WARNING! I published this like, a LONG time ago. But I never did anything with it. I don't know why I'm deciding to re-post this and try again, but there's something about this story I don't want to give up. So lemme know what ya think. ( :

The summer afternoon sun scorched the back of Janie Gardner's neck as she searched frantically in her back yard, praying to God to find the one thing she cherished the most from her childhood. She prayed for the glimmer of metal to pop up through the blades of sparkling green grass, growing more and more frantic as each minute passed. She'd been searching for close to an hour and yet she still had no sign of the ancient ring she had ever since she was seven. It had only cost two cents, and she had gotten it from Jack's Five-and-Dime down on Main Street. It was her most favorite thing in the world. She hadn't planned on buying it; in fact, she had been rummaging around the old toys in the back of the store nine years ago when a small 'clink' had made Janie look down. From the moment her eyes had laid upon the old ring she had fallen in love with it. It was nothing special—but it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen…at least, when she was seven. It was starting to rust, and the metal was fading into a pink-copper. It was plain but had one pendant in the center, a cheap sapphire imitation, but it had sparked something inside Janie and she'd been attached ever since. She always wore it. Every single day, every single minute of every single hour.

Except now. And the week before. And one time two months ago. And five months before that.

So she was a bit careless and misplaced things easily…but she was not going to give up. Besides, the ring always turned up. No matter what. She could be in, say, another city or something and she'd lose the ring there, come back, and it'd be buried in her pocket or at the bottom of her car or something. It was kind of strange, but she loved it. It was as if the ring was meant to be with her always, and she'd always been kind of a superstitious person anyway. Her friends always made fun of her for it, but she didn't care. That ring was to her what a teddy bear was to a small child. It was the cereal in her milk. The sauce on her spaghetti. It was the fucking cherry on her sundae! She had to find that ring. It was going to drive her crazy until she did.

But she was truly starting to worry. It was bad luck if she didn't wear that ring. One time, when she'd lost it during school, she'd had a math test and completely failed it. She'd studied so hard and still failed. And there was the time when she was going to her school's spring dance last year with her best guy friend Gordie LaChance and she'd lost the ring, and she had spilled bright pink punch on her white dress. It was pure bad luck to not where that ring.

Janie sat down in the middle of the grass and buried her face in her hands. She felt kind of silly for getting all worked up over it, but that was the way she was. She was a big stress ball, always worrying and stressing out and getting upset over the smallest things. It really did a number on her sometimes too, and if she didn't find the small piece of metal, she didn't know what would happen to her. She felt her throat tensing up and a burning sensation behind her eyes. It wasn't only the fact that she'd lost her ring that was making her so upset. Her emotions were all out of whack the past few weeks anyways. On top of having her monthly friend that made her somewhat bipolar, she had just been fired from her job she'd had for almost three years and desperately needed, her father had been laid off from work, her older brother was forced to drop out of his first year of college to come back home and work to help with money, and her mom was out of town for the next five weeks on a business trip. On top of all that, she'd gotten her end of the year report card from when the end of her junior school year had ended a few weeks ago and she hadn't been pleased with the results. She felt like a train wreck.

"What are you doing?"

Janie's head snapped up to see Gordie LaChance himself, standing there with his hands in his pockets looking down at Janie. She swallowed and wiped at her eyes quickly. Gordie had seen her cry before, a lot in fact, but she always hated it. She always felt embarrassed no matter what. She always felt that she was weak. Compared to Gordie's fucked up home life, her life was far from cry-worthy. But sometimes she couldn't help it—sometimes her tear ducts were just out of control, and she hated that.

Gordie looked different, Janie mused suddenly. His skin was much darker; a brown bronze from the sun and his arms looked strong and defined. He'd grown taller, too. Much taller than her own five four anyway. He looked so much older than she imagined he was. In her eyes, Gordie was always the shy boy with the doe eyes everyone kind of felt sorry for. But he'd changed so much over the last years and she couldn't have been more proud to be his friend.

"Um," she wiped more vigorously at her eyes. "I'm looking for my ring. I lost it again."

Gordie squinted at her and bent down. "Are you crying?"

"No."

Gordie quirked an eyebrow. He sat down across from Janie and rubbed the back of his neck. "When was the last time you had it?"

Janie groaned and lay back in the sun, letting the warmth absorb her fully. Her tank top exposed her shoulders and a half centimeter of her belly and her flowy skirt exposed her legs. The skin burned from the sun and yet it calmed her. She loved the feeling of the sun on her face and her body. Her dark curls were spread along the grass but she didn't care. She racked her brain for the last time she had worn the ring. She discovered it had been missing when she had been in the shower this morning. But when was the last time she had worn it?

"I don't remember," she mumbled, sitting up. The blood rushed to her face and she closed her eyes. She wriggled her bare feet in the grass. She was a little too hot now. She needed to go inside and clear her mind. "Gordie I need that ring! You know I can't function without it. I'm going nuts."

Gordie smirked and Janie frowned at him. "What's so funny?" How could Gordie find amusement in her time of despair?

Gordie reached into his back pocket and held out his two fists balled up in front of Janie. He smiled. "Pick a hand."

"Gordie I don't have time for games," Janie growled. She stood up, brushing the dirt off her shorts. Gordie stood up too and just smiled.

"I said pick a hand woman. Pick one." Janie rolled her eyes and tapped his left fist. He opened it and she couldn't hold back her squeal. She jumped on Gordie, taking him by surpise and sending them backward, Gordie on his back and Janie resting atop of him. She couldn't stop smiling.

"Gordie!" she cried happily. "You found my ring! I could kiss you right now if I didn't find that incredibly gross! Heh! I love you, have I told you that lately?"

Gordie just snickered and watched Janie put the ring back on her ring finger. Janie rolled over and lay beside Gordie, her head touching his shoulder. Then suddenly she sat up and punched him hard in the shoulder.

"Fuck—Janie, what the hell was that for?" Gordie cried, rubbing his shoulder. Janie wasn't really strong and her punch didn't hurt too badly, but it left a mark.

"You bastard, why didn't you tell me right away? You watched me cry you sicko!"

"You said you weren't crying," Gordie snapped. Janie snickered and stood up, looking down at Gordie.

"Even though I hate you right now for watching me squirm," Janie started. "I'm still going to invite you inside for some lemonade only because you returned my ring."

Gordie smirked and got to his feet. "Fair enough."