Living the Dream

by Christa Roberts

  Tuning out everything around her, Betty spent the next hour editing and rewriting Pop’s menu, making everything sound delicious. She added new categories, like “Family Favorites” and “Create Your Own Sandwich.”

  She might not have earned her keep as a waitress. But Betty Cooper was going to make sure that she earned each and every penny Pop paid her.

  “How could you?” Veronica cried, folding her arms across her chest. “How could you lie to me about how old you are?” Veronica felt sick to her stomach. She should have known her summer romance was too good to be true. Talk about enjoying the ride! Veronica felt as if she’d just been pushed in front of a double-decker bus.

  Liam hung his head. He’d barely said a word since they’d walked outside and over to a couple of swings in the park across the street. “Well, um, to be honest—”

  “Yeah, that would be a good place to start,” Veronica cut in angrily. She sat down hard on a swing and began to move slowly back and forth.

  “I, um, never actually told you how old I am,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He sat down on the swing beside her, tapping his toe rapidly and showing his nerves.

  Veronica thought for a moment. It was true that she couldn’t remember a specific moment when he told her his age—and she couldn’t recall having asked him his age, either. But why would I have? she thought, shaking her head in frustration. If a boy asked her out, it was a given that he needed to be her age or a little bit older.

  Apparently it was not a given to Liam.

  “I thought if an older, beautiful, sophisticated girl like you knew I was only a sophomore, you’d never stoop to hanging out with me,” he said softly, his voice cracking.

  “Well, you thought right,” she said sharply, not wanting to give him an inch.

  “Come on, Veronica,” Liam said, reaching out for her hand.

  She pulled away, feeling dangerously close to tears. The seat of her swing banged into his.

  “I’m still the same guy you were totally into a few minutes ago. I mean, I get up to go to the men’s room, and I come back and it’s like you totally hate me.”

  Now the tears were welling up in her eyes.

  “We’ve had so much fun this summer. Haven’t we?” he asked, moving his swing around so he could stare into her eyes. “So I’m younger than you. So what? Age is just a number, isn’t it?”

  For several minutes, neither of them said anything. Veronica looked away, first out at the fringe of trees that surrounded the park and then up to the dark sky. It was filled with twinkling stars.

  If she really thought about it, going out with a younger boy wasn’t the end of the world. Sure, people like Bunny and her friends would think she was a total loser for doing it, but she didn’t really care what those girls thought.

  Veronica had always thought older boys were more mature. But Liam had seemed perfectly mature the whole time they’d been together. And the fact that he knew he was younger—and still tried to be with her—proved that he didn’t really care what other people thought, either. He was brave enough to follow his heart.

  Veronica turned to face him. “We did have a lot of fun together,” Veronica said grudgingly, trying not to get sucked in by his hazel eyes, which looked even warmer and safer than ever. “And I guess I can’t really blame you for wanting to hang out with a classy high-school girl. But . . . I can’t help it. I like to go out with boys who have their driver’s license.” She gasped. “That’s why you take the bus and haven’t been able to pick me up, isn’t it? You aren’t old enough to drive yet!”

  Liam gave her a sheepish shrug. “Yeah . . . but I do shave. That’s something, isn’t it?” he said, attempting to make a joke.

  Veronica let out a laugh. “You’re really funny. And sweet.” Then she sighed. She knew that just because a boy was a senior and had a fancy car didn’t necessarily mean he was mature or responsible. But for her, age wasn’t just a number. She wished she could be cool with dating a sophomore, but she just couldn’t be.

  Maybe she was the immature one.

  “The thing is, Liam, we both knew that this . . . this thing we have, whatever you want to call it—it was just a summer fling, anyway,” Veronica told him, her heart heavy.

  “It doesn’t have to be,” Liam said, reaching over to take her hand. His hands felt warm and strong, and she fought the urge to bury her head in his chest. “You said yourself that even though it would be a challenge to stay together once school started that it wouldn’t be impossible.”

