Circular, circular with little black numbers.
I remember a time, way back in grade 4 and I guess I would have been 9 and we had buddies. Grade 4 meant being an intermediate which felt like such a big jump from primary even though it was really only a year. Kind of like how in grade 11 me and my friend spent a good half hour talking obnoxiously and loudly about how 17 was such a big jump from 16, and how 16 didn’t feel all that old. I remember our social studies teacher was laughing, maybe because she thought we were so young or maybe because it made her feel really old. Either way, I guess it was kind of ridiculous. Now I’m 18 and it doesn’t feel all that old but 17 to 18 always seemed like such a big jump. I guess that’s just how it goes.
But anyways, in grade 4 when I was new at being an intermediate, and we got to be the big buddies instead of the little buddies, I made a few mistakes. To start with, we were supposed to teach our little buddies how to tell time. Each pair was given a little paper clock with plastic hands. I tried to explain to my little buddy how the clock worked, but I didn’t understand it myself. I went and asked my teacher and she made me feel stupid so I went back to my seat. I kept hearing the other kid’s voices drift across the room saying “half past four” and “quarter to” and “quarter after one”. Quarter to what? I wanted to cry I felt so dumb. I fumbled my way through some confusing explanation and my little buddy looked up at me, even more confused than I felt. We sat there looking from the stupid little clock to each other and finally I sighed and gave up. When I got home I think I might have cried, I don’t remember.
Well now I can tell time. But that doesn’t seem to make a difference because people are always late anyways. Or maybe my watch is broken again. It’s vintage with a kitten on it and I only just put a battery in it a few days ago. When I was bored I used to sit there and spin the dial round and round or I would set it to the right time only to have to change it one minute later anyways, since it didn’t work. But now I’m sure it works, except here I am and there is still no sign of him.
He said he works late but maybe he was lying. He also told me he loves cats but I heard from my friend Beth that he is very specifically a dog person, has a cat allergy, and even tried to trick his sister’s cat into going outside when he knew perfectly well that there was a family of coyotes in the nearby ravine. So sure, he “works late”. And I’m supposed to believe that’s the reason he hasn’t shown.
***
It’s been 20 minutes. Maybe he got stuck in traffic.
***
It’s been half an hour. It’s now quarter past. Yes, I do know what that means.
***
I saw a car go by a couple of minutes ago that looked awfully familiar. I think it might have been Beth’s except I saw a guy driving it so that wouldn’t really make sense.
***
It’s half past. I am giving up and going home. Why did I bother getting my watch fixed?
***
He called me later that night and apologized. I told him he was stupid and I may have said a couple of bad words too. He apologized again and hung up.
***
I called him the next day and apologized for swearing at him. He said it’s okay because he deserved it. We set up a date for that night.
***
That night I stood him up. He called me 6 times, each time with a different tactic. I thought to myself, if you really cared you would have shown the first time round.
I took the battery out of my watch and went to sleep.
