Bulletproof Love

Chapter Four: Lost Pages

At school the next day, Noah was nowhere to be found. Brooklyn looked left and right on the bus but there was no sign of him. Her eyes searched and scanned all the kids at school but he wasn't present among them.

She felt some sort of emptiness and vacancy. She tried to ignore that feeling. At least she didn't have two paralyzing eyes watching her like a hawk. However, she kind of missed that.

Now that Noah isn't at school, she doesn't feel so stressed out anymore. She feels a bit relaxed but she still needs something to distract her and help her get her mind off him. It hits her! BOOKS! Her getaway...

She always found peace in other people's words. She just loves getting lost in the words written on sheets of paper with a touch of remorse, tragedy, happiness, fantasy, drama, horror, mystery, and most importantly loads of creativity.

She went to the school's library but she didn't find any books that really hooked her. She just didn't like those famous books with all those fake pompous words. She wanted something undiscovered and genuine.

* * *

When she got back home, she went to
Mr.Faudet and asked him if he had an indoor library or something like that.
"Well yes my dear. I am a book lover too. Of course I have small library in my house. Come on let me show you"

They went into Mr.Faudet's library that was in his basement. Brooklyn looked around carefully. Dust collected everywhere as far as she could see. Spider webs woven loosely around books, dirtied shelves and stands, busted lamps hung from braided and tangled wires that were embedded into the cracked ceiling. Dust floated lazily in the air causing them to cough. All that was heard was the coughs of one another, the scurrying of invisible rodents, and the creaking sound of the wooden floor as they walked around.
The books were old which intrigued Brooklyn. She liked these sorts of stuff. Old books... dusty shelves... dusty fingers...
"Old but gold," she said.
"You are welcome here anytime you want," he said with a warm and welcoming smile.

She kept searching until she finally found a book that grabbed her attention. It was bound in red leather, cracked and dry with age. It smells faintly of dust. The pages within are brittle and what remains of the book's original stitching was barely holding together. The book was old and heavy but the leather felt soft and delicate as she ran her fingers over the bindings of it. She opened the cover carefully. Paper rustled as she flipped through the pages.

The cover was glided and the book felt tarnished; color faded from the back, yellowish pages, and brown edges. Most people would have left this book if they came across it and without as much as a backwards glance, but she was enthralled. She appreciated the beauty of an old book.
It seems that someone in the distant past had ripped out pages and left a jagged edged paper.

She reads the first page:

Her eyes, a worn out book.
Her heart, a dented metal door.
She writes melancholically
as if she's lived it all before.
The ode to her sadness,
in the life she has led
her scratches and scribbles on paper,
and the words they have bled
are blurred from all the tears she had shed.

She loved it! She wanted that book! So she let it fall closed. It made an exhausted sound like a padded door shutting by itself at a distance: a puff of air.

* * *

Three days have passed without any sign
of Noah and then... there he was. On the school bus, in his normal seat. He looked at Brooklyn less than usual. He only glanced at her once or twice during the ride to school.
She badly wanted to talk to him and ask him where he's been but she was a bit nervous. She was afraid of talking to him although he didn't seem like a serious or violent guy. He seemed nice, maybe a bit shy and aloof. He was also very mysterious and private .

They reached the school and the first class was Maths with Mrs.Holder who stopped Noah next to her. "Where have you been Noah? You missed a lot of important stuff. Don't forget to ask one of your classmates to help you catch up and explain for you what you missed."
"Will do miss, and I'm sorry I was on an important trip." He focused his eyes on Brooklyn as he said that.

He went and sat where he usually did, behind Brooklyn. She sat still and stiff the whole time during class. She was tensed for no reason though. There was nothing to be anxious about.

After about thirty minutes, she finally flinched. She grabbed a pencil and started doodling on her Math book. It was like she suddenly zoomed out and forgot all about everyone around her.

He carefully leaned forward and looked over her shoulder. Her book had the word Dustfinger written all over it in different fonts and sizes. It was bold and clear yet the page was really crowded.

* * *

After lunch, Brooklyn was standing in
front of her locker when she saw Noah walking in her direction. He increased his tempo a bit as he got closer then he stopped in front of her. He leaned against the lockers on his side and he put his head on the locker next to him and looked at Brooklyn as if he's examining her.

" Oh... hello , N-Noah," she stumbled over the words as she moved her lips slowly while saying that.

"Hi," he blankly replied.

"Uhm you're the one who came up to me. Is there anything you want to tell me?". She confidently said that with a louder voice.

"Yes I wanted to ask you something."

"Well sure. Go ahead."

He looked at her and a moment of complete silence passed . His eyes fluttered as if he was trying hard to muster up the words and put them into a meaningful sentence.

"Who... who is Dustfinger?" He finally said.

"Oh Dustfinger. He's just a character from my silly imagination. I write about him all the time."

"So you've never seen him before? Never met him?" He asked curiously.

"Nope. I only have him in my stories."

He nodded then said, "Well okay, I guess I'll see you around."
He turned away and left after he uttered those words...