The Library Seirune

Chapter 3: An unexpected message

Chapter 3: An unexpected message

I needed to thank Mrs Cramrey so much. Right after Ethan asked his question, she didn't give him another chance to humiliate me in front of everybody in class. Well, not like it was for me anyway. Yes yes, Ethan was wasting her time, and that was probably the one and only reason for her to be helping me. But still...! At least I didn't have to suffer anymore.

But just as I was about to rejoice, Mrs Cramrey gave Ethan a choice to choose his seat. I rolled my eyes at that. I mean, really, since when do students get the choice of choosing their seat? Why was he any different from the rest of us? And guess what, he just had to choose the seat right beside mine. Such an inconsiderate jerk -- the person beside me had to move, causing the subsequent people in my row to move as well. Why couldn't he just choose the empty and extra pair of table and chair at the front? I sighed.

"Hey, we meet again. I'm Ethan." He offered his hand, which I completely ignored while Levira, on the other hand, went forward to touch it and introduced herself to the two strangers. That traitor. "Don't forget the kiss, yeah?"

I turned my head to face him. "Hey, since when did I agree with you on the kiss?"

"The two Library Seirunes at the back, please stop with your couple talk!" Mrs Cramrey scolded austerely.

We apologised while the rest of the class sniggered.

~*

I quickly packed my things right after the school bell rang -- the cue for me to rush straight to the library and spend the rest of my day there, and normally that would be the one and only reason as to why I wanted to get out of school desperately, to be in the most wonderful place on Earth, however today, there were two.

"Where do you think you're going, Ayla?" Faey asked with her arms crossed. Belinda stood there as well, looking at me darkly. Make that three reasons.

"Guys, can we leave this for later? I need to -"

"Oh no you don't. What about my kiss?" Ethan cut in.

"Hey, when did you two meet? Tell us the details," Galvin said, a little bit too happily to my liking, with Kevin at his side nodding his head away like some freaking bobblehead.

I sighed. "Can we just leave this to some other time, guys? I'm tired. What- Hey! What the hell are you doing!" Ethan was pulling me along with him.

"Bye, Ayla! Let us in on how your kiss goes!" Kevin shouted as I tried hard to pull out of the death grip. Oh my god how was I going to get out of this crap?

"Okay, so the bet." He finally said when we reached the back of the school where the huge grass patch was. There were a few guys running around it, playing football and soccer. Typical screamy girls were standing by the side, watching and admiring the Sports type of Seirunes. At one small corner, some Ellerwyns, probably the the footballers', were playing their own little game.

I glared at him while rubbing the area around my wrist. That was the second time in two days that he hurt me. "Like I told you, I didn't say yes."

"Neither did you say no. You said 'whatever', which is also the same as yes." He grinned mischievously.

I stood there and tapped my foot incessantly. 1, 2, 3... Go! Hoping to have caught him offguard, I immediately turned around and started running away from him, but of course he was faster, and for the third time, he grabbed me and forced me to face him.

"What the freaking hell do you want? The kiss, is that it? What's so important about a freaking kiss? You can get it when you meet your other perfect Library Seirune, I'm sure I'm not the only one in this world you know."

"A bet is a bet, and I won," he said stubbornly.

After a few seconds, I said reluctantly, "Fine." Better to get this over with. I had a book waiting for me to finish. "On your cheek, and that's it, and then from there, stay away from me. Get it?"

He turned his face such that his cheek faced me, bending low so that I could reach. Just as I was about to reach his flawless skin, he suddenly turned around such that my lips brushed his. My eyes immediately widened with shock and disgust, and I quickly pushed him away with all my might, leaving me stumbling more than he did.

I heard Levira gasp. "Why did you do that?" she shouted angrily at him.

"You... How dare you..." I pointed at him accusingly while wiping my lips over and over with the back of my hand. I just lost my first kiss, something I never planned to lose, and I lost it to him! With a few deep furious breaths, I immediately ran off, but Ethan pulled me back again. When would this guy quit with this and his stupid smug smile that was always filled with so much amusement whenever he saw me?

"Ayla -"

"Get off me!" And what I did next was beyond my imagination -- I slapped him across his face hard, and for once, I had the chance to feel like I'd won him even though I was fuming like crazy. I was sure my blood pressure had reached its maximum for the first time.

~*

"I can't believe he did that! Are you all right, Ayla?" Levira asked me, looking at me with concern in her eyes.

I gave her an assuring smile. "Yeah, I am. That came as a shock though... I didn't expect to lose my first kiss at all... And if I did, I wanted it to be perfect, you know? That was just completely wasted."

"Yeah! Stupid dimwit Dimtri. Why didn't he try to say anything to his Seirune for kissing you? I saw him! He was there smirking like Ethan!"

I laughed at the Ellerwyn's new nickname. Well, it did suit him, and it rhymed.

We arrived at the dormitories after a short five minutes walk from the main school building. It was my second home, and a home that I was more close to than my first home, and I loved it as much. And yes, the thing with Ethan had caused me to lose the mood in going to the library, so there was a change of mind: no library today, sadly. Oh well, I could just stay at home and read.

I climbed up the stairs, smiling while giving greetings to some when I walked by. Turning to the right at the third level, I suddenly stopped outside my own room. I backtracked a bit so that I could get a good look, and that I didn't mistake anything. The room beside mine had always been empty, but somehow it got occupied while I was away. The once plain door had been pasted with embossed numbers, an indication that it was occupied. Could it be... Nah. I shook my head to get the idea out of my head. There was no way that such a huge coincidence could happen. There were other empty rooms on other levels as well; Ethan couldn't be my new neighbour, at least that was what I hoped.

Ignoring that, I was welcomed by the familiar lavender smell of my room when I unlocked and swung the door open. I pushed the sliding door leading to my balcony to the side to allow ventilation in my humid room and decided to take a quick bath before getting on with the Greek book. It was still lying there untouched for the whole morning on the study table provided by the school, which was standing beside my book-filled shelf.

Time went passed in a flash as I tried to read the contents of the book smoothly without thinking about the damned kiss, but of course I failed. I screamed in frustration over and over when I couldn't take it anymore with Levira giving me some stares as though I'd gone crazy.

Just as I was about to give up and go out for dinner, my phone suddenly rang, indicating that a message had arrived. I picked it up, and read it:

Grandfather has passed away. The funeral is done.