Race On Race

Chapter 10 : Strangers

•stranger
/ˈstreɪn(d)ʒə/
plural noun: strangers
a person whom one does not know or with whom one is not familiar.

A m i t o l a . P O V

While the others are busy with their own stuff , I decided to take this opportunity to clear my mind , with everything going on , I desperately needed some relaxation time and what better way to relax than go to the library! One may wonder why , but I just find the library to be a calming place .

On Monday we're going back to our regular lives with our never changing routines , wake up , go to class , come back home , study , sleep , repeat . If school wasn't necessary to make it in life for those of us who neither talented nor unexplainably smart, I would've quit a long time ago .

I got to the Fire stone library and found the well known librarian Mrs Beckham , everyone knows and loves her , how could you not , she's nice , she's fun, she's pretty and she's only a few years older than us making it easy to socialize with her without feeling awkward , "Amitola , how are you?! , It's been so long!" She exclaimed the moment she spotted me ,"I know , things have been ..........hectic" ,"I heard what happened to Liam , he's gonna be okay" my eyebrow raised as I faced her ,"oh , the lecturer's had a meeting , we were informed about his situation and that he wouldn't be coming to class" she explained as I remembered that she's not only a librarian but also a lecturer here , I nodded and waved at her before I left .

Luckily the university doesn't just have educational books but a variety of novels as well with different genres for every reader , I made my way to the young adult Romance books and finally spotted the book I wanted . I made my way to it and just when I was about to grab it someone put their hand on it . I turned and saw a boy next me , he had ginger colored curly hair that covered his forehead , he was pretty tall , I would say somewhere around 6 feet , he was wearing a white sweat shirt , dark grey jeans and platform sneakers that made him even taller than he probably already was , "I'm so sorry , were you going to get this book?" He asked as he turned to me , "yeah I was , but it's okay , I can just read the e-book"as much as I hated reading e-books , he got the book first , so I just have to let him have it ,"here" he said , unexpectedly extending his hand, handing me the book ,"you can have this one" I was reluctant to get it , but I eventually did , I mean it wasn't just any book , it's Lara Murphy's new book "The heart assassin" , I couldn't make it to the signing she had a week ago and I couldn't find the book anywhere .

( AN : not a real author, not a real book)

Knowing how hard it is to find this book , I felt kind of bad for the dude , "Benjamin , my name's Benjamin by the way " he Introduced himself , scratching the back of his neck , I don't know why he introduced himself though, maybe he wants to be friends,"Amitola , third year med student, nice to meet you" I replied as I gave him a handshake ,it was pretty awkward after that , we just stood there in complete silence ,"you must have good taste in books huh?" He said , finally breaking the silence , "yeah, I can say the same about you too , so are you into the young adult romance genre or just the author?" I asked ,"Both , it's my dream to meet Lara Murphy one day" he replied ,"same!, She seems like such a sweet person in the interviews I've watched of her" . We kept talking and eventually found a couple of seats so we could have our conversation without standing , we talked about Lara's books and our goals for some reason , surprisingly he's a med student too , a 4th year ,but his story made me kind of mad . He comes from a family filled with people in the science and medical field ; chemists , doctors , dentists , orthodontists and so on , his parents own a hospital in a near by town and they want him to become a doctor to carry on the tradition , but he personally wants to pursue a different career path , one of an author .

"Don't worry , you can still be an author" I gently said ," yeah but I'll probably be to busy in future " Benjamin responded , he had a point , but that shouldn't stop him . I then had an idea "why don't you become an author now" he looked at me with a confused but Interested face "continue" he said ,"you can write books and if you find success , you can try to convince your parents to let you become a full time author"  I said but he still looked unconvinced "I don't know Amitola, I mean I'm gonna need a graphic designer for the cover , I also need to find a publisher , it's a lot" what he's saying is true , he does need to find people to help with it and with his parents already against him being a author , I doubt they would want to help him , but luckily , Yeri's dad is an author with his own publishing company ,if I ask her to ask her dad , I'm sure he can help ," I know someone who can help , just........give me your number so we can stay in touch and while that happens , start working on your best seller" I said with a confident smile on my face ,"if you say so" we exchanged contacts and went out separate ways and to be honest I'm excited about this .

Y e r i . P O V

Nate was discharged and we were  currently watching TV while talking about what to have for lunch . "Okay so , two pizzas , one pepperoni with extra cheese and one Hawaiian , ew by the way" konane said turning to Jeremiah ,"hey , I won't eat anything that doesn't have fruit involved, you know that" Jeremiah said as I noticed Nate roll his eyes ,"four Coke's and a medium sized bucket of mild chicken wings. Is that all?" ,"My salad " I said raising my hand ,"oh right! , Yeri's......... salad" he Said writing it onto the piece of paper in is hand , he then pulled out his phone and Dialled a number , which I assume is the pizza place .

We were done eating and we went back to watching TV , we then heard a door bell ,"I'll get it!" Jeremiah said as he got up and walked over to the door , he opened it and all our attention was on the door , once open , there stood a well dressed elderly man , his aura was screaming "fancy Butler" , "Alfred!" Nate said as he ran over and gave the old man a hug , one he returned ,"you have grown into a handsome young man sir" he said as Nate smilled and turned to us ,"everyone, this is my family's Butler , Alfred" Hold on....Butler!? ,"Alfred....... wait.........dude! Why didn't you tell me that you're Batman?!" Jeremiah asked with a shocked expression, I could see the embarrassment on Konanes' face as I chuckled ,"his name's Sir Leonard actually, I was into superheros when I was younger so I started calling him Alfred and I guess it just kinda stuck" Nate explained as he faced the old man ,"Alfred what are you doing here?" ,"Well I'm here to give you this, an invitation to dinner with your parents , all of your friends are invited too" Alfred said , handing Nate a cream white envelope ,"what's the occasion?" Nate asked , he didn't look that excited ,"I wondered that as well , but I guess they are worried . We heard about what happened to you young sir ,just come and have dinner with your parents , it's been a while" Alfred said with a sincere face as he put his right hand on Nate's shoulder ,"I should get going ,the dinner is white formal" Alfred said , giving Nate one last hug before he turned around and left .

"So I guess I should find myself an outfit" konane said stretching his arms ,"no need , we aren't going" Nate said as he dropped the envelope on the coffee table ,"look Nate , your parents just want to see you and it would be a great way to bond with your dad" I Said that and Nate suddenly stopped and turned to me , I wondered why but when I finally realized, I froze too ,"and your mom! Bond with your mom too and I personally would love to meet the both of them" I said as quickly as I could to get rid of any tension that was about to come our way . I had a feeling that Nate would get mad at konane for telling me about his past and all even though he told me it wasn't an issue , so I just had to clear it up ,"fine" Nate said as he left to his room ,"Yeri aren't you excited?" Jeremiah said wiggling his eye brows , while I gave him a confused look ,"you're going to meet your soon to be in-laws" and just like that Jeremiah received a smack on the head from konane .