A close call to midnight

Finn

I want to leave the library at 5 p.m. because, after 45 minutes of waiting, I'm sure she won't come anymore. I feel weird about it, though. But then, just as I take my backpack from the floor, I see her running towards me in the hallway. 

"Sorry, Finn, I, erm, sort of got held up." Belle sounds very out of breath.

 I want to say it is fine, but I suddenly lost my speaking ability. Damn, how does that always happen when we are together?

I take a good look at Belle. Her eyes are very red, and her face looks puffy. It seems like she has been crying. Fuck. I wonder what has happened to her. I immediately feel protective over her.

"Are you OK? It looks like you have been crying..." I ask carefully, trying not to make her more upset. 

Belle looks at me with a weird face. "What? No?" Her answer sounds very fake. She is clearly lying to me.

 '' Thanks for waiting; I really appreciate it. I am sorry for not having a cellphone; otherwise, I could have texted you about it, '' Belle says as we walk into the library.

"Dont worry about it for real; I was just worried something happened. I did not mind the waiting." That was true. I had talked with some classmates who also needed to work on some of their school stuff in the library most of the time anyway.

 "Nothing has happened, trust me," Belle looks at me and smiles. She sounds way too convincing for me actually to believe it. 

"Hello," Belle calls to the woman at the counter. The old librarian looks up with a smile when she sees Belle. Belle walks up to the counter, and they have a little chat. I listen in on their conversation as casually as possible.

"Look, I thought you might find this interesting." The librarian shows Belle a pamphlet.

 "You can't be serious! here in this city?" Belle exclaims. I'm curious what it is about. The woman nods at Belle, sharing her excitement. "Yet it is true, she gives lectures throughout the whole country." 

"Oh wow, I have wanted to attend one of her lectures since I was little'" Belle says. 

"Wonderful, right?" That's the librarian. 

"By the way, the book you ordered has arrived; it is in rack 3; you can take it with you. It is yours."

 "Oh, very nice, thank you!"

 Then, the librarian slides something toward Belle over the counter. "Here, some mints for during your reading."

 "I am not here to read," Belle says. "I'm going to work on an assignment for English; we have to write a report on our favorite poem." 

"Let me guess: your favorite poems are The Wasteland, right, or....maybe Sonnet 18?" The librarian looks at Belle questioningly. Belle nods. 

"I initially wanted to go for Sonnet 18, but in the end, I thought that was a bit too cliché, so yeah, The Waste Land it is. ''

 I am shocked by how many words come out of Belle's mouth. She usually is not very talkative.

"Wonderful choice, good luck, and if you need anything, just come here," says the woman behind the counter. "Yes, have a nice day," Belle says. The woman gives her a friendly nod. 

The whole conversation makes me wonder how often Belle comes here. Belle gives me a little wave and walks further into the library. 

I follow her immediately. She walks to a bookcase with a large sign above it: 

Ordered! Not loanable. 

Belle's fingers slide over the books until she finds the one she is looking for, and then she quickly leaves through it. I try to read what the cover says.

To the lighthouse. 

I remember the famous Virginia Woolf wrote it. At my old school, I once had to do a report on her. 

It seems like Belle only now realizes that I'm still there. She looks at me a little too long and then waves me over. We sit in the right corner of the library, where there are several tables and chairs.

 I nervously look around, not really knowing how to act. Why does this girl make me so nervous?

"OK, so for this report, we must understand the poem's meaning," Belle says. Of course, after memorizing it, I already know the first line by heart. "April is the cruelest month," I mutter.

"OK, and what do we think that means?" Belle asks.

I think about it for a little while, I want to impress Belle with my answer.

''Could he be comparing April with love because in April, it is spring, and spring is love, and love is also quite grim, sometimes?" I feel like I am making no sense at all. I dont know why I thought I could say something clever about this. I regret opening my mouth, but Belle looks at me in surprise. Her blue eyes are even more prominent than usual.

"Wow, well thought, Finn! But... it means something else,"

I like how she makes my name sound; it reminds me of the way she always cuts her toast into little pieces.

Belle starts to explain what the first sentence means, but I don't understand much of it.

"You get it?"' She asks after explaining. If I'm honest, I didn't understand any of it. "Erm, yes?" I don't sound too sure, but I don't think Belle notices because she continues:

"OK, now the 2nd sentence,"

"Wait, was that explanation just the first sentence?" I look at her perplexed. She just talked about one sentence for over five minutes. I thought she was just explaining the whole poem. Not one sentence!

This report is going to take us hours then...

Belle bursts out laughing because I look so confused; I mean real laughing with sound, not just a smile. It is the first time I have heard her do that.

It's so contagious that I burst out laughing too. ''Yes, that was only one sentence, so we better hurry up,'' Belle says.

And that is what we do.