The Watch

I stared at my naked wrist.

“Would you stop?” Jackie asked. She stared at me with an annoyed but amused expression. Behind her, part of our graduation class filled the living room. They laughed and chatted while techno beats thumped from unseen speakers. Everyone was having a good time. Everyone except me.

I looked away from her, sipping from my plastic cup. She was right. But I couldn’t help it. My wrist felt naked because I was supposed to have my watch on it. The one my parents gave me a week ago after our Grade Eight graduation ceremony. I had seen it at the mall months ago, and I instantly loved it because it looked exactly like the one on Spy Girl High. I never thought I would have it, but then there it was, sitting in a bed of white tissue paper in a blue box. They engraved it and everything.

But now it was missing.

I glanced down at the grey carpet as Fatima continued telling her embarrassing gym class story. Where could I have left that watch? It was no where in my room. I searched every inch of that space, including behind the bed and the crevices of my stuffed closet. The only time I took it off was at night and in gym class because I didn’t want to break it. Now I was regretting taking it off at all. My parents should have known better than to trust their absent-minded daughter.

“It’s probably somewhere you’ve already looked.” Jackie had explained earlier. “Just try again later.” She was right. There was no use thinking about it now at Brianne’s place. I’d just have to keep looking.

The room buzzed with multiple conversations going on all at once. Brianne said she invited some people, but it looked like the whole graduating class was there. Maybe she wanted it to look like a party from the movies. I thought for sure her parents would be mad at her, but I saw them say “hi” earlier, carrying a box of wine out to the pool house.

Our group hushed as Derek Solanski entered the living room. Jackie, Fatima, Cindy, and Sharon all subtly but not so subtly glanced in his direction. Derek, aka Mr. Prince Charming. He high-fived Mike, stopping to talk to him. Fatima commented on how cute he looked in his bomber jacket. Cindy thought his hair was glossier that night. Jackie didn’t say anything but continued staring over her shoulder. I could just make out Mike telling Derek about a ping-pong contest in the foyer. Derek nodded and followed him out of the living room.

Jackie faced us again. “Let’s go watch!” She said, grabbing Fatima’s arm. She led the way before anyone could reply. The other girls followed. I sighed, shaking my head.

In the foyer, someone had moved a tall, expensive looking blue-and-white vase near the front doors. Ping pong balls lay strewn around it, the casualties of previous attempts. Hassan, the class clown, stood upstairs by the railing, overlooking the foyer. He threw an orange ping-pong ball across the room, missing the vase by about a foot. Everyone collectively sighed in disappointment. Brianne moved him along, telling him his turn was up.

“Dare me to play?” Jackie asked us. Asking wasn’t necessary. She had always been the outgoing type. We nodded anyway and she beamed, strutting ahead to the staircase. She slowed as she passed Derek, standing by the foot of the stairs. She glanced at him. He gave her a smile.

“Did you see that?” Cindy whispered loudly. The other girls nodded and squealed. I stayed quiet. I glanced at Derek. He ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair. I always imagined that it was soft and supple. But I never told anyone that. I knew I had no chance with him, so what was the point? I’d probably die from embarrassment if anyone knew.

After the next person tried and failed, it was Jackie’s turn. She smiled as she turned to the crowd watching below. Carefully she took aim, slowly waving the ball back and forth before sending it off. It arched in the air and with a whoosh, landed inside the vase. The crowd cheered, masking the inevitable pang as the ball hit the inside. Jackie shook her clasped hands side-to-side like a sports champion. I smiled. She was always lucky like that. She came back downstairs, her silver necklace glimmering under the pot lights. 

I wanted to walk up and congratulate her, but a bunch of people swarmed her by the foot of the stairs. Not even Fatima or Cindy could get close enough. Sharon walked away entirely.

Jackie beamed, thanking everyone graciously. She paused by Derek, lowering her chin and tucking her waving hair behind her ear. But Jackie wasn’t the shy type. That was her “move”. And it worked. Derek sidled up and said something to her.

How lucky was that? I thought as I watched them talk. Only a week ago, Derek had dumped Amanda. Apparently, she’d be cheating on him with a bunch of guys. I didn’t believe it at first, but everyone was talking about how she did special “favours” behind the Subway shop. I was bummed about it. They had been our Middle School royalty.

And now Jackie could be next in line. I smiled. If anyone was going to win Derek, I knew it was going to be her. It was a wonder why she wasn’t already Miss Popular. I figured it was because she wasn’t as the other popular girls like Tammy or Nikki. I continued to watch as Jackie leaned against the wall, chatting with Derek as if talking to a cute guy was the easiest and natural thing to do. I sighed. I wasn’t going to see much of Jackie the rest of the evening. When she had her eyes on a guy, everyone else seemed less important. Jackie explained that’s what happens when you start dating.

“But we’ll always be friends,” she explained. “No guy will ever take that away.”

