Crush

Different

Oliver

Dropping my bag on the table, I glanced around the library.

There were a couple of kids sitting at the next table, heads down, concentrating on the open books in front of them.

The librarian, an older lady with a stern expression, sat at her desk, eyeing me over the top of her glasses. I wasn't doing anything illegal to warrant that kind attention, so I smiled at her. She tapped the desk in front of her with a pen and frowned.

Okay then.

Sitting down, I opened my bag and grabbed my sandwich. Since I was meeting with Jenson, I knew I wasn't going to make it to the cafeteria in time to get and eat lunch, so I'd traded my lunch with Mason, who was happy to take my money and treat himself.

I started to unwrap the sandwich Mason had given me, the crunching of the paper sounding loud in the quiet library.

I glanced at the kids on the next table. They were staring at me, their eyes wide, pencils poised mid-air. I looked over to the librarian, to find her scowling pointedly at me. She folded her arms across her chest, daring me to carry on wrapping my food.

Guess I would just eat this later then.

Pushing the sandwich to the side, I rested my forearms on the table, clasped my hands together and tried to look innocent, knowing that the librarian was still glaring at me. I looked around the library, pretending I didn't feel her icy glare boring into the side of my face.

I heard the door to the library open. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the face of my best friend come walking in, smiling tentatively at me.

I smiled back at him, relieved that he was happy to see me.

I was kind of glad to see him.

I had missed him.

He stopped at the chair next to me.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey yourself." I took in his appearance. Dark circles under his eyes, his skin pale, his dark hair tousled, which meant he'd been running his hands through it. He looked ... tired. Worn out. Exhausted.

He pulled the chair away from the table and plopped himself down. Dropping his bag on the floor, he sighed. "So," he started.

I held up my hand to silence him and glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, the librarian was glaring at us, arms still crossed. I could see her clench her jaw, almost daring us to speak again.

Seriously, what the hell was her problem?

Okay, so I know it was a library and we were supposed to be quiet, but come on, lady! We were high school kids. There was only so much of being 'quiet' we could do.

I grabbed my bag and sandwich, stood up and nodded my head towards the door, motioning for Jenson to follow me.

He looked confused, but shrugged, grabbed his bag off the floor and followed me out of the door.

Once on the other side, I let out a loud laugh, hoping the librarian could hear me. Well, she couldn't do anything when I was this side of the library door.

Jenson frowned at me. Shaking my head, I pointed down the hall. "Let's walk and talk. I gotta eat." I held up my sandwich to show him.

He leaned in closer and scrunched up his nose. "You're eating Mason's food?"

I shrugged. "Is his food usually good?" I had no idea. All I knew was that food was never in front of him for too long as he tended to inhale, rather than eat, it.