Teddy Girls (Completed)

Part Thirteen: The Kiss

  You don't realize your mistakes as they happen. You only realize that they were the wrong choice after they've been said and done. You see all the stories about time travelers doing something small to mess up the past. You never see the stories about doing something in the now that will mess up the future.

Your future.

I loved Veronica deeply, but we were both to stubborn to see it at first. All the little things I did either pushed her away, or pulled her closer. Maybe I took the time that we were close to each other for granted. Maybe if I had said the right thing I wouldn't have hurt her.

•••

February 3, 1964

     After Veronica and I's freak-out regarding a certain British pop group, we experienced a bit of a burn out. Relax, not the literal kind of burnout. We didn't catch on fire or anything.

No, we had the kind of burnout that happens when you reach a certain elated high. It's nice to stay on cloud nine, but there's always a catch. At some point, you must come down from that high.

That kind of burnout.

After a game of,

"Where do you want to eat?"

"I don't care."

  We reached the agreement of going to McDonald's. Veronica doesn't like to pick where we go usually. She lets me do it. Maybe because she's indecisive. Maybe to cater to the girl she basically kidnapped.

    It had been two days since I ran away. Almost three. I never did quite fully reject the idea that someone was after us. Probably for good reason.

There were vague mentions of a suspect in a Volkswagen van through the radio. We brushed it off. There's no way they could mean us. It was probably about some pedophile and his candy van.

     Right?

Right. So to McDonald's we went. The van barely fit in the small lot. Also, this McDonald's didn't have a drive-in. Ohio McDonald's are strange. Or maybe just this particular McDonald's was strange and I was being mean to Ohio for no reason.

I had nothing against Ohio don't get me twisted. I'm sure the endless fields of corn were useful and riveting to somebody somewhere. Just not me.

     Anyway.

     Veronica killed the van's engine in the minuscule parking space. "I used to steal from McDonald's a lot." Was the only thing she said before exiting the van.

Comforting. I thought, while slamming the Volkswagen passenger door. How does a person even steal from a McDonald's?

     I hope I wasn't going to find out.

     Somewhere along the way, Veronica told me about a few of her crime escapades. She explained that, if she was stealing from a big chain, (ex: McDonald's) then it wasn't hurting anybody because the big billionaires don't need the cash.

      "Rachel, it's kinda like stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Except I'm the poor. And I ain't sharing."