Frigid Flora

two - library stalking

Chapter Two

No matter where you are, there are always rules to conform to. They're like non-optional instructions that you must abide, otherwise there's a consequence. If you don't take your shoes off in that persons house, you'll get their rug dirty and that'll make them mad; if you smoke in that place, you'll end up being thrown out and not allowed back in; if you run down the street naked trying to be at one with nature, you will be put behind bars for indecent behaviour.

I had personal rules that though I never voiced, I expected others to follow. Nobody was to touch me, nobody was to question me and everybody was to leave me alone. It had been working just fine seeing as people got the vibe I didn't want them anywhere close to me due to my sarcastic remarks and glares.

So you could imagine my surprise the next day when I realised the whole I-almost-killed-a-guy-with-my-one-hundred-year-old-car-that-runs-at-the-speed-of-a-snail ordeal hadn't put Parker Heywood off and nor had my bad attitude. During my free period, he hunted me down and found my hiding place in the school library.

I realised that day that things would no longer be running as smoothly as they had been.

"I never pegged you as a book lover." He said in lieu of hello as he came to a stop by my side. He had a triumphant look on his face, one that caused me to assume it had taken him a great deal of effort to find me.

"And I never pegged you as the type of person to stalk girls in libraries." I replied, running my fingers along a few dusty spines, looking for a good teen fiction book that would stand out to me. If the dust wasn't enough of an indication, it was clear that hardly any students ever came into the library from how deserted the place was. The only people in here were Mrs Vermont (the librarian), a boy eating a ham sandwich and creepily watching us from in between the book filled shelves, Parker and I.

"Who says I'm stalking you?"

"Well you aren't exactly denying it," My eyes flitted from the row of books to look at the freckled freshman boy staring at us from the next aisle. I stuck my tongue out at him, hoping he'd avert his eyes once he knew that I was aware of what he was doing. He didn't. He just took a slow bite from his sandwich as if he were watching an extremely entertaining soap opera on television. As difficult as it was, I decided to ignore him and focus on my more immediate problem. "And I didn't specify that it was me you were stalking, you did that on your own."

"Touché."

I picked a novel, trying to ease it out of its resting place without causing the other books to topple down. Instead however, a puff of dust was released along with the book. I sneezed.

Parker dug around in the depths of his jacket pocket for a bit before handing me a crumpled looking tissue. It looked older than the tattered book I was holding and he explained in an upbeat voice, "It's only slightly used."

"Tempting," I looked from the tissue to the smile he was trying but failing to keep hidden from his face. "But no."

"Your loss." He shrugged, putting the tissue back into his pocket where I highly doubted it would ever see the light of day again. I idly wondered if it would resurface another ten years from now.

"Why are you following me?" I demanded after a few more minutes of blurb reading, book replacing and strolling down aisles. His presence was getting on my nerves. The guy didn't even need to talk to annoy me, just knowing he was there pushed my buttons.

"Because you've piqued my interests, Montgomery," He addressed me by my surname and I was momentarily taken aback at the fact he wasn't calling me Frigid Flo like the rest of his buddies. I still couldn't quite believe he hadn't recognised me the day before, but then again, I didn't doubt that the only person Parker was truly interested in was himself. "You intrigue me. I'm not often intrigued."