Neo tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes, but it wouldn’t budge. She let out a yawn as she reached for her coffee, however, missed, knocking it over. She did nothing to stop the liquid from staining her worksheets and study notes. Instead, she tucked her legs underneath her oversized jumper and watched as the beige stain spread itself, making the ink flourish in swirls of blue and black, fading the yellow highlighter and erasing the pencil.
Neo shrugged. At least she had an excuse now, as to why she was failing her test. She played the conversation out in her head:
“Sir, five minutes before the test, I was fetching a cup of coffee for you, but the barista spilled it all over my study notes. And, in order to avoid being late for the most important test this semester, I paid in full, and tipped, then ran off. Don’t believe me sir? Look! Here are my notes!”
Neo stood, took her pencil case and laptop and walked towards the bookshelves of the university library, leaving the mess behind her. Someone would clean it up. And they would get good karma. So, technically, she was benefitting others.
She skimmed past non-fiction, fiction, religion, history, but stopped at philosophy. She did her best to ignore the book club meeting in the Travel section, who wouldn’t stop giggling about “How sweet Mr Darcy is”. She knelt down on her knees, examining the bottom shelf. She believed, that the best books remained on the bottom shelf. Untouched. Just the way she liked it. Her eyes read titles relating to Sartre, Rumi, Nietzsche…
Suddenly, a figure leaned against the bookshelf, making it wobble. The “Pocket-book of mindfulness” fell on to her head. She let out a wince then stared at the figure, correction: figures, who were leaning against the shelf.
Neo scoffed. They couldn’t do this in their dorm room? Or, maybe in a more appropriate section of the library? Neo threw the “Pocket-book of mindfulness” at the kissing couple, immediately breaking them apart. The girl glanced at Neo and then at the book club, who stared them down, with what Neo deduced was jealousy hidden behind a façade of annoyance. She blushed, pulled down her skirt and quickly fled the scene. The boy stared after her, brushing his fringe back, exposing his forehead. He bit his lip. Once the girl (who Neo believed was a first-year, he was probably third-year, but it was difficult to tell) had exited the library, the boy returned his attention to Neo.
The first thing Neo noticed about him was -to be honest- not much. She had left her glasses at home and refused to wear contacts. Just the thought of touching her eye… eurgh!
“Do you mind?” he asked, not attempting to hide the anger in his voice. He had a slight accent, one she couldn’t quite decipher.
“Shh! This is a library,” she whispered, trying her best not to smile, holding her hand out for him to help her up. He scoffed and pulled his hood over his head, clouding his face.
Neo cleared her throat, “Excuse me?” shaking her hand. He reluctantly took it and pulled her upward, leaving her floating in the air a couple of seconds. He was quite strong, Neo noted.
“Next time, do it with your girlfriend in the privacy of your own dorm,” Neo suggested.
He snickered, “Oh, she’s not my girlfriend. She’s hers,” he said, gesturing at one of the empty seats of the book club table, “Another turned for me.” He mumbled, turning to face Neo. He winked, “Maybe, one day, you too.” He said, eyeing her up and down.
Neo slapped him across the face. He chuckled, rubbing his cheek which had flushed rose.
“I would rather die.” She retorted.
The boy clicked his tongue and turned on his heels (she noticed a little later that he was wearing heelies) and walked out the library. She turned, only to catch the Book Club exchanging suggesting glances.
Neo let out an exasperated sigh and said, “Darcy’s a dick and Pride and Prejudice isn’t real romance,” and followed in the boy’s footsteps (or glide) out of the library.
