baby blue [cake]

1: bright as the sky

Calum was a simple boy. He woke up every morning on time, walked to the book store to study, went to class, came home to eat dinner, went to sleep, and restarted the process all over again.

The library was like Calum's second home. He went there to study, to read, or to just have quiet time. Everyone knew Calum at the bookstore, and vice versa.

It was a rainy day today, basically one of the worst days ever. Calum hated rainy days. It's not rain or thunder, or even lightning scared him, it was the fact that when it was storming outside, the sky is dark. Calum hated dark colors. Baby blue was his favorite color. He loved how it looked on him, and how happy it was. Calum wasn't always the happiest person, but he loved being happy.

He walked into the familiar little store, rushing to not get his shirt soaked from all the rain.

"Hey Calum!" the librarian called out, stepping on his tip-toes to look over the shelves at the boy.

"Good afternoon Mr. Henry," Calum said with a small grin, taking his usual spot on "his beanbag".

"You gettin' a new one today or are you still workin' on that-you know, THING?" Mr. Henry had made his way to the front of the "Guest services" counter, trying to hold back a grin.

Calum and Mr. Henry had a little secret between the two of them. Calum had always wanted to be an author, and lately, he started trying to write a few pieces of his own. Although Mr. Henry was an older man, he saw Calum as a son, and they both practically lived in the library as it is.

Calum took note of the people who walked through the small doors of his little safe haven. Calum knew everyone who was a "regular". There was Mrs. Sydney, who lived on the third floor of their apartment building, Nathan from his science class, Rebecca, the girl next door, Mr. Tom, who always read comedy books, Hayden, the boy who was always found in the seventh aisle, and Lena, who always bought two books at a time. For as long as he could remember, these eight people (including himself and Mr. Henry) were always around each other, but not necessarily best friends.

Calum didn't like to be social a lot, enjoying his quiet time snuggled up in his beanbag and his nose in a book. There were also the coffee shop boys, Ashton and Michael. Although the bookstore wasn't HUGE, it consisted of all the shelves and a cute little coffee shop connected to it.

Calum finished the last chapter in its book before quietly returning it to its safe spot in his book bag. He took out a 20 and made his way to his favorite section: fiction. He loved stories about other people. He loved writers like Rainbow Rowell and John Green. He picked out a new book titled, "Will Grayson Will Grayson" from the tall shelf.

He went to the counter to pay. "Keep the change Henry, as usual." Calum didn't like change that much, only bills.

"Excuse me?" A soft voice spoke up.

Calum's mind went in panic mode. He didn't know this voice. Henry didn't have any sons or even grandchildren. He racked his brain thinking of every person who was in the bookstore. 10 people. But now there was an eleventh. He slowly lifted his head up, not making direct eye contact.

His eyes landed on a tall slender boy, looking about his age. Calum was old enough to work at the bookstore, but he never wanted to be BEHIND the counter, he enjoyed his place in FRONT of it quite well. The boy was unfamiliar to Calum. Dressed in black hightops, black skinny jeans, and a pale grey sweater. He made eye contact after a few silent moments and almost felt sick.

The boy had a lip ring, and slightly thin lips. The boy seemed nice enough, but Calum wasn't ready to trust him at all. The boy had a sharp looking nose. Calum's breathing hitched when he saw his eyes. Oh his eyes, the perfect shade of blue, as bright as the sky, and they stared right through Calum's brown ones.

After finishing a complete look over in his mind of the boy, he finally spoke up.

"You're not Henry." Calum said in a shaky breath. He didn't like strangers all too much.

The boy just shook his head a bit, smiling at how confused the boy opposite from him seemed to be.

"Henry!" Calum called out behind him, Henry slowly appearing at his side. "Who is this?" He hand motioned to the boy across the counter from him.

"Him? That's Luke, he's the new cashier." Henry stated.

"When did you hire a new cashier? You were great at doing it." Calum said quietly.

"Because Calum, I'm getting older and it's harder for me to count dollar after dollar, a fresh pair of eyes is nice." Henry began to turn around, patted Calum on the back, and whispered in his ear, "The boy seemed friendly and he was eager to help. Don't worry. I wouldn't let any hooligan into our store. Now run along and play nice." Henry laughed heartily, returning to his shelves.

Calum sighed and returned the counter, reluctantly handing over his money to the newcomer. The boy didn't say a word, he just bagged up his book and receipt and handing it over to him. Calum just unwrapped the book and plopped back down on his beanbag, blocking out the new person inside of his safe zone.

"Hey you!" Luke across the counter yelled at him.

"Yes?" Calum answered, annoyed the boy had the audacity to interrupt his reading time.

"You forgot your change." Luke said, holding it up in his hand.

"Keep it." Calum softly breathed out. "Change isn't really my type."