I knew he was watching me. Sitting on top of the school’s picnic tables gave me a good view of the near-barren field. He tried to look inconspicuous, but Jim could never hide anything from me. If he wasn’t careful the football would hit him in the face before the thought to duck ever occurred to him.
Despite the distance between us, I could still clearly see Jim’s multicolored eyes. Jim had been born grey eyes, originally, but somehow his left eye changed to being a soft blue. It was one of her favorite things about him.
I finally turned my head back down to my sketchbook, but Jim was still watching me.
I smiled to myself. It amazed me how I never noticed him watching me all the months before we began dating. He couldn’t get away with it now, but he had managed for quite some time without my notice. I had only known Jim for six months, when he had moved from Meridian, Idaho to Nampa, Idaho. He was the kind of kid who was slightly awkward when it came to certain things. He wasn’t necessarily shy, but he kept his mouth shut unless he had something to say that was worth saying. I liked that a lot, because when Jim had something to say he said it with passion and creativity. Like he had when he had asked me to be his girlfriend.
It had been on a Friday, exactly one month ago. I had walked out of my house to hop in her car to get to school when I discovered a path of red rose petals leading to my Cadillac. Curious, I had followed the petals and discovered that there was a note attached to my windshield that simply directed me to drive to school and follow the petals. More curious then before, I did as directed, searching for more rose petals as I went.
I didn’t find any until I parked in my assigned parking space at school. I was greeted with a new path that led all the way from my parking space to the school field bleachers. The petals stopped at a bouquet of a dozen red roses with another note attached. The note had read that someone cared about me very much and wanted to take me on a date. If I would agree, I needed to bring the bouquet with me to my homeroom class. If I didn’t agree I should leave the roses where they were.
There was no way I could go without knowing who was sweet and creative enough to make such an elaborate proposal for a date. Not only that, but any guy who could come up with and execute a plan like this had to be worth the time. I have to say, though, I was still half surprised that it was Jim.
I gave a pleasant sigh as I thought of that day. It was the only time in my dating life that someone had done something like that. He had taken the time to observe all of my favorite things so he could make asking me special. His attention to detail was astounding, especially for someone who has ADD.
I pulled my jacket tighter around me as a chilly wind blew through. Though it was early May, there still seemed to be a lasting chilly breeze that refused to go away.
Out of habit, I fingered my only necklace. It belonged to my great-grandmother, who I actually use to know. Grandma Hazel, as I always called her, married and had kids young, like my grandma and mom, so when I was growing up I spent a lot of time with her. I’ve never met a more active woman. She died at age ninety-seven, in the comfort of her own home. Grandma Hazel never lived in a nursing home. She laughed at the thought of it. When she died she left her necklace for me in her Will. It was her wedding present.
The necklace itself consisted of three layers of small pearls with a hanging gold locket. The detailing was hand carved. I kept her picture inside.
“S’up, Sar-Bear?”
I looked up to see Jim trying to find a place next to me amongst my clutter. “Sar-Bear” was my nickname that he gave me. It was an ironic joke considering my last name was Beor.
“Did you get hurt?” I asked.
He tilted his head before glancing at himself as if to confirm his answer before giving it. “I’m good. Why did you think I’d be hurt?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you were staring at me instead of the ball? I’m telling you, Jim, one of these days you’re going to get a black eye or something.” I warned him.
He grinned. “I doubt it.”
“I don’t.”
“Whatcha doing?” He asked, as if he didn’t already know.
“Sketching.”
He peered over my shoulder to look at my meager drawling. “Hmm, lines again?”
I playfully punched him. “I just started.”
He gave me a teasing smile. “I know that, Sara.”
“One should hope.” I grinned back.
Jim brushed back my chestnut hair behind my ears. “I’ve been thinking about something, Sara.”
I looked back at him. “What?"
“I think I’m going to take my uncles offer and go work for him for the summer.”
I looked at his worried expression. A few weeks ago Jim’s uncle, Ryan, asked him if he wanted to come and work at his dairy farm for the summer. I’d be a great way for him to make some extra money before collage in the fall. I encouraged him to do it. He had done it in the past and did great, why shouldn’t he continue? But I think Jim felt obligated to stay with me. It would be our first, and only, summer together before college. He felt like he was just abandoning me. I didn’t see it like that.
I smiled widely. “That’s great, Jim, it really is.” I gave him a tight hug to enforce my point.
“You’re really okay with it?” He asked.
“Yes, Jim, for the millionth time. It’s more than okay, it’s great. We could all use a couple hundred bucks for college. I’m not clingy.” I encouraged.
He pulled back and looked at me. “We’ll talk at least every other day and Ryan said that I could come home every other weekend to visit.”
