"Okay, well... look at the time, good luck with Adelaide!" I pat Sabrina on the back, then make a mad dash back to my house.
"Hey!" Sabrina squeals, just as the door opens. I dive for one of the trimmed bushes.
"Oh! Sabrina!" Adelaide's mom looks just as overdue for some makeup remover as the last time we saw her.
"Hey... there... Mrs. Jacqueline!"
"Would you like me to get Adelaide for you?"
A smirk plays on my lips. Tough luck, sucka!
"Uh, yeah, yeah, sure!" I snicker as the door closes again.
"Now, Christi, weren't you supposed to be heading somewhere?" A hand grasps my arm.
Oh, shoot.
"Yeah, yeah. I was going to go... to... uh..."
"Oh! Now I remember!" Sabrina answers. "You were going to come and get our necklaces back! With me!"
I pull out my phone to look at it.
"Hmm... let's see... yeah, no. That wasn't part of my plans today."
Sabrina scowls and glares at me. I smile in triumph.
"Well now it is!" She growls playfully. I groan.
"Fine," I answer. "But don't make me say anything. I'm not here."
"Yeah, whatever!"
The door opens again.
And there stands the dreaded...
"Adelaide." Sabrina stares at the girl.
"Well, what do you want?!" Joy. We chose today of all days to confront her. Joyousness.
"You know, you said that out loud." Sabrina nudges me.
Darn my big fat mouth!
I cover my mouth. I really need to stop talking.
"You said that out loud too—"
"I know, I know! Chill!"
"Well, what are guys doing here?!" Adelaide snaps. "I don't have all the time in the world, ya know!"
I look at Sabrina. I wasn't planning on doing the talking. Sabrina doesn't move a muscle.
Making sure I don't say it out loud, I think to myself, If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.
"Adelaide," I start. She glares.
"What? If you're not going to do anything productive in the next five seconds, forget it. I'm going inside. Go away." She starts to open the door.
"WAIT!" She turns back around.
"What?"
I look at Sabrina. She's still a statue. Great. Just great.
"Why did you take our necklaces?" I say. In the corner of my view, I see Sabrina cringe.
"What?"
"You really need to stop saying that," I answer.
She turns to go. I open my mouth to object, but the door slams shut before I can even breathe.
"Well, that went well!" I joke cheerfully. No answer.
"Sabrina?" Still no answer. I search around, but no sign of her. I decide to run back to her house. I'm about ten footsteps away from where I was a few seconds ago, when I hear a voice.
"Christi!" she calls. Wait. No, that wasn't her. It isn't her.
"Sabrina?" I whirl around.
"Do I look like Sabrina to you?" Jace says.
"No! I didn't. I mean, I wasn't. I mean, you don't... you don't look like Jace at all!" I fluster.
"Huh?" he answers.
"Sabrina!"
"What?"
"Sabrina! I meant Sabrina." I facepalm myself.
"Suuuure."
"Yeah, yeah. Speaking of which, have you seen her?"
Jace looks around, surveying the area, then shakes his head.
"Yeah, yeah, no. Speaking of which, what are you doing at Adelaide's? I thought you were like, sworn enemies or something."
"Oh yeah," I reply through gritted teeth. "That's exactly what we are."
"Then why are you at her house?"
"Long story. You really don't want to know."
No one speaks for a while. The sun still beats down on me. I'm glad I chose to wore summer clothes today. Funny. It's almost summer anyway. I don't have many winter clothes anyway, living in California and all.
"So, are you doing anything tonight?" Jace says, finally breaking the silence.
"I'm not sure." I cringe. That sounded so blunt.
"Okay," he answers like it's the most chill thing in the world. Gee, this guy is crazy. I mean, he's not crazy, but totally crazy at the same time. What the heck?
"I knew my life was messed up."
"What?"
Darn, I said that out loud, didn't I.
"Yeah, you did," says Jace.
"Aw, no!" I groan. "I must sound pretty stupid, right?"
Jace starts to talk, but I interrupt.
"Don't answer that." He doesn't. For a moment, I forget that he's here, and focus on where the heck Sabrina has run off to.
My phone beeps. I jump, startled. I pull it out of my pocket. It's Sabrina. What the...
Sabrina: Christi! Get over here! Important, important, important!
Me: Where the heck are you?
Sabrina: Is it really necessary to tell you?
Me: Uh, YEAH!
There is no response. I growl. This is something Sabrina always does. She texts me, then I have to wait for like, another hour until she answers. One reason why our friendship is so weird. And there is only one solution for a circumstance such as this. Annoy her until she answers.
Me: Sabrina!
Me: Sabrina!
Me: Sabrina!
Me: Sabrina!
Me: SABRINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Sabrina Sabrina Sabrina Sabrina Sabrina Sabrina Sabrina Sabrina Sabrina!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sabrina: Shut it, Christ. You're making my phone vibrate like crazy.
