Beep! Beep! went the alarms as she was rushing outside of the jewelry store. “Catch her!” yelled a body guard standing outside, running after her. She was like a cheetah sprinting after their prey. She took a sharp corner around a tall, brick building and there stood Sergeant Larry. “Excuse me Miss, will you please step over here? I need you to take your coat off and put your hands on my police car.” She did as she was told, except she did not take her coat off. “Young lady, what is your name?”

“My name is Lacey Grodeisher.” She had the look of terror and nervousness in her eyes. Lacey Grodeisher is a typical teenage girl, except for the fact that her parents just died in a car accident. She is dealing with many things in her life right now: coping with her parent’s death, stealing from stores, and her emotions for her best friend, Ethan. Ethan has been her best friend ever since they were little and she has been keeping a secret from him for a long time: she likes him. Dealing with all of these emotions, the only thing that she found works best for her is to steal from stores to help her remember memories of her parents and to help ease her mind.

“Okay, Lacey. I am going to tell you this one more time. Take your coat off before I do it for you.” She gradually placed her cold, fragile hands on the corners of her jacket and began to take it off. One corner of her coat came off, and then nonchalantly the next corner came, leading it to the middle of her back. Before she could take her whole fleece off, the necklace quickly fell from her warm hiding place to the cement ground. Splat! went the necklace as she took her coat off. Sergeant Larry picked the necklace up and he set it down on the police car. “Come with me.” He handcuffed her and put her in his police car. She sat in the back seat looking out the window. Sergeant Larry got into his car and took her to The Boulder City Police Department jail house. She put her in a jail cell and started to talk to her. “Will you please tell me the reason why you stole this necklace?” She did not say anything, so Sergeant Larry thought that she did not have anything to say. He casually got up and walked to the door but Lacey stopped him.

“Wait! There actually is a reason why I wanted the necklace.” She told him the real reason why she stole it. Sergeant Larry said,
“I know this is an intricate time for you, but that does not mean that you can steal and perform illegal actions. You are going to need some advice or something to help you through this. I am allowing you to make one phone call, whether that is to your distant family members, or one of your close friends. They can pick you up right now, but know that we are watching every move you make. This is a serious problem Lacey. Here is my number if you need to talk to me or have any questions. Also, here is your necklace. I am paying the expenses at the jewelry store for you because I know that this necklace is important to you.” Sergeant Larry unlocked the gate and led Lacey to the telephone. Without hesitating, she called Ethan.

From the time she called Ethan to the time he actually got there, it seemed like two thousand centuries. As she was waiting in the waiting room, she knew that she could be faster than Ethan and that he is as slow as a snail that creeps across something trying to get to a destination point in a short period of time. When he finally arrived at the jail house he said, “Come on. You need to get your mind off of things for a while. I think that will help you and you can also explain things to me.” They sat in Ethan’s car and he said, “Alright, you want to tell me what happened?”

“Ever since my parents died in the car accident, life has been really hard for me. It is hard living my life without my parents here. I miss those times and I wish that I could just rewind and go back to the way things were. I miss seeing their beaming bright faces and the beautiful jewelry my mom used to wear all the time.” There was a long pause as Lacey took out a necklace from the store. “This was my mom’s. My dad gave it to her on their twenty fifth wedding anniversary.” It was a necklace with two hearts entwined together. “She used to wear this every day and the day of the accident, she took it into the store to get it cleaned. I was walking by the jewelry store and I saw it hanging in the window. I took it so I could have something left of her just beside the memories. I have nothing left of them seeing as the state took our house and all of our belongings. This makes me feel like they are still with me.”

“I know this isn’t easy for you but I think it might be best if you talk to someone or get some help. I am always here for you, and you know that, but I cannot help you as much as others could. I think you should call Sergeant Larry and tell him you want to get help.”

“Okay. I’ll call him right now. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Ethan.” She called Sergeant Larry and he told her that he will help her through this.

Lacey has been going for a couple of weeks now, and she has improved a lot. She has not stolen anything and she has been having really positive days. “Seems to me that you’ve been improving Lacey,” said Ethan. “How have things been going with Sergeant Larry?”

“Pretty well. He has helped me a lot so that I will not steal anymore. I’ve been thinking, I need to tell you a few things.”

“Alright,” said Ethan, looking astounded.

“This is going to sound so foolish Ethan, but I need to tell you this. Ever since I met you, I have always had a special connection with you. You have been my best friend ever since I was born and you knew my family so well. We are really close and our friendship grows each day. But, when my parents died and you’ve been helping me through this, I have a different feeling for you. I kind of like you. When you were dating that girl last year, I was extremely envious because I knew she wasn’t the right person for you. I didn’t want to tell you this because I was afraid it will ruin our friendship. I hope you understand and now I feel better because you now know how I feel about you.” She thought that he was going to explode and start hollering. As a matter of fact, she knew he was going to do that. Then he said something that surprised her.

“Well, I’m glad you said something first because I was going to tell you the exact same thing today. I feel the same way, Lacey.” Her eyes brightened up and she had the biggest smile on her face. She leaned in and hugged him, knowing things are looking better in the future.