Jennifer looked up from compulsively flipping open and shut her first-ever phone, a Motorola Razr, when she heard someone else clang through the storage space building’s front door. At this hour? Jennifer tossed her old phone back into its box. She could hear the other person on the stairs. Some complete idiot had nothing better to do than to visit their storage unit on a Saturday night? Ridiculous. People were so unreasonable.
Like Martin. His letting that woman with the suitcases in had forced Jennifer to go to her stupid storage unit and search for that big fluffy bear from when she was six.
She started rifling through another box of her precious stuff.
Bunch of Beanie Babies?
No.
Weird Barbies of one sort of another?
No.
Different box?
That big fluffy bear had to be somewhere in her storage unit. She was sure of this because she never threw anything out, not even stuff she didn’t want anymore.
A wild-haired Troll Doll. Perfect example. She remembered begging her parents for it, even though she never wanted it.
She thought of other things. Her childhood.
Then she remembered Brittany.
They’d both been ten years old. Fifth grade. Nobody at school liked Jennifer, though she never understood why. There was no reason. People were so unreasonable.
Brittany. Just thinking the name of the most popular girl in her fifth-grade class made Jennifer twitch with the envy she still felt. She would have given anything to be Brittany’s friend, but she didn’t have a chance. Then one day if happened. She found Brittany sobbing in the bathroom, clinging to something.
“Please,” Brittany choked out. “Help me!”
“Help you?” Jennifer asked. It was the first time Brittany had ever spoken to her. She was so mesmerized she drew closer, almost knocking over Brittany’s bottle of Coco by Chanel.
“My ‘friends’…” Brittany trailed off, the word “friends” full of bitterness and pain. “The ones that are always bumming my Coco by Chanel.” Then she opened up her hands so Jennifer could see what she’d been clinging to. It was a ratty old Doodle Bear. Jennifer recognized Brittany’s writing on it, even though it had obviously been written years ago when Brittany had been much younger. It said, “I’ll always love Kevin Adams.”
If Jennifer was the most unpopular girl in her class, Kevin Adams was the most unpopular boy.
“I can’t get it off, but I can’t give up my precious Doodle Bear, and I’ll be ruined if anyone sees it. I’m having a sleepover and can’t risk anyone finding it.” She stuffed the Doodle Bear inside Jennifer’s jacket. “Promise you won’t let anyone see it, and that you’ll give it back after the sleepover? Solemnly swear?”
Brittany’s precious stuff. In her care. Jennifer felt something swelling up inside her, something she’d never felt before. She wrapped an arm around Brittany and said, “I solemnly swear.”
A scream outside the storage space building snapped Jennifer back to the present. It sounded like Martin! She went back to searching for that big fluffy bear from when she was six with a vengeance.
Another ratty, wild-haired Troll Doll she talked her parents into buying for her.
No.
Brittany’s old bottle of Coco by Chanel, even though Jennifer always hated the stuff.
No.
The Doodle Bear she’d showed everyone in her fifth grade, making her the most popular girl in her fifth grade.
No.
Her big fluffy bear!
Jennifer sank her face into a teeny bit of fur that she hadn’t plucked off.
