The Watch – Part 126:

It was evening when the bus pulled up to our stop. We said our thanks to the driver and stepped off. I had to stretch to get some circulation back into my legs. I might have felt comfortable, but my knees were pressed up against the back of the seats in front. It's surprising how much time had passed. A good few hours at least, which meant a single match lasted for a couple of hours, which was strange, because neither of them didn't feel that long.

We were walking back in groups of two. Amy and I were behind Tom and Alex, who were holding hands, talking about something that I couldn’t quite hear properly as the wind was in the wrong direction and the traffic was a little busy due to it being the very beginning of rush hour.

‘So, do you have plans for when you get back?’ Amy asked. We were holding hands as well. It was a nice feeling, bonding together via a simple chat. The day felt complete.

‘Not really,’ I said. ‘Maybe pour myself a nice cold glass of apple juice and put my feet up in front of a good film. Fancy joining me?’ I offered.

‘I can’t,’ Amy said, ‘I’ve got to get back.’

‘Doing anything interesting?’

‘My nana and granddad are visiting. They’re staying for a couple for the night and I haven’t seen them in a while, so my mum and dad would like me to say hi. I can come round tomorrow, though,’ she piped up with enthusiasm.

‘I’ve got nothing planned tomorrow,’ I said.

‘Then I’ll come round tomorrow.’

‘See you then.’

We dropped into silence for a couple of minutes, just watching and listening to the world around us, the many cars that zoomed on by, full of people who had their own lives to live, and all the people on the pavement, walking some walking casually, some rushing. When you actually pay attention to everything, it’s rather surprising as to how much you can notice.

‘Can I ask you something?’ Amy asked casually.

‘Go on.’

‘Have you any new thoughts about telling Tom?’ I tensed up with nerves. Tom was only just a couple of steps in front of me and I wasn’t sure if he would be able to hear everything that we are saying. Amy noticed my expression and said, ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I promised I wouldn’t say anything.’

‘Don’t worry,’ I said sympathetically. ‘It’s a big secret to keep. You did nothing wrong.’ Once I started thinking about it though, I couldn’t stop. Tom was lost in the conversation he and Alex were having together.

‘I’ve thought about it a lot… He is my life-long friend after all. I thought that if you were able to accept it after knowing me for only a couple of days, I thought that Tom, who has known me for all of my life, would accept my secret that much easier. But I’m hesitant because he has known me for all my life, you know.’ I knew I wasn’t making much sense, but I continued, ‘Something as big as this might not go down too well. Might change the way our relationship works, and I don’t want to jeopardise anything. I feel that keeping something as big as my watch a secret is the best thing to do. Maybe someday I’ll tell him, but then the secret might have been with me long enough to make things even worse than if I told him straight away.’

‘And you don’t think that you’re going to make a definitive decision anytime soon,’ Amy said understandingly

‘What do you think?’

‘I respect why you want to keep your watch a secret, but I personally believe that you need to tell him, especially if not telling him is going to stress you out the longer you keep it inside you. You shouldn’t be hesitant because he is your life-long friend. He knows you, and so understands you, and I’m sure he’ll understand and support you. Take the leap. You never know where you’re going to land if you don’t.’ Amy makes a lot of sense. At the end of the day, it does seem reasonable to tell Tom. I’ve been over thinking it. I’ve still got a lot of changing to do, it seems. Maybe that’s how I can continue my changing is by telling Tom about the watch. I sighed with indecisiveness, but that didn’t feel correct.

‘OK,’ I said with a sudden burst of determination, ‘I’ll do it.’

‘You won’t regret it,’ Amy encouraged me.

I put my arm around Amy, ‘what would I do without you?’ Amy just smiled.

We were so lost in our conversation that we didn’t notice we were nearing my house.

‘Would you like me to walk you back?’ I asked Amy.

‘Nah, you have something important to attend to,’ Amy winked.

‘What, you want me to do it tonight,’ I had planned to tell him tomorrow.

‘No better than the present,’ Amy said. ‘Get it over and done with, then get a good night’s sleep.’

‘OK,’ I took a deep breath. ‘Let’s get this over and done with.’ The closer I got to my house, the more I noticed someone standing beside my gate, standing rigid, staring at my front door. The four of us stood, staring at this guy. He wore a purple long coat with light purple stripes running parallel from top to bottom. He had long, black hair that ran down his back. From this angle, he looked young, but until I can get a good look at his face, there really is no way of telling.

‘Who is he?’ Alex asked.

‘I have absolutely no idea,’ I said. I stepped forward. ‘Can I help you?’ I called.

He turned to face us. He was wearing a purple mask, covering his entire face. Under his long coat, he wore a green suit that was in the exact right shade in order to blend in with his long coat without making it look all wrong. In his right hand, I could see that he was holding some kind of golden staff with a bright red glowing light at the top.

‘Ah, Sebastian,’ he said, smiling happily.

‘How do you know who I am?’ I ordered. ‘What is happening?’

‘That is irrelevant. What matters is that you are here now.’

‘And why is that important?’

‘Because, you have something I want. And I’m not leaving until I get it. And I don’t care how I get it either.’ There can only be one thing that I have he wants…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for watching

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)