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CHAPTER FOURTY-FOUR:

SOUTH SIDE HIGH

JUGHEAD WAS UPSET OVER BETTY'S locker and Ginny had no idea how to calm him down. She knew that he was blaming himself over the vandalism but in all honestly, Ginny thought it was Betty's fault for insisting on writing the article. Or maybe it was the fact Ginny just didn't like Betty all that much.

"As long as you're writing articles about me and my dad, trouble's just gonna keep coming at you from all sides." Jughead said in frustration to Betty. Jughead and Betty were walking in the snow after school as he took her home. Her place was on the way to Pop's Diner where Ginny was working.

"It was just one jerk," Betty breathed out as Jughead's frown deepened. "It's not just one jerk. It's Mayor McCoy. It's Sheriff Keller. It's Weatherbee, it's Social Services, it's the entire multiverse telling me that I don't belong here, - so why don't I just do everyone a favour–"

"Hey, hey," Betty stopped him from walking and sighed. "You belong here just as much as everyone else. This is your home. You know that, right?" Betty told Jughead who desperately needed some sort of validation.

"Yeah. Yes," Jughead whispered and they continued their walk.

Jughead Jones was glad Betty was okay with being friends– because he definitely needed that talk. 

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JUGHEAD SIGHED AS HE SAT at Pop's, milkshake in hand. He was waiting for Ginny's shift to end but his thoughts were consuming him. Tomorrow, would be his first day at Southside High.

"Stop sighing," Jughead looked up to see Ginny giving him a sad smile as she sat down in the booth beside him. Her shift was finally over and she hated how glum he looked.

"I can't," Jughead told her bitterly, grabbing her hand within his. "I start a new school tomorrow and I'm not prepared at all. I'll miss you all."

"Jug," Ginny sighed, loving the way their hands fit perfectly. "I told you this before– I'll transfer there too."

"Gin, don't." Jughead told her with a pointed stare. "Your academic future depends on it."

"No it doesn't," Ginny sighed, thinking to the time she met with Weatherbee to talk about her future. "I'm not even sure if I'm going to college Jug. And it's not like I'm close to Betty, Kevin, or Veronica. My only friends are you and Archie."

"Stay there for Archie's sake then," Jughead told her and he rolled his eyes as she grabbed his shake and chugged it down with a happy sigh.

Ginny pushed away the now empty glass and smiled at her boyfriend. She was happy. "I'll do that, Jug." She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek, adoring how noble Jughead was. Here he was, terrified to start a new school and he wouldn't let her go with him.

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     GINNY LOUNGED ON THE COUCH beside Archie and Veronica as Betty told them about her new long lost brother. She felt weird being at school without Jughead and was having serious withdrawals as she watched her new friends converse. She realised that she should get closer to the two girls. Sure, Veronica helped Ginny before the dance but she never had a real friend that was a girl. And she knew the two girls were trying to keep their distance after Ginny publicly announced she was raped.

"It's positively Dickensian. I love a long-lost brother," Veronica cooed and Ginny rolled her eyes. Ginny had no family and Betty suddenly has another family member?

"How old would he be?" Veronica asked.

"Mid-twenties," Betty said with a smile.

"Oh, my God. A blond Adonis, no doubt." Veronica said dreamily.

Betty's phone rang and she immediately reached for it to answer. "Hey, where are you? Have you been getting my messages? Oh, my God. What?"

Betty turned around slowly and Ginny knew who she was talking to, she glanced at her phone and noticed an unknown caller tried ringing her. She barely missed him before he called Betty.

"Where is he?"

"Southside High. He said it's where he belongs and that no one wants him here." Ginny frowned at what Betty was saying, that wasn't the Jughead Jones she talked to last night.

Archie scoffed, "FP warned me Jughead would cut himself off, go to the dark side." Ginny bit her tongue at the mention of Jughead's father.

"Archie, we can't let him do that." Betty told them and she made eye contact with Ginny, whose phone was clutched in her hands.

Why was Jughead thinking this way?

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AS BETTY, ARCHIE, AND VERONICA hurried along the hallways of Southside High, Ginny trailed behind slowly. After the talk she had with Jughead, she wan't totally worried about him at Southside High, rather why he didn't tell her his feelings on the matter.

"Where would he be?" Betty asked as they hurried down the hallways.

"Cafeteria," Archie pointed towards the sound of teenagers. While Ginny was walking slowly behind, she noticed a girl by her locker who made eye contact with her. Ginny tilted her head as the beautiful girl smirked at her, slamming her locker shut before turning the other way. Ginny held back a gasp and continued to walk down the hallway and away from the girl.

However, she did look familiar to Ginny...

Ginny hurried along and entered the cafeteria a beat behind the others. As Betty approached Jughead's table, Ginny rolled her eyes as they noticed Jug laughing along to the teens conversation beside him.

"Jug–" Betty started, looking on at the table in confusion.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jughead asked in confusion at everyone there. Jughead excused himself from his table and pushed his friends out of the cafeteria and outside. Jughead yanked Betty to the side, running his hand across his face in frustration.