  “That was when I thought you were a senior,” she said sadly. “But the reality is I have my real life back at Riverdale High, and you have yours back at Pembroke Academy.” She decided it would be best to leave her on-again, off-again relationships with Archie and Reggie out of the equation. “Summer romance doesn’t usually last once fall comes around, Liam.”

  Liam pulled Veronica close, and this time she didn’t resist. “This has been one of the best summers of my life,” he whispered, touching his nose to hers. “I’ll never forget you.”

  “Me neither,” Veronica whispered back. She and Liam had had some incredible conversations. They’d shared a lot these past few weeks. Maybe it had been easier to open up to him knowing in some part of her brain that it wasn’t going to be forever.

  Liam kissed her, and it was the sweetest kiss Veronica had ever had. She hugged him, breathing in the scent of shampoo in his hair and cologne on his neck. Then, she let her swing take her back, slowly pumping her legs to move herself forward.

  “So was that a good-bye kiss?” Liam asked, drawing his eyebrows together. “Because that definitely felt like a good-bye hug.”

  “Hmmm. Let’s call it a ‘let’s get together next summer and see where we are’ kiss,” she said, standing up. She felt sad, too. Deep in her heart, she’d known this moment was coming from the moment she’d first started a summer romance . . . she just hadn’t anticipated it happening tonight.

  “Come on,” she told him, taking him by the hand. “Let’s go home. And, um, Liam? I’ll drive.”

  Chapter 13

  “Look! No hands!” Veronica yelled, letting go of her mountain bike’s handlebars as she and Betty coasted down a small incline in the park.

  Veronica’s long dark hair blew out behind her. It was a picture-perfect day: bright sunshine, cool breeze, no clouds. And it was made even sweeter by the fact that the two best friends were free again.

  “Ronnie, you’re crazy,” Betty said, laughing. “But that’s why I love you.” She slid out her steel water bottle from her bike’s holder and took a long, ice-cold gulp. “You better watch out, though, or you could end up with a broken arm.”

  “But then maybe I’d get a cute, young doctor to fix it,” Veronica joked, batting her eyelashes. She took hold of the handlebars again and slowed so that Betty could pedal up to ride alongside her.

  “I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders,” Betty told Veronica. And she really did. “I am totally appreciating being a customer at Pop’s again instead of being an employee.”

  Looking back on the past few weeks, Betty had to admit that the experience hadn’t been all bad. She had learned a lot about the service industry—and that waitresses deserve every single tip they receive.

  “I bet you’ll be a big tipper from now on, right?” Veronica asked.

  “Definitely,” Betty said. “And I’m so glad that things are back to normal at the Chocklit Shoppe.” Sam’s had reopened the previous week, so the crowds at Pop’s had eased up. Georgette’s ankle was almost entirely healed—and her sister, Lynette, enjoyed the job and getting to work with her sister so much that she decided to become a full-time waitress at the restaurant.

  “Things really couldn’t have worked out any better. Pop just got in his new menus, and all my edits and changes are making a big difference,” Betty said excitedly. “He said appetizer orders are through the roof!”

  “Madame Veroniska sees a Pulitzer Priz
e for journalism in your future, Betty,” Veronica teased.

  Betty shrugged modestly. “It’s just like my horoscope said today: ‘With a little effort, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.’ ” Then she laughed. “Pop wants me to write all his ad copy from now on . . . if I win the Pulitzer, my rate is going way up!”

  The girls biked over a small footbridge and rounded a bend in the bike path. For a few minutes, neither of them talked, instead just enjoying the moment.

  “It was a pretty difficult decision, but I really didn’t have a choice,” Veronica said, sounding wistful. “I had to quit working at Belle Pink. I mean, I loved my time there, but working . . . well, it just kept me away from all the things that are important to me. All our friends, playing keyboard with The Archies . . .”

  “Sleeping in,” Betty chimed in.

