Weirdo - Jughead Jones

20: Polly Cooper

That night, Betty tried to ask her father Hal about Polly and Jason, if he had known that they were engaged. He had lied about what happened between them; they hadn't been the toxic couple Betty's parents said them to be. Hal's reasons for hating the Blossom family weren't with Jason. It was the family itself. Long ago, Betty's great-grandfather and Cheryl's great-grandfather were partners in the maple syrup business. Wanting the company to himself, the Blossom killed the Cooper. Hal said that the Blossom family had taken so much from him, and he didn't want them to take away Polly.

But something else wasn't right. On the night of the Drive-In's closing, Kevin and Sheriff Keller returned to their home to find that someone had broken in. They had stolen every file and piece of evidence that was a part of Jason's murder case. Betty said that her father had been the only one who wasn't at the Drive-In or with Alice that night. Jug and I watched as she put her family's name on our murder board in the Blue and Gold, under the list of suspects.

When she got a chance, Betty searched the house and found something in her mother's purse.

"It was a check," she said to Jughead and I at the Blue and Gold headquarters. "Made out to something called the 'Sisters Of Quiet Mercy.'"

"What is that?" I asked.

"I don't know," Betty said. She sat down at one of the computers and started to look it up. Once it had loaded she started to read. "'The Sisters Of Quiet Mercy: Home for Troubled Youth.'"

"Do you think that's where Polly is?" I asked. I eyed the website and it gave me chills.

"It must be," she said.

*    *    *    *

The building was as creepy as I thought it would be. Large and ominous. No color. It wasn't very cold out, but I still felt shivers. Once in the lobby, Betty asked to see Polly Cooper and was led somewhere while Jughead and I were to wait in the lobby.

I sat in an uncomfortable chair and looked around. It was so dark in here. And once in a while you would see a nun, looking scary as hell. The footsteps echoed loud.

I had never been a fan of religion. Specifically Christianity. It scared me in a way. That, and my parents were atheists.

"Can we, um." I turned to Jughead and whispered. "Can we wait outside, or something?"

He nodded, looking relieved as he rose from his seat. I followed and we made it out the front door.

"Jesus Christ," I breathed. The sun and fresh air calmed me. Jughead chuckled. We walked to a bench down the sidewalk and sat there. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't deal with that."

"You're fine," he said. His lips tugged into a smile. "Me neither. I'm glad you asked."

I leaned on his shoulder and sighed. I felt so safe with him.

"I'm sorry that I haven't, like, taken you on a date or anything that a normal boyfriend would do." He said. "It's been getting kind of crazy around here."

"Yeah, it is. But we're not exactly normal, are we?"

"I guess not." Jughead chuckled. He found my hand with his and held it.

"Jug, when's your birthday?"

"Um... I forgot."

I laughed. "No, really. When?" I raised my head to smile at him.

He sighed but then looked at me and gave up. "October second."

"You're kidding."

"Um. No?"

"Mine is the first."

Jughead laughed with me. "Wow." After a moment he spoke quietly. "But, listen. I don't really like my birthday."

"What, you're too cool to have a birthday?"

"No," he chuckled lightly. "I just have... bad memories."

I squeezed his hand and he looked at me nervously.

"I have a mom and a little sister," he said. "And a few years ago they left. They moved away. My life after that just wasn't... right. And then there was one day in the year where we would pretend everything was okay, only to go back the next." Jughead looked away and then back at me. "That doesn't make sense, does it?"

"No, it does. I know how you feel. It's not the same without them." I thought of my dad, how far away he was from his family. "And then everyone bullshits you for a day. I get it. But," I turn more to him in my seat and take our connected hands in my other hand. "Maybe we can make a good memory?"

Jughead met my eyes. Then he leaned in and kissed me slowly. I responded as he put his free hand on my neck, his thumb resting on my cheek. We'd kissed a lot so far, but I still felt butterflies every time.

It seemed like forever and too soon at the same time before we pulled away. He kept his forehead pressed against mine, his eyes still closed. He kissed my nose before we moved. I grinned at this.

My smile faded when I saw someone storming toward the entrance to the Sisters. "Is that Alice?"

Jughead followed my gaze. "Oh, shit."

We quickly stood up and entered the building right after she did.

"Where is she?" Alice asked harshly. A nurse started to lead her somewhere and we followed. We stopped at a room and Alice strode in. "Betty, what do you think you're doing? Come on, we're going home."

"Mom?"

We turned to see Polly Cooper in the hallway. I was taken aback as I hadn't seen her in seven years, and also because of the way her stomach curved out into a round bump. A baby bump.

"Jason's dead?" She asked, hurt darkening her features. She didn't know.