Why was I always losing things?!

  First my notebook, and now this. Was I going to lose my homework next?

  I forced myself to take a deep breath in an attempt to quash the anxious fluttering of my insides.

  Nolan talked like my watch had been left in an incriminating place. Could I really have dropped it in the forest when I went on that hike with the others?

  It was true that I hadn’t seen my watch for a while, but I couldn’t be sure that it had gone missing only after the hike.

  Unable to answer him, I floundered about for a bit. “Are you sure that watch is mine? It could be anybody’s.”

  My sports watch was a pretty turquoise, which I absolutely loved, but it also wasn’t a limited-edition design. I had seen a couple of other girls around school wearing something similar to mine.

  Nolan only smiled slightly and turned the watch around so that the watch back faced me.

  Happy 14th birthday, Chelsea! Love, Mom.

  It took every bit of my willpower not to scream and pull out my hair.

  Of course. How could I have forgotten that it had those words engraved on it? Mom was so excited about presenting it to me when I turned fourteen. At that time, I had a strange obsession with pocket watches and how cool they looked, but because of my penchant for losing things she decided that a watch I could strap to my wrist was a better option.

  I loved it and carried it with me everywhere, treating it like a pocket watch instead of the wristwatch that it was. Although she was disappointed that I refused to wear it, she was still comforted by the fact that I brought it everywhere I went.

  It must have dropped out of my pocket when I wasn’t noticing.

  Ashley, you were so right. Why couldn’t I have just worn it like a normal person?

  “So? Still think it isn’t yours?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Instead of answering, I asked, “Did you really find it in the forest?”

  “It was lying on the forest floor.”

  I reached up for it, but before my fingers could make contact with it, Nolan whisked it away and pocketed it.

  “Nope, I wasn’t returning it to you,” he said. “I was showing you I had it.”

  My jaw dropped.

  “That’s my watch you’re stealing!”

  He smirked at me. “Considering how you were just blackmailing me not that long ago, I think we’re quite even.”

  It was unbelievable how confident and self-assured he looked. “Blackmail? I’m just being concerned for you!”

  “Show me those pictures you said you took,” he said lazily, leaning against the nearby wall.

  His hand casually rested on the jeans pocket that contained my watch. I was not impressed that he thought I might try to tackle him for it.

  With great effort, I pushed down the urge to yell at him. The last thing I needed was for a teacher to come running.

  “Fine,” I said, tugging my phone out of my pocket.

  I opened my gallery app and tapped on the last photo I snapped last night. When he made to take my phone from me, I wagged my finger at him and snatched my phone out of his reach.

  “I’m not going to just hand you my phone. You’ll probably just delete the pictures once you get your hands on it.”

  Scoffing, he came closer to me. “Whatever.”

  While still holding my phone close to me, I made sure the screen faced him so he could take a good look. “Here.”

  Nolan leaned forward and squinted at it. “I never thought anyone could be worse than me at taking photos.”

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  As I cycled through the few photos I took, I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you implying I’m bad at it?”

  “I wasn’t implying it. I was saying it,” he said. “It’s so dark in these pictures. You can’t even tell that it’s me. Were you seriously trying to blackmail me with these?”

  “Stop saying blackmail! It’s called concern,” I snapped, locking my phone and shoving it back into my pocket. “Anyway, they’re good enough evidence at least that someone was sneaking out of the school in the middle of the night. Besides, I’m a witness to it!”

  I wanted to wipe the obvious skepticism off his face.

  “Did you even see me clearly? How were you so sure it was me?” he said.

  “I used my binoculars to make sure. You’re not the only one who has them, you know,” I said, rolling my eyes. “So, yes, I definitely saw that it was you!”

  He eyed me warily. “What exactly do you want?”

  “I want you to stop trying to get yourself killed, and I want my watch back,” I said.

  Nolan crossed his arms. “Well, I want those photos deleted. You won’t get your watch back otherwise.”

  “And if I do that, you’re going to continue whatever life-risking adventures you have out there, aren’t you?” I snapped. “You’re an idiot if you think I’ll exchange my watch for your life.”

  He cocked his head. “A tad hypocritical of you, isn’t it? Weren’t you in the forest yourself?”

  “Unlike you, I wasn’t alone!” I whispered harshly, crossing my arms. “And I certainly didn’t go there in the middle of the night like some stupid protagonist in a horror movie!”

