Lux's hands desperately searched the tall grass. She had only been at the lake for a number of hours yet had already lost her mothers brooch, one of her most prized possessions.
"No, no, no..."
She muttered to herself has hot tears streamed down her face.
Coming here was a mistake. She now had all of her friends in a frenzy over her problems.
The only word for the situation was pathetic.
She shouldn't have brought Coriolanus along as well. Not when Billy Caldwell joined them.
Uninvited.
She was utterly embarrassed.
Billy had been in love with Lux since they were mere children, which wasn't saying much since he got around with many girls.
His infatuation with Lux only grew when he understood that his feeling were not mutual.
The girl nearly screamed when she heard his nasally voice from behind her.
"Hey Lux. Any luck?"
"Get out of here, Billy." She said under her breath, wiping her tears quickly with the back of her hand.
"Is that your way of thanking me?" He said with an oily grin.
Lux stood, now facing him directly.
"Why the hell would I thank you."
She pushed past him, purposely bumping his shoulder with hers.
Before she could flee, Billy grabbed her hand.
Something cool slipped into her palm, and she let out a small gasp.
"Your pin. Found it down by the dock."
Lux fumbled with the trinket, desperately trying to not drop it.
The bronze metal glistened in the sunlight
songbird pin brought a new wave of tears to her eyes.
"Sorry it took so long, I thought you might-"
Billy was unable to finish his sentence, Lux had already thrown herself into his arms.
"Thank you, Billy. You...you have no idea what this means to me."
She said as she slowly pulled away.
A look of shock quickly turned into a smug grin as the boy looked down onto her.
"Just know you owe me one in the future."
"Yeah right." Lux chuckled.
"I'm going to tell everyone t's been found. Thank you again."
The girl trotted away, a wave of new hope surrounding her.
------------
Coriolanus felt his body shiver, his shirt absolutely drenched from the frigid waters of the lake now clinging to his chest.
He was overjoyed when he had found Lux's brooch, which had only taken a couple hours of searching.
It had fallen into the waters while everyone had been enjoying their time splashing about.
Once finding it, Billy insisted that he give it to her. He didn't want to give Coriolanus any more trouble.
At first, he was grateful. Little did he know it would only bring the two closer together, which he couldn't stand.
He gripped his fists tightly, wishing he had never given Billy the pin.
Of course, he would never tell Lux that.
