Library Girl

chapter two

CHAPTER TWO

THE FIRST HOUR

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"What, my name? I'm Nick."

"No, no, not your name," Emilia snapped.  "The thing you said about the library."

"You mean how we're both stuck here? Until the library opens tomorrow at noon?"

"Yeah, that." Emilia felt around the table once more for her phone and turned on the flashlight.  "Lucky for you, my phone has ten percent."

She waved the light all around the basement, getting chills from the shadows of the bookshelves on the walls, the spines appearing larger than life and the shelves towering over them like silent trees in a forest.  Finally, she hovered the light over the little switch and the strange man flicked it on.  She grimaced at the blinding sensation and turned off her flashlight. 

"This has never happened to me before.  I can't believe I fell asleep."

"Well, I can't believe they didn't notice us.  I mean, how do you miss two fucking people sitting at a table? They should've made sure everyone was out before closing this shit place down."

"Can you please not swear like that? It's giving me a headache," Emilia mumbled, slowly prying her eyes open. 

As they began to adjust, she noticed a man towering over her.  His brown hair was all tangled, like he had woken up from a deep sleep like her.  It curled behind his ears and peeked out from under a baseball cap with some obscure logo on it.

"It's you!" she stammered, scouring at him.  "You came down here earlier, you gave me a weird look!"

"Yeah, hi," he murmured, shaking his head. "I didn't give you a weird look."

"Yes, you did!" she insisted, remembering his floppy hair and tall stature.  "I smiled at you, and you gave me, like, a scowl in return."

"Whatever, Library Girl," he muttered back, hoisting a backpack over his shoulder.  "I just gotta find a way outta here."

"Wait, you're not leaving me down here alone!" Emilia cried out, frantically shoving her belongings back into her backpack.  "And don't call me that!"

"What, do you prefer Dumbass?" Nick responded, his big strides leaving her in the dust.  "If you want to find a way out with me, you have to keep up."

Emilia struggled to match his pace, her heavy bag weighing her down.  "I'd prefer Emilia, but whatever. And I'm trying."

"Okay, Library Girl."

They reached the spiral staircase and ascended to the main level, which was eerily silent. Not just library silent, but "you shouldn't be here" silent.  He was feet in front of her, leaving her out of breath ass in the dust. Nick gripped both handles to the front doors and shook vigorously.

"Shit, shit. Okay, well, let's just go through an emergency exit."

"Wait, what? No, no, no, we shouldn't do that." Emilia nervously chuckled.

"Why not? It'll get us out of here, won't it?"

"Yeah, but it'll set off the alarms! The whole campus will wake up, and the police will show up! I cannot deal with that, I'm panicking enough as it is," she hissed.  "Plus, you swearing all over the place and calling me a dumbass isn't making me feel much better."

"I don't care, I can't stay overnight in this library."  He began to head towards the exit and Emilia darted towards him, grabbing onto his arm.  His head shot back and glanced at her, his eyes a brown tint, eyebrows squinted in the moonlight.  "What the hell are you doing?"