Braking Hard (Riverdale-Jughead Jones)

11

After I dropped Reggie near to the auto shop, I drove Jugs bike back to his trailer, before climbing up the small steps to my own and slamming the door behind me, sliding to the floor tiredly.

I looked up to the clock and noticed that I had about half an hour before the trio I had agreed to go shopping with was going to arrive.

I grabbed a bag, and some money, not sure how much as I had never been shopping with friends before.

I figured 200 dollars would be ok if I was going to get some clothes, and maybe go to a bar for a bit knowing Cheryl's reputation.

I swapped my scruffy sneakers for a pair of plain black flats and I pulled my ponytail loose, to attempt to dress up my appearance slightly.

As I did so a small knock sounded at the door, so I grabbed my bag and swung it open. As I did I smiled at Kevin who was stood waiting for me, and walked with him over to the car they had been leaning on earlier.

As I climbed in, I greeted Cheryl and Josie, and we sped off to spend some money.

After some hardcore shopping, we headed into a small bar, and I found myself listening to a story I'd never normally listen to, but I was half drunk, so I guessed that was the reason.

"Wait so, you beat him up?" I asked Josie, and she nodded, confirming it.

"Well he was hurting my girl. We all sort of pounced on him." She replied, shouting loudly over the music.

"And that's why they call them the pussycats!" Cheryl laughed, plopping her drink down on the bar in front of us.

I watched as Kevin shamelessly flirted with someone, and I looked around to see many other drunk people doing extremely drunk things.

"What happened to the dude, I mean you told someone right? You got him locked up?" I shouted, taking a sip of my drink.

"Well I mean my mom wasn't exactly sympathetic, she wouldn't let me press charges, however it was all ok in the end because well," Cheryl leaned in to try to be quieter. "He got in a car accident." My eyes widened and Cheryl nodded at me, Josie between us listening carefully.

"Wait, your own mom wouldn't let you press charges?" I asked in confusion, my eyes widening slightly.

"Yeah. Me and mommy don't exactly have the best family relationship." She replied, stirring her drink with her little finger.

"Well, it's not much, but if you ever want to get away from home, and need a place to stay, I have a spare bed in my trailer." I yelled, shocking myself at the offer that had slipped out of my mouth.

Cheryl herself even looked shocked. "Are you sure Ali? I mean, it's really nice of you, but I can't just-" I cut her off and smiled widely as I spoke.

"Of course I'm sure! You can stay whenever you want, for as long as you want. As long as you help pay for groceries of course!" I joked, holding my drink up to her.

As I did, she smiled ever so slightly and raised her own glass to chink against mine.

Josie smiled at both of us and stood, placing her drink in front of me.

"I'm headed to the toilets, don't drink my drink!" She shouted, and I giggled, sharing a look with Cheryl.

"Look, thank you Ali. Really it means a lot." She said before gulping down the last of her drink and heading over to join Kevin, who was now dancing in the middle of the floor. As I watched them both, I thought about what we could do after this, and decided on heading to someplace small and quiet.

"Hey guys, where should we go now?" I asked as we left the bar, my ears still slightly ringing.

"How about Pops?" Cheryl asked, her fingers rifling through a small purse. She pulled out a couple bills and grinned widely. "My treat."

"Honestly Cheryl, I'm surprised you managed to notice I exist." I spoke, my drunken state letting the words escape my mouth without permission.

"Well you're pretty, why wouldn't I notice you?" She asked, the bills forgotten in her fingers.

"Well, because nobody's ever noticed me before." I answered, chuckling slightly. Everyone went silent and I realised that what I said was a little over the top.

"Ali I'm sorry." Josie attempted to say, but I shrugged her away.

"It's fine. It's not your problem. Forget I said it! Now come on, Pops!" I shouted excitedly. "Where is Pops?"

"You've never been?" Kevin asked in astonishment.

"Nope! I was never a milkshake person to I just tended to avoid the place..." I trailed off as I saw Veronica walking down the road, phone in hand.

"Cheryl!" She shouted, looking up from the phone to see us swaying sort of drunkenly on the sidewalk.

"Hey V, we're on our way to Pops, you wanna come?" Kevin giggled.

"Do you guys not know? The black hood sent a letter to the town, saying that if we sin at all in the next 48 hours, he's going to kill again." Veronica explained, and all of our moods fell.

"Right. Well maybe we should all go home for now, Pops another time?" I spoke up, breaking the silence. "Cheryl, if you wanna grab some stuff you can drop it at mine at any point, so that you always have stuff there and you don't have to bring a bag with you every time." I suggested, my eyes flickering between her and Veronica.

"That would be great, thank you so much Ali." She said before grabbing Josie's hand.

"Come on guys, car is over here, I'll drop you all off." Kevin offered and I pulled a face.

"Drunk driving Kevin, that's a sin you know!" I wagged my finger at him and we all burst into peals of laughter.

After he dropped me off, I offered to show Cheryl the trailer and then give her a lift to her house, and she agreed, so as I pushed the door to my trailer open and flicked the lights on, she looked around the small space.

"It's nice, cosy. But where id the bed?" She asked in confusion, only seeing my large double at the end of the trailer. I smiled and pushed the table underneath my bed, before grabbing hold of the two couches, and pulling them out to meet each other in the middle. As I did the backs slid down to create a small single bed just below my own bed.

"It's comfier than it looks." I said, smiling. I lifted up the backs of the couches, which now layed flat, to reveal a storage space underneath where you would normally sit. "You can keep your stuff in here, and the other side has the pillow and quilt in it." I pointed to the opposing storage space.

"That's adorable. Anyways, I'd better get home, but I'll bring some clothes and things of mine round tomorrow, ok?" She asked, shouldering her small strapped bag.

"Of course, I'll be at work most of the day, but if you just ring me when you're on your way here I can meet you. My number." I said, holding out a small post-it.

"Alright, well bye. See you tomorrow I guess!"