“That’s great, I’m happy for you, Jim. I really am.” I said, emphasizing the “really” part of it. I wished he’d stop worrying that I’d be lonely or desperately bored without being attached to his hip. “I have a job, too, you know.”
He gave a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Sara.”
I didn’t feel like he needed to thank me, but whatever made him feel better, right?
“So,” he said in a silly casual tone. “Boondocks is having a special offer tomorrow. All games and rides are half priced.”
“Awesome.” I grinned. Boondocks was one of the most popular hang outs around here. It had everything from paintball to bumper cars to arcade games and was open year around. I loved it there. Jim even took me there on our first date.
“You up for it?” Jim asked.
“You bet.” I agreed.
“Great. Pick you up at ten?”
“Perfect.”
Jim smiled and kissed my cheek. “Sweet. See you then?”
“Yup.”
Jim smiled one more time for me before he turned to leave. I gathered my things and stuffed them in my bag. I glanced at the clock on my phone. My little sister, Ashlee, should be just about done with basketball practice by now.
I piled my stuff in the back seat of my car and pulled around to the gym entrance. When picking up Ashlee you were in a hit-or-miss situation. She either got out on time alright or she stayed until the sun went down. Luckily for me, she decided to be on time.
“How was practice?” I asked.
“Not bad, we did a lot of laps.” She answered.
I wrinkled my nose. “No wonder you’re sweaty.”
Ashlee stuck out her tongue, causing me to roll my eyes. Was I ever like that as a freshman?
“Did you go home or stay here?” Ashlee asked.
“I stayed. Jim and his friends were messing around on the field with a football.” I said.
“You stayed to sketch him.” Ashlee corrected.
I blushed against my will. “I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.” She smirked.
My eyes narrowed but I couldn’t find my voice to tell her otherwise. Unfortunately, that only proved her point. She was right, though. My “lines”, as Jim called them, were supposed to equate out to be a group of guys playing football. But who said that they had to be Jim and his friends? My hand would guide the lines to form whatever or whoever was to be formed. Yet somehow it always seemed to form Jim. I suppose that’s normal, right? Maybe I would finish the picture tonight and give it to him tomorrow. He’d like that.
Yeah, I thought to myself, it’d be a great little gift for him. I only had one problem; I had a lot more lines to draw before the picture was anywhere near perfection. I sped up slightly; there was a lot of work to be done.
Like always, Jim was perfectly on time. I slid into the passenger sear of his Ford pick-up truck.
“Hi, Sar-bear.” He grinned.
“Hi-ya.” I grinned. I handed him the manila envelope I had stuck his drawling in. “This is for you.”
He took it inquiringly. “What is it?”
“Lines. Lots and lots of lines.” I teased.
He laughed as he took out the paper. I had spent hours perfecting it, shaping and reshaping ever dimension until it looked like the sketch would come to life at any given moment. I almost drew the ball hitting Jim in the face like I predicted would eventually happen. Almost.
Jim smiled widely when he saw the picture. “Sara, this is great. Thank you.” He leaned over and hugged me, kissing the top of my head. “You get better every line.”
I chuckled. “Thanks.”
Jim slid the picture back into the envelope and carefully tucked it in the visor before putting the truck into gear. “Destination: Boondocks.”
I only lived about fifteen minutes away from Boondocks, which was good for us. We would still be able to beat most of the traffic, but we wouldn’t be the first ones in the park either. On the way Jim and I went back and forth teasing one another to the point that we almost had to pull over to get control of our giggles. We could have simple skipped Boondocks and road around town all day and been more than content.
Due to our goofing off, when we finally made it to Boondocks we did have to wait in a forming line for a little bit to gain entrance. But that just gave us more time to tease.
“What do you want to do first?” Jim finally asked.
“Anything but paintball.” I said. Jim liked paintball, but I wasn’t much of a fan.
“Okay, Max Flight it is, then.” He grinned.
I smiled. Max Flight was one of the indoor roller coasters. It was probably the perfect way to begin a date here. Lots of adrenaline. Max Flight wasn’t the biggest roller coaster I had ever been on, but it was fast. Really fast.
We got in line for Max Flight. I slid me hand into my pocket, resting it on my wallet. I never carried a purse with me when I came here, or anywhere else that I could easily lose it. That didn’t leave me with too many options.
Jim slid his hand over mine, giving me a look. “Put it down.”
“Jim, I got it. You don’t have to pay for me every time.” I reasoned.
He shook his head. “I’ve got it, Sara.”
I pursed my lips. I knew this would happen; Jim always tried to be a gentleman.
Sensing he had won, Jim moved his hands to my hips. “You know, if I started tickling you you’d have to move your hand.
