Shadows

Noon

Eve
•••
I sit up from the couch, glancing at my phone instead of the clock on the television.
2:49 PM
I almost wince, forgetting we had someplace to be. Truly, I hate being late. I flick off the television, cutting off the words of some politician running for whatever position. It's probably ignorant to not pay much attention to politics, but could you really blame someone for wanting to forget the world was on fire?

  I call up the stairs to our room.
"Ava, it's almost three o'clock. Library closes at seven!"

"I know!" Ava sticks her head out of our bedroom door. "Just give me a second to finish my hair." I snort. One half of her hair is pulled into a neat, pretty braid. The other half of her head is wild and uncombed. She narrows her eyes as her fingers get caught in her hair, an air of frustration around her. I get a fuzzy, comedic feeling, like a buzz telling me something.

"It took you thirty minutes just to do one braid?" I tease. I prepare for a lie.
"I did not! I just started!" She lies.
I grin. "Well, hurry up and grab your books so we can go!" I start to walk away, then hesitate. "I'll get our bikes out." Ava waves her hand through the crack of the door dismissively.
"I never asked, but okay... Thanks." She calls out. I roll my eyes.
I clean up a bit around the house, snatching up socks and things from off the living room floor. I close the screen door that leads to the backyard, then go to shut the blinds. I pull on the chain, unconcerned, when I hear a tight snap. Tugging again, I look up as the chain only pulls a third of the way before getting caught. I groan, and Pebble rubs in between my legs, green eyes staring up at me.
Giving up, I decide to leave the blinds as it is, filling up Pebble's food bowl one last time before grabbing my heavy bag full of library books and stepping outside.

I press the faded orange button next to the door to the outside, opening the garage door. Sharp sunlight begins to flood in as I make my way lazily to our bikes, stacked on top of eachother in a clutter of metal and tires. I pull mine out from under the bottom, the tires spinning as I set it upright. The sounds of the city echo around me, the sound of honking cars and in the far distance, a siren blaring. I stick my hand out from the garage's shade, feeling the unusual Chicago heat on the palm of my hand. Grimacing, I look up at the cloudless sky.
Behind me there's the sound of the house door swinging open, and I hear Ava's shoes padding on the cool concrete floor. I turn from the sun towards her. "Are you ready?" She asks, dragging out her stained blue mountain bike. Her bag hangs heavily on her shoulders, filled with her own books. I nod, swinging my leg over onto my own bike. Pushing my foot off the ground, I propel my bike down the slope of our driveway, Ava punching in the code to close the garage. I do circles in the road as I wait for her. As the garage door lowers, Ava follows my lead, gliding down the driveway after me.

The ride is more tolerable than I imagined, the breeze cooling my face as we exit our neighborhood. I ignore Ava consistently complaining about the heat as we ride past the complex of stores and restaurants.
Our house lies on the edge of the city, in suburban Chicago. Vibrant green trees decorate the roadside, with coffee shops and stores for people to distract themselves with. The land our town sits on is especially hilly, making traveling without a car a personal workout. Mothers with dogs and strollers walk or jog along the sidewalk. Highschoolers and college students mill around the plaza during the day, and cars making their way to the city light up the streets at night. People stop and go from streetlight to store, busy with their own lives.
Ava and I turn into the main road, crossing from the sidewalk into the bike lane. We ride quietly, side by side, as we take in the sights we've seen a million times before. Cars fly by us. The ride is peaceful yet tiresome, the heat being no helpful addition. It takes some time for us to reach the block the library is on, way up the road.
"Ugh," Ava groans again, dramatically. We wait patiently at a red light, gazing up at the steep hill towards our destination. I nod my head in understanding. "I know, but the other way is the long way for a reason." Ava cocks her head at me, an exhausted and disgusted look on her face. I snort, shaking my head. The light finally turns green, and as the car speed past us, we fight to climb the hill. Once we do, we pause, slightly sweaty triumph on our faces.
"Eve," Ava gasps, fighting for breath. "Why did... it seem like... that time... was harder- than- others?" She huffs, chest visibly rising as she gulps in air. I shrug, muscles tightening from lack of movement. "I don't know..." I breath absently, shifting my body as I peddle away. I hear Ava audibly groan behind me, and despite the lack of air in my lungs, I can't help but laugh outright.

We reach the library around 4, relishing in the cool air as we step in the building. We then split off, Ava bee-lining toward the vending machines as I head for the book return. When I reach it, I come up behind an older, college girl dropping huge books into the return slots. She hears me behind her, turning in my direction. "Sorry," she mutters, flustered, her short cut hair flopping in her eyes. I smile and nod in understanding, and when she turns again I check my cell phone.
After another minute or so she steps away, and as I drop my first book into the return slot, I feel a tap on my shoulder.
"Eve?" I turn, meeting the pale brown eyes of my classmate Alec. I smile. "Hey! How are you?" I chirp as I return my second book. He adjusts the book-bag on his shoulder. "I'm good, just doing some summer homework for class," He gives me a bored look. "Y'know." I return his glance, confused.
"We shouldn't have any summer reading, should we?" I ask quietly, concerned, dropping in my third book as I talk. I glance at the last one, considering it, before deciding to just renew it.
"Oh, nah," He shrugs, glancing absently around the library. "This is just for the honors class I signed up for next year."
I grin, slinging my bag back onto my shoulders. "Ah," we begin to walk towards the young adult section. "The honors class you signed up for." He chuckles, and a middle aged lady looks up at us disapprovingly as we walk past. We ignore her. "It's just one class Eve, it's not like I'm rubbing it in your face." Alex continues to speak at the same volume. "And besides, if you had signed up for the class like me and Dasha had told you to-" I gasp, smacking him in the arm. He laughs, gasping in faux pain as we open the door to the significantly louder young adult area. "I told you guys last year that that class would kill me!" Alec rolls his eyes. "Remember when I told you guys about that tenth grader who told me about how much she cried in ninth grade because of that class?" I exclaim as we sit down in cushioned seats. Two older boys sit together at the computers, obviously not working, while a middle school girl wanders around the book shelves. Shaking my head, I pretend to wave him off. "You go ahead, but I am not putting myself through that." Alec laughs again, absently scratching at the ache on his face. "It's probably not even gonna be that hard!" He argues, glancing at his phone. I scoff, giggling as I pull out my book from my bag. "Sure, yeah- for you!"
We hang out there for a while, our other friend Chloe arriving a few minutes after. An hour and a half after that, Ava walks in, a different set of books in her arms. Chloe and Alec say hello as she sits beside me.
"Eve- what time do we plan on leaving?" She asks, plopping her stack of books on the floor. I open my mouth, unsure. "I checked at the front desk," Ava continues. "The library actually doesn't close until nine." Alec snorts. "You guys didn't know it closes at nine?" He says under his breath. I hit him again.

"What time does Mom get home?"

"Eight." Ava answers. "Eight thirty, I think." I nod. "We'll leave then." I conclude, glancing at the clock. It's 6:22. Ava agrees, before standing up to talk to Chloe. I continue my conversation with Alec, a different rotation of people in the room every few minutes.
I gaze out the huge glass windows on the walls at the people wandering around the shelves of the main library, studying their different faces, expressions, purposes. Every once in a while some overly hyper kid dashes past, their mother hurriedly chasing after. Outside, the sky grows darker and darker as time passes.