Tell Me What You Hate About Me

4: Lost and Found

With Jack and his shovel, my still-sparkly new metal detector, and a fresh place to find whatever I was supposed to discover, it seemed that everything was in order for Friday. And when my moment finally arrived, I led Jack to that pond where Dominic and I put together our skit for ASL.

As the afternoon turned to evening, it was all quiet for a Friday nearby a college campus, but the bugs were just beginning to come out. That was fine as long as there weren't any people around to bother us. No one needed to know what we were up to, especially since as far as I knew, it wasn't quite legal.

"So how did you even find this place?" Jack said when the wet ground squished beneath our feet. Most of the water was contained in the murky pond, but not all of it.

"It's not a secret, you know. No one comes here because the mosquitoes are annoying," I said.

"And this is where you think we'll find something?"

I nodded. "Seems perfect for it, doesn't it?"

He swatted at his arm, then looked back at me. "Not really."

"If you don't like it, you can leave. I don't really care. I'll handle the digging myself."

I thought it would be nice to have him around, but if he wanted to complain, I wouldn't miss him.

"Lindsay, don't be like that. I'll help. It'll be fun," Jack said.

Better.

Before we began our search, I looked over the pond. Although there was a buzzing noise that lingered in the air, there was plenty of space to find things until we ran out of pockets.

I was a few hundred dollars into the investment, and with the way my heart fluttered when I took another glance at the place, there was no doubt in my mind that there was something in the ground.

When did my feelings about anything steer me wrong? Never.

"Okay, so give me the metal detector, and we'll start here," I said.

"Give you the metal detector what?" Jack asked.

Oh my god. "Please."

He smiled as he handed me the metal detector. "Don't they teach you how to say please and thank you in kindergarten? Or did you skip those days?"

I laughed. "Okay, fine. That was a good one."

As soon as I lowered the metal detector to the ground, it let out a beep.

So that was what it sounded like.

Adrenaline rushed through my veins. That was the sound of being right.

Jack laughed. "That was fast."

There was no way in hell we were standing in a perfect spot as a coincidence. This was what I was supposed to find.

Maybe if I showed my parents that I was doing something at school besides fucking around, they'd finally send me the money they promised.

"I think we finally found what we've been looking for," I said. "Right here. There's something here."

"Finally? What are you talking about? We just started." He laughed, but he stabbed the shovel into the ground anyway.

Scoop by scoop, he dug up the muddy earth that hid my treasure. And although he was probably going at a normal pace, it wasn't fast enough. Whether he dug up something priceless or worthless, it could only help me get the money I needed.

Something glimmered in the pile of dirt he just removed, and I reached for it.

"Wait, stop. That's what we're looking for," I said.