Serpent Queen (Bughead)

Chapter 8

Betty POV:

I ran out on Jughead.

I made a promise to myself. No distractions this year. And definitely no boyfriends. Especially after what happened last time.

Then why did I want this one so much?

I walked back home and went straight to my bed.

Whenever you have a problem, everyone always tells you to sleep on it, but they're empty words, sleeping on a problem is like sleeping on a nail.

Highly uncomfortable.

•••

"Hey Betty, how'd you sleep? I heard you went to bed early last night," my dad said.

"I was just tired dad," I said, pouring some cereal.

"Hmm. Okay," he replied, suspicious.

"I'm going to the Wyrm," I said, jumping off my stool and putting my bowl in the sink.

"Betty-" FP started.

But I had already shut the door.

"Hey guys," I said walking into the Wyrm.

"Hey butterfly," Hogeye replied.

"Is Toni working today?" I asked.

"No, it's her day off," he replied, wiping down a worktop.

"Any idea where she might be?" I asked.

"No, sorry," he finished.

I turned around and bumped into Jughead.

"Erm, Betty, hey," he said awkwardly.

Probably because of how I walked on him yesterday.

"I was going to head over to Pop's, want to come?" I asked. Stupidly.

"Yeah, sure, what's Pop's and does it serve burgers?" He asked.

"At 9am?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"A burger's a burger, any time of the day," he replied, opening the door for me.

"Why thank you," I replied, walking out of the Wyrm.

"So, does Pop's do burgers?"

"Yes," I sighed, laughing and rolling my eyes.

We got on our bikes and drove off.

Jughead POV:

We pulled up outside Pop's. It had a large neon sign over the top and was seemingly bustling with customers.

As we walked in I heard the little ring of a bell, and Betty led me to an empty booth.

"Hey Pop," she said as she passed a man standing behind the counter.

"Hey Betty!" He replied cheerfully. He seemed like a genuinely nice person.

A waitress in a yellow uniform walked up to us with a smile. She was wearing a bow in her ginger hair.

"So what would it be today?" She asked, smiling a little too hard at me. She brushed my arm with her hand, and Betty noticed.

"We'll have 2 strawberry milkshakes, some maple syrup and blueberry pancakes and and a burger with onion rings for my boyfriend here," she said, putting her hand on top of mine.

The girl left and she removed her hand from mine.

"Sorry about that," she said, "I just can't stand Ethel Muggs."

"Why?" I asked.

"She's just always been really stuck up about the whole northside-southside thing.

"Oh," I replied. There was a silence.

"How did you know what to order for me?" I asked.

"Lucky guess. Or maybe I can read your mind," she said, wiggling her fingers in front of my face as though she was casting a spell. I laughed.

"So, what happened yesterday?" I asked asked the food came.

Betty shifted awkwardly.

"I'd rather not talk about it," she replied platonically, looking down at her boots.

"That's okay," I said quickly, trying to salvage the moment, but it was too late, it was gone.

We ate the rest of our meal in silence.