"This is really amazing." Finn comes to stand beside me as we watch all of the elites walking through the library. I had explained what I could but I know that Charlie would've done a much better job than me. In the end I let them figure it out by themselves.
"I wish he were still here to show this to everyone." I lean my head against Finn's shoulder and he immediately wraps an arm around my shoulder.
"He would've been proud that you showed more people. I know I appreciate it." Finn squeezes my shoulder. Elites are spread out in the aisles of books sharing interesting information.
"Honestly I just hated being in here by myself all the time. Let's just hope they appreciate it."
I walk away from Finn and weave through the crowd explaining what I could to confused people. I grab a pile of book that I've read and found most useful and start to hand those out. Then I walk to the back of the library where Adrian is sitting surrounded by books. He looks up with the same look in his eyes that I saw in Charlie's. There's a small ache in my heart at the thought but I quickly push it away.
"Ella." He says only the one word but I can tell by his expression that he means so much more but is having a hard time putting it into words. "Thank you." I smile and sit down across from Adrian on the floor.
"What are you looking at?" I look at all the open books he's got spread out in front of him. They all have pictures and diagrams, some of the sky, some of the earth from very far away.
"These are maps." Adrian spins the books around and scoots over next to me so we can both look at them. "This book," Adrian points at the one with pictures of the sky, "Maps the stars. They make designs called constellations and there are different one's can be seen at different times."
"This one," Adrian points to a book with maps of the world, "Has maps of everywhere in the world and all the different land forms. This page is where we are right here." Adrian points to a part in the valley surrounded by forest. I notice that there is a mountain range on the edge of the page.
"And this is my favourite." Adrian pulls a book over top of the others. This one has maps of the world but they are drawn in less detail than the others and they aren't labelled as much. "These maps show what the world looked like in different centuries. At the beginning there was one big land form called Pangaea. Then they moved apart into different continents. Those changed for a while and as you know they are back into one land form but on the other side of the world and they don't fit together as well. But it's just amazing how the world is in constant motion. And it's so much bigger than I ever thought. It makes me feel so small."
Adrian picks up another book and opens it. He alternates between reading that book and looking at the maps on the floor in front of him. I thinking of way to bring up Gwen when Adrian closed the book and bends over in a coughing fit.
"Are you okay?" I ask putting a hand on Adrian's shoulder. He opened his mouth to reply and starts coughing again. When he finally stops he closes his eyes and leans against the bookshelf behind him. I notice the tired circles under his eyes. "Are you okay?" I repeat. He nods absentmindedly. "Are you sure because-"
"Ella, I'm fine." We sit in silence staring at each other.
"How are things with you and Gwen?" I ask causing Adrian to laugh. "What?" I question defensively.
"I get that you wanted something to say but seriously? That is last thing you want to talk about." He looks up at the ceiling done with the subject.
"What makes you think that?" Adrian laughs and I just wait patiently for a response. He stops laughing and looks at me with his eyebrows raised.
"Seriously?" I nod. "Well maybe because you hate Gwen?" He looks at me and I remain emotionless. "Maybe because you never ask me anything. Maybe because that my relationship has nothing to do with you. Maybe because asking me about my personal life means that you, Ella Sanders, actually care." I put my hand to my chest with a look of surprise on my face.
"I'm offended. I care." Adrian looks away and snorts.
"Sure you care but only about things that affect you. Don't look at me like that. We both know you're only asking me because of what's happening with you and Finn." He sees my confused look and sighs. "I get it even if you don't. You're like a robot with no emotions and now this great guy comes along and you have no idea what to do. It's cute that you're coming to me for relationship advice."
"I am not coming for relationship advice." I huff.
"Then why are you asking?" Adrian asks tilting my head to the side. He has stopped mocking me and is now purely curious. Looking into his deep dark eyes I see the pain that is hiding just under the surface. It grows deep in the depths of the ocean of his eyes that could drown me. I panic realizing that I can't tell him what I saw with Gwen and Olivia. When Gwen and Adrian are together he seems truly happy. Maybe things will change now that Gwen has broken things off with Olivia.
"Ella?" Adrian, seeing through me like he always does, notices my panic. I get up and start to walk away.
"It's nothing. Goodnight Adrian." Then I turn and walk away through the library. I walk past all the people milling around. I step on a few books on the floor and bump into a few people but I don't care. I am emotionally exhausted but I know that I won't sleep very much. This would be a night that I would spend alone surrounded by books. That's not an option now that I have showed the library to so many people.
I storm out of the library and into the stairwell. I am so distracted that I don't hear the door opening and closing after me or the footsteps until there is a figure standing right next to me.
"Hey, where'd you disappear to?" Finn asks leaning over towards me.
"I was looking at some cool maps." I say shrugging.
"Are you all good?" Finn asks in the same way that he asked where I went. He studies my face and I just shrug not knowing how to put how I feel into words. We walk into the theater and Finn takes his time to take it all in. I realize now that he's never seen the theater when it's not full of people. "It's really beautiful isn't it?"
I nod looking out, appreciating everything as if seeing it through new eyes. My eyes glaze over with tears looking at the stage. I haven't really looked at any of this since Charlie died. The stage looks clean as ever leaving no evidence of Charlie's life or death, both of which mostly took place right there.
Finn wordlessly comes over and hugs me. His strong arms circling around my shoulder pulling me against his chest. He kisses the top of my head and then leans forward next to my ear.
"Want to see something really cool I found when you disappeared?"
YOU ARE READING
Fight With Fire
Science FictionElla Sanders is the most popular girl at school which is a huge accomplishment when you are surrounded by people that can do anything from draining you of your energy to granting your greatest wish. Ella goes into her last year expecting to go throu...