Finding You || Dylan O'Brien

one (edited)

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The door of the library swung open. The tiny bell chimed, signalling that someone had come inside. The boy who sat behind the counter looked up from his book, and raised his eyebrows at the strange sight.

A girl had come in and she looked like a cat who just took a bath. Her brown hair stuck to her skin, raincoat dripping wet. She was out of breath, her cheeks were flushed. What made him think she was weird was not the way she looked but because she was here at midnight.

She saw him and gave him a small smile, and then walked silently to the YA section.

He put down the book, now intrigued and slightly flustered. She was pretty, but what was she doing in the library at midnight? Was she in trouble? She smiled at him, so that mustn't be the case. He pushed his glasses further up his nose and stood from his seat, walking over to the girl.

He approached slowly. Never before has he ever felt shy about approaching a female customer. Well, he never has had enough experience with that. Not many people go to libraries at midnight. That was why he worked late hours.

He slid into the aisle behind the one the girl was in and peeked through a gap in between the books. The girl had her back to him, and he saw that her long brown hair had been dipped in a pretty auburn at the ends. Her hair was still damp and fell in ringlets past her shoulders.

He watched her, contemplating whether or not he should approach her. She seemed entranced, running her fingers over the rows of books, occasionally picking one out and inspecting it before placing it neatly back on the shelf. After a few minutes, the boy walked out of his aisle and went up to the girl. She heard his footsteps and turned.

She was beautiful. The heating inside had started to warm her flushed cheeks and she seemed to glow. Freckles were scattered over the pink and she looked up at him with long eyelashes.

"Do you..uh..need any help with finding a book?" He asked, clasping his hands awkwardly in front of him. He hadn't done this much before.

The girl smiled again. Her pink lips parted to show her pearly teeth. "It's alright. Thanks..." She looked down at the name tag that was pinned onto his large jumper. "Dylan"

He smiled back, running his hands nervously through his hair. Soon, her pretty eyes entranced him. The words spilled out of his mouth before he could think. "So what's a pretty girl like you doing here all alone?"

Sudden realization of what he had said washed over his face. He turned pink, and his eyes widened. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down, shuffling his feet awkwardly. "I..sorry I didn't know where that came from..I just-"

She giggled.

"It's alright. I've heard worse" she said.

He sighed and laughed lightly with her, relieved that he hadn't made a fool of himself. "What I meant to say was...why are you here?" He asked. "I didn't know people liked to borrow books at midnight"

"It's for my sister. She couldn't sleep. I was trying to find her favorite book" she said quietly.

"What is it? I can help you find it" Dylan said gently.

"I'm looking for the Harry Potter books" she said.

"Sure. Follow me" Dylan grinned, leading her out of the aisle.

As they maneuvered through the aisles, Dylan kept asking the girl questions, wanting to know more about her.

"Isn't Harry Potter a bit lengthy for a bedtime story?" He said.

"She likes it when I read at least a chapter to her before bed" she said, shrugging her bag higher onto her shoulder. "She says I remind her of Hermione"

Dylan abruptly stopped, causing her to crash into him. She stepped back and saw him look up.

"Which Harry Potter book were you after?"

"Just the first one thanks" she smiled.

Dylan reached up and easily picked out a red book from the row. He handed it to her. "Anything else?" He asked.

She bit her lip, eyes floating around in thought. Dylan's eyes sparkled in amusement. He would've kissed her then and there if it wasn't for the fact that he had just met her.

"Any recommendations for Young Adult Fantasy?" She asked eventually.

He scoffed. "Other than Harry Potter?"

She laughed. "Yes please. Something interesting"

He looked around, running his hands through his hair and trying to remember every fantasy book he had read. It was one of those moments when he felt the urge to say something important and reply to the other person, though he didn't have the correct answer.

"Well, I don't know if you'd like this one..." He trailed off, walking away from her suddenly.

She followed him, smiling as he paced around like she wasn't there anymore. It was as if finding a book for her was more important than life. He stopped at the Young Adult aisle, where they had begun, and picked out a book and handed it to the girl.

"The Hobbit - J.R.R Tolkien. It's old, I know, but it's filed under YA and it's actually a pretty good book. I'm reading it now" he said.

She turned it over and had a brief look at the blurb and then smiled. "This sounds like a wonderful book. Thank you, that's all I needed"

He led her to the front desk, next to the door in which she came. As she was digging out her library card, Dylan stole a brief look at her. She was dryer now, and her auburn-dipped brown hair was a little frizzy and tangled.

She's right. Thought Dylan. She does look like Hermione.

"Here it is!" The girl said, more to herself than to Dylan.

She handed him the library card and he started to scan her books. 

"Thanks" she said as Dylan put the books into her shoulder bag.

She didn't make any attempt to move, and he didn't indicate for her to go away. The pair looked at each other for a moment, taking in what had just happened and trying to remember all the good things. The library grew silent, except for the patter of rain on the high windows. Dylan didn't want her to leave, and he got the feeling that she didn't want to go either.

"I'm...I'm sorry" she breathed after a while, mesmerised. "I've gotta go"

He nodded. "You know, I don't think its fair for you to know my name and for me not to know yours" 

She grinned again. "It's Astrid"

"Well then, Astrid," he said, unable to contain his own smile. "I've also given you a free book mark. Happy reading"

She waved, reluctant to part, but eventually stepped through the doors she stepped through earlier. As soon as she did, she started digging through her bag. She pulled out the bookmark Dylan had given her, a simple green slip of laminated paper. And to her amusement, his name and number was written in neat curly handwriting on it.