the girl next door ➳ a.a ♡ b.c.

Chapter Nine: Panic Attack

Archie's P.O.V
"we don't know when or if she'll wake up." i could feel my heart break in that very moment. the color drained from my face and i felt like i was going to pass out. everything around me started to fade-in and out. the only thing i could hear were alice's loud sobs, and a couple muffled voices. i sat myself down in one of the cheap plastic chairs, gripping the armrests as hard as i could. as if that would somehow steady my breathing, or wake betty up. my breaths started to get shallower as i let the words really sink in. 'we don't know when or if she'll wake up' the words were ringing through my brain, echoing through my head, endlessly.
"andrews?" i could make out a voice my same.
"hey, andrews? what's happening? are you okay?" everyone crowded around me making it significantly harder to breathe.
"p-panic attack." i managed to get out. i was trying to take in bigger breaths, but it was like my lungs wouldn't work. no matter how hard i tried to inhale, nothing would come in. i wasn't sure what to do. i couldn't fix this. then suddenly everything went black.
"arch?" there was only one person who called me that, and there was no way she was here right now.
"arch? it's okay. we'll be okay. don't worry we're going to get through this, together." my breathing slowly began to return to normal as she stroked my hair back from my face soothingly.
"betts? h-how are you here?" i asked staring at the smiling blond in front of me.
"that's the thing arch. i'm not here. i'm going to die, and it's your fault." after she said that, all i could see was the girl i was in love with bleeding out on her bedroom floor, and me being next door not knowing what was happening.
"you killed me."
my mind went blank again, then to a specific memory.
"betts, betts! guess what!" i said as i ran to the fence separating my backyard from hers. i put my foot in a hole i had my dad deliberately cut so i could climb over to the other side. i threw myself over the white picket fence, and into the freshly cut grass of my best friends yard. i pulled myself to my feet as she raced over to meet me.
"what happened arch?" she said as she fiddled with the pink sequences on her dress. a wide grin, missing many teeth, appeared on my face as i looked at the small blond girl in front of me.
"i passed! we're going to be in the same class again! just like always." i shouted with glee knowing i would get to stay with betty.
"gee arch, that's great! now i
won't have to find any new friends." she said as she tucked a strand from her loose ponytail behind her ear. my grin widened even more as i grabbed her small hand in mine. without even knowing what it meant, only knowing you did it when you loved someone, and i loved betty, i kissed her right on the lips. her cheeks flushed with color as she smiled back at me. without knowing what this meant either, only knowing that it's what my parents were, i asked, "betts will you marry me?" she smiled at me widely thinking for a minute before replying.
"oh little archie, we're too young. ask me when we're eighteen and i'll say yes." i didn't know exactly what that meant either, but i knew it meant betty and i would be together forever, and that's when my childhood crush started.
my eyes shot open as i looked around the room, my heart pumping a million miles an hour. i took deep breaths as the fuzzy outlines of bodies began to come into focus.
"andrews? you good?" reggie was crouching in front of me his face growing increasingly worried.
"uh, yeah. yeah i'm good." i said as my brain calmed down, and stopped buzzing.
A/N- sorry for the short chapter i'm just busy because my school starts up again soon.