The Library Girl

Chapter 13

So, this morning I got up early. Leanne arrived at the library with a packed lunch she had made for me and then I left for school.Emma was waiting for me outside the school with all my other friends.

"Rosa!" she screamed and gave me a hug, as if she hadn't only seen me yesterday at the birthday party. "OMG it's so good to see you!"'

Hannah snorted and exchanged a look with me. She's always thought Emma's way too over the top, and she's right, but that's part of what makes her a great friend.

"High five, Rosa!" said Johnny. We high fived just as we have always done every day when we meet each other at school.

"Come on," said Hannah irritably. "We'll be late for class if we don't go now."

We were all annoyed at Hannah's usual reluctance to have fun, but we followed her to the class.Inside the classroom, Miss Johnson was waiting for us.

"Good morning, class," she greeted us cheerily. "I hope you've all had a good holidays."No I have not, I thought to myself, but I didn't say it out loud, of course."But I am so happy to see you all back here at our happy little school, safe and sound."Not quite safe and sound, I thought to myself. I wished Miss Johnson could stop her annoying patter and just get on with the class."And a warm welcome to you all," she finished. "Now let us begin. Today we shall start with..."

She was cut off by the sound of someone sharply clearing their throat. She spun around to see Mrs. Walker, the headmistress, had entered the classroom, a girl none of us had ever seen before in tow.

"Excuse me," coughed Mrs Walker. "This," she gestured towards the girl. "Is Evie Willow, our new girl. Please take her into your class and accommodate her as much as you can."

"Okay," Miss Johnson said brightly. "Thank you Mrs Walker. Class, meet Evie. I would like to ask Lily to look after her for her first week of school. Evie, please go and sit next to Lily."

Evie came over and sat next to Lily. Me and my friends all sit together at school, so Lily wasn't too far from me. I could see that Evie was very pretty, with long, silky black hair and big green eyes. Lily immediately began whispering excitedly to her, but Evie didn't respond much. From this I gathered that she was quite shy.

We launched into a maths lesson, then a history lesson which continued until break time. Evie proved to be top of the class at both subjects, greatly impressing Miss Johnson. I felt terrible that I wasn't able to hand in my homework. It had all burned in the fire.At break time, Lily introduced all the rest of us to Evie. She sat with us under the tree and we all talked. We were excited about getting to know her.

"Man, you're good at schoolwork," breathed Daniel.

Evie blushed bright red. "Yeah," she said.

"I wish I was as smart as you," added Johnny. "You're incredible."

Evie turned an even brighter red and buried her face in her hands. Lily gave her a hug.

Daniel was continuing. "Can you help me and Johnny with our homework?"

"Uh... sure." Evie played with her bag.

"Thanks," said Daniel.

"Whoah," Amelia chimed in. "You are seriously good at schoolwork."

"Yeah," Hannah agreed. "Pure intelligence."

"Thanks," Evie blushed again.

"Who do you think you're kidding?" said Emma.

"Leave her alone," said Lily. "So, Evie, what do you like to do in your free time?"

"Read, mostly."

Oh my god! As soon as Evie said that, I knew that we were going to become great friends. All my friends must have, too,because as soon as she said that, a cheer went up from our group.Everyone began punching the air and high fiving each other.

"Yeah!" screamed Emma, punching the air. "Me too! And so do all the rest of us! We'll be great friends! Hey, have you been to the library yet?"

Evie shook her head, which she had buried in her hands once more."Then let's all go there after school!"

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement, and I had no choice but to agree too. I didn't really feel like having all my friends over, but of course I couldn't say that. That would give everything away.

Just then, the bell rang, and so we all left the tree and made our way towards the classroom. The next few hours were spent in English and Geography lessons, both of which Evie was, of course, excellent at. It was a relief when the bell finally rang for the lunch break and I skipped happily out of the classroom, not knowing what was waiting for me.I wasn't looking where I was going and skipped right into someone. When I looked up I saw to my horror that I had bumped right into the three boys who had made fun of me at the library.

"Why look who's here," said one. "The library girl. Nasty bump, that, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," sniggered a second. "Your head is so full of books that you don't look where you're going."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" added the third boy."Shouldn't you be at the library?"

"Yeah," the first boy jeered. "Go home, little library girl. Go home and bury your nose in a book for the rest of the day."And they all walked of together, laughing loudly.

My face was burning. I had been teased again. And now my friends, who had been standing there watching us the whole time, knew the truth. I hadn't just been hanging out in the library more than usual. I actually lived in the library.

"See?" Emma said to Evie. "We all love to read, but Rosa loves it more than any of us. That's why they call her... the library girl. I'm sure you'll fit in perfectly with us."

Evie smiled a shy smile, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.My friends hadn't worked out the truth. They thought that the boys were merely teasing me for liking books. They were still my friends. We ate our lunch under the tree as usual, then went back to class. After school we all went to the library together. Evie was amazed and we all saw her make a library card.My friends were there for ages, and when they finally left, I pretended like I just wanted to spend a bit more time in the library. I was so relieved when they left. Peace and quiet at last. I sat down and started writing this.

That was how my first day of school as the library girl went.The day that my past and present entwined. It's weird and not very enjoyable, but it has to happen, and now I can sit down with a good book and read until I fall asleep.