Out of the Loop

Chapter Twenty-Three

“So, naturally you’re best friends with the owner of the bookstore,” Derek teased as he nibbled on a cookie.  Food, that was what he needed.  He felt a lot more confident with chocolate in his hand.  If only this room wasn’t stuffy . . . .

Maz smiled.  “Well, when we moved here a while ago, my mom decided to bring me to this store instead of the larger commercial bookstore in the next town over.  I guess we’ve just been coming here ever since.”

“Mason seems like a good guy.”  Man, I’m just nailing the small talk, here.

“Yeah, he’s been the owner for as long as I’ve lived here.  I come here a lot, almost every other day and weekends, so we’re really good friends.”  She gestured to her new book.  “He’ll give me book recommendations, and I’ll bring in books for him to sell in the used books section.”

“This is more like a library for you, isn’t it?” Derek smiled back.  

Maz dunked a strawberry into her cocoa, then bit into it.  “I guess, I hadn’t thought of it that way.  This is certainly more fun than the moldy old library.”

Derek pretended to put glasses on his face and scrunched up his nose.  “What do you mean, this book is overdue?” he said in a shrill voice.  “To the dungeon with you!”  He pointed a finger at Maz for a moment, and they both dissolved into laughter.   

“That sounds just like the school librarian!” Maz giggled after she caught her breath.  

“Hey, I wouldn’t be surprised if the school had a dungeon.  How do you really know where the expelled students go?”  They laughed again, and Derek picked up his cocoa mug.  Score one for goofy and ridiculous, Derek thought.

“So, why did you move here, anyways?  I mean, we’re here because of my dad’s job, but you’ve never really said why you ended up here,” Derek said.   He sipped the cocoa.  “Mmm, this is great.  No wonder it’s your usual.”  He didn’t notice the smile drop off Maz’s face.

“Well . . . .” she started, then trailed off.  

Derek looked up with cocoa on his upper lip.  Even this failed to put a smile on Maz’s face. “Hey, are you okay?”  

Maz nodded, looking down at her lap.  

She took a deep breath.  “When I was seven, we moved to Greenwich - a tiny town to the north - to get out of the city.  It was pretty nice, and I went to the elementary school in Creek.  Then two years ago, there was a car accident in the winter.  A drunk driver hit a patch of ice on the freeway, and flew straight into my dad’s car.  There was a huge pile up, and . . . .” She drew a shaky breath.  “He died.  We moved here afterwards, supposedly to be closer to the school, but I think my mom just wanted to get out of the house.  I guess it’s ironic, because she practically doesn’t leave our house now.  

“The worst part what that everyone kind of pulled away from me when I told them my dad died.  Before, I had a few friends that I was sort of close to, but after that, there wasn’t really anyone there.  Nothing really changed after I got up to the high school last year, either.”  

By this point, Derek had gingerly picked her hands up underneath the table.  “Maz, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she said, looking up at Derek.  “It was a couple of years ago.  I’m not used to it exactly, but it stopped hitting me as hard every time I woke up and remember that he’s not here.”  

Derek reached up with one hand to brush a tear from Maz’s face.  “Can you tell me a bit about him, if it’s alright with you?”

Maz smiled faintly.  “You know, no one ever asks that.  He was always tinkering around with models in the basement, superheroes and other geeky things.  He’s where I get that from, I guess, although my mom’s the reader.  One quirky thing about him is that he never let me be a princess or a witch or anything really mainstream for Halloween.  My dad would trawl consignment stores and put together a Wonder-Woman costume, or a Princess Leia dress, or once a Cyberman when I was really little.  I wonder where those pictures went . . . .”