A close call to midnight

Finn

I still can't believe Belle asked me to work together on our English paper.

 I am walking back from the classrooms to my dorm. The school day is over now. It was an OK day, I guess. I definitely have a lot to catch up with for most of my classes, but I am not too stressed about it yet. 

My mind wanders back to Belle again. First, she apologizes out of the blue for last night, and then suddenly she wants us to work together in a pair? I am glad she asked, though.  It is way easier to get to know someone when you have to meet up with them, even if it is for a school project. 

If I get to know Belle better, hopefully, I will find a way for me to help her with her self-harm.  We haven't really discussed a date to work on the paper yet, but I'm sure that will follow soon. 

When I enter my room, my eyes fall on the book I got from the library that I must return. I got it for history, but it was the wrong one. I sigh. I know myself, if I don't return it now, it will still be here in 3 months. I don't want a fine so I pick it up and start walking to the library. 

My room is pretty close, and when I enter, I am still as amazed by the library as I was yesterday when I saw it for the first time. The library is enormous. It looks classic and ancient, just as you would see in a movie about Harvard or Yale. 

Two women are sitting in front of the wooden counter. Librarians. They look old, and I immediately wonder if they get paid for this or just do it for fun. 

"I would like to hand in this book," I say, pushing it slowly toward one of the women. 

"And what is your name, young man?" she asks nicely. 

"Finn, last name Brown." 

"OK!" says the woman while opening a thick folder.

 Her finger is going over a long list of names. She stops by mine. "There you are," she says, holding up a sheet with a schedule. 

"All the books you will ever borrow are filled in here," she says, scratching in a box. 

"At my old school, you could see that on the computer," I laugh. The woman looks at me and smiles. "Do you want to pick out a new book?" she asks. 

I want to shake my head, but then I see a girl sitting on a sofa in the corner. She looks a lot like Belle. 

"Erm, yes, I do."

I say and walk towards a cupboard with books. I pretend to look at the books, but actually, I am trying to get a better look at the girl I saw. After a few seconds of observing, I am sure it is Belle! 

I kind of feel like a stalker, just luring her from behind a cupboard. But I needed to be sure if it was really her before I could approach her. I see she is reading a thick book. And when I say thick, I mean really thick.

 Why is she sitting here, all alone? 

Then I get a flashback from yesterday, when we talked under the oak.

" Nobody here likes me," she said. 

Of course, she is all alone in the library. Obviously, she wants to avoid people.

 As always, I want to start a conversation with her and find myself looking for something to say to her. A paper hanging on one of the bookcases catches my attention: 

These books are approved for reading reports from y3 to y5. 

I am in Year 4 and I desperately need a book for my reading report. I have an idea; I pick up a random book and read the back. After a quick scan I conclude that this is an OK book...