The Space Between Us

Chapter 17 ~ Textbooks

Tuesday, as always, was very busy for me. Four classes and then work. Thankfully, probably since I was so busy, the time went faster than usual. I soon found myself back in the apartment that night, stretched out across the couch, watching a YouTube video.

River came out of his room.

"Holly?"

I paused the video and looked over at him. "Yes?"

"Did you... go into my room?"

I sat up straight. "What? No. Why do you ask?"

"Some things are moved..." he said, frowning more to himself than me. "I was wondering if you might've gone in there."

"No, I definitely didn't," I said firmly.

"Okay." It didn't sound like he fully believed me, but he went back to his room anyway.

That was weird. Anyway, back to YouTube, my beloved.

After watching for an hour, I decided I really needed to do homework. It was already 9 p.m., and I probably had a good 2-3 hours of homework to do tonight.

I put earbuds in and sat in front of my laptop and tablet. I loved listening to music while doing homework. It almost made it feel like I wasn't doing homework. Almost.

I didn't know when River came into the living room, but I looked up at one point and saw him sitting across from me, earbuds in, typing away on his laptop.

I smiled and went back to work.

A half-hour later, I got up to get something. I felt River's eyes following me into the kitchen and then back to the table.

I set a blueberry muffin in front of him on a napkin. He glanced up at me, and I nodded. A small smile on his face, he took the muffin. I ate my own and continued to work on homework. All in silence, but all was well.

This was almost exactly how our Wednesday went, as well. I came home from work, River came home from practice, and we sat at the dining room table doing homework in silence. Our earbuds in, our hands flying across the keyboards, our books out. For about an hour, we took a break from our own homework and worked on the art project for Professor Kindler. And then we were back to our own worlds. Later, I set some desserts and bread from the bakery on the table, and by the end of the night, everything was eaten between the two of us.

And then it was Thursday. The day we encountered a small problem: I had taken River's textbook, and he had taken mine.

I panicked. He left already for practice, and I had just come back from my morning run when I realized that I had his book. And since I couldn't find my own book, I knew he had taken it.

I needed that book for class!

Hurriedly, and almost dropping my phone, I texted him. It was the first time I was going to message him. Thankfully, earlier in the week, he had messaged me his name, so I had his number.

I sent him four texts:

River!

Sorry to bother you... but I think you have my textbook

And I have yours

Is there somewhere we can meet to exchange them?

I rocked on my heels for a second, staring at the messages. He wasn't replying, and I had to get ready for my two classes today.

Driving to school was painful because I didn't look at my phone but anticipated the messages. When I parked and finally took out my phone again, I was relieved to see River's name across the screen.

Can you meet at the library at 0930?

I quickly texted back Yes! and then threw my phone into my backpack. I had five minutes to get to the library.

I marched across campus and made it right on time. I looked around the wide, oval lobby, spinning in a slow circle, trying to spot River.

He wasn't hard to find. When he walked into the building, eyes were naturally drawn to him. His slightly messy hair, his athletic build, and his straight posture all commanded attention. Not to mention, his face looked fresh and sharp, as though he had walked out of a photoshoot.

It was easy for me to overlook his attractiveness when it was only us in a room, hunched over our laptops, doing our separate homework. But here, in the library with the tall ceilings and long windows, with students glancing in his direction, River fit right in. He was cool.

He spotted me and nodded his head over to the right. I followed him at a distance as he made his way to a row of bookshelves.

Ah, of course. He wanted to be out of sight.

It was probably for the best, anyway. I didn't want a target on my back after these years of successfully lying low.

"I'm glad you texted me about this; I didn't even notice that I grabbed yours," he said, swinging his backpack around and unzipping it. He pulled out my Art in Modern-Day Media textbook.

"I'm glad to get rid of this thing," I said, taking out his heavy Business Practices for the Smart Sportsman. "I mean, yours is huge."

"That's what sh-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence."

He grinned at me. "Thanks again, Holly. See you later."

I watched him disappear quickly, heading back out to the front of the library. I heard a few people call out his name to say hello as he went. I smiled to myself and put my book away.

A girl stepped in front of me. I met her in the eyes.

I didn't recognize her. She had straight brown hair and bangs that covered her eyebrows. She had a wild look in her eyes.

"What are you doing with him?" she breathed, nostrils flaring.

What was her problem?

"I... we were giving back each other's books..." I said, unsure of what or how much I should say.

She stepped closer. Did I need to punch her?

"Don't talk to him." She said the words with such force that I believed she could probably kill me.

Too bad for her, I had a brother who loved action movies. He taught me how to defend myself. This girl didn't scare me.

Okay, I knew my last attempt to fight with the frying pan didn't quite work out. But I could take this girl in a fistfight, that much I knew.

Anyway, I put on a bored expression.

"It was only to exchange books. Don't worry, you can have him."

I walked out of there, wanting to put as much distance between myself and that crazy chick as I could. The words I said stuck with me, though, as I walked across campus to my first class of the day.

You can have him.

Maybe not that girl, but did I want any other to have him? "Have" sounded a bit... possessive. I was just protective of River, that was all. He still didn't clear up the whole girlfriend thing, either. I should ask him about that.