THE DRIVE ( jughead jones )

❦ EIGHT | IS SIT IN SILENCE

CHAPTER EIGHT

Guilt, innocence. Good, evil. Life, death. As the shadows around Riverdale deepened, the lines that separated these polar opposites blurred and distorted. "I'm guilty," Cheryl said in biology class. But of what?

•

"So are you a suspect now?" Veronica asked as the group sat in the student lounge. Amethyst and Jughead were sharing a love seat with Amie's legs lying on top of Jug's lap.

"My dad says we all are, including me," Kevin said.

"Not me, girl. I don't know these people," Veronica said.

"Your dad has known me for, like, my whole life," Amethyst said. "I can't even hurt a fly without feeling sick." Jughead began tapping his fingers on Amie's leg to some random beat.

"Guys, should we maybe rebinge Making a Murder on Netflix tonight?" Kevin asked.

Amethyst chuckled. "That's great."

Betty smiled. "Sorry. Can't. Gotta stay late to work on the paper."

"Count me out too," Veronica said. "I've got a date tonight."

Amethyst smiled and clapped her hands together. "You go girl!"

"You do?" Archie asked.

"Which Riverdale hottie made the cut?" Kevin asked.

Veronica pursed her lips. "Hey, V-Lo. I'll swing by the Pembrooke to pick you up at 8?" Chuck asked, turning everyone's attention to him.

"I'll be waiting," Veronica smiled.

"Cool," Chuck grinned and walked out of the room.

"Chuck Clayton?" Betty and Amie asked.

"You're going on a date with Chuck?" Kevin asked.

"He's a player," Amethyst said.

"Who cares? He's the hottest of hot," Kevin said. "And he's the varsity football coach's son. In Riverdale, that's like dating a Kennedy."

"Yeah. You'd probably get shot in the head like a Kennedy as well," Amethyst pointed out, causing everyone to laugh.

•

"Oh, my god. I feel like Sherlock Holmes," Amethyst grinned as she hurried after Jughead who was heading towards Dilton.

"You won't have that feeling for too long, Buttercup. Considering I'm the brains of this operation," Jughead said as they stood to the side of Dilton ordering his troupe.

"Excuse me? Who here gets majority A's in their report?" Amethyst asked.

"We both do," Jug said.

"T-true. But I'm more liked!" She said.

Jughead scoffed. "Hardly."

"Alright, Juggy. We both are the brains. Deal?" Amie asked. "Or we can make Betty the brains."

"We'll make Betty the brains," he said.

"And in that moment of hesitation, you're dead. All of you are dead," Dilton told his scout.

"He really gets into it, huh?" Amethyst whispered.

"It's scaring me a bit," Jughead whispered back.

"At ease, Doiley," Jughead turned Dilton's attention to them. "I'm-" Amethyst coughed. "I mean we are writing an article for the Blue and Gold. Hoping you can help."

"Dismissed! But stay close," Dilton ordered.

"Both Cheryl and Archie heard a gunshot on July 4th, but they're not sure who fired it," Amethyst said.

"Sheriff Keller already asked me about this. Like I told him, my scouts and I, we didn't hear anything weird," Dilton said. Amethyst could tell he was lying.

"Is that so?" She asked.

"But did you see anything weird?" Jughead asked.

Dilton crossed his arms as Amethyst looked around the field, spotting one of the scout members eyes guiltily looking at them. "A white-winged crossbill, a long-eared owl....Oh. And Cheryl sitting by the river, soaking wet."

"Okay, that's all we wanted to know," Jughead said. "Thanks for your time."

Dilton nodded and headed back to his scout.

"Did you spot that one boy who was looking at us?" Amethyst asked.

Jughead nodded. "Yep."

"We going after him?" She asked.

"Definitely."

•

Amethyst and Jughead sat one booth away from the scout boy that kept giving them guilty looks. He was sitting with his brother (or father?) when the man stood up and left to pay the bill.

Jughead and Amethyst stealthily sat down in the seat across from his and Jug reached out to take the guy's cherry that was sitting on top of his sundae.

The kid dropped his spoon. "What the hell, man?" He said.

"That doesn't have nuts in it, right?" Amethyst asked.

"N-no. Why?" He asked.

Amethyst grabbed the sundae and brought it over to her, taking his spoon in the process. She dipped the spoon into the sundae and ate some.

"I saw the way you looked at us," Jughead said. "During Grizzly training. You're hiding something."

Amethyst put the spoon into the sundae and got a spoonful, then held it up to Jug's mouth and he ate it.

"It's Scoutmaster Doiley. He's lying," he said.

"About what?" Jughead asked.

"The gunshot. It was him. He was teaching us how to shoot targets," he said.

Amethyst snorted. "Dilton shot the gun?"

"He's a hard-core survivalist," he said. "He says if we don't protect ourselves, no one will."

"Damn, I didn't know Dilton had such a dark side in him," Amie said as she ate more sundae.

"You might want to go now, my brother's coming back," he said.

Jughead and Amethyst nodded before jumping over the seat and sitting in the one beside theirs, sharing glances.