The library

June 2nd 2003

It was another unusually scorching afternoon in Sheffield. It had been like this for the past couple of weeks; humid and uncomfortably sunny.

I stared out across the school's field. The grass wasn't anything like what it was just a few weeks ago. The grass was yellow, dry and bristly. Sweat gathered on my eyebrows as the last of my water slid down my throat.

I lazily sat up and looked around. I was sat by one of the makeshift goalposts the boys had made out of a combination of their bags and jumpers. Various shouts and calls filled the entire field as the noise of a dozen different games of football mixed together. I sighed quietly and stood up, brushing some dust off my skirt. I picked up my black school bag and slung it over my right shoulder.

"Charlotte! Charlotte where are you going?" I ignored the shouts from some of the boys as I made my way off the field and towards the library.

I entered the library and instantly got hit by a wall of cool air which I smiled at. Due to it's air conditioning, the library had been very popular this last week and that trend had clearly continued as people not doing any work lounged around on sofas and chairs. I luckily scouted a vacancy on the far side of the building and made haste towards it. Quickly, I set my bag down on a single seat facing a small desk before walking back through the small maze of bookshelves to the bathroom.

Thankfully, I found the bathroom empty. It was even cooler in here than in the actual library. I watched what was in front of me in the mirror. Dark brown hair flowing messily down to my shoulders; piercing dark blue eyes and soft, red lips. I turned on the tap and ran my hands under the soft stream before splashing it onto my face softly. A quiet sigh slowly left my lips and I smiled in satisfaction.

I slowly made my way back to the spot I had saved as I navigated through the tall bookshelves. I checked the time via a clock on the wall and realised there was still half an hour of lunch left. Upon reaching the row of single desks that housed my particular table I suddenly ground to a halt. My bag was carelessly tossed onto the floor and sat at the chair was one boy, with another sat on the desk facing him. They were both talking to each other loudly and laughing. I frowned and quietly cleared my throat before marching up to the desk. "You're in my seat" I said as forcefully as I could.

The boys both instantly stopped talking. The one sat on the desk facing me stared straight at me and I felt myself beginning to blush. He had on a pair of black sneakers, black school trousers and the blue school jumper with a white shirt underneath which messily poked out from the bottom of his jumper. His hair was curly and his cheeks and jaw were covered with acne. Then the boy in the chair turned around.

His dark brown eyes locked with mine as soon as he turned his gaze to meet me. Like his friend, he wore black trainers, black trousers, an untucked white shirt and the same mandatory blue jumper. Similarly to his friend, he had acne but this was mainly around his mouth. His hair was different though; it was straighter than his friends and instead of going up, it flowed down to just past his ears. However, it was desk boy who spoke first.

"What?" It was just a single word but he said it with such firmness it left me speechless and got rid of any argument or response I had rehearsed in my mind.

So I decided to repeat what I had said instead.

"You're in my seat. That's my bag and it was on that chair therefore making it the seat I saved." I gestured from my bag to the seat a couple times as I tried to get my point across.

It started as a smirk and a snort at first from desk boy but it soon turned into a full blown laughing fit from the pair of them which made a few occupants of nearby desks send them dirty looks as I stood clutching my bag. After a few seconds of standing, staring at them, I rolled my eyes and huffed loudly before turning on my heel and storming away in search of another vacancy.