The Cruise[DISCONTINUED]

Walking And Talent

JUGHEAD POV

I was sitting in the third-class common room. There were benches and tables in here. I had made friends with a little girl named JB. She's small and I'm showing her to sketch people perfectly. Moose was flirting with a girl who didn't know how to speak English. It was really funny. Trev and I were sitting there laughing at him.

"Me hablo the inglés. ¿Hablas inglés?" He asked in an American accent. I snickered at that and so did Trev.

"No, no hablo inglés. Yo hablo poco inglés. Your name?"  She asked him.

"My name is Moose. Me llamo Moose. ¿Tú?"

"Midge." She smiled. They shook hands and tried to communicate. I showed Trev the drawing of the man who was drinking his beer with his friends. Trev smiled and gave it a thumbs up. It made me feel good when someone complimented my drawings. I don't have much going for me in life. So maybe I could do something with my drawings.

"Thanks for babysitting. JB, say goodbye to Jughead." The father smiled as he took JB's hand. She smiled at me.

"Bye bye, Uncle Jughead."

"Bye, JB." I smiled and gave a wave. I went back to talking with Trev. We chatted for quite sometime. All of a sudden, the room went quiet. I figured that some douchey first-class person came down here to judge all of us. I continued to talk with Trev. However, Moose started hitting my arm. I turned around and I saw the girl from last night. I don't know why but my heart leaped a little. I stood up and smiled at her. She had her hair in ponytail. She was wearing a white-dress that went just below her knees just like all of her other dresses. She wore her makeup beautifully and wore jewelry. She looks like the opposite of someone who would jump off of a bridge.

"Hello, Mr. Jones." She smiled and held out her hand. I shook it and nodded at her.

"Hello, Ms. Cooper-Andrews. Oh, I'm sorry. It's Ms. Cooper. Or Mrs. Andrews?" I asked. She giggled and rolled her eyes. We stood there for a minute and just stared at each other. She sighed and then lightly shook her head.

"Would you mind if she went on a walk and talked? Just about...stuff? If you don't have the time, it's ok." Betty asked. I know what that tone means. It means "I'm desperate for someone to care and to talk to. Please, talk to me."

"I would love to walk and talk with you. Let's go." I shrugged. She gave a weak smile and walked away. I looked over at Trev and Moose. They were making moaning noises and making kissy faces. I flipped them off and turned around. Betty and I got up on the docks and just started walking around the ship. We were quiet for the first couple minutes. She then did a fake cough.

"You can just call me Betty. I think you make me sound old when you do the Miss."

"And you can call me Jughead. You make me sound old when you call me Mister." I said. She gave a thumbs up and we were back to silence. I don't know what to say. I decided to just compliment her. "You look very pretty today."

"Did I not look pretty yesterday? With the mascara surrounding my eyes and my crying?"

"No! That's not what I meant-"

"Jughead, relax. I'm only kidding. It's a shame I lost my phone. I would've loved to take a picture of the ocean. Anyways...uh...how did you grow up?" Betty asked.

"Well, I grew up in Vermont with my family. It was my parents and I. We were in a car crash and I was the only survivor. I was fifteen at the time. I didn't wanna go into the system. So, I packed a backpack of stuff and took the money out of the house. There was only $745 at the house. And I've been on my own ever since." I shrugged.

"Wow, that's scary. How are you able to make it?"

"I have my best friend, Moose. Moose was just like me. Except, his parents kicked him out at my age too. In December of when we were sixteen, we met at a homeless shelter. We've been getting around by train hopping and working odd jobs. We only have around $550 and that's not going to be enough. But we're gonna be fine. Moose and I are always fine. And that's me. What about you? We're you always a first-class girl?" I smirked. She giggled and shook her head. She did a long inhale.

"Yes, I've always been a spoiled-rich girl. My mother, father, sister, brother, and I used to all live together in one big mansion. My sister and brother moved to England together. They cut us off though and we haven't spoken to them in years. My father passed away a couple years ago from lung cancer. My mother and I were never going to be able to make it on our own. That's where Archie Andrews comes in. He's helping my family with our debts by marrying me." Betty sighed. She's obviously unhappy. I wish that I could help her but I can't.

"Wow, ok...what's your favorite restaurant? I swear if you say the most-"

"Le Bernardin. It's a seafood restaurant in New York."

"Oh! It's a rich people restaurant. I was gonna say 'Applebee's' but yours is good. You should really eat peasant food sometime." I laughed. Betty laughed too and lightly shoved me. We finished laughing. We stopped walking and just talked. We made it up to the first-class deck. People were glaring at me. I knew that I was in the wrong neck of the woods. But I don't care.

"Betty, I wanna ask you something. You didn't wanna talk to me, did you? You wanted to make sure that I was on board with your lie?" I asked. Betty looked away from me and just leaned against the rail.

"You think I'm trash."

"No! I don't think you're trash at all. I think you're wonderful! I just wanna know why...why you thought that you had no way out."

"Jughead, you don't understand. My life is...not pastel and rainbows like everyone thinks it is. I'm forced to be someone I'm not. And I'm only seventeen! I should be partying and messing around with boys! Not acting classy and engaged! I'm also being forced away from my life in America and being taken to England! I don't want to marry Archie. I mean, he's wonderful and everything but-"

"You're just not ready for commitment." I replied. She looked over at me. She looked me up and down. She looked at me in the face and nodded. I exhaled and shook my head.

"If you don't love him then leave him. It's not hard."

"Excuse me?! I love my fiancée very much-"

"No, you don't!" I yelled. She scoffed and shook her head.

"Yes, I do!"

"No, you don't!"

"Yes, I do!"

"No, you don't!"

"Ok, Jughead. You're being very mean and callous. I'm leaving and...wait, I'm not leaving! This is the first-class dock! You're leaving and I'll see you at dinner!" Betty crossed her arms. I laughed and turned away from her. She reached over and grabbed my book of drawings. She walked away from me and I had to catch up with her. She looked all of them through and we were now walking again.

"Betty-"

"Drawing naked women? I'm impressed. I'm surprised you're able to get around because you're so po-" Betty began. She made a panicked facial expression. I just laughed off.

"A poor person? You can say it! It's not a bad word!" I exclaimed. She gave a weak smile and continued looking through them. She's the only person who has actually looked through the entire book. Maybe she cares about me as much as I care about her.

"Jughead, this is amazing work. I've never seen such a nice pair of hands. Tell me, what do you see when you look at me?" Betty asked. I looked at her up and down. I made eye contact with her.

"I see a young woman who wouldn't have jumped off the ship." I said. Her smile faded and she went back to looking at the drawings. I only tell the truth and that is the truth.