It All Started with a Book

page 2 | another encounter

I was hoping I wouldn't see the face of that boy from yesterday when I stepped into the library. Well, that was until hoping anyway. I was passing through the 'Teen Fiction' section when I saw his figure leaning against the long shelves, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a book in his grasp. I tried making my presence as inconspicuous as possible, along with the common trick of averting eye contact, and walked briskly towards the other end of the lane.

To my surprise, he didn't look up as I stole a sideward glance at him. Smiling in triumph, I ambled towards the 'Technology' section in which the laptop guide I read was in. With my hand lightly brushing against the spine of the books neatly organized, I tried to look for the yellow covered laptop guide. But my search was in vain. I frowned a bit, feeling disappointed that I would have to go home.

Even though I had a daily basis of going to the library each afternoon, I couldn't stop the times when a person had to borrow the book, or when both books were nowhere in sight. And then there were those people who do not return the book to where it was originally placed. (Huwag tularan.)

I sighed, as my shoulders slumped in defeat. I made up my mind to quickly walk home. But out of curiosity, I decided to look whether the boy was still there. Taking the same route towards the 'Teen Fiction' area, I tilted my head and found him in the same position a few minutes ago. What I didn't notice was a small stack of books to his left, which wasn't visible to my line of sight when I was walking on his right side earlier.

My brown eyes flitted towards the stack of books kept closely to his side. One of them seemed to have a yellow cover to it. I squinted my eyes for me to identify whether it was the book I was suspecting it to be. Practically straining my vision, I realized it was the laptop guide.

It also dawned on me that he had gotten the book earlier than my arrival, so he knew that if he wanted to read the book, he needed to be here before I did since he already knew my daily routine.

Clever.

As if he almost sensed someone watching him, he looked up in my direction and our eyes locked. His face lighted up in recognition and he gave a small wave. I tensed, not knowing what to do.

Instead, he beckoned to come over with the slight flick of his hand. I was currently debating whether to scurry towards the exit or walk towards the boy. I chose the latter. I mustered up the courage to walk over him and plop down in the area in front, with my back leaning against the shelf.

I was wondering whether he wanted me to explain.

Before I had any chance to elaborate on my actions earlier, he thrusted out his hand with the slightly thick laptop guide laying on top of it. "I had a feeling you'd be looking for this."

I couldn't react right away. I stammered, "I-uh, thanks." I took it out of his grasp. "You kept it for me?"

He looked up from the book he was reading after flipping a page. "Actually, not at first."

"I don't understand," I stated, opening the laptop guide to the page where I left off recently.

"I told you yesterday that I was supposed to borrow it for a friend, right?"

I nodded, though hardly remembering anything of the sort. He continued, "Well, it turns out he already borrowed a copy of his own earlier yesterday, and he forgot to tell me about it. He just texted me actually, with a bunch of some non-related emojis. So... there you are, fellow stranger."

My eyes widened at the words he said. I replied back, "Are you offended I called you 'fellow stranger' yesterday? I mean, I didn't know how to address you. So, I answered with whatever term popped into my mind."

He shook his head, chuckling. "No, no, it was just amusing. No one's called me that before." A small smile remained on his face.

"Sorry, I tend to blurt out the most random stuff at times," I said, scratching my cheek. "A lot of people think I'm awkward."

His green eyes flitted to meet mine. "I think you're alright."