Ordinary

1

First time they meet. February 13 2.31 p.m.

With his hands in the pockets of his trousers, Roan stumbles into the bookshop to see if they finally got that copy of the biggest masterpiece ever. The Picture Of Dorian Gray.

He kind of lost his original one somehow.

Black leather jacket and a white shirt, one annoying strand of hair constantly in his eyes. Someone said it looked hot, though.

He finds his way to the bookshelves in the back, where you could always find a few forgotten gems. It was quiet today, he thought. But it was Monday, not his usual day to go out and look for new books. Roan purses his lips and lets his fingers trail over the books on the shelves. Loads of Shakespeare there, but he couldn't let himself get distracted. Oscar Wilde is what he should be looking for.

In some empty spots you could see the books from the other side of the shelves, and with a groan Roan realizes there's many books to go, if he has to check everything.

You see, there used to be an old lady to help him find stuff, but she fell ill and decided to quit. So now there's a 20 year old girl who wears her hair up in a tight bun and uses red lipstick. And there's always a bible on the corner of her desk, a hint to her being very religious.

Nothing wrong with that, obviously. But some are a bit- scary. Or he just doesn't like people at all. It's just her eyes that follow you everywhere and make you feel like you're doing something wrong.

So, he just decided to find it himself.

Aaaand he's almost done with the back as well. Still not there. It's gotta be somewhere, right?

Roan's fingers are tapping on his thighs out of frustration. He's probably just wasting time. He looks around, finding another shelf it might be in, when his eyes land on a girl reading, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. But it's the book she's reading that caught his attention.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray.

Damn it.

That must've been the last copy. His hand rests in his neck as he watches her flip another page. She seems to have almost finished it. Then she'll put it back, right? Yes. She must.

He looks over his shoulder to find the lady from the store, but realizes they're out of sight. That smartass is reading a book without buying it.

Now, he doesn't want to seem, you know. Creepy, or anything. So, he quickly grabs Frankenstein from a shelf and leans against the wall, opening the book at a random page. It shouldn't be long, so what bad could it do?

Somehow it actually turned out to be pretty interesting, and Roan had gotten a bit lost in the chapter when he hears some shuffling near him. When he looks up, the girl closes the book and gets up from the floor, throwing her bag over her shoulder. Quickly, Roan continues reading, wanting to wait until she puts it back and he can take it. But to his surprise, the footsteps stop right in front of him.

"Here."

He looks up, his eyes meeting with a grey pair. The girl is standing in front of him, a smug look on her face and holding up The Picture Of Dorian Gray. "What?"

She pushes it into his hands and folds her arms. "I hope you enjoyed your book while you were waiting. Frankenstein wasn't one of my favorites, honestly, but still. I recommend Oscar's work." She adds with a strange accent, and taps on the cover.

Roan looks at the work in his hands. "I- Yeah, I know it. Read it like a thousand times already."

The shorter girl (who seemed to have a lot of attitude for her height) hums, raising her eyebrows a little. "Impressive. I haven't met a lot of people around here who truly appreciate it."