Drunk Without Cause

Six.

He approached the bookcase, eyes already searching for a particular book that he had his sights set for. There it was, his hand reaching forward and pulling it off of the shelf.

As he flipped it over, reading the same description that he had read before, just to be sure that he still wanted to read it, someone suddenly spoke up from beside him.

"Hello." The voice was quiet, and it startled him. Looking up to see who it was that disturbed the silence, he found a familiar boy stood beside him.

It was the same boy that had been hanging out with Kiwi and them. He had noticed him around a lot, which sounded pretty sad once he thought about it. To think that he had resorted to still paying attention to that whole group, despite everyone other than Kiwi cutting him off.

"Hi." Ian brought the book down, hoping that Nessa hadn't seen it.

Looking at him up close like this without any distractions, he found that Nessa was a very attractive guy. His hair was very soft looking, and his lips were a gentle tint of pink. And those eyes, the way they looked at him. It was entrancing... intoxicating.

"Do you need something?" Ian automatically did that thing where he sounded like a total douche. He bit down the instant regret at his own words.

"Books." Nessa allowed a small smile to catch his lips as he pointed to the shelf in front of them. "Do you?"

"Books." Ian replied with a bit of sigh, realizing just how stupid he had sounded. God, he was such a jackass.

As he was busy thinking about his own stupidity, facing the books instead of the boy beside him, Nessa made a comment. "Nice book."

Ian's eyes went wide, and he was sure that his cheeks would have been flaming red if it wasn't for his dark skin. "Oh, um, yeah."

The book title read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Which, to Ian's utter embarrassment, was a gay romance. Even if he insisted that he was straight, which he was not. At least, not entirely. But that was something that he did not ever want to talk about.

"I've been meaning to read that one." To further shock Ian, Nessa made that comment. This boy seemed rather interesting, especially since he came across as the silent type. At least, at that party, he had been.

"Yeah, me too." Ian let out a shaky breath, trying to calm down the nervousness building up in his chest.

"I would have already, but I was reading Carry On." Nessa continued.

Hoping that he was right, Ian asked, "By Rainbow Rowell?"

"That's the one. And her graphic novels were really good."

"I never read that one, but I almost bought a copy." Ian admitted, finding it oddly easy to feel comfortable around Nessa. He didn't feel as intimidating as most other people did.

"I'd recommend it." He smiled gently, before glancing back at the shelves. After a brief moment of him awkwardly staring at the ones directly in front of him, he finally began to browse quietly, walking along the shelf as he read the titles.

For some unknown reason, Ian couldn't stop himself from saying something. "What kind of book are you looking for?"

After the question left his lips, he almost instantly regretted it. What was with him? He never treated someone so kindly, especially if he didn't know them. Nessa only shrugged. "Something about..." He seemed to pause, thinking to himself as though searching for the perfect word. "A wonderland."