The Bad Boy's Nerd (ON BREAK)

7. | The Library

Vivienne's POV:

The day had dawned crisp and clear. Sunshine poured in through my window, waking me up from my slumber. I preferred morning like these way more than the ones with an alarm blaring in my eardrum. I turned towards my bedside table to grab my phone, only to find a sticky note slapped on its screen. It was from mom. Apparently, she had been called to her office on an urgent basis as one of her team members had messed something up, and because she was the team leader, it was imperative for her to be there.

And what that meant for me?

I have to make my own breakfast today which is going to taste not even close to my mom's cooking. And I was really craving some blueberry pancakes.

As tempting as the pancakes sounded, I decided to settle for a plain avocado toast with some apple juice. Who could mess up on toasting a slice of bread, am I right? Besides, it was too pretty of a day for my mom's lovely kitchen to combust into flames.

I slid out of my bed and trudged to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and then advanced to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. Taking out a couple bread slices, I popped them in the toaster and let it do its magic while I poured myself a chilled glass of apple juice. The toast wasn't the best as it had burnt a little on the sides but it was better than nothing.

The house had been engulfed by a serene, tranquil silence; the only noise being of rustling leaves in wind and the occasional mechanical hum whenever a car drove by.

I loved the quiet.

But I liked it better to be spending time with my parents, at least on the weekends. Every Saturday, my dad would take me to this one beautiful beach in our previous neighbourhood to watch the sunset. The sound of waves hitting the shore would melt any of the worries away and while I was annoyed with all the sand getting in between my toes, it's safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Until my dad's company bagged a huge deal, which also caused us to move out here in the city. Forget the father and daughter time's, now I rarely ever saw my father.

He was always out on business trips; and when he wasn't, he was at his office. My dad is a workaholic, to say the least. And when it comes to my mom, she figured it would be nice to put her skills to test as well. So she turned into a working mom from a stay-at-home mom. Though, I saw her a lot more often than my dad.

I always had a lot of spare time on my hand. And owing to my non-existent social life, I had developed a love for reading. If I wasn't in my room, I'd be in the Idle Hour Library. And since I had plenty of time on hand today, that's where I decided to tread.

As I stepped inside, the cozy ambience and the smell of books greeted me. Behind the cash register stood a frail and petite librarian, Agnes Ellsworth. She was a lovely woman in her sixties, who I shared my fondness of books with. She looked up at me through her half-moon glasses, her lips curling into a familiar smile.

"If it isn't for my favourite bookworm! How have you been?"

"All the same", I added with a smile. "I'm sorry I couldn't come in to help for the past few days. I hope the workload wasn't high."

"Oh don't be silly, Vivi! Youngsters today rarely ever step in libraries. Only if they would peel their eyes away from their phones, they would see how many new experiences the world has to offer."

I just hummed in response. I slipped off my book bag which carried all the books I had to return, and without bothering Agnes for help, one-by-one I made my way into the aisles where every borrowed book belonged. I had been here countless number of times, so I knew the library like the back of my hand. This was basically my second home and Agnes reminded me a lot of my own grandma; even though I could recall only a handful of things about her.