Being Watched

Chapter 1

“What did you just say?” I ask my mom.

“Sweetie, I know it’s hard for you to leave all your friends behind but this is a big opportunity for your dad and me,” my mom says.

Apparently, my parents both got promoted in the company they work at but they have to move to a different country to another branch to get that. Yes, they work together and that’s how they met many years ago.

“We’ll have a much bigger house over there and our income will increase,” dad adds.

That is not why I’m shocked, though. I’m shocked because that’s the place where Jeremy lives. I can’t run into him! This should not happen!

“You’ll be attending a private school, too!” Mom says excitedly.

Please don’t say it, please don’t say it, I kept on chanting in my head, but of course she says it.

I’m going to attend the same school as Jeremy. We are in the same grade and there are only four sections so I have a twenty five percent chance of ending up in the same class as him and knowing my luck, it will happen.

“And there are barely twenty students in each section so it’s not crowded at all!” Dad encourages me.

“And you don’t have to run from one class to the other and risk being late because the teachers come to your class!” Mom says.

This is not happening. I have to wake up at some point and laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

Mom and Dad smile at me, their eyes shining with hope and excitement. The Jeremy thing is my problem and I will have to deal with it by myself. I can’t be selfish with this, besides they are doing it for my benefit.

So I smile too and hug my parents.

“That’s great,” I say to them. “Thank you and congratulations on that promotion!”

“Oh sweetie I’m so glad you’re taking this well,” Mom says, relief evident in her voice.

“You’re the best, Steph,” Dad says, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

“When are we moving?” I ask.

“Next Monday,” My mom replies and I almost die of a heart attack. That’s five days from now! I expected her to say a month but five days?! I am so not ready!

“And you start school on Tuesday,” Dad adds and that’s it, I bang my head on the table. Hard.

“Sweetie, are you okay?” Mom asks worriedly.

Raising my head, I stare at my parents. “Uh y-yeah. I just… I just noticed that I’ll miss Macy’s birthday.”

 Ha! What an excuse! I’m not even going to that birthday party. I hate that girl.

“Oh,” dad says. “its okay, Steph, I’m sure you’ll have a lot of birthdays to attend in your new school.”

I laugh but it sounds more like: heh.

“Yeah,” I reply. “I’m just gonna go call my friends and tell them.”

“Okay,” Mom replies, smiling at me. “Dinner will be ready in an hour.”

I nod my head and run upstairs to my room. I sighed as I stared up at JaySpy, the device on my wall. I named it JaySpy because well Jay as in J as in Jeremy and Spy because I’m like spying on him. Get it? No? I was thirteen when I named him so don’t judge!

 Jeremy was not in his room but I knew he would arrive soon. There’s a one hour time difference between us and he has a two-hour basketball practice today so he is still in school.

What would happen when I see him in real life? I think to myself. I mean how should I feel? I know the guy more than most of his friends! I bet most of them don’t know about his passion for poetry or his love for sick animals or that he cries when he thinks of his father that passed away when he was ten.

No, they probably know about Jeremy the jock who jokes around the whole time, the one who’s good with the ladies, and the one who loves basketball more than anything else.

The thing is that Jeremy does basketball for his dad who was a basketball coach. I’m not saying he doesn’t like it, because he does and he’s pretty good at it but he has a passion for writing poems. There’s a difference between passion and love.

I take my phone and decide to call George first to tell him that I’m moving and that he should probably take down JaySpy. I wish that he’ll pick up because he rarely does. When I ask him about it he says that he prefers talking to the person face to face so that’s why I usually go over to his place when I want to talk to him and the fact that his place is two blocks away makes it much easier.

He answers after the third ring and I grin.

“Hello?”

“Hey George,” I say to him. “How are you?”

“I’m good, you?”

“Same,” I say. “So I’m moving…”

“Where to?” He asks, surprised.

“Where Jeremy lives,” I reply and I hear a gasp on the other end.

“You’re joking!” He says with disbelief clear in his voice.

“Nope,” I reply, smiling wryly even though he can’t see me. “And I’m attending the same school as him.”

“That’s so shockingly awesome!” George says.

“How is it awesome?! I’ve been watching that boy for years and he doesn’t even know it and now I will have to meet him. This is your fault, George! How did you even get a microscopic camera in his room? Do you even know him?”

“I can’t answer these questions now,” he replies smoothly just like every other time.

“Then when will you answer them?” I snap at him.

“You’ll find out, soon,” George says.

“You are so weird and creepy George.”

“I know,” he replies, laughing.

“So are you going to take JaySpy down?” I ask him.

“Want to take it with you?” He asks and my eyes widen.

