novels. { on hold }

vi: captivated

the next day, ezra packed his bag and trudged to the campus library, no longer able to put off his short story; it was due the next day. it was cold and cloudy, the fierce wind immediately biting his cheeks when he stepped outside the dorm building.

    a little voice in the back of his mind whispered, it used to be even colder than this. slowly but surely, things were warming. a couple degrees here and there seemed insignificant, but when towns began flooding and bridges were submerged in murky water, the true cruciality was obvious.

    ezra shook his head to clear away the thoughts as he swung the library door open. fortunately, there were several open tables. he dropped his bag onto one and sighed before sitting down in one of the uncomfortable chairs. the room was much too quiet and subdued for his tastes. he slid in his headphones and opened his laptop.

    a flashing black line stared him in the face. it was the accent to the greatest enemy of every writer: an empty page.

    smile

    the worst is yet to come

    ezra closed his eyes and breathed in time with the lyrics. he begged his mind to latch onto something, anything that a story could be birthed from. it only took a cloud of gas and dust to make a star; a spark of diluted inspiration was all he needed to make something beautiful.

    when he opened his eyes, he saw her.

    alex was standing in the corner of the room, a stack of books in her hands. she scanned the shelves carefully before placing the books where they belonged.

    ezra thought several times about looking away, but he didn't.

    after a minute she turned, eyes settling on ezra, who felt blood rush to his face; he'd been caught. she smiled at him before walking over.

    she was wearing a dress that day. it was blue. specifically, the color of the ocean on a clear-skied day. her hair hung loose in her face with tiny braids on the sides. she looked like the heroine of a child's fairytale.

    "hey! what're you doing here?" she seemed so overjoyed to see him, ezra couldn't help but smile. it felt strange to contort his lips in that way.

    "i have to finish my short story," he said morosely. then, curiously, "do you work here?"

    she nodded happily. "well, i won't bother you, then, you should finish it soon so you have time to revise! i just wanted to say hi!"

    "hi," ezra said meekly. he gave a halfhearted wave.

    she grinned, though ezra couldn't imagine why. what was there to be so ridiculously happy about? "hi!"

    alex waved at him and returned to the shelves, brushing her fingers along the spines of the books in search of the correct spots for the ones in her arms.

    ezra knew he was staring, bordering on leering, but he simply could not look away. he didn't even want to. he examined the way her pastel-blue painted fingernails tapped against the books she was holding, the way her hair fell across her face in soft waves when she bent down to scan the lower shelves. the light from the windows above her lit up her cheekbones and whatever sparkly stuff she had on them. dramatic as it was, ezra was partially convinced that she was some goddess in mortal form.

    before he knew what was happening, his fingers were flying across his keyboard, the sharp sound of clicking filling the air. the words were flying out of him faster than he could type. he didn't even know where they were coming from, but they were lovely.

    when he finally slowed and checked his word count, he had gone 1,000 words over what was needed. he shook his head to clear his vision and closed his laptop before hurrying out of the library.

-

    ezra didn't look over what he had written until the next morning. he was sitting in his usual seat in the lecture hall, and his eyes drifted to the papers in front of him. there was still some time to kill before the professor would collect their assignment, so he began to read.

    he felt his breath leave him.

    "...hair soft as silk...i am absolutely captivated...hypnotized...i feel hope...the stars are beautiful to me again..."

    did he write this? were these words from his own heart? they were inspired and graceful, poised and imaginative. where had they come from?

    "hey, ezra." alex slid into the seat beside him, her sunflower-yellow dress spilling across her legs.

    captivated.

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thoughts on this chapter?

also check out my other stories if you like :)

my question of the day: favorite thing about outer space?

mine is the absolute absurdity of it all. so many things that we can hardly comprehend. and stars are really beautiful.

comment yours below!