𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 | 𝐛𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝

chapter two.

Betty was in panic. She felt like she was suffocating inside, like the air around her was being stolen away from her. She was speechless and she for the first time had no words to let out on the tip of her tongue. Her brain felt almost too small and all of her thoughts that were swirling through her head didn't seem to fit. They were too many and Betty didn't know how to process it all. Her eyes were blinking hard and fast, in a desperate try to figure out what the hell was happening. Her legs were carrying her unintentionally towards the cafeteria. It was almost if she was a walking robot or machine of some kind. She had no control of her body and she hated it when this kind of thing happened to her. Sometimes her mind and body would work in two seperate ways when she either got into a panic attack or if she just got incredibly stressed.

The class she had just been in was long forgotten in her mind. She couldn't remember anything from it honestly. She didn't even know which subject it had been, she hadn't been listening at all. Her brain had been too occupied and fuzzy because of the new information she had gotten and everything she could focus on was Southside high and the student she would tutor there.

She had no idea what to feel about the Southside. No rumour she had ever heard about the school or Southside overall had ever been good, nice or anything close to it. Everything she had ever heard about the place was dangerous and horrible. Her mom didn't even dare talk about it in Betty's presence and she therefore hadn't ever stepped foot in the place. She had only passed the Southside in a car quickly, without so much as a look at it.

She, because of that, only knew what she had heard from others, such as  that they were dangerous (and that much was truly clear), that they were drugdealers, gangmembers and unfortunately very poor. She had also heard it was very dirty and that if you needed to go there, you should always have company. It wasn't safe to be there all alone and that you never had any idea what could happen. You could be robbed and unfortunate things could happen to you. There were stories about how people had gotten kidnapped and forced against their will to join one of the gangs to deal illegal stuff that were hushed about on the Northside. Some people thought that was why Jason Blossom had suddenly dissapeared out of nowhere and then gotten killed; because he refused to do whatever they wanted him to do.

As Betty was walking down the hallway she spotted Veronica and Archie by a table in the cafeteria all alone and quickly went to them, holding a bag of her own lunch in her hands. They were chatting away when Betty arrived and when they noticed her she suddenly got bombarded with questions. Betty had never been called to the principal's office without knowing why or without expecting it and that of course was worrying.

"What happened?" Veronica almost shrieked and Betty jumped a little in her seat, not expecting her best friend to be so concerned.

"Uh, I just got informed I'm gonna tutor a new student." Betty said, biting her lip while looking down and taking a bite from the apple she had fished out of the lunch bag.

"Oh! Do we know the person?" Veronica asked again, raising her eyebrows in confusion. Of course Veronica didn't know who it was, Betty thought. He was going at Southside high and was probably one of those serpents she had so faintly heard about.

"No."

"But who is it then?" Veronica pushed and Betty could sense Veronica was getting irritated by her tone. Betty just looked down and murmured something to which Veronica just squinted her eyes to.

"Some student at Southside high, okay? I don't know their name yet. Can we talk about something else now?" Betty shouted and Veronica's eyes filled with fear. Exactly the reaction Betty did not want to see flash across her raven haired friend's face.

"No, no. No you're absolutely not going to the Southside. Over my dead body, Betty Cooper." Veronica stated simply, popping one of her fries into her mouth.

"Yeah.. Well, I said to Weatherbee that I would tutor this guy so I have no choice, V." Betty informed Veronica, dragging her fingers through her ponytail that was placed on the top of her head, twirling them a little around her thumb smoothly.

Now that Betty had calmed down and thought a little, her fear was beginning to fade slowly but surely. It wasn't like the guy would kill her or something, they probably weren't that dangerous at Southside High. They were still teenagers and wouldn't attack Betty just like that, without a reason. She just needed to tutor him twice a week after school and that was it. She didn't have to see him the other hours of the week, there was simply no need for that and she could continue her life normally. Why was she so worried and tense about this? It was just another student. She had tutored people multiple times before and that this guy was on the other side of the town didn't make any difference.

She also, from nowhere had gotten this good feeling about the whole situation. For the first time in forever she would be actually doing something in her life, even if it just was to go to the Southside. It would be a small difference to her life now, but a difference still. She was never allowed to go outside, her mother was too strict to let Betty ever do something. She was always either at Pop's, drowning in milkshakes together with her friends, or she was at home, boring herself out. Now finally she had an excuse to live her life a little while still making her mother proud.

Her thought got interrupted by a very suspicious Veronica, in front of her.

"Good luck then, B. Be careful and don't do anything stupid. We know you'll do the right thing, right Archie?" Veronica asked, nudging her shoulder slightly against the red head.

"You shouldn't have said yes, Elizabeth. They are dangerous and scum. You shouldn't associate with people like them. They deal drugs and make Riverdale a horrible place. They're a disgrace." Archie straight up told them and then looked down with narrowed eyes, a cold expression taking it's place on his face. He didn't seem so fond of the idea of Betty going to the Southside obviously, but as much as she appreciated him worrying about her, it made her fury against him bigger. He had no right to tell her what to do and if she wanted to go she would. He also had no right to call other people scum or disgraces and the words that had left her boyfriend's mouth stunned her completely. Just mentioning the southside seemed to build up a raging anger inside of the jock's body.

She had no idea why.

Betty said nothing in response but stared him down. How she hated this guy.