I glared at him. “Don’t you dare, James. Don’t you dare.”
Jim chuckled but released his grip on me. I had half the mind to smack him. He knows how much I hate being tickled.
Jim smiled at me innocently and took my hand. When he moved to take his money out of his own wallet I didn’t stop him. Jim helped me into my seat before leaning over and mockingly whispering “Don’t scream.”
I forced a smile. As much as I loved roller coasters I always tended to scream no matter how hard I tried not to. “I won’t if you don’t.”
He grinned as if to say that he doubted it. But instead he simply said, “Hold on tight.”
The coaster slowly inched forward, moving faster with each passing second. We zipped around a corner, soaring to our first drop. I clamed my mouth together tightly, not even daring to breathe. We flew through the bottom of the track, turning sharply, going over several smaller hills and through a few tunnels. Then we began climbing up the biggest hill. We teetered for a moment before plunging down. I couldn’t control it this time, my mouth was forced open, air filled my lungs, and out came my scream that I loathed.
We finally coasted to a stop and I could hear Jim laughing at my expense. “I told you not to scream.”
“I can’t help it; it’s a reflex.” I said defensively.
He smiled, looping his arm around my neck. “Sure it is, Sar-Bear.”
I wanted to glare at him, but I stopped when I saw his troubled expression. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just… Did you not wear a necklace today?” Jim asked.
I suddenly became very away that there was no feeling of cool metal against the hollow of my throat. My hand immediately went to the familiar spot on my neck. There was nothing except skin and my racing heartbeat. Absolute terror tore through me.
“Jim! Oh my gosh, I swear I had on Grandma Hazel’s necklace on when we got here!” I shrieked.
Jim grasped my shoulders. “You’re sure?”
“Yes! Have you ever seen me without it?”
“It didn’t come unclasped and fall in your shirt, did it?” He suggested.
I moved my hands quickly over my shirt and shook my head. I looked at the Max Flight with wide eyes. “Oh, dear heaven, please no.”
“I’ll go tell the operator.” Jim offered.
I barely heard him. I began racing around the track, looking under everything, every crack, crevice, nook, and cranny. There was nothing.
“Hey! You can’t be over there!” A man yelled.
I turned to look at him. “My great-grandmother’s necklace came off when I was on the Max Flight. I have to find it.”
The man hesitated. “What does it look like?”
I quickly gave him a brief description of my necklace. “I have to find it!”
“Look, kid, you really can’t be under here, it isn’t safe. I’ll look for it here, you try around the area and where ever else you’ve been in the park today.” He said.
“I haven’t been anywhere else!” I screeched. I was on the verge of tears now.
The man looked at me like he really did want to help, but obviously had no experience with teenage girls, especially one who was in a panic.
“Sara!” Jim called.
I spun around, hoping with my whole heart that he had found it. His look disappointed me.
“I’m sorry, Sara, the guys up front haven’t seen it. I even checked the lost and found. It isn’t there.” Jim said regretfully.
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling any longer. Jim held me up to his chest, trying to tell me it would be okay and that we’d find it. I tried to catch my breath; I couldn’t find my necklace if I was standing here crying.
I took several shallow breaths. “O…Okay. We have to keep looking.”
Jim rubbed my back a few time before leading me away from the man who was staring at me like I was insane.
Jim materialized a tissue packet and handed me one. I probably looked like a mess, running make-up and all. “Okay, I guess we should retrace our steps. Maybe it fell off in your truck?”
He nodded. “I’ll look in my truck; you stay in here and look around. Maybe someone has seen it.”
I nodded and we split up. I began going over every place I had been standing since we got into Boondocks. There had to be someone who saw it. I couldn’t visualize anyone in particular who would have been in front or behind us in line, so I began asking everyone I saw if they had seen the necklace. I always got a no. Some people were more sympathetic then others to me, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they hadn’t seen it. I felt like I was beginning to be more than desperate. I couldn’t think of a word in the English dictionary to describe the terror I was feeling. Every time the Max Flight went by I felt a chill run up my spine. If it had fallen on one of the tracks and gotten stuck… There was no way they’d let me up there.
Jim came back to me, even more dismayed than he had earlier. He had searched the truck, and the whole perimeter of Boondocks. There was nothing. I reluctantly called Ashlee and begged her to search the house for it, but she came up blank as well. After searching for over two hours I sat on a bench along the wall with Jim facing a terrible alternative to my situation. My necklace had probably been stolen.
The necklace itself didn’t have that much of an intrinsic, but someone who didn’t know better might mistake the gold and pearls to be real and think they could sell it for big bucks. I had a sinking feeling in my heart that Grandma Hazel would not be pleased with me.
