T's Hopeline | ✓

22. Library Encounter

22. Library Encounter

Tessa's POV

The closer we get to the end of the school year, the more hectic life gets. Teachers start asking us for last minute presentations, group works and tests start pouring in.

It's no secret nobody wants to take part in this but it is still every high schooler's reality and nightmare. Not even the teachers want to come up with said projects, much less correct our work. Yet, we still have them. It's a form of evaluation and, like most of them, it sucks.

And that was the reason why I was currently opening the grand and wooden door to every bookworm's paradise.

The smell of old paper and books had fainted due to the bleach the cleaning lady was using to wipe the floor, yet the scent of hormonal teens purely driven on stress and coffee still seemed to be prominent and overpower the entire room. The buzz of conversation has somehow increased today, while still trying to focus people seemed agitated, nervous and borderline neurotic.

Honestly, there's nothing like end of the most dreadful period of your life. And I'm not even counting our finals yet, we are still going to have to do those little buggers...

But those are my future worries, right now I simply need to tackle these projects and get things done and get them done quickly!

In English, Mrs Todd requested a book presentation despite knowing we are still finishing up our tests and still have that ginormous project for Philosophy and History. Apparently the teachers thought it would be a good idea to pair up and make us do even more work in na already short period of time.

Picking a topic wasn't easy but I got inspired one day when I was leaving work. I was getting on the elevator after my shift ended and found myself not being alone in it. As we were going down and were almost reaching the lobby, he attempted to make small talk with me and, as I stared at the floor and his briefcase to avoid making eye-contact, my imaginary lightbulb went off.

The injustice in the justice system!

It's no secret that the system is dirty, now all I have to do is create an outline in order to plan it thoroughly, come up with the introduction and, when developing the text, add context, find a few cases to talk about, not forgetting to compare it to others, use preferably known ones, and maybe interview someone important  who worked on them... It shouldn't be that hard, should it? Oh, and give some Historical information and perhaps talk about the evolution of the justice system and how the Greeks took a major role in it, ideally without making anyone die of boredom during the presentation.

Wait, will there be a presentation or was that only for English? Ugh... I've no idea, I honestly don't know anymore.

"Miss," the librarian before me says, "do you need some help?"

"Uhm... Oh, ya, uhm... Could you tell me where the law and justice related literature is, please?" I asked politely and lowly.

The woman took a deep sigh and then uninterestedly pointed to the back while opening up the magazine she had set down on her small desk in front of her.

Shouldn't librarians be sweet and, I don't know, happy because someone is interested in books? Or are those all stereotypes? I believe they are and aren't at the same time.

As I pace to the back shelves, I pass through a lot of tables with books wide open and others pilled up next to endless towers of blank and scribbled-on sheets of paper whose owners neglected to finish in order to reply harshly to someone or freak out, maybe even both at once.