I love you every second.

What kind of a guy would keep a pocket watch with that kind of inscription? A real heel, that's who!

Why, if that pocket watch could talk, I bet it could tell a million stories. I could only imagine where it had come from; definitely an expensive store. A girl, or

maybe a woman, probably spent her life savings on it as a gift for her boyfriend…or maybe her husband.

I couldn't imagine a teenage girl having enough money to buy such a handsome pocket watch, so it was most likely a grown woman, but what did I know? I was

just a guy who was usually broke. As far as I was concerned, maybe girls did have a lot of money and they just expected the guy to pay for everything. That was

definitely true of most girls I'd gone out with, which was exactly why I never had any money. Oh, maybe I had the story of the pocket watch all wrong, but it

was definitely special.

As badly as I wanted the money that we would surely get from Mr. Arnold at the pawn shop (and let's be honest, twenty five dollars is nothing to sneeze at), I

just couldn't do it. At that moment I remembered Maynard's words…

But we found it fair and square! It's ours!

Truer words had never been spoken.

"Maynard, I know you want that money. Well, I want it too! We might have found it fair and square, but I just can't do it."

Maynard stopped drumming on the back of the bench with his hands and looked at me.

"Like, how come?"

"Like, it isn't ours!"

"But we found it!"

"I know, fair and square. But Maynard, look at this!" I held up the pocket watch for him to see.

"Like yeah! It's a pocket watch! I already showed it to you!"

"No, you didn't really look at it. Come on, Maynard. Look at it." I opened the cover displaying a worn but handsome face. Just as I expected, Maynard's eyes

widened in surprise.

"Like wow, that's even more beautiful than I thought!"

"Exactly, but there's something else."

"There is?"

I closed the cover and turned it over, my heart warming when I read the inscription again. "Yes, and it's a big something else!"

"Like what?"

"Read what it says here!" I turned the pocket watch over to show him the engraving.

"I love you every second." Maynard read. "Like what's that mean?"

"It means a lot, Maynard! It means that it's not ours and we have no right to keep it! I know I'm getting sentimental, but I can't stop thinking about whoever

lost this watch! People don't just leave pocket watches under benches! Why I bet they're just beside themselves with worry!"

"They're probably wondering where it is, too!"

Oh brother. "Right, Maynard."

So what does that mean?"

"It means we need to do the right thing."

"Oh, right." He was quiet for a minute. "What's that?"

"We need to turn it in."

"But there's no one around."

I looked around and the street was eerily quiet. "You're right, Maynard. The place is deserted. Well, there must be somewhere we can turn it in."

"I know, the fire station!"

"That'll never work! Who's gonna think to look there?"

"You're right. Unless the bench catches on fire, no one will ever know!"

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I thought better of it. "Well, all right. Maybe not the fire station, but there's got to be somewhere-."

"Hey I know!"

I braced myself for one of Maynard's ridiculous ideas.

"Let's bring it to that store behind us!"

I turned around and found myself looking in the window of one of Maynard's favorite stores.

"Harry's Pet Shop? That's ridiculous!"

"Why? It's right behind us and the person who lost the pocket watch was probably in the pet shop and-."

"Maynard, you're a genius!" I shook his hand, smiling at the confused look on his face.

"I am?"

"Sure! We'll take it in and tell Harry that we found it under the bench. He can put a sign in the window and if someone comes to claim it, they have to tell him

what the inscription on the back of the pocket watch says."

"Why would they do that?"

"Because, Maynard, if we just say that we found a watch, everyone in town will try to claim it, but only you and I know what the inscription says."

"Like yeah! That's a great idea!"

Strangely, I blushed. "Thanks."

"So like what do we do?"

"Well the first step is to take it into the pet shop."

"Like okay. What are we waiting for?"

At that moment I was happier than I'd been in a long time. I wished my parents had been there to see it, but I hadn't really done anything just yet. If no one

claimed the pocket watch, I supposed that meant that it would be rightfully ours and we could take it to the pawn shop and get the money.

So why did I suddenly feel so guilty?