Beware The Water

Money Burns

The clock ticked, getting louder as the seconds passed and the fluorescent lights only seemed to burn brighter. Lux frowned and dropped her head onto her notebooks. She hated in person classes. It was much easier to rush to get everything done before bed rather than get dressed in what would be deemed appropriate. A shirt that was a size too big that didn't show any type of curve or cleavage, and a pair of shapeless pants.

Lux had grown to hate tying her hair up. It felt too professional and clean.

With the way her classmates constantly stared and whispered about her, showed that no amount of clothing on her body could hide the fact that she was sleeping with a notorious gangster.

She wished she could say it's different. That Shorter's not doing those things anymore. To defend him meant to own up to the truth of being what some called, The Whore of Chinatown. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't. She had to hold onto the little bit of dignity that she had left.

Top of her class all throughout school to now be labeled as someone that's known for who she opened her legs up to.

"No way." One of Lux's classmates turned her phone over to another student. They read what Lux assumed was a headline with how the other girl gasped.

"Apparently she's been missing for two days." One of the girls caught Lux staring. She sat up right and looked away fast, pretending to squint to see what time it was. "Hey Lux."

"Hm? Yeah?" She turned to face them.

"Didn't you go to high school with a Xia Sheng?"

"Yeah. Since elementary actually. Why?"

The two girls side eyed each other before the other extended her arm out to show Lux the screen.

Xia Sheng
Age: 20
Height: 5'4
Missing since Saturday night.

"What the hell?" Lux scrolled down and skimmed through the article. It said that her mother reported her missing Monday morning. Lux checked her watch to see that was only a few hours ago.

"You wouldn't know anything else about it, would you?"

Lux leaned back in her chair, "Why would you ask me that?"

The girls both glanced at the other nervous, "We didn't mean any offense. It's just that-"

"Her dad died a few months ago from gang violence. Now she's missing. And people say that your boyfriend is-"

Lux shook her head and scoffed. This shadow followed her everywhere. Work, school, even at funerals. She couldn't escape what society was seeing her as. "So what? That had nothing to do with him. Neither does this."

"Alright." She held her hands up in defense, "Sorry I didn't mean for it to come out like I was accusing, it's just that..."

Lux understood. Of course it would make sense. It was the easiest story to digest. The most believable one. Lux leaned forward, eyes darkening beneath her overgrown bangs. "Don't ever assume that again." She said low and threatening.

The girls nodded and quickly went back to the screen and avoided eye contact at all costs.

Lux stared forward, watching the teacher enter. She huffed, ready for class to already be over.
___________________

"Can't you do something?" Lux asked.

Shorter halted from packing his gym bag and raised a pierced brow, "What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't know! You have connections, right? You think maybe you could ask around to see if anyone's seen her?"

Shorter's head dropped and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Umm, Lux I- I don't have access to resources like that anymore." he broke the bad news to see Lux's shoulders drop heavy in defeat.