A Thousand Words | ✓

Chapter Thirteen: A Thousand Little Girls

Ignore weird mistakes and typos, enjoy :) 

dedicated to @lunarlevana_for the amazing trailer that she made me! 

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: A Thousand Little Girls 

Librarians were weird.

I know librarians are supposed to be strict about enforcing the 'whispering' rule, but I didn't expect the school librarian to be so freakishly religious about it that people would hide behind the bookshelves just to avoid her. Actually feeling her spit as she shushed me harshly and then getting a dragging lecture about how students need complete peace and quiet to study and that the library was made for that purpose had me leaving in the middle of her telling me a statistic.  I thought those kinds of librarians existed only in books and movies, not in GreenRidge High.

With the internet down at the apartment, and since I'm actually attempting to keep my grades up before the end of the semester, I dragged my happy ass down to the library to find something that might help me understand biology more. Because, right now, I have no idea what the hell Ms. Rolland is droning on about every day. Trying to understand what she's talking about gives me a migraine.

"Excuse you! I am speaking to your, mister, do not walk away from me!"

I rolled my eyes as she continued to call out reprimands at me. I guess I'll just ask Mark if he could give me a hand. He should be thrilled that I'm making an effort in school, but I doubt that a geography teacher like him will understand biology. Especially since he probably hasn't looked at these kinds of topics for years now.

I pushed open the library doors and made my way towards the exit, fully determined to get home before it gets too dark out. Just as I turned the corner, I caught sight of a figure struggling to stuff a stack of books into her backpack.

"Jessica?"

As expected, Jessica turned at the sound of my voice, saying, "Oh, hey."

She stopped in her tracks and bent down to place her bag on the floor, shoving a variety of books into it. Some of the books weren't ones someone would read out of free will, either. Biographies on people like Theodore Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr, a couple of math textbooks and some slim history books didn't sound so interesting. Once realising that she couldn't fit all the books in her bookbag, Jessica stood up with some in hand.

"Thirsty for some knowledge, sunshine?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Just bringing home some books for the kids," she explained, the corner of her lips turning up in a smile. "What about you?"

"I was lectured by the librarian about the importance of keeping quiet in the library while trying to look up a few stuff on the computers there. I kind of just left in the middle of her talking," I said with a one shoulder shrug.

Jessica laughed easily. "Seems like something you would do. What were you trying to look up?"

"I didn't really understand the bio lesson today in class, so I was trying to research about it in the library. Internet's down at my place, and we have a test next Wednesday." I scratched the back of my neck, feeling slightly embarrassed about my words. Not what you expected from the school's 'bad boy,' but, hey, I'm trying for Rebecca here.