stay away

Part 12

Betty pov

"Oh my God Betty!!! What was that? I mean, please explain it to me, because I don't understand. You kissed Jughead Jones, or he kissed you, however it happened." Excitement was pouring out of Veronica and threatening to swamp me. What could I say? That I had no idea what it was myself? Or maybe that I thought the leader of a dangerous gang had a weakness for me? These questions almost made my head explode and I opened the door to our building without answering the bombing questions I got from Cheryl and Veronica. Toni was surprisingly quiet, because normally she had something to say about everything. I was curious what she thought about the whole thing.

"Toni you are unusually quiet. Would you like to say something?" I asked Toni in a calm but decisive tone as we stood together in the kitchen where the three of them looked at me with different expressions. Veronica looked as if she still couldn't believe what she had seen a few minutes ago, but I could also see that she was happy. Cheryl's look was worried and extremely skeptical and she crossed her arms in front of her chest while standing next to her girlfriend. And I couldn't decipher Tony's look at all, because there was neither worry nor joy or anything else in it. Somehow I was overcome by the feeling that she didn't like the whole thing at all, furthermore it took quite a long time until she answered my question and it made me even more insecure.

"To be honest, I don't know what to think about the whole story. I don't know Jughead like that and I'm afraid he's not himself because of his sister. I-"

"So you're saying I'm just a distraction for him, right?" I cut her off and glared at her angrily even though I didn't know why. Deep down I knew that nothing more would ever happen between me and Jughead but still I was offended by her statement.

"Betty I never said that. I just wanted to warn you that it's probably just a phase and he's, I don't know, going to be an ass to you in 2 days again." she explained calmly and I had to realize that she might be right. Why should I be the one to suddenly change him, especially since something like that would never have occurred to me. I never wanted to be one of those women who changed a man in her favor. I saw that Veronica wanted to continue to talk about this, but after such a busy day I wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower, lie in my bed and watch Netflix until I fell asleep. So I did just that, told the girls that this conversation was over for today and went into the adjacent bathroom of my room to wash the day off my body.

Happy and strawberry-scented, I crawled into my bed, turned on my laptop and started watching another episode of my latest series until a beep from my phone signaled that I had a new message. It was Kevin who texted to ask me how my shift at Pop's went so I quickly answered him and almost put my phone down when I saw another message from an unknown number.

-Are you still alive or did the girls riped you apart?-

Confused I stared at the screen and was not sure if I was dreaming. The suspicion was obvious that it was Jughead, but how did he get my number? Should I answer it or simply ignore the message? As was to be expected, my curiosity got the upper hand and I wrote back to the stranger.

-My mother used to tell me not to talk or write to strangers.-

I didn't wait 5 minutes for an answer and I couldn't resist a grin.

-We're not really strangers to each other anymore, Betts.-

His nickname for me made my heart skip a beat and I had to pull myself together, not giggle like a teenager. I felt like 15 whose crush noticed her for the first time ever and finally reacted to the stolen glances.

-I've met so many new people lately, so you'll probably have to give me a hint.-

-Tall, black hair, handsome maybe also hot. Does that ring a bell, princess?-

There it was again: Princess. Why does he keep calling me that? It's enough to drive you crazy. I am far from being a princess.

-Oh I'm sorry I haven't met someone like that but you should tell him or her to meet me. How did you get my number?-

I wanted to play a little bit with him like he usually did with me and I felt very brave to meet the serpent king a little bit cheeky.

-The little northside princess gets sassy, I like that. A little bit bad would be good for the perfect girl next door. I have my ways of getting information.-

-I am definitely not perfect, I am far from perfect. So where'd you get my number, Jug?-

I hated the word perfect more than anything else, because in my youth my family was the epitome of perfect on the outside, even though it was all for show. I really wanted to leave that time behind and live my life the way I wanted to. Unfortunately, some habits could never be completely shaken off.

-I am serpent king and as I said I have my ways. You should see yourself through the eyes of others. Impeccable ponytail, clothes that are flawless and also very intelligent. I think you are the embodiment of perfect.-

Normal women would take that as a compliment but for me it was anything but that. Of course I was aware of how I looked to other people, but actually I didn't want to be noticed and get lost in the crowd. I wanted to hide myself.

-This conversation is over. Good night.-

I switched my phone to mute, closed my laptop and dropped myself on the mattress. As soon as I closed my eyes I fell into a restless sleep being stalked, seeing my father arrested again and my sister's body lying motionless on the cold concrete.

The next morning I was rudely awakened by a loud knocking at my door. Living together with others is more exhausting than I had expected.

"Betty, get up it's 2 in the afternoon. According to your schedule, your shift starts in an hour. Come on!" Veronica yelled through the door, banged on it again like crazy and left me shocked. I hadn't even thought of setting an alarm and now I had to be at work in an hour? I hated being pulled out of my daily routine and then even by myself. I quickly jumped into the shower, brushed my teeth and got dressed. A big breakfast or lunch was not possible but I still had to have a coffee or this day would only get worse.

With quick steps I went into the kitchen without paying attention to who was in our living room. Fortunately the coffee machine was already started and I didn't have to waste time waiting for my beloved coffee. I enjoyed the first sip to the full before I was so startled by a male voice behind me that I poured half of my drink over my white shirt.

"FUCK!" I cursed as I turned around to scream at the person behind me until I saw that Jughead Jones was standing just a few feet away.

"I shouldn't constantly scare you, right? Are you okay, sweetie." he grinned, took a step towards me but I stopped him with my hand to keep him from coming closer.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in here?" I asked while trying to clean my shirt with a wet towel which made it transparent and exposed my lacy bra.

"To answer your first question, I'm enjoying the view." he flirted with a raised eyebrow and a dirty smirk on his face. Could it get any more embarrassing for me?

"Stop staring you pervert. Seriously now what are you doing here?"

"We were invited by your friends and I –" but he was interrupted by the ringing at the door. Without thinking about how I looked I pushed myself past him to see who was behind the door. Of course I didn't notice that a part of my bra could still be seen through the shirt and luckily there was no one less than Bret at the door.

"Bret, hi. What are you doing here?"

"Uhhmm...good...good morning Betty. I...I thought, we agreed yesterday that I would drive you to work. You... you look nice, by the way." he stuttered and kept looking from my eyes to my breasts and only then did I realize how stupid I looked.

"You should keep your attention on her eyes in her face, jerk." Jughead's voice came out of nowhere and made us both flinch.

Where is the cave where I can hide for the rest of my life?