Falling for a Stranger (DannyPhantom.exe Fanfiction: Book 1)

Chapter Five

"So did you get all that?" Mrs. Harrison quipped as I sat paying rapt attention.

"Indeed I did. Despite this place being ten times bigger than most libraries I've been to, they all operate on the same basic principles."

"Great," she replied, "I love the enthusiasm and the previous experience is gonna save me quite a lot of time having to train you. I mean, do you know how hard it is to teach the alphabetizing of books to a college student?"

"Pretty hard?" I suggested.

"Damn right!" she agreed with gusto, "Most of them spend all their time glued to their smartphones, I ended up having to do most of the work myself." 

"Well, you won't have that issue with me," I assured her, "Professionalism and hard work is what I do best."

"That's what I like to hear. Let's hope you prove that to me today."

With that declaration, she set me to work at the front desk where I promptly attended to my duties like inputting data on books into the virtual library database, greeting and directing students and lecturers alike to various sections, shushing people for talking too loud among so many other things. In short - I was in heaven. As the evening descended, the number of people entering the library dwindled until only a few people were spread wide apart, dotted here and there at different tables. 

"Huh," I thought out loud to Mrs. Harrison as she joined me behind the counter, "For some reason, I thought more people would be here at night."

"Hahaha, it's just the second week back," she chuckled, "Just wait until Finals week. There's a reason we only go to open 24 hours during exam times."

I laughed knowingly since I knew how strong the spirit of procrastination can be even in college students or should I say especially in college students. 

"Well, my shift ends in an hour so I'm going to do some reshelving but before I do I want an informal assessment of my work today. How was my first day?"

"You don't joke around huh?"

"I aim to please and I like to know where I can improve. I love constructive critiques."

"Well, it was your first day so I can't say much but if you keep doing what you did today, I may lose my job." She chuckled at her wit and I couldn't help smiling too. I bid her farewell as I located the multilevel trolley and went round the empty tables picking up all the books that students left behind there. That activity alone took 20 minutes. Afterward, I dragged my trolley around reshelving books. It was actually quite calming for me and mentally stimulating too. I especially loved climbing the ladder and then sliding it along the shelf, feeling the wind as I went. It was like my own little roller coaster. I fell into a nice rhythm of finding a book, climbing the ladder, slide, reshelve, and repeat until a voice broke me out of my reverie. It wasn't loud enough to disturb the few people still in the library but just audible enough that even though I was high up, I could hear it and I knew who it was. Looking down, my suspicions were confirmed and I was not sure how to feel about this: on the one hand, I was fanboying over his gorgeous face but on the other hand, in my mind's eye, I could still see the rage and anger that had been etched into that face only last night because of what I had done, simple though the act had been plus I was not expecting him to be here. He didn't strike as a library kinda guy.  I had been running into him all day today and I was deliberately trying to avoid him because my poor little introverted mind didn't understand confrontation and if I didn't wanna be around people, it was way worse around someone I had seen visibly pissed off. Nevertheless, I slid down the ladder and faced him.

"Hey," said Danny, running his hand through his hair as he always does. "The librarian told me you were in this aisle in case you're wondering how I found you."