Jerkmouth (Zayn)
‘If only libraries had search engines,’ Kylie thought to herself as she scanned the hundredth shelf for the book she was looking for. She had always been a bookworm and so she spent most of her time in the library in her neighbourhood. She sighed and skimmed the shelf above it. Here she was, on a Friday evening searching for her date for the night in the fiction section; ‘Kane and Able’ by Jeffrey Archer. It was one of her favourites and she had checked it out so many times that she had lost count.
“Aha! Found ya!” she muttered as she went to pull at it. But to her surprise it offered some resistance. ‘Weird,’ she thought as she tugged at it. “Okay, I know. I borrow you. Way too often. But that. Doesn’t mean. You play hard to get,” she whispered as she tugged at the book. There was a crash and she saw that half the books on the shelf were lying scattered on the floor. She looked at the empty shelf but saw a boy with dark hair that was styled in a perfect quiff and black nerd glasses instead.
He smiled sheepishly and rushed over to help her. “Are you okay?” he asked her with one eyebrow raised.
Kylie realized that she had seen him somewhere, he was gorgeous. She just shot him a dirty look, trying to ignore his overly attractive features.
“Kylie! Clean that up! Now!”
“Yes Mr. Matthew, of course,” she whispered back and hurriedly stooped down to pick the books up.
“Do you need help with that?” the black haired boy asked as he leaned against the large shelf, eyeing her apprehensively.
“What do you think jerk-mouth?
“Jerk mouth, that’s…original,” he said with a smirk on his unnervingly gorgeous face.
For a moment, she stood there, lost in his eyes before coming back to her senses. She sneered as he bent down to help her with the books. Once she had placed all of them on their places she noticed that the boy was gone. She thanked her stars and searched for the book which she had left on the table beside the shelf. It wasn’t there. Immediately she knew that the dark haired boy had taken it. Irritated, she left the library, wondering how someone so beautiful could be so frustrating.
The following day Zayn found her sitting on a bean bag near the shelf where they had met. Smiling, he went up to her. “Hey, here you go. I’m sorry. It’s brilliant by the way”
“I know,” she replied dryly after giving him a side glance. “I’ve read it before. Eleven times”
“Eight,” he grinned and took a seat on a beanbag next to hers, “Whatcha reading now?” he asked, pushing the book slightly
She gritted her teeth and prayed that he would just go away.
“Ah, ‘The Alchemist’. So who was your favourite character?” he asked her, settling down comfortably. When she didn’t respond he said, “Personally, Kane is brilliantly written. He’s so focused and headstrong. It’s inspiring.”
She scoffed at his answer and shut her book with a snap. “You are delusional. What about Abel’s daughter, Florentyna? She was a brilliant character.”
He laughed, “She elopes, Kylie. With her father’s archenemy’s son.”
“You don’t think that shows independence? Courage?” she inquired, trying not to stare at his face as he laughed.
They kept up their friendly banter, tossing opinions back and forth all day. People passing by often told them to keep it down but Zayn and Kylie just looked at each other and tried not to laugh. They talked about different books they had read, both agreeing that 'Harry Potter' was a must read for any human being and that ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ was one of the best books ever written .
