Your shoulders

Books to Cuffs

Eric melted into the quiet that blessed the library's four walls, playing with the loose string on the cuff of his jacket. He watched streams of light poke through clouds and illuminate soft shapeless spots on the concrete just outside the window. His eyes were drawn up to the hair gracing his forehead. He huffed a strand away from his eyes and ignored the mention of his name whispered out from a few rows over.

It was Jack, he probably just realized he was gone. He slipped away from Jack and Lola a while ago, getting annoyed by their constant trade of hushed conversation.

He readjusted himself, leaning further onto the table, he laid his head to rest in the bend of his elbow.

Ironically enough, Eric turned out to be the quieter of the bunch. Jack and Lola weren't even talking about anything important and that bothered him.

He didn't have this high regard for the library, sure, but he still respected it considering it was the only time he felt free from the weight of his constant talking. The library was where he had no pressure to entertain or be on all the time. He wouldn't spend his free time here but he respected the place whenever he'd wound up there.

Regardless of Eric's little peeve he wasn't gonna make a big deal about Jack and Lola's chatter considering his reputation for being loud and obnoxious. He'd rather fall away from the pair unnoticed and sit at a table by the window, tucked away in a quiet corner.

He figured that before his flamboyant personality and his mischievous quirks, he was human. And every once in a while, he found himself able to shed the skin everyone knew him for and be human first and foremost.

He wasn't gonna lie and say he liked reading through. That was way out of his range and he felt at times he'd rather walk on hot coals than pick up a book. Nonetheless, he appreciated the library.

Lola finally peered from behind an aisle to find Eric lost in thought with his head tucked into his arm.
She skipped over to him, setting her bag down haphazardly on the table. She barely winced at the cutting sound of loose items scrambling in her purse. He jumped at her less-than-gracious entrance but perked up slightly. He flipped his hand up off the table in a silent greeting, to which she smiled elatedly, bringing her shoulders up to her ears.

He liked her already, she had this excitable energy to her and she seemed to be pretty easily amused, unlike Jack who only ever reprimanded Eric for his childish anecdotes. She stood up shortly after taking a seat across the table to shimmy into the seat next to him.

"So Jack tells me we'd be good friends? Do you think so, Eric?" She laid the side of her head in her palm with a lax smile.

"Jack gettin' tired of ya?" He asked through a hushed chuckle.

"Thats kinda why I'm here" she replied

Eric felt the warmth radiating from her smile.

"Yeah.. we'll get along just fine"

Jack jogged over to their table with a few books cradled in his arms. "I just got checked out and stuff so uhh we can study here or walk to the park across the street?" He murmured.

Lola wordlessly threw her tote over her shoulder and walked towards the exit, leaving the boys behind. Jack looked over at Eric leaning off the table.

"We've got a winner" Jack knocked once on the desk before turning his heel and making his way toward the exit. Eric scurried up to meet them at the door, receiving an arm around the shoulder from Jack.

Jack and Eric came to understand their dynamic as something just short of a huge mess. It was hard to say out loud and hard to write down on paper but they noticed little patterns within their