Lost (in Your Emerald Eyes)

T H I R T Y - F O U R

Betty walked down the halls, watching teenagers scurrying around, hugging their partners, kissing against the lockers. It didn't hurt as much as it had when the school first started. She was jealous and upset, of course, especially when the couples would hold hands while walking past her, but she had gotten used to the strong feeling in her gut.

The girl didn't know if it was masochistic that she always directed her eyes straight to their laced fingers, but she couldn't help herself. She needed to see the affection between other couples if she herself couldn't have it.

With a sigh, Betty reached the Blue and Gold office, entered without looking up from the ground, and shut the door behind herself. She bit her lower lip while exhaustedly dropping her bag onto the ground and let herself fall into the armchair.

Her eyes stayed closed as she pushed off her shoes and pulled her feet up onto the chair, resting her head against her knees, the tears making their way through the closed lids.

"Before you have a breakdown, you should know I'm in here," she heard a voice that made her jump and almost fall off the armchair, eyes growing wide.

"Cheryl," she cursed and with a huff, turned away, the side of her face now against the back of the armchair. "What are you doing here?"

The redhead silently watched her small form for a moment, frowning at the way she tried to be subtle about wiping away her tears. "Betty, do you need to talk to someone?"

With a chuckle, the blonde shook her head unnoticeably. "Since when have you started worrying about me?"

"Look, Betty, I know I was never the nicest to you. I'm sorry for bullying you in middle school, and for ignoring every word you said in elementary." Betty turned to see her face, momentarily shocked by the genuine worry in her eyes. "But ever since your sister got pregnant with my brother, I've been watching you, and..."

"Not creepy at all," Betty breathed, actually making the other girl smile just a little.

"I'm worried about you, cousin. And I'm sorry for not knowing how to talk about it because last time you clearly got triggered..."

"Just don't then," Betty mumbled, resting her forehead against her knees with a sigh.

"But you need to talk to someone."

"I talk to Jughead about it."

"Do you?" she asked, arching her eyebrows.

"Yes." Betty didn't like the way Cheryl narrowed her eyes, clearly not believing her. "If you're here to talk about a therapist or nutritionist, or promising to kill my mom, I've gotten all that from Jughead, Veronica, and Kevin, so don't bother."

The redhead frowned at the statement, momentarily mumbling a, "What about Archie?" before shaking her head and leaving it there for this time. "Anyway... Did you know Jason had bulimia when he was thirteen?"

Betty tilted her head, eyes big while her eyebrows were furrowed. "Did he?" she silently asked.

"Mhm," Cheryl said. "He had his hormones come earlier than other boys, but instead of pimples and a voice break, he started gaining weight. He was only twelve at that time, not even a teenager yet, and my parents thought he was eating too much. So they started cutting his diet. But we both have a big allowance, as you know."

Betty rolled her eyes at the snobby tone, at which the other girl narrowed hers while continuing.

"So, as he dieted every day, on Saturdays when our parents left to go to business meetings with the suppliers, or family members, he went to the store and bought everything he could. And then, he would sit in his room for hours, watching tv, and binge eating."