“No way! That’s way too risky,” I say but I feel a bit disappointed because I won’t be able to read the poems he writes or see the money he gives to help sick animals anymore.

“At least you’ll be able to be his real friend,” George says.

“I hope so,” I mutter, thinking of how careful I should be around him.

“I’ll go to your place Sunday and take it down, okay?” He asks.

“Yeah, thanks George,” I reply.

“No worries,” he says. “See you in school.”

“See you,” I say and hang up.

Sighing, I roll over on my bed and dial Martha’s number. She is one of my closest friends and I know that the rest of our group is at her place now. I couldn’t go because mom and dad told me that we have to talk that afternoon and it was about the whole moving away thing.

“Stephany! Hi!” Martha says and I hear the loud chatter next to her.

“Hey,” I say.

“So what was the talk about?” She asks.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow at school,” I reply.

“Suspense, I see,” she jokes and I laugh.

“Yeah, totally,” I reply. “So you guys are having fun?”

“Yep, I wish you could come,” she says.

“It’s okay,” I reply. “We’re all going to the park Saturday.”

“That’s true,” she replies then I hear a loud crash.

“Jack!” She yells at our clumsy friend. “Sorry Steph, I have to go.”

I chuckled. “It’s okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye!” She says and hangs up.

As soon as I press the lock button on my iPhone, I hear my mom yell from downstairs.

“Steph! Dinner is ready!”

“Coming!” I call back.

I roll off my bed and walk downstairs to the kitchen where the smell of pasta fills my nose.

“Yum!” I say as I sit in my chair and start eating.

Throughout dinner, we talk about our new house and the whole moving away process. Dad says that the new house is twice as big as our current house! He’s going to get me the pictures tomorrow.

After dinner, my parents want to watch one of the episodes that a priest does. In each episode he talks about a religious topic and he explains stuff. Honestly, I’m not a very religious person. I’m a Christian and I pray from time to time but I have a lot of questions and doubts. My parents are the complete opposite, though. They try to convince me but their explanations are just too much sometimes. I want someone who can simplify things for me and tell me everything in a way I can understand.

Not wanting to watch that episode with my parents, I went up to my room and jumped on my bed. I glanced at JaySpy and smiled when I saw Jeremy in his room, on his laptop. I pressed the zoom button on JaySpy and adjusted it so that I could see what he had opened. Yeah I could see every single spot in his room, except for one wall on which the camera was and I think that this wall is his favorite in the room because he keeps on looking at it. It either has some photos or painting on it or it was a window, I guess, but I can never be sure.

He is on the website for injured animals and he is donating his monthly one hundred dollars. He is not from a rich family but not a poor one either.

Thank you for your donation!

The familiar sentence flashes on the screen of his laptop. He closes his laptop and I adjust the camera once again so that I can see his whole room which is almost the same size as mine. I sit on my bed and debate whether to read a book or go on my school website to give some people advice. I’m not some super awesome girl who gives advice to everyone at school and is anonymous. Nah, it’s just a discussion board for students on our school website and everyone gives others advice. My username is ‘GirlInThisWorld’ and no one knows who I am but they think I’m the best advisor so they keep on asking me for advice and I gladly help them out. It’s kind of my little secret and no one knows about it.

I finally take out the book I’m currently reading: Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.

Most people have watched the movie but no one has read the book. I watched the movie a long time ago so I don’t remember it very much and now I’m reading the book.

Before opening the book, though, I glance at JaySpy and find Jeremy staring back at me. I know he can’t see me and he’s probably looking at that wall/window in his room and as weird as it sounds, sometimes I wish he could see me.

I shake my head and open my book to where I last stopped in chapter ten, ignoring Jeremy’s gaze on his wall/window.

I wake up and find my book on my stomach, my back against the wood on my bed, and my neck tilted uncomfortably to the right. It is now dark outside and one look at my watch tells me that it is now 11:30p.m.

I stand up and reach out for the light switch so that I can get my pajamas from my closet because I’m still in my jeans and tank top.

I switch on my light and my eyes immediately close a bit due to the sudden light. I curse loudly when I trip on my shoes and fall face-first on the ground. I hear Jeremy laughing in his room and glance up at JaySpy to find his eyes traveling back to his phone. I wonder who he’s texting.

I stand up from the floor and moodily stomp to my closet. I take out my blue cotton shorts and my white shirt which I was sure belongs to a different pajama. I don’t care though; I just take off my jean and tank top and put on the more comfy clothes.

I glance one last time at JaySpy and find Jeremy sitting on his bed with his cell phone still in his hands. He texts a bit then his gaze travels to that wall/window then back to his cell phone.

I lay in my bed after putting my book away and turning the lights off. I pull up the thin covers and almost immediately, I fall asleep.

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