A Book Nerd's Guide to Falling in Love

Chapter 3: Borderline Crazy was Cute

Oh, no.

This was the end of my social life. Not that I had one, but I was about to drop to the bottom of the food chain.

"Finn," I said, turning, my defense mechanism rising.

I'm practicing a line for the drama club.

I'm reciting a poem for the talent show.

I'm singing a song for an audition for the school choir.

He tilted his head to the side, giving me a curious look, as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his brown jacket. "Are you talking to a statue?" he asked.

I'm... dead.

I had hoped he hadn't seen or heard my private conversation with a molded bronze, but he had. So now I had to say something clever, or I would seem like a geek or, worse, a crazy person. "Are you eavesdropping?"

"Lit." He smirked. "What if I am?" A soft wind blew his brown, shaggy hair across his forehead, almost covering his eyes. His witty comeback made me take a deep breath, allowing me to relax.

"It's rude," I said as I took the steps down to where he stood on the sidewalk. "And what if I am talking to a statue?" My cheeks burned against the cold air. Despite the rush of cringey self-consciousness, I seemed to be getting by this embarrassing moment.

"Nothing." Finn shrugged. His smile grew profound, and his dimple deepened. "It's cute."

"What?" I said, flustered. I couldn't believe he had made me more uneasy after catching me talking to a statue.

No one should be going around telling people they were cute—the word would lose its meaning.

But maybe that was Finn's thing. It had no significance to him, so the flattered hammering of my heart had better stop before I started looking at him like I was awestruck and unnerved.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I scowled. "I'm a book nerd. It's a library." I gestured at the red-bricked building at the top of the steps.

"Right." His smile faltered. "Are you okay? You seem..." He let his words trail off, unable to continue what he was about to say.

"What? Angry? Annoyed?" I knew what I seemed like. After learning of the library's planned permanent closure, a varied range of emotions crept into my chest. I shouldn't be taking it out on Finn, but my voice rose and there was no taking it back.

"Did I say something wrong?" His smile faded into a frown. Something else flashed in his eyes, I thought for a moment it was concern. But why would he concern himself with me?

"No." I shook my head, taking the opportunity to shift my gears. "It's not you. It's nothing."

Finn considered the building, his eyes examining.

For a moment I imagined myself—how I might have appeared when I did that, standing there on the sidewalk and raising my chin with appreciation.

"You always come out of the library smiling, but today you're not. So it must be something," he said in a low voice as if he was speaking to the structure and not to me.

My eyes widened. "How did you—?"

He couldn't know what I looked like coming out of the library. He might have learned it from someone. Had Lotty mentioned it to him?

"What are you doing here, Finn?" I asked.

"I was passing by." He turned back to me. "I got a text from my dad saying something happened at work. I'm heading home. You?" he asked.