end of me. Rest in peace Forsythia (Jellybean) Jones. Cause of death, school. It really felt that way until there was a tap on my shoulder. I whipped my head around and all my stress, all my anxiety, melted away as soon as I saw the one face I thought I would never see again.

Jughead POV
I felt awful leaving my little sister at that school. I wanted to just hug her and take her home, but Dad had told me to not give in. I was heading towards Riverdale High, I shook my head at myself, she would be okay. I knew she would be, but she was just going to have to get through today.

Jellybean POV
Rosie Hale was my best (and only) friend for the first eight years of my life. It hadn't even crossed my mind that she would still be here. She smiled her old usual smile. "You're back!" Rosie exclaimed. "You're still here!" I laughed. We hugged and I was no longer so worried about today.

"I thought you were gone for good Jellybean!" She exclaimed. "Me too! So how are things?" I asked. "Same old, same old. Emmett went to university so it's just me and my parents now." I nodded. Rosie's life had always seemed perfect to me. Perfect parents. Perfect house. But I had to admit, I had the better brother.

"How about you? Did your Mum stay in Toledo?" She questioned. "She did." I said, looking down. "But you know, I guess I'm the same. I like reading now though." Rosie laughed. I used to despise reading. "Finally, I can talk to someone about books." We both jumped at the sound of the warning bell. My eyes went wide.

"What room are you in?" I asked urgently. "136." Rosie answered. "Oh, I'm 138. Right beside you though!" She smiled. "We'll have all our other classes together! They use two home rooms for one subject." Rosie said. I was filled with relief. "We better get going!" She remarked. We both walked to our rooms. After bidding each other goodbye, I was no longer so comfortable.

I entered the classroom. Miss Stan was our teacher. She looked about thirty. I walked over to her desk. "Oh, you must be Jellybean!" She said in a sweet voice. I nodded nervously. "We're still waiting for quite a few people to show up, but you can sit at the end of the second row." Miss Stan directed. "And if you don't mind, I'll introduce you, would that be alright?" She was very enthusiastic. "Yeah, that'd, that'd be great." I answered shyly. I headed for my seat.

I sat beside a boy. A boy I recognized. A boy I wish I could forget about. "It's been a while, Forsythia." Jackson Millstone said. He had always been completely awful to me in grade school. "Please don't call me that, Jackson." I said coldly, looking away from him. "Feisty one, aren't ya?" He said cockily. "Leave her alone." Another voice snapped.

I turned around to see who it was. Seth Hill had been my first crush. But I rarely ever spoke to him. "Jellybean?" He asked. I nodded. "Long time no see, how's life?" He asked. I felt myself go a little bit pink. "Decent. How about you Seth?" I responded. "Pretty good. Pretty good."

"Class!" Miss Stan said loudly. She didn't seem like the yelling type. "Please bring your attention up front. As some of you already noticed, we have a new student. Jellybean is now joining our class." I waved awkwardly. A bunch of kids looked at me. "Miss Stan?" Seth asked. "Yes Seth?" "She's not really new though."

I looked at Seth gratefully. "Jellybean, care to explain?" Miss Stan asked. "I lived here until I was eight." I said quietly. She nodded. "Thank you for bringing that up Seth. Now let's get on with our day." Home room continued for the next 52 minutes. To my relief, Miss Stan made everyone introduce themselves. By the time home room was over, this whole school thing didn't seem too bad. Except, of course, for Jackson Millstone, who was continuously being rude to me.

I was walking out the door when I heard Seth talk to me. "Sorry about Jackson, he's always been so rude to you." I smiled. "Thanks, it's not your fault though." I answered. "Oh I know," Seth said. "but he's not going to apologize, now is he?" I was about to express my gratitude to Seth, but Rosie pulled me away from him.

Seth waved and smiled at me. I waved back. "Ohhhhhhhhh." Rosie whispered in my ear. "One hour in and somebody's already crushing." She said. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Rosie." I said quietly. "Oh come on Beans!" That was her special nickname for me. "You've been smitten with Seth since kindergarten!"

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "'Smitten'? What are you, eighty years old?" She shook her head. "Come on, we've gotta get to English." Rosie led the way to the English classroom, my favourite subject. We sat beside each other and Seth sat on my other side. With theway today was going, I was now convinced that maybe this school thing wasn't going to be all that bad.