Midnight Bear Mission

I wasn't supposed to be out here. Mom's voice echoed in my head: 'Sarah, you have that geometry test tomorrow.' But whatever. This was more important than some test.

The pool house glowed with underwater lights, casting rippling shadows across the backyard. I crouched behind the rosebush, phone clutched in my hand like a weapon. Official mission: spy on Jake's party to see if he was flirting with Jessica from AP Bio. Unofficial mission: figure out why I cared so much when we weren't even together anymore.

The water sparkled like liquid silver, and someone had dragged a massive teddy bear from Jake's room into the pool area. It sat on a lawn chair like a drunk party guest, its glass eyes judging everyone.

'That bear has seen some things,' whispered Mia, appearing beside me so suddenly I almost dropped my phone.

'You scared the crap out of me!' I hissed. 'Since when are you here?'

'Since I realized you'd bail on me for this,' she said, nodding toward the party. 'Sarah, you're literally hiding in bushes. This is borderline serial killer behavior.'

'I'm not hiding, I'm... gathering intel.' Even I didn't believe it.

She sighed and pulled a tangled cable from her pocket. 'My brother's old phone charger. I'm supposed to be at home studying, but I couldn't let you do this alone.' She dangled it like a peace offering. 'Wanna go get boba instead? Jake's been posted up with Jessica for like twenty minutes and hasn't looked at the door once.'

I watched them laugh by the pool. Jake said something that made Jessica toss her head back, and suddenly I was tired. Tired of caring, tired of second-guessing everything, tired of being the person who spied instead of lived.

The bear stared at me with its dead button eyes, and I swear it was laughing.

'Yeah,' I said, standing up and brushing dirt off my jeans. 'Boba sounds good.'

We walked away from the party noise, toward the street. The night air was cool, and for the first time in weeks, my chest didn't feel tight. Some things you have to see for yourself, even when it hurts. And some things, like Jake and Jessica, you just have to let go of.

The bear could keep watching. I was done.