Me: That was the plan. The point! DUH!
Through all the distractions of texting Sabrina, I don't notice that Jace has been looking over my shoulder at the texts the whole entire time.
"You have a problem," I mutter.
"What'd you say?"
"Nothing." I continue to text Sabrina.
Me: What does it matter that I keep texting you?!
Sabrina: She'll see me! Adelaide will see me! She'll find me!
Me: What?! WHY?! Sabrina, where are you?
Sabrina: I'm going undercover! I'm hiding!
Me: What the heck Sabrina! Where!?
Sabrina: ...
Me: Well?
Sabrina: Fine, I'm hiding in a house. Behind a couch, actually.
Me: WHAT THE HECK!?!?!?!!
Sabrina: You say that a lot.
Me: Whatever. Whose house are you hiding in?
Sabrina: Uhh... 😬😏
Me: SABRINA!!!!!!!!!! ANSWER ME! Where are you hiding???
Sabrina: Adelaide's house.
"Ooh, that's tough," Jace says behind me. Since he can't see me do it, I roll my eyes.
"Why exactly were you looking at my texts?" I ask. "And why are you here anyway? You live several blocks from here!"
"How do you know that?" I roll my eyes again after turning to face him.
"Oh yeah, I totally stalk you after school and watch you until my mom calls me for dinner! Oh yeah, that's what I do every single day! I'm learning to be a professional stalker! Want to join my "stalking" club?"
He looks shocked. So shocked, I can't hold it, so I attempt to stifle a laugh.
"Ha! You thought I was talking for real? You have a lot to learn about my sarcastic abilities." He still doesn't speak.
"Come on, Jace, it was a joke. Now answer my questions."
"Okay, fine. I'm here because... I dunno."
"I see," I reply. "Jace, tell the truth. The truth."
"Fine. I'm here to see Adelaide."
"Why?"
"Well, why are you here?"
"I asked first."
"It's polite to let the lady go first." I roll my eyes for (what feels like) the thousandth time.
"You should go first."
"What, why?"
"Because I said so."
"Fine. I'm here on a mission."
I open my mouth to ask what it's about, but he cuts me off.
"You don't want to know. It's... sort of secret."
"And you think by saying that, it's going to make me less curious?" He gulps. "Well, you're wrong." I take a deep breath, trying to keep my cool. I don't like secrets.
Jace looks at me, a hint of anger forming in his eyes. "Well, aren't you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what?!" I snap back.
"Tell me why you're here! What else?"
"Oh. Yeah, about that," I say, cruelty edging into my voice. "I'm not telling you."
I get a glare in return.
"Well, it's sort of secret!" I mock.
"Well, you sure have a temper. Why don't you shut your mouth and actually consider being nice for once?!"
"Go away."
"That's all you got?"
I don't answer.
"Well, FYI Christi, the only reason I told Sabrina I liked you, was because one of my friends dared me to. So the truth is, I don't like you. Or anyone, really. Just to let you know." He pauses. "Didn't want you to get your hopes up too high, now, right?"
"Funny," I say harshly into my hair. "You actually thought I'd buy that trash talk? As if!" The wind whistles as my phone beeps another time. I don't bother to answer it.
"Cool. I'm gonna leave now, and do you know why? Because you've been pretty cruel to me. But since you obviously don't care about me, it won't matter to you."
"It doesn't. Because all you've ever done for me is bothered me to your heart's content. No wonder I hate you!" Once I say the words, I want to take them back.
What kind of creature have I turned into?
We share a look. He turns away. And then he's gone. I pull out my phone, remembering there was a notification a few minutes earlier.
Sabrina: I have the necklaces!!!!!!!!! Come back me up over here! About to sneak out of the house!!!!
Before I can even reply back, Sabrina bursts out of the front door, two necklaces strung around her.
"We gotta go go go! They're going to see us any second now!" she squeals.
Still not too eager, I muster up a nod. Then we take off towards my house.
When we get there, I let the tears come, and I don't even know why. Sabrina is in the bathroom, rubbing off all the "Adelaide germs", as she calls them, from the necklaces.
Suddenly, Sabrina hops in and flops on my bed. She notices I've been crying.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asks. I shake my head.
"I made a mistake..." I whisper.
"What? Everyone makes mistakes!! What did I miss?" I shake my head again.
Firmly, I say, "I made a mistake."
"Mistakes don't define us, Christi," she answers in a soothing tone.
"You don't get it," I reply. "I..."
"You..." she prompts.
"I... don't want to talk about it. It was a stupid mistake. You're right, mistakes don't define us. Not even stupid mistakes like mine." I put on the brightest smile possible. She smiles back.
I sniffle, and Sabrina says again, "Christi. Mistakes don't define us." She gives me a classic Sabrina grin. I nod, but even through her reassurance, one single thought still haunts me.
Mistakes don't define us... but then again... they do.