It All Started with a Book

page 9 | evading questions

"I can't believe that it's already been a month since our trip at the town fair," Nathan softly said, taking his eyes away from the book for a brief moment.

I looked up from my laptop as I gave a slight nod. I curtly replied, "I know. Time does fly pretty quickly in the summer." A little too quickly, I thought. And to think, I still hadn't told Nathan anything about my soon to be departure, for when I thought that I was finally going to admit it to him, it was either I would chicken out, or talk about an entirely different topic.

Then the comfortable silence ensued. It was merely one of those days where Nathan and I wouldn't really slip much into conversation. Sometimes there would be an exchange of statements between us, but usually we would just return to reading our separate books, basking in the absence of small talk.

But today we were currently seated at one of the tall tables in the library, the ones where you could let your feet dangle freely when you sat on the chair. I was occupied with my laptop, for I was in the midst of installing an anti-virus software which I had finally been able to purchase the day before. Nathan was sitting quietly in the wooden chair across me, indulged in another thriller book he found.

After a series of clicking, typing, and glancing at an accompanied guide of anti-virus software installation, I leaned back into my chair, heaving a sigh of relief. It was almost done. I just needed to wait for the software to successfully install itself, maybe run a scan or two, then my laptop predicament would be solved.

Nathan must've heard my sigh, for he asked, "Is everything alright?"

I smiled and simply told him that the installation was almost done.

"That's great," he commented. And when I thought that he would continue to read, he surprised me with another question. "You'll still go to the library, right? I mean, now that your laptop's almost fixed, you don't need to read that manual anymore." He then gestured to the closed yellow-covered manual I had on the right of my laptop.

"Nathan," I started. "Of course, I'll still go to the library. This is kind of like our hangout place, right?" Suddenly a window popped up onto the laptop screen. "Yes! A successful installation," I muttered.

As I finally shut down my laptop, Nathan answered, "Right. Our hangout place."

I tucked my laptop safely into its cover and into my backpack, as well as the rest of my clutter on the table. "Well, that's done." I gently hopped down from my chair to return the manual back to the shelf where I had first taken it.

Once I had arrived back at the table, I sat down and eyed the bookstack Nathan had placed upon the table. "Would you mind if I take a book?" I said, pointing to the bookstack.

"Sure, help yourself Adeline."

I swiftly slide a random book out, stared at the cover for a moment, then turn over the book to read the blurb. "Seems like an adventure story," I remarked, flipping to the first page.

"Where are you going to school once the summer's over?" came Nathan's voice.

My eyes widened in shock, for I didn't know what exactly to reply. "Um, undecided," I blurted. I regretted how uncertain my voice sounded like.

Nathan only replied with an, "I see. I'm sure you'll find a good school, since there's still the rest of the summer to search for one." 

"The rest of the summer," I repeated. 

As I brought my book closer to my face, I realized that I couldn't keep evading his questions for much longer.