"I didn't tell you ahead of time because I knew you would've tried to stop me." Jughead snapped at her as she glared at him for lying.

"Damn straight. And I'm still gonna try," Betty huffed loudly.

"Betty, the Southside is where the powers that be want me. Maybe I wanna be here as well. I may blend in better here. And it would keep everyone safe." Jughead told her, his voice softening as he looked towards Ginny who waited patiently for the conversation to end.

"I'm not letting Riverdale's civil war split us all apart, Jug." Betty groaned, turning to look at Ginny. "Why isn't Ginny upset over this?"

"Because she already knew, Betty." Jughead told her softly. "She's the only I told."

Ginny kept quiet, knowing it wasn't her place to stir up drama. She would have to talk to Jughead later about why he insisted on going to Southside High and exile himself from his friends.

Before Betty could complain about being kept in the dark, the three turned to look towards Veronica who yelled at them urgently.

"We have to go! Guys, we have to go!" Veronica told the group frantically and everyone knew that it was serious, and that they had to go.

But where and what was happening?

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ON THEIR WAY TO SWEETWATER RIVER, Veronica updated the group about what had happened. From the text she had just received to the weird peace offering to Jughead, Veronica realised something was off with the Blossom girl.

Veronica desperately searched the forest, "Cheryl?" She screamed loudly, hoping to hear something in return.

Archie joined in on the yelling "Cheryl? Cheryl?"

They all panted as they ran and screamed, the cold wind whipping against their skin.

"She's not here." Archie breathed out.

"Over there! Oh, my God." Betty grabbed onto the closest person and it was Ginny. Ginny didn't pull away. "She's over there!"

Ginny's heart was pounding as she noticed Cheryl on the frozen river. "Cheryl!" Everyone joined in on screaming, hoping she would turn and look.

"Cheryl, stop! What are you doing?" Jughead yelled out.

"Wait, wait! Wait, Jug! The ice." Archie told his friend, noticing how Ginny was stepping forward to walk on it.

Jughead lunged forward, pulling Ginny back by her waist as a groan from the ice occurred as she stepped on it.

"He's right," Jughead panted as he held Ginny close to him. His breath chilling Ginny as she realised what could happen. "Too much weight, and we'll all go under."

"Cheryl!" Archie yelled out again.

"Cheryl, please. Just come to the shore and we'll figure this out together, okay?" Veronica called out but before Cheryl could do anything, she fell into the river. "No!"

Everyone screamed as Cheryl fell into Sweetwater River, the ice breaking underneath her.

The teenagers ran forward, ignoring the groaning ice beneath them. They finally reached the point where she fell in, but there was no Cheryl.

"The current has her," Jughead explained as he realised what was happening. "Spread out, spread out!"

The teens frantically searched the ice, pushing off snow to look beneath for Cheryl.

"She's here! She's here!" Archie told the others and everyone rushed over as he pushed away the remaining snow.

"Archie, be careful!" Veronica helped as Archie used his fists to punch the ice.

"Help!" Jughead screamed loudly, wishing someone was their to save her. Ginny clutched onto Jughead, scared to death about what could happen.

"Somebody help!" Veronica also pleaded. "Archie!"

"Come on!" Archie scream as he continued to break the ice.

Ginny Hopkins watched in shock as Archie smashed his fist into the hard ice. She covered her mouth, in anticipation and nervousness as they waited with bated breath.

"Archie hurry!" Ginny shrieked, as the seconds rushed past. She watched as blood pooled around him as he continuously punched the ice. She knew it was absurd to tell him to hurry but Cheryl was in danger.

Finally Archie broke through, pulling Cheryl out of the ice and onto the ground, before he started CPR.

Ginny fell onto the cold ice with a pant, watching Cheryl shiver. But she finally gasped, spitting out water. Ginny was relieved that they saved Cheryl Blossom.

Even though Ginny never liked the Blossom family, in that instance, she felt sympathy for the redheaded girl.

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     GINNY SMILED AS HER BOYFRIEND AND FRIENDS piled into a booth at Pop's after the Jubilee. She was happy that she was also off of work and collapsed into the booth beside Jughead, kissing his cheek sweetly in greeting.

The day had been crazy after Archie Andrews saved Cheryl's life and Ginny was still concerned that no one took her to the hospital— or told anyone of Cheryl's suicide attempt.

"To Archie Andrews, who saved the cheerleader and saved the town." Betty stated as the group held up their milkshakes in celebration.

"You know what, actually I think it was Betty's speech." Archie replied thoughtfully, his eyes focused on the blonde girl in front of him.

"Here, here to Betty Cooper."

Betty blushed, "Cheers."

"Cheers," everyone called out again with grin plastered across their faces.

Jughead smiled at his friends before glancing at the girl beside him in the booth who had a wide smile on her face as she licked the frosting off her shake. He was blessed to have such good friends and have Ginny as his girlfriend.

We had many milkshakes that night, and we all felt that as dangerous as the world around us had become, here, at least in this booth, we were safe.

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ONE ! MORE ! CHAPTER !