"I'm up on the top floor." Ryan's text buzzed my phone alive in my hand. I immediately looked down to read the message, forgetting for just a second that Natalie was still walking to the right of me talking my ear off.
"Are you even listening?" Her voice pushed through the muffled barrier I had set up.
"Wha-Well yeah. I'm listening, sorry. I was trying to-."
"Ok, well, anyways as I was saying..." She continued while looking back the way we were walking.
We were on the first floor of the library, heading towards the stairs. Natalie veered off to the right and heading straight for the elevator. She pressed the button and pushed herself in first as soon as the silver doors slid open. I tried to follow as she hit the 4th floor and the close button, making sure to not let anyone else on board.
I looked through the closing sliver of light to see a young woman with a plum colored blazer and black skirt on in professional heels quickly marching toward us with books ready to fall from her hands.
Before the door could stop I instinctively grabbed the door with my foot.
"Hey!" Natalie's high pitched whine echoed into the hallway as she still held the button.
"Just... give me a second." I argued looking down at her with a disbelieving glare.
"Fine." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms looking away with pursing lips through annoyed eyes.
The woman, who had to be in her late twenties came stomping up to the door with a distinctive clamping of her shoes, "Oh thank you! I'm so sorry to hold you, I'm running very late!" She tried to explain through her panting.
"Oh don't worry about it." I smiled.
She nodded behind her black square rimmed glasses as she entered the elevator. Looking at the floors and nodded again as she saw the "4" button lit up.
She sat against the opposite wall, still trying to catch her breathe. I looked at the stack of hardback books she carried. They stacked from her waist all the way up her torso and met with her chin and looked like they weighed her down.
Without thinking I offered, "Do you need any help? I can carry some of those books for you?"
She double took as if she wasn't expecting me to talk to her. "I-I'm sorry?"
"Do you need any help?" I repeated, trying to pronounce more clearly while pointing at her books. Americans always need to hear every syllable to understand.
"O-oh... no, no. Thank you, though." She sputtered as she recognized what I had asked, her cheeks turning more red than before.
I awkwardly fell back into my spot. Unconsciously grabbing my arm with my opposite hand.
*Americans are so strange.*
I looked down to see Natalie glaring up at me before looking back down at her phone. She began typing away on her phone in silence. The silence in between each buzz as the elevator passed floor after floor couldn't take any longer.
Eventually I looked down at my feet, watching the spinning of the Nike symbol along my shoes as the light reflected off the white leather. I was forced to wear a dark pair of blue jeans for how cold it was. Even pulling out an old puffy winter jacket to cover up. Under I wore my favorite white sweatshirt that I had pulled the hood out to use against the harsh wind.
*I thought they said the winter was almost over here. When did this cold front come through?*
*This place is so weird.* I thought as I finally heard the buzzing ceased and the doors slid open.
CITEȘTI
When It Rains
DragosteIt's just a love story: Boy meets boy. Boy falls for boy. Boy gets in trouble. Boy helps boy. Boy falls for boy. Ryan Byrne lives the re-closeted life. He works hard in school, he stays socially active, and he does everything in his power to make s...