  “So you had friends with you, big deal.” He was unfazed. “I doubt they’d be of much use in a dangerous situation.”

  I couldn’t believe he wasn’t getting it. “The point is that we would be able to help each other! If you were in trouble, nobody would even know or be able to get help for you. I am not going to just sit back knowing you could die or be seriously wounded!”

  “But I won’t,” he said, letting out a sigh that somehow seemed longsuffering. “It’s not that dangerous.”

  “Can’t you at least go in the day?” I asked, trying not to sound too pleading. “Is it so hard for you to not seek death?”

  He sighed again—the nerve of him—and frowned at me. “Why are you being such a pain?”

  I resisted the overwhelming urge to yank at my hair. “Because I care! Do you really think I’d be skipping lunch to come here with you if it didn’t matter to me whether you lived or died? I could be mooching a free dessert off Derek right about now!”

  Nolan’s frown disappeared, and he was silent as he stared at me. After a few seconds, the intensity of his scrutiny made me squirm. Breaking off the unnecessarily prolonged eye contact to look down at my sneakers, I wondered if saying that had been a bad idea.

  “You’re still not getting your watch back,” he finally said.

  “Like I said, your life is more important than a watch!” I retorted, snapping my head back up.

  My heart stuttered at the sight of the small but genuine smile on his face.

  “Even if the watch was engraved?” he said, a teasing lilt to his voice.

  Whoa, heart! Calm down. What’s wrong with you?

  It wasn’t like I had never seen him smile before. This time, though, it felt gentler and warmer somehow. Looking at his face sent my stomach cliff-diving.

  In a weak attempt to recover from the odd fluttering of my heart, I shifted my focus from his face to the blank wall behind him.

  There. Much better. As long as I didn’t look at him, I would be fine.

  “You should just go to sleep early,” he said, letting out a large yawn. “You wouldn’t see me then. Why were you even up so late last night?”

  “I just couldn’t sleep,” I grumbled, glaring at the wall. “And you aren’t one to talk.”

  “As much as I want to spend my nap time chatting about this, I really have to go and catch some sleep now. Tell me when you decide to delete those pictures.” Nolan turned away and started walking down the stairs.

  “Take me with you when you go,” I blurted out.

  “What?” He turned around to stare at me with wide eyes. “Why?”

  Was what I just said really that shocking? Okay, so maybe it kind of was a little, but I couldn’t let him keep doing something so crazy like this by himself. My heart skipped several beats again, and this time it was definitely because of anxiety at the idea of going there in the dark.

  “You said it’s not that dangerous, right? Prove it. Bring me along,” I said, hoping he couldn’t see how hard I was quaking in my shoes. As an afterthought, I added, “You have to fend off insects for me, though. If something flies at me, I’m using you as a shield.”

  “Why would I take you along?”

  “Because I’ll tell on you if you don’t.” Also, I don’t want something terrible to happen to you while you’re out there, knowing that I could have done something about it. “I’ll do it, and that’s a promise!”

  He seemed to consider my threat. “I’ll bring you if you delete the photos.”

  “I’ll delete them afterwards. And then you have to return my watch.”

  “Alright,” he said, nodding. “We have a deal.”

  “Wait,” I said, when a thought abruptly occurred to me. “How often do you go there?”

  He blinked. “Why?”

  “You can’t just bring me there once and forget about it. What if I don’t go with you one night and that’s the night you happen to bleed out because you were stupid and went alone?”

  Recoiling, he said, “You want to come with me every time?”

  “Yes,” I said. “That’s what I said. Unless you manage to find someone else to accompany you.”

  He pulled his phone out to look at the lock screen before looking back at me. “I go about once a week. I’ll let you know when I do.”

  Every week seemed a bit too frequent, but at least it wasn’t every day. I wasn’t sure I could keep up if it was every day.

  “You’d better not lie to me,” I warned, feeling the tension finally leave my shoulders.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said, continuing down the stairs. “Let’s go already. We only have twenty minutes left before class starts again. Aren’t you hungry?”

  “Like you’d know anything about that,” I said, following him. “Sleep seems to be the only need you have.”

  His laughter rang out in the stairway as we headed down.

  “Know me well, don’t you?”

  When he turned to face me with a relaxed grin, I grimaced at him.

  He was completely wrong. The more I learned about Nolan, the less I felt like I understood him.