What's The Point of Falling (Lumity, Human Au)

Chapter 7: Old Friends (Part 3)

Amity POV

       "Okay, so I..." I paused, unsure where to start. 

       I thought for a moment before continuing. "I guess that I didn't really have a lot of friends when I was younger. It was partially my parents fault, but I'd never really pushed back against being isolated from other kids. I didn't really mind that much, actually. My parents had already taught me how to read by the time I was 5, so I kind of, um... felt above the other kids, I guess?" 

       I blushed, feeling self-conscious. "Sorry, that probably sounds really narcissistic."

       "No, I get it. I was one of the gifted kids." Luz reassured me, doing jazz hands.

       "Really?" I asked.

       "Yeah." she replied. "Turned out I just had ADHD though. Reading just happened to be a thing that piqued my interest."

       "Ah." I said. "That makes sense." I was very familiar with the concept of hyper-fixations.

       "Okay, continue your story." Luz told me, leaning closer so she could listen better. I shifted away a little bit, feeling my cheeks reddening slightly.

       "Yeah, okay. So, anyways..." I continued. "I read a lot when I was little. It got to the point where my parents and Emira- she's my older sister- stopped buying me books because I ended up finishing them the same day they bought them. So, naturally, I started going to the library."

       I continued. "I was around seven, so Emira still had to walk me there. She never hung around me though, which I appreciated. She usually wandered into some other part of the library for an hour or so and then came to find me."

       "The children's section was always too noisy and it made me kinda feel self-conscious, so I usually sat at one of the wooden tables in the young adult section. I was reading a book, minding my own business-"

       "What book was it?" Luz interrupted.

       "Huh?" I asked, having been so zoned out that it took me a moment to process her question.

       "I asked what book it was." she repeated herself.

       "Oh, um," I replied. "I'm not sure. It couldn't have been a very advanced one though. I was only seven, my feet couldn't even reach the floor from my chair."

        "Okay. Sorry for interrupting, continue." Luz said.

       "No need to apologize." I replied before picking up where I left off. "So, I was reading, when all of a sudden, there was this girl tapping on my shoulder. I hadn't noticed her approach at all and I was so startled I nearly threw my book at her. When my heart calmed down, I was able to ask her what it was that she wanted."

       I involuntarily smiled to myself, remembering that day. "I really shouldn't have asked, because she immediately launched into a ton of questions; how did I already know how to read, how far away did I live from the library, if I wanted to be her friend. It was a little overwhelming, if I'm honest. No-one my age ever really willingly talked to me, and here she was with a barrage of questions that I couldn't even answer because the fact that she even approached me in the first place was still too much to process."

       "But she just kept on asking me questions, and eventually I was able to start answering them. But the whole ordeal was exhausting. When Emira came to pick me up, she seemed delighted that I'd 'finally made a friend,' which was embarrassing to hear her say out loud in front of Willow. All I wanted was to go home and go to sleep."