Lost (in Your Emerald Eyes)

T H I R T Y - N I N E

For the next couple of weeks, everything continued the way it had before, with a few simple differences.

The gang had all come together, introducing themselves to each other in the privacy of a classroom where every couple could act as they wanted without being observed and used for rumors by other students at the school.

Jughead and Archie ended up bonding over mutual sarcastic insults. Toni and Josie were fast friends with their similar experiences with families and siblings. Reggie and Joaquin shared an interest in poker and made up a secret handshake with a promise to go to a casino together, screw over everyone else there, and become millionaires once they were both twenty-one.

And even as teenagers with so many differences bonded, it were still Cheryl and Betty that managed to surprise everyone.

The two girls had left most of their conversations about their shared nephew and niece behind and started sharing deep discussions about life. They combined a couple of study sessions with sleepovers through the few weeks and managed to practically sew themselves together by the hip during the first night the two spent together.

Now, all everyone could see was the two of them together, laughing or crying about things that many others didn't make sense of.

Jughead was glad Betty had found a friend that was genuinely on her side, and that she and Cheryl had made up after apparently a whole childhood at being at odds, but also he couldn't stop himself from being annoyed whenever he'd want Betty just for himself and the redhead would ruin their time alone.

Fortunately, Toni felt the same way and dragged her girl away for a couple of hours while Jughead did the same with his.

In the second week of October, Betty finally found a way to address her situation with Archie as well. The redhead had already warmed up to his new Southside friends, and Jughead had encouraged the girl to bring it up before something else would stop her.

So she did.

It was a Saturday night, the two teenagers were sitting in Archie's room and playing video games when once again the boy managed to crush her in a race.

Betty huffed and dropped the controller onto the floor next to her while Archie roared in laughter. "You finished last!"

The blonde smirked a little and turned her head away, a smirk on her lips.

"Oh come on, I know you're smiling, sis." The nickname had appeared a week after Betty moved in, and so far, hadn't faded away. Betty was annoyed by it, and Archie knew it which was partly why he kept calling her that.

The blonde found it a little endearing, also, but she would never reveal that to Archie or even herself.

"Hey, Arch?" she asked after sipping some juice while the boy picked another game for them, fingers greasy from the chips in the bowl between them.

"Hm?" he hummed, attention still on the screen.

"We need to talk."

The redhead's bushy brows furrowed together as he slowly looked at her. "Talk."

"Yep."

She reached for his controller and tugged it away from his hands, placing it on the ground next to hers. It wasn't pleasant looking at the grease on the buttons, but she tried to ignore it and gave him her full attention.

"So, remember when we came back from the camping trip this year?"

The boy sighed and looked at his lap. "Look..." he trailed off, giving Betty an excellent opportunity to continue.