Teddy put on her detangled chains after turning the ignition off while Maddy retouched her lips, the both of them used the rearview mirror. When she was done in about 30 seconds, Teddy turned her head by a few degrees and looked at Maddy. Maddy closed the lip gloss and put it in her purse before looking back at Teddy straight in the eyes.
"What?" Maddy asked.
"Can I kiss you? Or would it ruin your plan?"
"Mm..." she falsely pondered before saying with a smirk, "You can kiss me."
And Teddy pressed her lips against Maddy's for a proper five seconds, not going any further, and pulled back. "Thanks for the lip gloss!"
She opened the door and jumped out giggling.
Maddy was so surprised that she took a few seconds in the car. Not seeing her come out, Teddy bent down from the driver's side and waved at her like a clown. Maddy pushed the door open, scratching the nearby car, and yelled, "WHAT THE FUCK SONIA?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT??"
Teddy walked over to the passenger side, hearing the dull bang. "Because it's funny! And cute! Chill babe, your lips still look perfect."
"That doesn't allow you to just smush your lips on mine and take my lip gloss!" she said slamming her door shut, keeping nothing between them.
Teddy bent down to examine the small dent and took out her wallet from the side pocket. "What did you think was gonna happen if I kissed you otherwise? It was gonna get on me anyways. The only thing I did different from any boy you've ever kissed when you had anything on your lips is that I kept it on."
Teddy then took Sam's business card out of her wallet along with a 20 and put the folded bills under the card, which went under the wiper blade. Maddy was speechless all that while. Fuck she's right. Also, it was cute. I have to admit. She crossed her hands over her chest in unaccepted defeat.
Teddy stood back up straight. "So is that one of the peeves?"
"You could say that," she said coolly, beginning to walk out of the parking lot.
Teddy followed her. "'Kay. I'll never do it again."
Maddy wrapped her hands around Teddy's thick biceps. "But it was cute."
"Right? Like something you'd see on TV!"
"Exactly! ...You know what, you can do it again but tell me first."
"Like, "Can I have some lipstick?""
"Yeah."
"Cool. ...Wanna apologize for the doors?"
"Not yet."
Teddy shook her head with a smile slightly curving up her disappointed frown from one side.
*****
Nobody saw them outside and nobody suspected anything when they were inside, everyone thought it would be impossible for the two of them to be in a romantic relationship. Maybe they were right.
All the students of East Highland who were at the mall thought that they were gonna witness Sonia get a complete makeover. They thought that come Monday and they'd see a former goodie two-shoes "ascend" to Maddy's cloud as a part of the 'alliance' between the groups.
The couple didn't have mind to give for the others' glances or assumptions, they were busy being with each other. They held hands and Maddy pulled Teddy to the first of many shops, grins plastered.
They had a handful of costumes in mind and Maddy started piecing them together, one by one, with the pieces she passed by. As Maddy worked her brain, both of their smiles slowly disappeared and Teddy grew bored of leaning against a column in 10 minutes. Maddy did not want Teddy's help in her department. Not wanting to be the dick who spends their time on the phone when they're hanging out with their lover, Teddy walked over to the rack Maddy was staring down.
She wanted to take a look at the size range of a skirt that she'd seen Maddy evaluate, but her eyes caught the price first. Teddy's wallet started crying.
"Um... Maddy?" she said nervously.
"Yeah?" she answered softly, focused on how she would wear her makeup for the slip dress she held in her hand instead of the messages she'd received from you-know-who.
Teddy delicately said, "I know you're used to shopping with the bigger bucks... but my wallet only looks thick." Maddy looked up in confusion. "Our budget is not very big. We need to look for cheaper options. For the two of us."
Maddy deeply sighed. She knew Teddy would say that. She was hoping to keep it out of her girlfriend's attention till they were at the counter, thinking 'Teddy is too nice to stop me at the counter.' "Okay..." Maddy replied before plodding over to the sale section.
They searched the three rows for another 10 minutes but Maddy didn't see anything appealing. Thus, they left.
On their way to the next shop, Teddy felt extremely guilty. She had felt guilty since the moment they left the pricey side. "I'm sorry if I ruined today Maddy."
Maddy had tried to keep her disappointment a secret, but it shined through anyway. She didn't want to make Teddy sad, so she said, "No, it's alright! There are still so many stores to check out."
"I know you're pissed off. And.. I'm sorry bro."
The last word opened the bottle stuffed to the brim with emotions. She stopped in her tracks and turned 90 degrees to let some of it spill. With a low tone and her index finger pointing Teddy down, she said "Ok. First off, don't call me 'bro' or 'dude' or whatever the fuck you call your friends. I'm not your friend, I'm your girlfriend. You'll not call me such a lame word."
Teddy got the chills, the bad ones. She held Maddy by both her arms and moved her towards the window of a store, to not block the path. She gave a small smile to the ones who were in the hearing distance before whispering, "We can't talk here because, I don't know if you remember, it was your idea to not let anyone know till Friday."
Maddy wanted to claw Teddy's skin off. She took a breath instead. Then she walked away to an escalator and Teddy followed. "Where are we going?"
"Lovers Nook."
Teddy had never been to 'Lovers Nook', but like her sister, she had heard many stories. It was a stretch of five empty, unofficially furnished stores with smashed or no walls between them on the East end of the third floor. It was a place where people hooked up, sold drugs and smoked joints with only the bonfires lit by the homeless and the torches on phones to guide them. It was in use from the mid 70s and there were strong rumors of all the Jacobs men having done their businesses in those used-to-be stores. So, in a way, Maddy was the reigning queen of that hell. And Teddy knew.
When they headed there at 6:45 in the evening, people got suspicious. The glares from the people on the escalator and those who lived in the Nook followed the Queen and her Mistress to one of the three most private places in the Lovers Nook, The Small Pantry. Maddy opened its mattress-reinforced doors and entered, as if she personally knew the ghosts who lived in every inch of the place.
Teddy hesitated but she got in when Maddy turned the light on, fear stepping on the accelerator of her heart. Maddy closed and locked the doors from inside with keys that hung on the wall beside the metal-and-mattress doors.
Before Maddy could even turn around, Teddy began her explanation. She hurriedly said, "I'm sorry. But the only reason I called you 'bro' is because I thought it was a good way to hide the fact that we're in a relationship."
"Yeah. I know..." Maddy said, meeting Teddy's eyes from a feet away before she looked away. "I just... overreacted. I don't know why..." I know very well why.
Teddy walked over to her and softly asked, "Do you want a hug?"
Maddy couldn't even get the words out of her mouth, she only nodded.
The relief Teddy got when Maddy implied that she wasn't mad at her, disappeared when Maddy's hands clasped themselves around her waist so tight that she could feel her heart beating.
-------
AN: I hope you liked the chapter!!! If you did, please leave a vote!
The next chapter comes Wednesday. Until then,
Love,
Persephone
YOU ARE READING
Maddy and Me
Romance"I really do love you. It didn't start in a good place, I admit, but these feelings I've grown for you are very much real!" said Maddy, crying. "And how am I supposed to know if that's true? This entire thing could just be in my head! Maybe you foun...
