Hansel and Gretel

Kira

Hansel

        When I get up in the morning, I vaguely remember Gretel waking me up for some odd reason.  Today wasn't a work day, but I still decide to wake her.  I stealthily crawl out of bed and quickly dress.  I sneak over to the edge of the bed, pop my head up into the top bunk, and scream, "Boo!".  Gretel comes up screaming, fists flying through the air.  "Hans!  Why would you do that?  I could have hurt you!"  I'm nursing a slight blow on my cheek, but I still laugh as I say, "Payback for last night, big sister.  Glad to know I can still scare you."  "Well...  Since you already woke me up, do you want to do something today?  We could see a movie, go to the arcade, or maybe even the Library!  Whatever you want."  I wonder what's up with Gretel.  She never acts selfless like this.  I'm sure she could make plans with someone.  "Sure, Gret.  Let's go to the Library.  I need to get a new book anyway."

        While I wait for Gretel to get dressed, I sit down at the table in the kitchen and eat a small bowl of oatmeal.  Right before we leave, I hastily scribble a note telling Father where we are and when to expect us back on the table.  Gret and I walk out the door, both wearing our black clothes and jackets.  We walk across the Opal District to get to the Library.  When we arrive at the glittering white building from which our district gets its name, I can't help but to stare.  The arches are colored a light silver color, the windows are stained glass, and the walls all have opals inlaid in them.  This library was the first building in our district.  The rest of the district popped up around it.  It is a capitol offense to steal any of the precious gems from the walls, or any of the books contained within it.  I never understood why more people don't visit the Library.  Its collection of books is quite expansive.  I've sat in this building for hours just reading.

        Gretel and I walk in and look around for an abandoned table.  When we finally find one, near the back corner just in between "Prewar Poetry" and "Romance", I put my stuff down and tell Gretel I will be searching around in the "Teen Literature" section for the next book in the series I am currently reading.  She informs me that she'll be doing research the rest of the time.  I'm not really sure what research she could be working on, but I don't push her about it.  We both leave our stuff at the table and walk towards our respective sections.  I watch as Gretel heads toward the "Psychological Literature" section.  "Must be some odd research..." I whisper to myself as I go to the "Teen Literature" section.  There are several yellow shirted people browsing the library and even a few pink shirts.  I have no idea why the Pinks would be here.  They mostly live in the higher gem districts, Topaz, Quartz, and Amethyst.  They have their own libraries.  But I say nothing and walk on.

        There are rarely any other people in the "Teen" section, so when I round the corner, I don't expect to run into anyone.  But I do just that, and we both fall to the floor.  I'm just about to reprimand them for standing in my way, when I notice the pink frilly dress crunched beneath me.  I look down at quite frankly the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.  Her eyes sparkle with amusement, as if she wanted to be shoved into the floor by a commoner, a servant almost.  Her blonde hair haloing around her face, framing it perfectly.  I blush and quickly try to help the girl up.  "I'm so sorry, my Lady!  I didn't mean to run into you!  Let me help you up!"  I struggle to stand and quickly reach down, pulling the noble I just knocked over out of the floor.  "Oh no!  It was my fault for standing here!  Let me help you!"  'What is happening?  A noble being nice?  This is unheard of!'  "Wha-  No, my Lady!  Don't worry about me!  I'm here to serve!" I hate putting on this ridiculous servant act whenever there are nobles around, but it's necessary.  I lean over to pick up the books that spilled from her hand.  "My Lady, here are your books!"  Only when I hand them over to her do I realize that she's reading the same series I am.  "Oh!" I blurt before I can stop myself, "I love that book.  One of my favorites yet."  "Yes!  I've been reading her books for a while and this is my favorite series by her so far!  I especially like the forbidden love that developed between Marcus and Sophia in the second book!"  "Yes!  I ship Maria so hard!"  "They're my OTP!"  Right about this point in our little discussion, I remembered who I was talking to.  'She's a noble, Hansel!'  When did my conscience start sounding like Gretel?

        I politely excused myself from our conversation and ran back to Gretel.  The noble girl looked confused as I ran away from her.  'She's just used to ordering people like you around!'  Gretel wasn't at the table, and she wasn't in the "Psychological Literature" section, so I walked around looking for her.  I finally found her in the "Mythological Powers" section.  I'd never been in this section before.  The library was huge and it would take days to explore it all, so I generally stayed in the "Teen" section.  Gretel was reading a weird book, titled, "Prophecy Through the Ages".  When she saw me walking up the aisle, she closed the book, obscuring the title from my view.  That bothered me a lot, because she has always shared her research with me, and she has never, ever hidden a book from me.

        "So...  What is this research even on, Gret?"  When I said this, she started guarding her expression.  "Nothing important.  Don't worry about it."  I decide not to push her.  If she wants to hide something from me, she has the right to.  "Fine.  Are you finding everything you need, though?  I could help if you want."  "No, Hansel.  I can find books by myself.  Why are you here, anyway?  I thought you were looking for the next book in your series."  Changing the subject.  Gretel you sly girl.  But she did have a point.

        "Oh!  I forgot!  I ran into a pink...  But she wasn't like the other nobles I've met!  She was...  Nice...  And...  She had the book I'm on..."  I hadn't told the girl, because she'd got to the book before I had.  I could wait a little longer for it.  "You...  What?!  You ran into a noble?!  Do you know what this could mean for us, Hans?!  She could get us kicked out the library!  Publicly flogged!  Any number of things!  How could you be that careless?!" She was not happy with this turn of events...  "It's fine, Gret!  I talked to her, and she didn't seem like someone who would torture me!"  "We have to leave.  Now.  I don't care how nice she seemed, Hans.  Nobles are deceptive creatures by definition, she was probably just playing you to get your name."  Gretel grabs my hand and pulls me back to our table.  She gathers all of our stuff and makes a beeline for the checkout area.  "Hey!  You!"  I turn around to see who's screaming in the library, only to find myself face to face with that noble girl.  "Wha-  How?"  She stops me by putting a finger to my lips.  "I know I'm being rude and annoying, but I want to talk to you about these books again!  No one at my school reads them, and, frankly, I'm getting tired of trying to figure them out myself!  Here!" with that, she shoves a piece of paper in my hand, "My name's Kira.  Call me whenever you're free!"  With that, Kira left the library.

        With Kira gone, all eyes turned to me.  I could feel there resentment.  "Why's the noble talking to him?"  "He's only a black!  She must pity him or something!"  "I would never speak to a creature like him!"  I could hear them mock whisper these horrendous things.  I couldn't put up with this anymore!  I feel like I'm going to throw up, so I squeeze Gretel's hand and run out the library door.  She'll forgive me for abandoning her.  She knows how much I hate attention, especially the negative kind.  I run for home.  The walk normally takes fifteen minutes, but I make it in five.  I barrel straight through the door and into the bathroom.  I just sit there for a few minutes, not doing anything, before I start to feel less queasy.  I walk into my room and lay down in my bunk.  I open my hand and watch as the scrap of paper falls to the ground.  There are ten small digits scribbled on it.  My first, and quite possibly last, phone number.

***

If you don't know about shipping and OTPs, I am not at all the proper person to talk to.  I think a quick google would suffice for an explanation.  I hope you guys like the story so far.  Thanks for reading, it really has made me happy to share with you.

Image is from - http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvuc9ku6AS1qlpezxo1_500.jpg.  Found it on Google images.