Rejected

Chapter Two

ALLIE

I closed yet another book and made my way up to Lily's desk. Yes, I'm on a first name basis with the school librarian. The local librarian as well but we won't get into that.

Bottom line; I love libraries. The smell of fresh ink on new paper and even better; the smell of old ink on old paper. The scents were warm and safe, almost like a second home.

"All finished?" Lily asked sweetly, looking up at me. I smiled and nodded.

"Yes, it was excellent. Do you have any more by him?" I asked eagerly. She frowned in thought.

"I think I have a few more of his works. Let me look." She typed on her computer for a bit, her fingernails long and clicking against the keys. "Yes, one other one: Insomnia."

She turned the screen toward me, her arm brushing against a few books scattered on the desk. I glanced at the screen to get the book info and location.

"Thank you." I smiled and headed off to find it. I'd recently fallen in love with mystery, thriller novels and Stephen King was one of my favourite authors.

It was easy to find the book and I carried it back to my corner, tucked away behind the computer section on a window seat with an excellent view of the schoolyard and football field.

I'm not much of a sports fan, but when a game is playing, I have the perfect vantage point without all the hassle of screaming teenagers to annoy me.

The rustle and squeak of a library cart caught my attention and I looked up in interest. Someone was in detention again and I was interested to see who.

I had to crane my neck a little to see him but when I did I wanted to curl in on myself and laugh. Sage Michaels, star quarterback on the football team, point guard to the basketball team, a volunteer firefighter, and as cliche would have it, the hottest and most popular guy in school. Which, of course, automatically seems to come with a cocky attitude and perfect grades, not to mention he's the President of the Senior High Student Council. 

To further add to this cliche, he used to live in the house next door to mine when I was young and needless to say, I used to and if I am being honest with myself, still, have a small crush on him. I frowned, wondering what on earth could have landed him in detention.

"I don't care." I whispered to myself, returning to the new book in my hands. A sudden and familiar excitement filled me as I opened the cover and began to read.

Two hours later and I was halfway through the book. My mom was probably wondering where I was, so I saved my page with a small slip of paper and made my way out of the library to my car.

"Allie, is that you sweetheart?" My mom called as I unlocked the front door.

"Of course, who else would it be?" I laughed and found her in the kitchen, assembling neat piles of spaghetti onto two separate plates.

"How was your day?" She asked, sliding the plate over to me.

"It was alright." I dropped my pack and scooped up a bite of spaghetti. "Sage Michaels was in detention today."

"Sage Michaels?" Her eyebrows shot into her hairline.

"Yeah, they had him working in the library." I rolled my eyes. "He used to have perfect grades and a spotless record."

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Now my eyebrow was raised.

"I mean, why was he in detention?" She pulled out two glasses and a carton of orange juice and poured me a glass.