"Elizabeth, you are grounded! You hear me? No Pop's or hanging out with your friends for two weeks!", Alice huffed as she put on her coat that was hanging by the front door.
"That is completely unfair!", Betty barked back. "You had no right to go through my diary! And so what if I snuck out to see Jug? It's not that big of a deal, at least I'm not out doing Jingle Jangle or robbing a bank!"
"I have every right to know what my teenage daughter is up to, do you want to end up like Polly? Is that what you want?", she grabbed her keys and purse from a nearby table. "We'll discuss this later, I'm going to be late for book club."
Alice opened the red front door, turning to look back at Betty. "Don't even bother trying to sneak out again, I've let Fred know under no circumstance you are to leave this house."
Before Betty could get another word in, Alice had slammed the door closed, her heels clicking against the concrete walkway to their garage.
Betty groaned loudly out of frustration, why was her mother so against her relationship with Jughead? And why didn't she respect her boundaries? Betty certainly respected her parents' boundaries, she'd never set foot in her mom and dad's room without permission. Mainly because she was afraid of what she would find.
Betty walked up to her bedroom, ready to find a new hiding spot for her diary, when she got an idea. She peeked out the hallway window to make sure her mother had left before opening the door to her parent's bedroom. If Alice was going to invade her privacy, Betty was going to do the same.
Betty searched through her dresser, night stand and closet before remembering how odd it was that Alice knew to look for a false bottom in her room. Betty checked the nightstand again and looked for a false bottom.
"Bingo", Betty smiled in triumph when she pulled the bottom out to find a worn diary and a polaroid of a baby. Betty laid the photo on the bed, assuming it was a picture of her or Polly when they were first born. She groaned as she noticed the diary had a lock, fishing a bobby pin from her hair to unlock the diary.
Once she got it open, she flipped through the pages, realizing this must have been her mom's diary from back when she was in high school. Betty rolled her eyes, already assuming the contents were going to be filled with her mother's accomplishments and how perfect her high school experience was. She stopped on a date and began reading the entry.
Dear Diary,
I can't believe junior year is already here. One more year of this hell hole, unless I get expelled. Principal Featherhead is making me spend Friday afternoons clapping erasers for a month because I punched Penelope in the face for calling me a bitch. What did he expect me to do?? Let her? He said I need to work on my 'anger issues', well, fuck him. He doesn't know half the shit I have to go through. On a lighter note, FP's dad has already passed out on the couch so he's gonna drive his dad's truck over to get me so we can go park at Sweetwater. Last time we hooked up at the drive-in, Penelope Blossom saw us and got us banned, so Sweetwater River it is. Have I mentioned I fucking hate Penelope? Anyways, I see lights coming down the driveway, I think FP's here.
Betty's mouth hung open in shock. This is not how she expected her mother's diary to be. She never imagined her being a rebellious teenager, sneaking out and hooking up with her boyfriend's dad. She always assumed that her parents had been high school sweethearts, along with her mother being a model student and teen, but that was not the case at all. She flipped several pages, landing on another entry.
Dear Diary,
I can't believe I'm actually pregnant. I took 3 tests between first and third period and they were all positive. Hermione and Sierra are the only people who know right now. Hermione is too scared of me to tell anyone and Sierra is all about women's rights so I think she'll keep it a secret. God, I haven't even graduated yet and I'm having a baby?? My mom is going to kick me out, she can barely afford to feed the two of us. How do I even tell FP? He's off fucking the whole school, what if he tries to deny it's his or just pushes me away? Even if he was supportive, we're from the Southside, we'd never make enough to support a baby or give it a good life. I have no idea what to fucking do.
Betty couldn't believe what she was reading, did she really have a brother or sister out there in the world with Jughead's? She flipped some more pages, landing on an entry that involved her dad's name.
Dear Diary,
I had to buy a lock for my diary today, I can't tell anyone the truth but I need to let it out somewhere. Luckily Hal is an idiot and would never figure out how to open this lock without the key. Living with the Cooper's is hell. Mrs. Cooper bought me all these new clothes and I rarely get a moment to myself. Hal's parents are a bunch of holy rollers, I'm surprised I didn't burst into flames the first time I walked through the door. I think about Charles a lot, I'm so glad I got to at least keep a photo of him after he was born. Hal wouldn't even come in the delivery room because he thought childbirth was gross. Sometimes I wish I would have told FP, if I would have told him, I wouldn't feel so trapped right now living and pretending to be someone I'm not. I never had to pretend to be someone else for Forsythe. When Hal and I fight, he calls me Southside trash and talks about how he saved me. It takes everything in me not to tell him the baby wasn't his and he barely even gets me off to start with. Mrs. Cooper is calling me to come help set the table, I'll finish this later, if I don't strangle myself first.
Betty turns another page, but that was it. That had been the last entry in that diary. She flipped through the rest of it just in case, a card falling out. The card had a name of a hotel written on it with a room number and time. "Thursdays, 8 pm", Betty read aloud from the card. That was the time her mom went to her book club meetings, why would they be held in a hotel room?
Betty realized quickly that her mom was lying about the book club for all these years, who was she meeting in this hotel room? She immediately went to her bedroom and looked across to Archie's window. She could see him sitting at his desk, writing.
She grabbed her phone and sent a text. Arch, I need your help.
She saw him grab his phone and look out his window at her before sending a message back.
Sure, what is it?
Betty explained what all had transpired in the past hour and they devised a plan to sneak Betty out of the house without Fred knowing and alerting her mom. She left her light on in her room, and crept out to the back patio, trying to make it around the house without triggering the motion sensored lights. Archie kept his dad busy while Betty made it to the truck, before successfully asking for the truck with the excuse that Veronica needed him.
They both took a deep breath as Archie got into the truck and started driving towards the hotel Betty had mentioned on the phone. "What do you think your mom is up to?"
"I don't know, but I need to find out Arch, I need to know who she's been meeting with all these years."
Betty held the card in her hand with the hotel number written on it, what was her mom hiding?
To Be Continued...
