“Watch where you’re walking!”
I stumbled as the blaring of the car horn quickly followed the man’s angry cry. Rushing out of the road, I turned to apologize to the upset driver. I frowned as his tyres squealed as he sped away. Shaking my head, I turned back to the library and walked inside.
It had been a few weeks since I started coming here. My mother had been insistent on me doing something besides playing video games the whole summer and gave me a quota of books to read. If I could manage to read fifty books and explain them all to her, she would buy me everything I wanted for the next school year.
“Hello, Paul. How are you today?”
I shrunk into my clothes instantly at the sound of her voice. I turned, meekly smiling and waving my hand at the Librarian.
“Um…”
She watched me patiently with a smile that ate away at my nerves.
“Did you finish the book I left for you?” I nodded quickly, pulling my bag to my stomach and unzipping it. Carefully pulling the book out, I handed it back to the Librarian. “Wow, you’re a quick reader, aren’t you?”
I nodded again, relaxing as I smiled at the older lady. Conversations weren’t exactly my strongest skill. Especially when it came to strangers. There was something that made interacting with the Librarian extra easy though, almost as if she were secretly a mother to all the children in the neighbourhood… at least that’s what my brother said when he heard that I started going to the library. He went on and on about how she would be the one to crack the mysterious case of my quietness.
“How about you try this one next?” I blinked a few times at the book that had suddenly appeared in front of my face. Smiling sheepishly at having blanked out in the middle of our conversation, I grabbed the book and held it to my chest. The Librarian turned to walk away but I cried out to her. I blushed as she turned back, the sound that had come had morphed into one similar to a bleating goat as my voice cracked. She smiled warmly at me, shifting to face me as she leaned over to meet me with a patient expectancy.
“Um… I just… Uh… I wanted…” I closed my eyes in a mixture of embarrassment and to help the words come out easier, “Thank… Thank you!”
I felt a hand on my head and opened my eyes. The Librarian smiled widely at me as she pulled her hand back to her side. “You’re very welcome, Paul. I know that you’re working hard on the first mission your mom gave you but…” she pointed towards the table in the corner of the room. It was the one that I had often rushed towards to read by myself. After a while of consistently coming to the library, that table had become my spot where no one else would go to once I was there. I frowned, turning back to the Librarian to offer a silent plea. “I asked her to go there. You need to make one friend before summer is up too, right?”
I nodded, my eyes falling back to my feet as I felt her hand on my head once again. “You don’t have to do much today. Just say hi and you can read with her at the table. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
I shifted my eyes back to the girl at the table before turning back to the Librarian. I put what little cuteness I had left in my puberty-ridden face into my begging eyes.
“Now, now.” She stood up straight while looking away from me. “We’ve put it off for long enough. Go say hi for today and I promise to give you a book with a lot of secrets that even many adults don’t know!”
I stared at her for a few moments in contemplation.
“Okay.” I managed with a nod. The Librarian smiled widely at me, ruffling my hair before pulling her hand away.
“We have a deal then. Now go on.”
I felt her hand push me from our spot hidden amongst the bookshelves. I gasped out loud, drawing the attention of the other readers in the room. I curled up slightly as they glared at my loud outburst. Most of them were regulars as well and smiled once they saw me, turning their attention back to their books or devices. The few who weren’t familiar with me looked over my shoulder and went pale before looking away. I turned to find the Librarian smiling warmly at me and urging me onward with her hands.
Shifting my eyes to my feet, I trudged towards my table.
“Are you coming here? Please don’t try to make conversations if you are!”
I looked up to find the girl staring at me with an exasperated look. I opened my mouth to speak but felt the words get stuck in my throat. I quickly closed my mouth and took a deep breath as I nodded and walked to the opposite side of the table, finding the corner furthest from her. Throwing my bag onto the table, I pulled the chair out.
“HELLO.” I winced as the word came out much louder than I had intended. I heard a scattering of laughs as the girl watched with a mixture of shock and appal.
“Uh… hi? I thought we weren’t going to speak?”
I shook my head, smiling widely as I shifted the bag between us and opened the book from the Librarian. I could hardly focus on the words as I stared at the pages, too focused on the fact that I had managed to say something to the girl at the table. I kept looking around to see if I could find the Librarian, but I couldn’t find her.
“Um…” I turned to the girl as she rose from her seat. “Thanks for staying quiet while I read. I hope you enjoy your book.”
I looked around nervously as I frowned. Did I weird her out?
“Bye.” I groaned as the word came out in a whisper. Shrinking into the seat, I turned my attention to the book in my hands.
“You really need to figure out your volume. Bye.” I turned and watched as she walked away. I smiled slightly to myself as I tried to read. After a few futile moments, I gave up on the task and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from my bag. I had a lot to tell t