Jellybean Jones

Chapter 14: I'll Hurt You

Jellybean POV
The rest of the week went by in a blur. Today, however, was the day I was dreading. Today was Monday, the day the divorce was going to be finalized. Jughead and I were staying home from school. We both didn't really want this to happen and it was a pretty touchy subject. Dad was leaving at 6:00am to meet Mum in Toledo. We got up to say goodbye. He told us everything would be okay before he headed out the door.

"I'm going back to bed." I said quietly and stalked off to my room. I crawled under the covers and shut my eyes. I doubted I would be able to fall back asleep. Though I was tired, my mind was wide awake. I was upset about the whole divorce. Yeah I knew it was necessary and bound to happen, I had known that since I was five, but a part of me missed our family being together.

I tried to convince myself that it was better this way. That having my mother out of my life would be a good thing, but I just couldn't. Even though when our whole family was in Riverdale there were many fights everyday, there were special occasions, mostly birthdays, where we were normal. That's probably why I hate my birthday now. That and all the attention. Sighing, I pulled out my Killjoys comic and started reading it. I couldn't focus, but then again it's hard to focus on one thing when you have so many going on.

Jughead POV
Betty had been back at school on Friday, she had said her Mum wanted her to stay home, so that was one of my worries gone, but the other one was still vivid. And that would be telling Jellybean about that phone call. Truth is, right now seemed like a good time. We both were already pretty devastated, so how's one more thing going to make that much of a difference.

I knew she was still awake, she had only went to her room because she was sad. I knocked on the door lightly. "Jelly?" I asked. "Come in." She said from inside the room. "I have something to tell you." I said hesitantly. She sat up. I turned on the light. "On Wednesday I got a phone call." I began. "It was from a boy, he said his name was Ryan." Jellybean's face went completely pale.

"He said that he wanted to see you to apologize or something. He went on and on about how much he regretted it and I don't know about you, but I can tell when someone's being fake. That kid was fake. So, who is this kid and what the hell did he do to you?" My little sister was beyond upset. She looked down and shut her eyes. She began to gently sway back and forth. I put my hand on her back to steady her and it was that moment that I realized there was something big that she hadn't told me.

Jellybean POV
Ryan Birch was the same kind of person as Jackson. Both of them are horrific and want to make you feel worthless. I decided to tell Jughead what he had done to me. "This happened about a year and a half ago." I began gingerly. "Ryan was in my sixth grade class and he had convinced me that he cared about me and was the best person I had in my life."

I paused here to reflect on how awful he was. "Pretty much he made me feel like I was nothing without him, my alleged 'best friend' and the sad thing is, I was so frustrated with myself for not having friends at school that I believed him." I couldn't continue. Ryan was one of the main reasons I had trust issues. I had only forgotten about him because of all the current trauma that was happening to me now.

Jughead noticed my tenseness and soothingly rubbed my back. "He invited me to his house one night and I went because of course, I thought he was this great person." I blinked back tears. Why did this have to happen now? Right when I was already going through so much with that damned divorce. "He hurt me Jughead." I said plainly.

"He called me names that aren't worth repeating and he- he hit me a couple times whilst trying to convince me I was worthless without him." Jughead didn't respond. Even though he was only three years older than me, he seemed like he had been around much longer. "What the hell." He said quietly, it wasn't a question however, it was just him expressing how he felt about this.

"I'm sorry." I said slowly. That was a bad habit I had, I apologized for things that weren't even remotely my fault. "Why are you apologizing?" I shrugged. "I'm sorry for what happened to you, that's horrible Jellybean. Look, I'll deal with him, but you don't think he's actually sorry, do you?" Jughead asked. I shook my head. "Hell no. It's total BS. Why he wants to see me again is beyond me." And that was the truth.

Jughead POV
I was absolutely disgusted with what happened to Jellybean, but why did it have to be brought up again now? Right when everything was pretty sad. I would deal with him though. Jellybean yawned and then I noticed she had fallen asleep on my shoulder. I laid her down and went to my room. Bitterly, I dialled Ryan's number.

It rang once. Twice. Three times. "Hello?" Said a groggy voice. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I snapped. "Oh, it's you. Well there's nothing wrong with me. I'm just a nice guy who wants to apologize to his friend." I lost it. "Don't you dare call my sister your friend. I know what you did to her, you vile little-" He cut me off. "Oh you know, huh?" His voice was mocking.

That's it. "If you ever call this number again or go anywhere near my sister there will be hell to pay." I didn't yell. I just used an intimidating voice. I heard him shudder and clear his throat. "And what will you do to me?" I wanted to slap him, his voice was so incredibly annoying. "I'll hurt you." I said and hung up the phone.

Jellybean POV
I woke up about two hours later. Tiredly, I got dressed and walked into the living room, where Jughead was. He looked up at me as I sat down. "Why does everything happen at once?" I asked sadly. "I don't know, but it sure sucks." He answered. Then he looked me straight in the eyes. "Don't worry about Ryan, I dealed with him." His voice was thick with hatred.

I nodded. "Can we maybe talk about the divorce?" I asked quietly. Jughead nodded. "Of course." I knew he'd say yes. "I know that it should happen and it's good that it's happening, but I still feel like I want our whole family back together again." I said hesitantly. "I feel the same way." He responded. "Except I realized something." He added. "What?" I was curious. "After today, Mum will no longer be our family." Those words shocked me and I don't know if they made me happy or sad. I was, once again, confused.

Author's Note
Hey guys! I'm not too sure about this chapter. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments. Thank you guys for all your support and have a great day!