I turned to Fatima, asking her if she wanted to go downstairs to the rec room. I heard Brianne had an air hockey table.

Before Fatima could reply, I heard this rumble ahead of us. Cindy came running in our direction, her kitten heels clicking across the linoleum floor. Her eyes were wide, as if she were being chased by a bear. She spotted Jackie and ran up to her.

“Shit, shit!” she said as she lunged for Jackie’s arm. Derek raised an eyebrow. 

“What is it?” Jackie asked, looking confused.

Cindy pointed behind her. Her mouth bobbed up and down like a fish flopping on a deck. I walked towards them.

Jackie placed her hand on Cindy’s. “Breathe, girl.”

Cindy took a deep breath. “It’s Sharon! She’s puking!” She whispered loudly. Whispering had never been her strong suit.

“Oh my God,” said Jackie, pushing herself away from the wall. She told her to stay, handing Cindy her knock-off Yves Saint Laurent purse. She flashed Derek a smile before bee-lining for the bathroom down the hall.

“It’ll be fine,” I told Cindy as I approached her. “You know Sharon.” I had seen Jimmy and Chris sharing a small vodka bottle between them in the kitchen. Sharon’s favourite booze. I had smelled it off her earlier and it was now probably catching up with her.

Cindy looked on in the direction of the bathroom. She bit her lower lip, gripping the purse strap in her hands. I placed my hand on her shoulder, finding her trembling like a Chihuahua. Finally, possibly not being able to take it anymore, she ran after them, but not before shoving Jackie’s purse into my hands. I called out to her, but she scampered off, and disappeared around the corner. I awkwardly stood there in the middle of the party like a human coatrack.

I rolled my eyes. I turned to say something to Fatima, but she was no longer there. Great. I just got dumped. Sighing, I walked back into the living room, finding an empty armrest to sit on.

I rested Jackie’s denim purse in my lap, patiently watching everyone else have a good time.

Someone tapped my thigh. It was clever Betty, sitting on the couch next to me. “Hey! Got any gum?”

I was about to say no when I realized I was holding Jackie’s purse. She always had strawberry-kiwi gum. Her favourite. I opened her purse and sorted through the mess of spilled change, crumped notes, lip gloss… My fingers stopped when I saw a glow coming from the bottom of her bag. It shone neon blue, illuminating everything inside. I paused, narrowing my eyes. What could that be? As I shoved aside a compact case, the realization sunk in my stomach before the thought materialized in my head. All the indistinct chatter, the music, the laughter, faded away like a dissipating fog over a hill. It couldn’t be…

Reaching in, I grabbed onto the source of that neon light. A wristwatch.

“So…is that a no on the gum?” Betty’s voice cut through. My mouth grew numb. I shook my head and closed the purse.

Was I seeing things? I had to check again, but I couldn’t do it out in the open. Jackie could come back any second. I bolted upright, darting out of the living room. I headed for upstairs, away from the bathroom Jackie was in with Sharon. More classmates continued the ping-pong challenge. On-lookers continued to watch, ignoring me as I walked past them and up to the second floor.

I walked down a quiet and empty hallway, lined with photographs of boats and pagodas. Finding an open door, I slipped inside, closing the door behind me.  

I found myself in a small study with a desk. White noise buzzed around my ears, accompanied by a high-pitched note. The party sounds were now muffled. My heart raced in my chest. I didn’t want to move, but I had to get to the bottom of this. Rushing to the desk, I plopped Jackie’s purse on top and opened it.

It was still in there.

My shoulder’s slumped. A part of me had hoped it had all been a sugar-induced hallucination. But the proof was right there. I held my breath as I pulled it out, turning on the desk light. It had the same silver face and navy-blue leather band as mine.

Maybe Jackie got the same one? She hadn’t seemed so impressed when I had shown it to her a week ago. At the time, I was worried I had picked something dorky. My breathing shallowed. There was only one way to know for sure. Slowly I turned the watch around.

My heard dropped as I saw the inscription.

To Mia,

We are so proud of you.

Love, Mom and Dad.

I clutched the watch in my hand. How could this be? Why would my best friend take my watch? My family wasn’t richer than hers. Sure, I was an only child, but she still got pretty much whatever she wanted. My head swirled.

A beep sounded from her purse. I looked inside and found she got a new message on her phone. Normally I wouldn’t invade someone’s privacy, but something in me urged me on. I pulled out her phone and looked at the screen.

DID ANYONE FIGURE IT OUT YET?

The message was from her cousin, Pat. I didn’t like her at all. She was rude and talked about gross things. What was she talking about this time? Did it have to do with my watch? I hovered my thumb over the keypad. I knew Jackie’s passcode, but not because she had told me. I had discovered it secretly watching her a few times. I was inspired by my favourite character on Spy Girl High who was a pro at uncovering passcodes. It’s not like I ever intended on breaking into her phone, but now seemed like as good a time as any. I quickly tapped in the code and scrolled through her messages. As I read, the room grew increasingly colder.

