He wanted to change his birth name, and it wasn't like anyone knew what his name was anyway.

When Forsythe Pendleton Jones the 3rd announced that he wanted everyone to call him Jughead, nobody objected. To be honest, he did get more attention because of his new name, but it wasn't anything positive. He mostly ignored it or played it off as petty banter between people who didn't have anything else to do in their lives, and were so bored that they even bothered picking on him in the first place. When his birthday arrived, as usual, he didn't have any friends to celebrate with or to invite over to the run-down shack he called a house. I fact, his father wasn't there for most of his birthdays, so it was usually just him and his sister Jellybean running the house. Though Jellybean didn't have an allowance like Jughead had at the time, she would gather enough scraps left from students in her classroom and would make a present for him every year. One year, in particular, Jellybean gave Jughead a soft, felt crown-hat that would fit contently onto his head. Through his torturous years of schooling, the hat would be worn down with slips of the felt falling down and deteriorating. By his teenage years, Jughead modified one of his beanies to have points sticking out of the edges, helping him keep the memory of his crown.

She had a family. A very peculiar one. Much different than anyone else's.

Elizabeth "Betty" Cooper would stagger around the house searching for her lost sister. Her parents had yelled at Polly for the fourteenth time this week, and she just had enough of it, threatening to leave town before slamming her door. The next day she was gone. The whole neighborhood ended up searching for her while Betty kept to the house, knowing Polly couldn't have gone too far without hitting a dead end. She was always hiding in the attic upstairs, crouching behind the biggest piece of furniture that was crammed into the corner of the room, catching dust. Betty had also used the same hiding place. Yelling at one another wasn't a very rare occurrence in her household.

He had a family, one of the most normal ones in the neighborhood.

Archibald "Archie" Andrews didn't have a perfect life growing up, especially because his mother decided to leave him and his dad for the city, but he had gotten through it knowing he had to be strong for his dad. Though Archie did not inherit his striking red hair from his dad, Fred Andrews would always joke he got his devilishly good looks from him. Archie would laugh along with his dad, but he could tell there was a hint of sadness in his smile. He never bothered him about it, knowing he would become stronger over time. Archie had other problems growing up. Mostly one involving a special blondie living across from him, yelling and crying coming from her house.

When he met Betty Cooper, he instantly knew she was special in some way. Aside from being gorgeously beautiful, she had the smile of an angel and the personality of a saint. She was cheery, bubbly, and always someone that could make him feel better. He would've been lying if he said he didn't have the littlest crush on her. One day, at the start of middle school, when the sun shined onto her shining baby blue eyes at just the right angle, he had even confessed his feelings to her.

"Oh, little Archibald." She started off, covering her mouth with her hand to hold back her giggles, "You're too young to know what love is. Ask me again in high school when you actually know what you feel." She then winked at him and skipped all the way to school in silence. Archie felt a little stab in his heart, but couldn't feel discouraged for long as he noticed the little twinkle in her eye as she faced away from him. It wouldn't be until years later that he would openly confess again under different circumstances.

But that information needs to be concealed to another chapter. We need to start at the beginning.

It was the beginning of an era. Archie had just recently introduced himself to Betty and asked if she wanted to play with him down by Sweetwater River. She had agreed hesitantly and hushed him as she slid out of her window and down the walls of her house. When she landed on the ground safely, they both walked side by side in silence.

"So Betty, what do you think we should do once we make it down to Sweetwater River?" Archie asked, breaking the obvious tension going on between the pair. Betty looked down at her sunflower dress and pulled at her pigtails.

"Well it is a nice day, but the water isn't warm enough at this time to actually go swimming, plus we didn't bring anything to change into for the proper swimming attire, so the most we could do is dip our feet into the water for a couple of seconds. Though there is a good chance we could catch hypothermia and have to be rushed to the hospital.." She rambled, stopping abruptly as she glanced over at Archie and saw him staring off into space. She blushed slightly and hit his cheek to wake him up. He shook out of his daydream and looked at her.

She stuttered back. "Sorry! I'm sorry I'm so boring. I don't get out much so I'm usually studying and finding ways to occupy myself." She bowed her head down slightly and hid behind her hair. Archie grinned shyly and hit her softly on the arm. She winced.

"Wanna race?" He pointed towards the pathway and shrugged. She grinned back and ran ahead of him as fast as she could.

"Wait for me!" He chuckled and ran after her, running into the forest up ahead as she had already entered. He spotted Betty ready to swerve behind a thicket of trees but stopped saw her stop abruptly and change her direction. Archie followed her and saw her talking with someone he didn't recognize, which was rare considering he knew almost everyone on their block.

"Who are you?" He heard her say to the stranger, who seemed extremely scrawny and tired from the way he was slumping up against the tree. His black scrolls of hair fell down the front of his face with ease as they covered his face. A faint smirk played across his lips.

"Who are you?" He echoed back, re-adjusting what seemed to be a felt crown lying on his head. He brushed the hair out of his face and came closer to Betty. She blushed and backed up a little.

"I-I'm Betty Cooper" She answered, asking a few moments later what his name was. He answered, saying his name was Jughead Jones, and smiled nonchalantly. She stuttered a bit as he lied his hand onto her shoulder friendly and seemed to get closer. Archie came up behind Betty and pulled her backward. He leaned over Betty.

"Betty we should go. I think your mom might be mad if we don't take you h-"

"So Juggie, do you want to join us? We're going down to Sweetwater River for a little bit to play!" She broke out of Archie's grip and walked towards him, holding both her hands behind her back. Jughead looked at her suspiciously but nodded slowly as Betty grinned and took his hand, running down to Sweetwater with Archie standing at the spot they were at before they left. He stood there for a couple of minutes, processing what was happening. They just.. left him. Alone.

Archie was about to give up, maybe even lay off talking to Betty for a while. It seemed she had found someone else to hang out with. He would just be in the way.

"Hey, are you coming?" He heard a voice call to him. Archie looked up and spotted Jughead, still holding Betty's hand, calling out to him as Betty held out her other hand. Archie was skeptical for a second, but he reached out his hand towards Betty. She smiled and quickly swooped his hand over hers and yanked her towards the both of them.

Archie smiled too. He let go of Betty's hand. Both Betty and Jughead looked at him shocked, maybe somewhat sad, but Archie just smiled.

"Race you!" He called out, sprinting out of the pathway and down to the river, where he could hear the shouts of both a boy and a girl screaming his name.