The Team Of Ten

Part Seven

The library was warm and inviting from the rain outside. Shelves upon shelves of books offered protection to those who wished to escape and hide away for just a few hours. The blonde walking in through the wide doors of the old church-like building was one of those people. 

Her hair was down and tucked into her hoodie, but she pulled out the golden curls and pulled them up and back into a pony tail. On almost silent feet, she padded her way through the maze of books-searching for something new to take her mind off everything. Off of school where she was an outcast, off of her family as messed up as it was.

Off of everything. 

Books didn't judge people, stories didn't tell you what to wear and what not to wear, a novel wasn't going to shame you for being different. Words on a page were put there by someone who cared about them, crafted them to be a certain way-their way. To others the meaning of words typed out in one particular order, means nothing. But to some they mean the world. 

More than the world. 

They mean everything. 

The girl was one of those people. Her grey eyes scanned over the spines of all sorts of stories, seeing if they grabbed her attention more than any other. A few times she pulled out a book, read the cover, the back, then put them back or stacked them in her arms. A satchel over her shoulder held all the books she needed to return. 

A table in a alcove sounded a thud as she dumped the load of books she held in her arms onto the dark surface. She pulled the sleeves of her dark grey hoodie over her hands and bit her lip. Too many, she had grabbed too many. As she debated which ones to put back, a presence tapped on the back of her mind. 

She put her wall back up, have forgotten it in her stroll through the stacks. But when she felt the familiar curious thoughts of Mr. Kol, the librarian, her walls relaxed. The girl let a ribbon of power course through the isles, to find where the old man was exactly, as she sorted through her books. 

Her mind had always been broader than others, she found that out when she was young and scared her father. The ribbon reached the old man, finding a tense and angry presence-but it definitely was Mr. Kol. That was strange, he usually was cheery and pleasant. 

Blonde hair shifted as she tucked a strand behind her ear and creased her brow. Maybe he was just having a bad day? She used her power to drop the thought of searching the back rows of books into his mind. Not being intrusive, but letting him come to her instead of her risking revealing anything by searching for him. She sat down and crossed her legs, the sound of jeans rubbing together and creaking chairs filling the silence. 

The girl slipped her satchel off and hung it on the back of the winged chair she sat in, the floral pattern making it look like it would fit right in at any old lady's house. 

A sliver head slipped down the row of books that Annabeth sat in. The man was tall, straight backed, classy, he had a certain professor look to him. Some would describe him as a silver fox with his strong jaw line and Greek nose, he was clean shaven and his hair was cut short and brushed back with some sort of hair product that smelled like mint. 

He was the reason that some young ladies came to the library at all, too bad for them they didn't know him well enough to know he didn't particularly care about that. Though the blonde had known him since she was five when she had snuck away from her father to see what the library held. 

"Ah! Annabeth, my dear!" Mr. Kol opened his arms wide, his brown suit jacket shifting and pulling at his white button up with the top button undone. The blonde jumped up from her seat and embraced the man, letting the taller man swallow her whole. If she was being honest he was the closest thing to a dad she ever really had.