  “That’s the biggest thing.” Veronica yawned. “I mean, they really should consider employees’ sleep needs. Who decided ten o’clock was a good time to open up a store?”

  “So have you heard from Lola?” Betty asked. Veronica had filled her in on Belle Pink’s über employee, and she was curious to see how the girl was doing.

  “She just texted me yesterday,” Veronica said. “Honestly, I felt so proud of her. She told me that she created a new display at the front of the store that was entirely her idea—and that people have been buying the stuff she featured in it like crazy.”

  “We should go check it out,” Betty said as they pedaled around an overgrown bush.

  “Definitely.”

  The girls rode up to a huge maple tree and got off their bikes for an energy bar and water break.

  “So if we go to the mall and walk into Belle Pink and Liam is working across the way . . . ,” Betty began slowly, not sure how her friend would react.

  “No problemo,” Veronica said, giving a simple shrug. She leaned up against the tree, fanning herself with her hand. “I’m a big girl. I can handle it. We’ve even texted each other a couple times since we broke up. It’s cool. I mean, it wouldn’t have been fun to have to see him every day once we weren’t with each other, but I’ve thought a lot about it, and really, what we had together was never going to be more than a summer fling.”

  Part of Betty wished that Veronica had kept her relationship going with Liam because then she wouldn’t be competition for Betty back at school. Betty had a feeling that things at Riverdale High this year would be just like they always were—she and Veronica were the best of friends and total rivals when it came to boys, especially Archie. People had a hard time understanding how the two girls could remain such good friends when they were constantly competing for Archie’s—and occasionally Reggie’s—heart.

  It didn’t really make sense . . . but it was just one of those things, Betty thought, resigned to whatever happened. Boys could come and go, but a best friend was forever. She couldn’t imagine being at Riverdale High without Veronica by her side.

  “And don’t forget, there’s one thing about my summer romance that was pretty awesome.” Veronica winked at Betty, and Betty laughed, knowing what she was alluding to.

  “My laptop!” Betty hadn’t managed to earn quite enough money for a laptop—but with the discount Veronica talked Liam into giving her, she was going to be able to afford a really nice one. “That was really sweet of him to give me the discount,” Betty said. “He’s a nice guy.”

  “Yeah,” Veronica said, taking a crunchy bite of her energy bar. “Who knows? Maybe when he gets his driver’s license I’ll decide to go out with him again. But he’d have to have a pretty sweet car.” Then she laughed. “Kidding!” It was pure Veronica.

  Betty knew there was a kernel of truth in what her best friend said. Veronica liked boys with lots of money and expensive sports cars. And she wasn’t always easy to get along with. Liam probably got off easy.

  Betty stretched her arms over her head and straddled her bike. “Ready?” she asked.

  Veronica nodded, throwing her wrapper into a nearby trash can. “I’ve got a great idea,” she said. “Why don’t we bike over to my house and give each other manicures? I just picked up some new polish at the drugstore yesterday. There’s this gorgeous rose color that would look so pretty with your skin tone.”

  Betty thought back to that day at the beginning of the summer when she and Veronica had passed by Beauty Town. It seemed like a lifetime ago. “That sounds awesome. Let me just text my mom so she knows where I am.” She shot Veronica a quizzical glance. “But I’m surprised you want to do your own nails, spa girl. What’s up with that?”

  Veronica hopped back on her bike and began to pedal down the path. “Betty, you should know this more than anyone,” she called over her shoulder as Betty followed on her own bike. “After the summer we’ve had, spending twenty bucks on a manicure would be crazy. Because we’ve definitely learned the value of a dollar!”

  Betty smiled. She wasn’t sure saving money was a lesson privileged Veronica would remember for long. But there were a lot of things about that summer that would stay in both their memories—hard work, good friends, some laughs, a little romance . . .

  And what lay ahead for them back at Riverdale High? Just like Betty’s horoscope . . . it was written in the stars.