“We’ll find it, Sara, we’ll just keep looking.” Jim whispered softly. He was trying so hard to be helpful and encouraging even though he was just as dismal as I was. As terrible as it made me, I was irritated with him. If he hadn’t asked me to come to Boondocks we never would have gotten on Max Flight and Grandma Hazel’s necklace would never have been lost.
I bit my lip, wanting to smack myself. This wasn’t Jim’s fault. I knew better than this. I should have known better than to wear it here. If it was anyone’s fault it was mine and I knew it. But it was so much easier to blame someone else. But I couldn’t. At least not Jim.
“I should have never worn it today.” I heard myself tearfully whisper.
“Shh, Sara, you couldn’t have known this would happen. It isn’t your fault. Come on, do you want to check lost and found again?”
I shook my head miserably. Jim looked at me nervously and sighed.
You had to give Jim a lot of credit. This was the kind of thing I was talking about early, about being awkward. Certain social interactions made him uncomfortable, like now. He wanted so much to help, and if we kept searching he would feel like he was. By just sitting around trying to console a girl who was bawling her eyes out put him in an awkward position. He couldn’t focus like he knew he needed to. The fact that so many people were staring at us didn’t help either.
“Grandma Hazel probably is looking down at me from heaven wishing she could get her hands on me for loosing that necklace. It was her most prized possession. She use to tell me so many stories about how important it was to her and how when Grandpa Ben went to war it was the only thing that made her really feel close to him. It was how she knew he was going to come back alive.” I said miserably.
“Sara,” Jim said, trying to be soothing. “I’m sure she doesn’t think that. Hazel loved you, I’m sure she knows this was just an accident.” He kissed the top of my head when I leaned my head on his shoulder. I kept trying to remember any indication that my necklace had fallen or came undone. But my mind came up blank every time. I wished we had never gotten in that stupid, stupid Max Flight car.
That stupid, stupid Max Flight car.
“Jim!”
“What?”
“I know where it might be. It’s the only place we haven’t looked yet!” I gasped.
“Where?”
“The roller coaster car that we sat in. We haven’t checked the seats. What if it’s there?” I said excitedly.”
“It’s worth a shot.” He agreed.
I jumped up from the bench and took off running, bypassing everyone in line for Max Flight, Jim at my heels. I went up to the operator just as people were exiting the ride. “Excuse me, sir, I know we came up and talked to you already, but do you think that it would be searched the roller coaster cars for my missing necklace? Please? This is very important.” I pleaded.
He must have either been one for a tear stained face, briefed by the guy who told me to get out from underneath Max Flight, or Jim was giving him an intimidating look, because he let us pass without hesitation.
Jim and I began searching through the entire thing, even the seats we hadn’t sat in. It had to be here, it just had to be. We were on opposite sides, I in the back and he in the front. When we reached the middle seat we both came up empty.
Disappointment washed over me again. I had been so sure it would be there.
“I’m sorry, Sara.” Jim said sadly.
“It isn’t your fault.” I whispered dejectedly through my tears.
“Excuse me,” A woman in her mid-twenties said. We looked at her. “I couldn’t help overhearing, but did you say that you lost your necklace?”
I gave a depressed nod. “Yeah. My great-grandmother’s necklace.”
“Would it happen to be this one? My daughter found it under her seat after we got off the roller coaster.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace with three layers of small pearls with a hanging gold, hand carved, detailed, locket.
My jaw dropped to the floor. “YES! Oh my gosh thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me!” I gasped.
The woman smiled warmly as she handed it to me. “I’m glad we could help.”
I looked from her to the little girl that was at her side. “Thank you so much. There has to be something I can do to thank you guys.”
They both shook their heads. “No, no, dear, that’s quite alright. We were only doing what any decent person would do.”
I tried to think of a way to convince them for finding my necklace but everything I tried yielded the same response. They could accept any reward other than to see how happy and grateful I was.
“Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t get this back.” I said one more time before we parted ways.
Unsurprisingly, Jim and I decided it would be best if we left and went home for now. I climbed into the passenger seat of his truck, clutching my necklace tightly. “Jim,” I said softly.
“Yeah?”
“I just want to say thank you for helping me out back there. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there to help me.” I said meekly.
He gave me a soft smile. “You’re welcome.”
I reached over and hugged him tightly before kissing him full on the lips. It was the first time that we had actually kissed lips on lips. Both of us had always felt that those kisses were earned. Not given out freely. But if anyone had earned a kiss it was Jim.
He pulled back slightly, enough for me to see his cute soft smile before he pulled my chin back and pressed his lips back against mine. “I love you, Sara.”
“I love you, too, Jim.” I said and thought quietly to myself: I love you, Grandma Hazel.
