My Brother's Roommate

n i n e

Chapter 9 : Same Pattern

The professor of my Lit class droned on and on talking about the essay we have due. I have yet to search for the book source. Maybe I should make a trip to the library this afternoon.

The end of class couldn't come fast enough, and I rush out of the building. I have to work tonight, so I should probably head to the library now and search for a book.

I make my way around campus until I stumble upon the steps to the library. I'm not sure how I missed this building before because it's huge.

The steps were made of a white marble, the chips telling their age. There were about 20 stone steps, so I was a bit winded once I reached the top.

The doors were a beautiful dark oak that complimented the marble. I walk inside and see rows and rows of books. There even was a second floor just full of rows of books.

Half of the library was filled with books, while the other half consisted of computers, desks, and a small school spirit wear store.

I have been to a few libraries in my life, but none compared to the size and beauty of this one.

"Good afternoon, welcome to the library. If there's anything I can help you with don't be afraid to ask." A small voice spoke to my right, it was a lady at the checkout desk. Her name tag said "Andrea" and "student", so I assume she must work here in her free time.

I give her a smile and say a quick thank you before walking further in the building.

I walk to an empty table and sling my backpack on it. Then I walk to the computer and sit down to search for any books on my topic.

There weren't many students in the building today, not that I was complaining.

I type in "Italian Culture" to the search bar, and 24 books pop up on the screen. Luckily, they were all located in the same place, but I had no clue where that place was.

I write down the number shelf and go up to the desk to ask. "Hey, can you tell me where this shelf is?"

She takes the piece of paper from me and types something into her computer. "These books should be located upstairs." She points behind me to the left "There's a set of stairs at the end of the third row of books. Once upstairs, go to the row labeled 'NONFIC-CUL' then you can just search for the title of your book."

She smiles when she finishes talking, and I nod absentmindedly, but in reality, I don't remember anything she said besides 'stairs'. "Uh..thank you so much for helping." Is what I told her before retreating to the staircase.

The staircase was small and made of a dark metal that was cold on my fingers, showing it hasn't been used recently. I climb the metal stairs until I was on the second floor.

It was a lot quieter due to me being the only one on the second floor. I stroll around the rows of books trying to find the right one.

Andrea mentioned rows with signs, and the sign I need to look for has "NONFIC" written on it, but so do 17 of the rows up here.

I slap my forehead, "Of course it's the one with 'CUL' after it for culture" I mumble to myself. I went down the row and search up and down until I came across my target. "Bingo."

I grab 5 of the books that seemly held the most information. After getting a good grip on the books, I went back down the stairs to the table with my backpack on it.

Thankfully no new students have sat at the table so I'm all alone to think and write notes.

I don't know how long I read through the books, but my eyes began to burn from reading the words. I decide to just use two of them.