Is it Casual now?

Chapter 13 - Malia's perspective

I was sat alone at the end of a long, oak table, wireless chunky headphones hugging my curls and my head down in a gothic horror novel. As I read, the library wrapped around me like a quiet friend, it's towering shelves of leather-bound books casting long, comforting shadows, and it's faintly dusty scent putting me at ease. I flipped the worn page, the sound cutting swiftly through the still air like a blade. My headphones hummed with music, drowning out the scattered whispers and footsteps from strangers nearby, allowing me to sink deeper into the novel, uninterrupted. There's something so relieving about reading dark tales of haunted manors and tragic love... the characters tribulations almost make my heartache seem small. Today I was reading at the public library, it's not my go-to, I usually use the one on campus, but... I couldn't risk bumping into-

I suddenly felt a gentle tap on the back of my shoulder, the touch's familiarity igniting a spark in my heart. My head spun around immediately, my eyes wide, "Kylie?!" I exclaimed in my mind.

My excited heart sank a little when I realised it was not the sophomore, but instead a different girl. I removed my headphones, letting them fall to rest around my neck and stood up, our eyes meeting as we exchanged smiles. The girl's hair was cut into a short wolf cut and she had a ton of piercings in places which made my stomach knot. 

"Hi." she said cooly, smiling.

Her edgy appearance and aura was so intimidating. I did my best to hold eye contact but it was difficult when I couldn't pull my stunned gaze away from all the earrings lining the cartilage of her ear, and the large, painful looking circular ones that stretched holes in her earlobes. 

My words got stuck in my mouth and muddled when I tried to reply. "Oh..uh hey- hi."

She raised an eyebrow and chuckled at my awkwardness, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." I smiled nervously and exhaled, embarrassed by my inability to speak like a normal person. "Hi." I reiterated, calmly this time.

She must've noticed my very indiscrete staring at her ears because she laughed to herself, pointed at them and said, "You're probably thinking they look weird right?"

Taken aback by her words. I quickly shook my head, not wanting to say or do anything that would get me on the wrong side of this incredibly tough looking stranger. "No, no! They're cool. Different... but cool." I replied, truth somewhat sprinkled in my words. Having the pain tolerance of a two year old, I would never dream of having such extensive piercings on myself, but I couldn't deny that she really pulled them off. 

Her icey grey eyes creased slightly as she smirked at my compliment, "Thanks."

I looked down at my feet, fidgeting with my hands at the same time.

She cleared her throat and continued, "I uh...just came over to tell you that your music was playing out of your phone's speaker. It was pretty noticeable."

"Shit." I cursed under my breath. Picking up my phone and checking bluetooth. Yup, sure enough my headphones had not been connected, they must've been out of charge. "Was it really loud? Be honest..."

The girl's face winced with pity, she responded, "Well, loud enough for me to hear it all the way from the poetry section, so..."

I tilted my body to look past her, that section was on the complete opposite side of the library, practically the furthest point from where we were now. "Wow, great job Malia, you've just added another library to the list of places where you can never show your face again." I thought. My cheeks felt on fire with humiliation, I frowned, nodded and said "God... that's so embarrassing. Thanks for letting me know though."

She held out a hand and rubbed my arm reassuringly, my eyes darting to it, watching intently as she caressed the fabric of my knitted sweater. The girl chuckled and piped up "Hey look at it this way, it could've been way worse. You could've been listening to something super embarrassing."