A Little Bit Grown Up

Chapter 1

'I don't understand why my body and mind seem to be on such different pages, all due to a boy and his stupid pretty face.  I mean, I understand it's a hormonal response, and that our bodies have been genetically and instinctually wired to reproduce and find a mate, b-'

"Crap."

Snapped pencil tip.

She rolled her eyes, disgusted with herself now that she's taken a few seconds to look over what she's written.  She threw her now broken pencil to the side, shattered pieces of led now littering her desk as she folded her arms over her chest and puffed up her cheeks.  Even her writing utensil seemed to be done with her, and in the back of her mind she completely understood.

She scanned her eyes around the library, trying to find the nearest pencil sharpener since she actually did have some work to do.  Finding one, she carefully slid her chair back and allowed her feet to carry her over to the little desk where one of the printers was also perched.  This high school wasn't exactly  the classiest, and the librarian had given up on trying to keep people quiet a while ago, so she didn't have to worry about the noise.

Frustration and confusion quickly overtook her features when she stuck her utensil in...and nothing happened.

She groaned to herself quietly as she tried multiple times - out, in, out, in, out, in, out - and each one had the same outcome.

"What the f-"

"Hey, Riley!"  She turned, seeing Karsen, a fellow junior, and some of his buddies behind him snickering.  His eyes were red and unfocused, a lazy, drunken smile playing on his lips.  "I may be totally stoned," his friends start giggling madly behind him, causing him to laugh too before quickly turning and muttering a quick 'shut up' while still chuckling and looking euphorically proud of his joke, "but even I can read."

She furrowed her brow, and Karsen quickly nodded his head down to the sharpener.  She picked it up and turned it to the side, not seeing anything, but then turned it to the other side and found a nicely placed note that said 'OUT OF ORDER' in very clear font.

Oh.

Now she felt dumb.

"It's okay," the boy continued, one of his lanky arms coming to rest around her shoulders.  He leaned closer to her, his jet black hair tickling the side of her head as he cupped his hand around the side of his mouth and whispered in her ear.  "Happens to the best of us."  He then pulled back and started giggling again, as if it was a secret joke between them.  

"I think there's another one, like-" he flailed his arm and pointed to some place behind her, "somewhere over there...I think...like, another one?  Over there.  Yeah.  That one."

"Thanks, bud."  She patted him on the shoulder, that effectively dismissing him as he nodded quite a few more times than necessary and walked off with his group.

She wandered over towards the general area he pointed out, pleasantly pleased to see that he actually was right even in his...state.  They weren't exactly friends, but they did converse a few times during class or in passing, and she knew he was smart...but he enjoyed rolling a joint every day, and that put a damper on most of his grades and intellectual reputation.

She smiled as she heard and felt the familiar hum of the sharpener coming to life.  The group of students beside her didn't seem to mind at all, but she still felt bad since a few of them seemed to be in serious conversation over a textbook in front of them, and intensely staring at a laptop screen as they did what looked like calculus homework.  There were two however that were just playing a game, and she felt a bit better after seeing that.