The Protagonists

Chapter Five - Joel

Joel Potter-the shy, quiet introvert forced to a fancy restaurant with his next-door neighbor, her best friend, and her boyfriend-sat across from Stacie, awkwardly twirling his spoon around in his soup. The actual couple, Iris and Flynn, sat at a booth behind them, talking quietly amongst themselves. Stacie, always used to being alone during Iris and Flynn's dates, didn't know what to say to Joel; they both remained silent, stirring their carrot soup. Joel had never been to a restaurant that fancy before; after Stacie had ordered her favorite dish, carrot soup, Joel just ordered the same.

"Joel, right?" Stacie finally questioned, attempting to break the ice. Iris and Flynn normally would order an appetizer, main dish, and a dessert; in Stacie's opinion, they were extremely-slow eaters, meaning she would be there for a while.

Joel nodded in response, taking another heedful sip of his carrot soup. It wasn't terrible, in his opinion, but he told himself to never order it again. "You don't like the soup, do you?" She asked, slightly smiling. "It's okay," she added, not giving him a chance to reply. "I don't quite like it either, but it's the cheapest item on the menu. And although my car may say differently, I can't really afford anything else to eat."

"It's not too bad," he replied, noticing how Stacie had the same amount of soup left in her bowl as he did. "I would probably never order it again, but..." His voice trailed off as the waiter came back to refill their water glasses.

"But if it were the last thing on Earth, you would be okay with eating it," Stacie finished as the waiter walked off. "I feel the same way." Her eyes fell over to the couple sitting behind Joel; they were both on their entrees-grilled salmon for Iris and lamb chops for Flynn-and they were only half-finished. "Say, Joel," she glanced back over to Joel and his careful, remorseful sips of the soup, "what do you say we ditch this place and go somewhere else to eat?"

Joel shrugged, motioning over his shoulder to the laughing couple behind him. "What about them?" He asked. "You're their ride home, aren't you?"

Stacie shook her head, pushing her soup out of the way so she could place her phone in front of her. "Flynn drove himself here," she replied, scrolling through her messages. "He can drive Iris home."

Joel nodded, surprising himself with how willing he was to let a stranger take him out to eat. "I can pay," he said, placing two twenty dollar bills in front of him. Stacie tried to clarify she could indeed pay for herself, but Joel basically threw the money at the passing waiter.

After explaining to Flynn and Iris what they were doing, Stacie and Joel walked out of the fancy restaurant and back to her white sedan. "I hope it's okay with you," Stacie pulled out onto the main road, "but I need to stop and get something at Iris and my work."

"It's fine," Joel replied, looking at Stacie's various CDs. "Where do you work?"

"We work at Greengrass Library," Stacie answered, turning up the volume as "Basket Case" came on. "It's really run down and no one goes, so it's a really easy job; we get paid for just sitting there and taking care of the many books."

Joel merely nodded, watching her turn into Greengrass Lane; a green, extremely-popular park was on the left, three old, lodge-like buildings were on the right (a café, a gas station, and a library), and a chapel was in front of them at a dead-end. A smaller, less important road branched off beside the chapel, leading to a bunch of brick apartment buildings. "I wish I lived here," Stacie said, pulling into the minuscule parking lot in front of the library. "It's so pretty here."

He nodded, noticing the many cherry blossom trees surrounding the area. They hopped out of the sedan and walked to the entrance: a wooden door matching the exterior of the library. The interior was also mainly wooden: including the bookshelves, interior wall, desks, chairs, and doors. "Greengrass National Forest isn't too far from here," Stacie explained, placing something in the desk. "That's where Greengrass gets its name and main resource: wood."

Joel walked around, admiring the woodwork and numerous amount of books. A book was placed on the ground beside the back room, where he was standing. "Die Märchen," he read to himself, picking up the old book with the leather cover. He opened it up, reading the first chapter's title to himself; "Chapter One: Cinderella."

The book was instantly snatched out of his hand. Looking up, he noticed a concerned Stacie standing behind an angry Iris. "Where did you get this?" She boomed, holding the book to her chest protectively.

"It was on the ground," Joel replied, shrugging like it was no big deal. Iris instantly spun around, glaring at Stacie with a look causing a shiver to go through her spine.

"I didn't put it there!" Stacie defended. Iris rolled her eyes and looked back at Joel, who had a very confused look on his face. "How much did you read?" She questioned, ignoring the fact that she was in a library; although, no librarian was inside the building to tell her to quiet down.

"I only read the chapter name," Joel replied honestly, still not comprehending what was happening. "I didn't read anything else, I promise."

"I think you should tell him," Stacie told Iris, as if this "him" wasn't standing right in front of the two. "He's trustworthy, and he could definitely help us; he's new, so no one will know him as well as they know us."

Iris nodded slowly, finally looking back over at Joel. "Okay, follow me," she said, grabbing his wrist harshly and pulling him into the back room. As they passed the door, Joel managed to read part of the sign at the entrance: Die verbotenen Bücher. With his best friend from Virginia being raised in a German family, he managed to recognize, "Die Bücher", which meant "The Books".

Knowing he guessed correctly, the back room was filled head-to-toe with books; each shelf was filled to the brim with books and the desks and chairs spread around the room had books stacked on top of them. "This is the Forbidden Section," Iris explained, letting go of his sore wrist. "Only employees are allowed in here, but you're an exception."

"Why is it called the Forbidden Section?" Joel questioned, learning the German word for "forbidden": "verbotenen". "Other than only employees being allowed here. Or is that why?"

"It's called the Forbidden Section because it holds a very special secret, Joel," Iris replied, pulling out a random, leather-covered book, Alice in Wonderland. "Did you read the sign at the front of the entrance?" He shook his head. "What about the sign in front of this room?"

"I just read the first line," Joel responded.

"Well the signs both had a word in common," Iris explained. "That word means a lot here at the Greengrass Library. That word is the secret. The word was Intellektuellen. Do you know what that means, Joel?"

Joel, who took Latin and Spanish in high school, shook his head

"Intellektuellen means intellectuals. The front of the library said, 'Home of the Intellectuals'. The sign in front of this here Forbidden Section said, 'The forbidden books. Stay away. They'll get you. The Intellectuals are here'."