JACKIE: HOLY CRAP IT WORKED

PAT: WHAT DID??

JACKIE: THAT THING I TOLD YOU ABOUT. THE AMANDA PLAN

PAT: NO WAY!

JACKIE: YUP. JASON TOLD HIS SISTER BRIANNE. THE BLABBER MOUTH TOLD EVERYONE

PAT: LOL

JACKIE: EVERYONE THINKS ITS TRUE

PAT: I LOVE UR SCHOOL. SO GULLIBLE.

JACKIE: I KNOW RIGHT

PAT: HE DIDNT MENTION U?

JACKIE: I TOLD YOU HE DOESN’T KNOW ME. AND I GAVE HIM A FAKE NAME

PAT: GOOD THING U WERE IN THE SKATE PARK THAT DAY

JACKIE: NO LUCK INVOLVED. IT WAS ALL PLANED

The room buzzed as I stared at the screen. This couldn’t be true, could it? Maybe it was a joke. I scrolled back, hoping I would find something innocent to explain it all. I held my breath as I read through her earlier texts, but the reality of it grew darker. It was all true. The Amanda rumor was fake, and Jackie had been the one to spread it. And it was all to get at Derek.

I lowered the phone onto my lap. How could she do this? She ruined someone’s life just to get at a guy? She could have had anyone. So why Derek? And why steal my watch? As the questions spun through my head like a hamster on a wheel, the realization dawned on me.

She was a manipulator. All those times she suggested what to wear or who to flirt with, and even what shows to watch had all been for her benefit. She wanted things to go as she saw best. The fun, talented, helpful friend I thought I had known was a fake. A liar. A cheat. She wanted what someone else had, only because they had them. Rage bubbled inside my chest. I wanted to scream and chuck her phone against the wall. How could she do this to me? After all that we’d been through? After all the late-night chats and confessions…

I paused. Confessions. She’d often vent about this or that person because they were annoying. Or she'd make fun of another person because of something silly they had said. She had something to say about almost everyone. And she spilled it all to me because she knew I would never tell.

Until now.

Before I could second guess it, before I could ask myself what the hell I was doing, I started to work. I worked in a focused energy I’d never seen before. I was in a trance. I didn’t stop until I was done. The next thing I knew, I was leaving the bedroom, heading back out into the party.

Music blared full force. Someone cackled a laugh. I crept all the way back to the railing where the ping-pong game was still going. A chorus of “aws” sounded as another shot missed the vase. Looking over the railing, I saw classmates chatting, drinking from cups, and snacking. No one looked angry nor surprised.

Had it not worked?

Before I could check Jackie’s phone, a voice cut through the noise. 

“Oh. My. God…”

Leaning over the railing, I saw Brianne, standing by a closed door. She stared at her phone with her mouth agape. Her friends looked at her curiously. She scoffed and turned the screen to them. My heart raced as their mouths dropped too. It was happening. Another exclamation sounded. I spotted Tammy staring at her phone too but with her eyebrow raised so high, it almost touched her hairline. More students whipped out their phones. Gasps followed. The room slowly buzzed louder and louder until it sounded like a hornet’s nest. My skin tingled. The messages had gone through.

“What a bitch!” A girl’s voice called out.

“How could she say that about me?” A different girl asked.

Finally, I spotted Joel staring at his phone. He stood next to Derek who was doing the same thing. Joel covered his mouth. Derek was in a trance, his eyes narrowed at the screen, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. And it all came from Jackie’s number.

Inexplicably, her phone had sent more than a dozen screen shots of texts. Texts with only her name on full display. Text confessions of what she really thought about our classmates. And of course, the truth about the Amanda rumor. 

More and more people gathered in the foyer, including the gal of the hour. Jackie. She walked into the crowd, leading Sharon, and Cindy. Classmates parted, letting her through, all the while staring at her. A hush overtook the crowd. She waved at Derek, but he walked away into the living room. Joel followed him. Her hand slowly lowered. She glanced over her shoulder, looking around at all the angry, perplexed, and amused faces. Girl whispered, leaning into each other, pointing at her. Jackie’s forehead furrowed and her mouth dropped. What was going on? She was probably thinking. The music continued but the party spirit had died, leaving behind the stinging sound of unspoken hatred. Worry cascaded over her face like a waterfall. She gave a nervous laugh, but she only got angry faces and crossed arms in return. Finally, she looked up, spotting me at the centre of the railing. She raised an eyebrow, as if asking me for an explanation. For a moment, I felt sorry for her, feeling the pain of public humiliation. But she was a stranger now. A stranger that had used me. I raised my hand, as if to wave, but turned my forearm, showing her my watch.

THE END