Library Girl

chapter three

CHAPTER THREE

THE THIRD HOUR

"ANOTHER TIE," SHE groaned.  Emilia placed the pencil down.  "Okay, I'm done."

"What did you expect?" He responded.  "It's tic-tac-toe, that's the point. No one ever wins."

"That's so dumb," she said through a giggle.  "What else can we do?"

He climbed up off of the tiled floor, patting off some dust from his jeans.  Nick wandered over to the bookshelf and started grabbing handfuls of the novels. 

"What are you doing?"

He didn't answer. Soon, there was an entire pile of books. 

"What the hell are you doing? Cut it ou-"

He ignored her and ambled around the bookcase, the stack of stories so tall it covered his face. Soon, she heard the sound of even more books slumping off of their homes and into his arms. 

"Stop, stop! We're gonna get in trouble!  You have to put these all back," she cried out, jumping up to see what he was doing.  Emilia glanced down to see him lining up the books as if they were dominoes.  "Really?"

He shrugged.  "I've always wanted to do it."

She crouched on the balls of her feet and rested her arms on her knees, not quite sure what to do. Reprimand him? Start putting the books away?  She grabbed a book and gave Nick a side glance, noticing his furrowed eyebrows in concentration.  She then placed the book at the end of his line.

+    +    +

They had used over two full shelves of books. The fiction section, all of the author's last names from Lawrence to Monson.  The line of books snaked all the way from the first shelf, circling the table, past the glowing vending machine, down the hallway, up the spiraling staircase, and stopping at the top.

"You ready?" he said to her.  She nodded.  "Okay, on the count of three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

They both tipped the first book over, and the parade was off.  They scrambled to their feet and followed the race, zigzagging down the hallway, spinning around the table, tiptoeing up the stairs, and finally, watching the last book drop.

"Yes!" she cried out, and he laughed with a big smile on his face.  He held up his wide hand for a high five, and she followed through with it.  His hand was so much bigger than hers, and much more coarse, whereas her chubby-fingered hand was just barely bigger than his palm.

"Nice job, Library Girl," he chuckled, and began collecting the stack of books, his arms full.  "Now, it's time to put these back."

Her jaw dropped. "All of them?"

"Yeah, all of them," he responded.  "I mean, we did make this mess."

She chewed at her bottom lip and began stacking some of the books.  They brought piles over to the two bookshelves, where they then began to alphabetize the authors once all of the books were carried.

"I have Lewis here," she said.  He grabbed it and placed it besides Lemont. 

They began a system.  He would stack the books and she would find the next authors.  She sat in the midst of the stacks, the piles around her swaying like weeds in a grassy field.  It was quiet for a few minutes until Nick spoke.