Chapter 09: Toni II

                                    

                                          

Jughead skipped school and instead headed to the Southside. Until noon, he stayed at the White Wrym before heading to Southside High to meet up with his friends. When he arrived, only Sweet Pea and Fangs were already present — the people that he did not want to talk with. He knew that he hadn't been fair to them and he wasn't ready to have that talk yet. So, he just attempted to fall asleep, head resting on his folded arms to hide from the light, and his friends. Sweet Pea and Fangs glanced in Jughead's direction more than once during lunch, their expressions laced with a mix of concern and frustration. 
"You look absolutely wrecked" Sweet Pea muttered under his breath eventually. Jughead barely took the energy in order to lift his hand and give him the middle finger. Lifting his He wasn't able to see his friends though, since his face was buried in his arms to hide from the luminescent light. It was really worsening his headache — despite the sunglasses that he had put up once the sun had risen. 
"Dickhead" Sweet Pea mumbled under his breath, clearly not amused by the gesture. Trying to calm him down, Fangs rested a hand on his boyfriend's thigh, thumb rubbing circles. 
"Lay off. He's crashing down now, and it looks like he didn't sleep at all"
"Well, I barely had ninety minutes of sleep because of him" Sweet Pea grumbled, rubbing his eyes. At that, Jughead just huffed softly. 
"You didn't have to. I told you, I'd be fine" He grumbled, earning a concerned look from Toni, who just slid in. 
"Why did you only get one and a half hours of sleep? And should I be concerned that you're not at your actual school?" She questioned, looking at the three boys. Sweet Pea and Fangs shared a look, silently debating on what to reveal to Toni before just shrugging. 
"Jughead spent the night smoking weed and being a pain in the ass to his friends, aka us" As Sweet Pea spoke, Jughead sat up, still holding his face with one of his arms as it seemed so heavy. He seemed even more tired than before — and clearly not happy that his friends were discussing his state.
"I just needed a night out and wanted to get high. You got a problem with that?" He grumbled with a sweet smile on his face as he turned to glare at Fangs, though the boy just rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed. 
"What I have a problem with is you acting like a dick"
"And without any reason. We only tried to help you"
"Well, I didn't ask for it, did I?" He grumbled, though could only whine softly as Toni suddenly pulled him out of his seat, his vision swimming for a moment as she dragged him off to an empty classroom before pressing him against the wall. 
"And what's your damn problem?" He grumbled, rubbing his eyes. 
"What's my problem? You're the problem, Jughead. You're acting like a total jerk, and you're clearly not okay. What's going on with you? You look like you haven't slept in days, not just this night" Jughead sighed exhausted, slipping out from her grasp, though only in order to sit down on the table. 
"It's fine. Just couldn't sleep this night" He mumbled eventually "Dunno why I'm being a dick either, to be honest..."
"Oh come on. You don't just act out for no reason. Just tell me what's actually going on. There has to be something more than 'nothing'" With another sigh, Jughead drove a hand through his hair. 
"Uh... well... apparently I have two half-siblings that I had no idea of because my dad is a shit boyfriend?" He paused before nodding "Yeah, that about sums it up"
"Wait, what? You have half-siblings? Since when?" 
"Since always. They're both older than me"
"And your dad never told you about them? Why?"