Will walked hand in hand with his girlfriend on that midsummer's day. It hurt him too much to be alone for too long, or be with anyone that reminded him of Lyra. Because of this, he decided to ask a girl out that was the exact opposite of Lyra, hoping she would say yes. After asking her loving mother (whom she talked to quite often) she agreed to let Will be her boyfriend. Unlike Lyra, Mandarian had known of certain things, such as mortal sin for quite a while, and she planned on "running the bases" (as always), with her 2nd to last boyfriend, Will. She had gone to a public school all her life, and her father was into the church, while her mother totally rejected it. Will, unfortunately, only knew about her being a straight A student and her parents' positions towards the church. He had absolutely no idea of those certain things, like Lyra, and planned to keep it that way.
Anyway, Mandarian decided to join her boyfriend as he asked, but she just could not understand why he seemed so "down." He was usually fine and easy-going, but he suddenly seemed depressed with complications that were too hard to explain. Was it something she said? It was not the weather; it was the most beautiful day of the year – even Will agreed on this the previous day.
They finally reached this wooden bench in a hidden garden, and Mandarian's eyes lit up with delight of her new mischievous idea. They sat down, and after a while, she decided that he had not brought her there for her new idea, because he didn't seem too happy, nor did he seem to notice her. She put her hand on his back, to comfort him, and he broke out in tears. That's when she looked up, and saw this thing falling out of the sky.