Library Girl

chapter five

CHAPTER FIVE

THE ESCAPE

EMILIA WOKE UP with an aching back and something heavy around her waist.

Her eyelids felt heavy and the crusties in the corner of her eyes acted like superglue. She squinted and let the sunbeams graze her face. She tried to lift her left leg, but it felt trapped. She squinted her eyes more.

Emilia's chest rose and fell, and she felt her hand curl around something soft. She gripped it tighter and moved closer to the warm object, trying to stretch out her leg. She inhaled deeply and felt her chest touch up against the soft, cotton pillow. Finally, her eyes adjusted and a small noise escaped her lips.

Her legs were tangled with his. Her arm was wrapped around his body and her hand gripped his t-shirt, while his hand lay over her waist. Her head was tucked into his chest. Her eyes widened and she felt her muscles clench, her hand releasing the cloth, and she tried to wiggle free without waking him up.

He began to move, rolling onto his other side. He dragged her along with him as if she were a doll despite her being his weight, if not heavier. She began to inhale deeply, the breaths getting shorter and faster until, finally, his eyes cracked open.

His brown eyes connected with her green ones and there was a moment of silence between the two, frozen in their position. Then, as if an alarm sounded, the pair immediately disassembled from their entangled positions, unhooking knees and unraveling limbs.

"I'm sorry, I don't know how that happened," he began, his voice even raspier in the morning.

"I don't either." Emilia sucked in her stomach and pulled down her shirt. She was careful not to direct her face towards him at all while speaking, since she could only imagine what her breath smelled like. "I was wondering why I wasn't cold at all last night."

She felt her face flush and she bit the inside of her cheeks.

"So I wasn't just dreaming," he muttered. She glanced at him from the side of her eyes. "About the whole library thing, I mean."

"I guess not."

Emilia began to stand, her bones sore, and walked over to her backpack, starting to pack up her things. They must've grabbed each other after they fell asleep in the midst of their existential conversation. She didn't even remember consciously doing it. She couldn't look him in the eyes.

"You're already packing up?" he asked. She saw him peek at the clock to their left. "We still have, like, ten minutes until the library opens."

"I'm aware."

She didn't mean to sound snippetty. A combination of being locked in a library overnight, little food, barely any sleep, and accidentally hugging a stranger really did that to a person.

His floppy hair sprung in all different directions, and he'd yet to smooth it down. She couldn't even imagine what hers looked like - a frizzy pile of curls resting on a girl with sinking eyebags.

She made her way up the spiral staircase. Emilia heard his heavy footsteps following closely behind her as she made her way up to the main floor.

The sun gleamed through the windows, outlines of the yellowing leaves on the trees tinting the glass. She could make out a woman in a floor-length dress with grey heels walking towards the wooden doors, books in her arm. Emilia felt her heart twitch inside her chest and, in a flurry of panic, she dashed for the closest hiding spot.