The Library League

Chapter Five

"So... James. Have you ever heard of my award winning all organic, gluten free, vegan broccoli casserole?" Said my idiot mother as she served the terrible stuff in dollops on all of our plates. I groaned. How did he end up staying for dinner again? This must be the most embarrassing thing ever, I thought as me, my mother, and the accursed James sat down at our mismatched dining area.

I looked down at the brown and green mess on my plate. We all sat in silence for a moment before I said, "I'll get the Ramen." my mother gathered all three of our plates and pathetically threw them into the sink. James was just sitting there, surprised as I was that he was staying for dinner.

I looked out of the window as I was grabbing three orange packets of Ramen to cook. I realized it was still pouring out as it was when we trudged in the house. James seemed so otherworldly to me. Well, he was a boy. But it seemed more than that. He seemed... Interested in me. Like he was actually listening to what I had to say. Even if i didn't say much.

I thought about his deep dark blue eyes as I took the bowls of Ramen out of our cheap microwave to the table. As I set one in front of James, he looked up at me, smiling. "You have a weird family." He said to me, almost looking wistful. I averted my eyes awkwardly as I set down the rest of the bowls of cheap Ramen, trying to hide my small smile.

My mom then sat down at the table, hands still wet from scrubbing the concrete like material from our old plates. And we proceeded to eat the Ramen, with little small talk to distract us from the cheap food. I kept myself occupied by thinking about how I felt about James.

The closest definition I could think of was Fugacious: tending to disappear; fleeting. It's not that he himself was fleeting, but I don't know, that's how I felt. Like he was sunlight, but it always disappeared and was replaced with a soft breeze. I was snapped out of my revery when I heard my mother's voice. "Is everything okay?" she asked me.

I then realized I was staring blankly off into the distance; bowl of soup forgotten. I blinked and nodded, slightly embarrassed for no reason at all. "Anyways, it's your turn to do dishes." she said, still looking at me with concern in her dark grey eyes so unlike my own. I nodded once again and gathered up all three of our bowls and stuffed them into the sink.

Once I got the water running and got into a rhythm of scrubbing, I realized that my mother and James were actually talking. And not just small talk, they were in a deep conversation about how words are the core of humanity. Well , my mother would talk to anyone. Even her daughter's crush.

Nope. Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope. He was not my crush. He was a co- worker. A co-worker. A co-worker. A co-worker. I repeated. trying to regulate my heartbeat, I realized I was scrubbing harder and harder at the spotless bowl. I took a deep breathe and set down the clean dishes. "Hey Viv, what do you think; Are words or writing more important to humanity as a whole?" My mom asked my from the dining room. I smiled. " I would say writing because words are forgotten. And the world would be much quieter." I responded quickly from the kitchen. I could see my mother and James nodding.

"Well-I better go. Thank you for the Ramen Mrs.-" James said, finally realizing he didn't know my last name. "Ms. Danique." My mom said smiling.

I walked over to the dining room to see him off, not disappointed at all. Not disappointed at all. I beat that into my head, even though I didn't quite believe it. "Well, umm bye James. I'm glad you didn't die from eating that casserole" I said awkwardly, not knowing what to say. He nodded, scratching the back of his neck laughing.

"Yeah. Thanks for you know, not letting me soak in the rain." He said, looking down. "Any time." I said as he picked up his backpack and left out of our green back into the now lessening rain.

I looked back at my mom, and she squeaked like an excited teenage girl. "He is PERFECT. DO NOT LET THAT BOY GO." she practically screamed at me. I jumped, genuinely scared. I rolled my eyes and walked over to her, my heartbeat racing for some odd reason. Actually I knew why.

"Mom, like I said before, he is just a co-worker."I repeated, semi-lying. My mom rolled her eyes, like she knew better. "Then why were you blushing practically all the time?" she said to me, laughing.

"I was?!" "Yep. Redas a beet my little ghost." She said laughing. I squeaked. Oh no. Hopefully he didn't notice. I thought frantically. I took a deep breath and said,"Well goodnight and adieu."as I quickly ran up the stair to my safe place.

My mom was still giggling from downstairs. I rolled my eyes as I closed my lavender door and sighed. What a long evening.