[Library Romance] Note Exchange

Chapter 1

It was lunchtime at a certain school. A girl was busily scribbling down on her notebook, not minding her surroundings, while slowly walking in the hallway. She stopped at a door with a sign written 'Library' on it. She was about to grab the doorknob when it suddenly burst open. A boy with glasses came out hurriedly from the door and stopped himself from bumping towards the girl in front of him.

"Ah! Sorry.", he blurted out and walked out of the way hurriedly.

Hmm? She tilted her head to the side and blinked her eyes once, twice, then continued to enter the library.

"Nice to see you again, Angelina.", greeted by the librarian as the girl got inside the library.

"Ms. Librarian, I've told you many times it's Angela not Angelina.", she sighed.

"And I've told you to call me Erica.", the librarian grinned at her.

"Ms. Erica-"

"Nope! Just Erica.", she cut in before the girl could finish her sentence.

"Okay, E-RI-CA. Are we done now?", she said exasperated.

"Yes.", the librarian smiled at her as she walked away from the librarian's desk going to the bookshelves.

Ugh! She's exhausting. She was in front of one of the bookshelves in the library. She was searching for a book to read, running her fingers on the spine of each book, reading its label.

I think I'll be reading this one. She plucked the book out of the bookshelf and made a bee line to her favorite spot in the library. Her favorite spot was in the far end corner of the library, near the glass window where she could see the school garden. She put her notebook, pen and the book she chose to read on the table. She quietly dragged the chair to sit down but stopped when she found a notebook on the chair.

Someone must have left it here. She picked up the notebook and examined it, checking the front and back cover before flipping each page, reading some notes, checking some of the scribbles and drawings inside the notebook. The penmanship was good and neat and the drawings were good too. Whenever she sees a funny scribbles or drawings, she let's out a giggle from time to time.

Must be the same year as me. The notes that were written in it were familiar to her. Those were the previous lessons from many subjects, in it were Math, Science, History and English notes.

Does the person only have one notebook for all subjects? She got curious of who the owner was. She flipped and flipped each page, searching for a name.

No name. Why would they not put a name on their notebook? She sighed deeply, thinking of how could she return it to the owner. She begun to flipped the pages again and was brought to the empty pages of the notebook. She sighed again and closed the notebook. She decided to flipped it open from the back of the notebook then she stopped.

'I can't do this. I give up!' was written on the last page of the notebook. She creased her brows then slammed the notebook on the desk, grabbed her pen and began to write on the last page of the notebook. As she finished writing on the notebook the bell rings, signaling the end of lunch break.

Already? She began to take her own things and returned the book she was supposed to read and left the notebook on the chair where she first found it.

"See you again, Angelina", the librarian said happily.

"It's Angela.", the girl complained before she disappeared through the door. The other students in the library also began to return to their classes, leaving the librarian all alone again in the quite room full of books. A few minutes later, the door burst open again.

"Oh! You're scaring me, Alien.", the librarian exclaimed. The boy with glasses that almost bumped Angela lately was back to the library and in a hurry.

"I just forgot something.", the boy replied running towards the far end corner of the library near a glass window.

Found you. He picked up his notebook on the chair and began to run towards the door.

"And it's Allen, Ma'am, Allen!", he shouted as he disappeared through the door running towards his class. He stopped at the door to the classroom to catch his breath just in time before their class begins and walked inside towards his assigned seat. He began to flip his notebook open and noticed something. A smile appeared on his lips as he read the lines written on his notebook.

'Don't ever say you can't when you haven't tried it. Don't say you give up when you haven't begun. Just do it and if you're feeling tired, take a rest. Don't give up!'