Don't Worry Baby

You're Sixteen

September 1963

It was Friday night, and Carol was feeling giddy. Her parents finally let her have a boyfriend, Charlie, who was a pretty cool guy. His parents bought him a red Chevy Impala for his 16th birthday last year, and it was the coolest thing ever to her.  Charlie was a guy she had seen around school, and one day, he asked her out, and her parents liked him.  He was charming with his blond hair and blue eyes and always said the right thing in front of them, which her dad appreciated.

They just pulled up to Mel’s to grab some food before driving around, and Carol spotted a very distinct yellow deuce coup a few cars down.  A smile grew on her lips as she saw John leaning against it, talking to a couple of his friends she’d seen him with before.

“Hey, Charlie,” she started before he ordered their food, “would you mind if I go say hi to one of my friends over there?  It’ll only be a minute.”

“Sure, but don’t take too long.”  He peered around her to see who she might know but didn’t see any of the girls she usually was talking to.  She nodded and opened the door, adjusting her hair and blouse before walking to John.  His friends were walking away to enter the diner, leaving him alone for a moment before Carol stepped up. 

“Hey John,”  she smiled at him,  “you driving around tonight?”

“Hey, kid.  Yeah, I might be.”  He folded his arms, leaning back on his car.  “What’s it to ya?  Isn’t your bedtime soon?”  Carol just rolled her eyes and laughed.

“No, you dummy, my dad has let me stay out a little later since I turned 16.”  She informs him.  “I thought we might see you around.”

“We?”  He raises a brow at her.

“Me and my boyfriend, Charlie.  He’s over in the red Chevy.”  She nods her head in the direction of Charlie’s car. 

“Oh, you got yourself a boyfriend with a car now?  Look at you movin’ on up in the world.”  John remarks amusingly. 

“Oh, shut it, at least I can get a date.”  Carol teased.

“Whoa, whoa.  What makes you think I can’t get a date?”

“Just a simple observation.”  She smiled innocently at him.  John rolled his eyes with a huff, and she couldn’t help but giggle at how easy it was to rile him up sometimes.

“Carol!  Thought you said you’d only be a minute.”  Charlie called out from a few cars away, causing John to look past Carol to see who was talking to her. He surmised that it was the boyfriend she was telling him about.  His suspicions were confirmed when the guy approached Carol and placed an arm around her shoulders possesively.  He observed Carol's uncomfortable posture as her boyfriend pulled her closer to him.

“Sorry.  Charlie, this is my friend, John,”  she explained,  “John, this is my boyfriend, Charlie.”

“Nice to meet you.”  John stuck his hand out to shake Charlie’s, only for Charlie to stare at him for a moment as if sizing him up before shaking John’s hand sterner than needed. 

“Our food is going to come out soon; we should go,”  Charlie said more to Carol.

“Yeah, sure,” she nodded before looking back to John.  “See you around.”

“See you around, kid.”

Carol and Charlie drove around for a while before he parked near the canal, just out of view of anyone passing by.  His kisses started soft and gentle but turned rough, and the way he was holding her was starting to hurt.  Carol began to push back, but he held onto her tighter.