“From Spring Onward, my watch will just say out of range.” 

I stepped off the noisy train into the train stop. My spot is exchanged as someone else steps on the train where I stood, before any evidence of me having a unique place in it at all is erased in the crowd. I check my watch. She’s…already here. Probably. I look up at the staircase leading out of the subway and onto the city streets. Every step I take fills me with dread as the air tousles my hair and I step out. It’s midday, and the sun is obscured by the clouds, but it’s pretty chilly. Normal for a fall day out here. 

86th street. The park is across the street. 

I am dreading the meeting. 

I enter the park. I walk for a bit, and then take a left. And then a right. And then two more lefts. It was our secret spot. And there she was, standing under a tree. A pile of leaves at her feet. 

She looked beautiful. Her hair a deep blue and eyes a hazy gray to match. She’s short, at least an entire head shorter than me and rather petite. She fidgeted with her deep blue cap until she heard me approaching. When she hears so she locks eyes with me and stands very still, her arms at her side.

“Good afternoon.” She says to me, with smile, though it looked strained. 

“Hey, same to you.” I replied, meeting her facade in kind. 

“Thank you for meeting me out here. I know it’s a bit…sentimental.” 

“S’fine.” I gruffly reply, trying not to seem too sullen.

There is a long silence as we glance around our surroundings, the birds chirping, the leaves that dance with the wind. They seem to be taunting us, the way they seem so happy with one another compared to our sullenness. 

She’s the one to break the silence. “I see you’re wearing the gift.” 

She stuck out her hand, a fist in a black leather glove toward mine. I mirrored her movement, placing my fist against hers. Our watches were a set. The accent blacks made up the primary white of hers, and vice versa. 

“You probably already noticed, but, I customized this watch. It has the normal functions of a digital watch, but…It can also tell you where I am…”
She blushes a bit. 
“…It's just a toy, though, so it only has a radius of a few meters.
And… J-Just so you know, my watch has a similar function…”
……
My watch can tell me… where you are.”

I can’t help but grin, though it twists my heart in knots. 

“you’re really good at making stuff like this, it's impressive.” 

“I’m happy you think so, but really it’s nothing.” Her smile faded as she continued.

“…Although… from spring on, my watch will just say "out of range"…

I nodded slowly. “Right. That’s true.” *I sighed as I fidget with my hands.* 

“I-I’m so proud of you for getting into the detective’s academy though. You worked so hard.”