You Really Got a Hold On Me

Chapter 4: Crop Tops

Tessa rolled over with a groan, cracking an eye open to see the sun filtering through the hotel window, bathing her in light. She lay there for a moment, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face. She blinked a few times before she could keep her eyes open fully, and they focused on the wall. She wrinkled her brow in mild confusion. The curtains were a deep mauve, when she could've sworn that the last time she'd seen them they'd been light green. She shook her head slightly to clear it. She must be remembering the room incorrectly. Of course the wall was mauve. It must've always been mauve. She slowly sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes, which had become quite a tangled mess overnight, it seemed. She glanced around the room, her eyes widening slightly in tense disbelief. Alright, this definitely wasn't her hotel. The room was bigger, and everything was a different color than she remembered. The building also seemed to reek of cigarette smoke. Where the hell was she? She relaxed slightly when she saw that her sister was asleep in the bed parallel to her own. She quickly hopped out of her bed and onto Veronica's, where she was sleeping soundly, curled on her side with her mouth slightly open. Tessa took no mind of her peaceful state and shook her urgently. Veronica had always been a light sleeper, and woke up almost immediately in a state of panic.

"Wha? What is it? What happened? Who do I need to fight-" Veronica shot up, nearly rolling off the bed in the process.

Tessa grabbed her arm to prevent her from meeting that fate, and shook her head.

"Shhh Ronnie, nothing happened. Except, we're not in our hotel room." Tessa said, her voice strained.

Veronica stared at her blearily.

"What're you talking about? Of course we're-" Her eyes widened, "Oh. Oh." she put a hand to her mouth, her eyes moving wildly around the room before they settled on her sister's bewildered and anxious face.

"What?" Tessa exclaimed, nearly shouting.

"Be quiet, you'll wake them!" Veronica whispered urgently, clapping a hand over Tessa's mouth.

"Wake who?" Tessa whisper-shouted tersely back, batting her sister's hand away.

She had an uncomfortable sense of deja vu. This was the second morning in a row that she had awakened without a clue as to what had transpired the night before, and decided she really needed to stop drinking so much before bed.

Veronica groaned.

"You don't remember? C'mon, Tess. You really need to lay off the Schnapps, it's making your brain go funny." Veronica teased, avoiding answering her question. If she said it out loud, it would make it all real.

Tessa wracked her brain for any recollection of the evening, and slowly an image formed in her mind. She laughed to herself.

"What?" Veronica questioned, eyeing her sister warily.

"Nothing," Tessa rolled her eyes at the stupid 'memory' that had just popped into her head," I must've dreamed about the Beatles, because I could've sworn I met John Lennon. Crazy, right?"

Tessa laughed again and looked at Veronica expectantly. She was waiting for her to crack another joke about her alcohol intake, and describe to her how she had partied a little too hard, ending up in some random boy's hotel room, a reluctant Veronica trailing behind. However, Veronica was oddly silent, staring into space with an odd expression on her face. Tessa nudged her curiously.

"What, did I throw up on you last night or something? I'll reimburse you for any ruined shoes, scout's honor." She said, holding up her fingers in a girl-scout salute.

"You weren't dreaming." Veronica said simply, turning her head to look intently at Tessa, begging her not to make a scene, "You weren't dreaming, you really did meet John Lennon, and we're currently in the Beatles's hotel room in somewhere around the year 1963, I'd say."