The unexpected

Part 2

"Hey, you have something ugly just there," Nick said then and lifted his hand to me, lightly stroke my cheek and added in a velvety voice with softer face and smoldering hazel eyes, "Oh, how embarrassing, that's just your face."

I couldn't keep myself from reacting the way I did. He had never been this close and I had not felt his touch since three years ago. I blushed deeply under his tingling touch, all too aware of the possibility that it was showing. But it also made my blood boil bitterly and heart sore for all of his foul insults. After three years of seeing only this side of his personality, I thought I was used to it by now and stopped imagining that there was more to him than sports, cars, girls, drinking and partying. I had not seen him without either of those things surrounding him in a very long time. Until now, I realized suddenly alarmed. I looked around in the library; it was almost empty of people, and I didn't recognize his constant little 'entourage' anywhere. Probably because neither of them is too keen on visiting the library on a rainy Thursday afternoon, and come to think of it, he is not the type either. It really was unusual to see him here, in the library on a day like this, out of the character for him even, to be at the library now when even regular library visitors had abandoned it on such an austere day.

He stroke my cheek lightly again and lingered there. "Do I make you nervous?" he asked before he dropped his hand, interrupting my thoughts, not in his usual contemptful fake velvety voice, but in that deep soft one that I had not heard in so long. I refocused on him, confused by this uncharacteristic behaviour.

"You're blushing and avoiding to meet my eyes," he clarified with a grin that made me want to deny, push back and retort anything that came out of his mouth, at the same time as his low voice was unwittingly pulling me in.

"Nervous? No, no, more like guarded, doubtful, suspicious... Hey, will you be okay without your group of followers? I thought you all were joined by the hips." I tried to cover up for my blush and took on an ignorant laugh, but it came out nervous and too thin. "This must be the longest I have seen you without them, and the only time you have addressed me without them around to gurgle at your oh so very hilarious jokes." I said. As I was talking I couldn't help noticing a librarian run by in a hurry, followed by more rushed librarians and the janitor, and they all stumbled down the grand stairs in their haste, just like my words stumbled as I was distracted. There was a horrid thunder that sounded from outside as the library staff vanished out of sight. I looked back to Nick. He straightened his posture and was looking back at me with no trace of humor. Did I say something right, I wondered.

"As I said, we are going to meet up later..." He was saying but my attention was drawn to the shouting and commotion that sounded from the level floor of the library. I stood up and leaned over the glass paling curiously to look down to the ground floor, where there seemed to be some kind of nervous havoc among the staff that made me uneasy until I remembered that Nick was waiting for my response.

"Oh, okay," I answered whatever Nick had said and turned back to him. He raised his eyebrows at me. "What?" I asked, forgetting to sound tough.

"Did you hear what I said?" he asked, dubious.

"No. I'm sorry. What did you say?" I asked distractedly.

He just stared at me, and then said: "Nothing of importance."

I scoffed at that, doubtful. "Since when do you admit to that something you have said is absolutely useless?" I replied, already giggling at my own quick remark, and then I was momentarily reminded of the last time that I had been laughing in Nick Reynolds' company and stopped with a snort.

He just looked at me. And then to my astonishment he chuckled and said "Actually, that –" and the rest of his words were muffled by the loud siren signal that broke out all around us. I jumped and turned around to look at the few people that were there to get any hint of what was happening, but their equally stunned and momentarily frozen faces told me that they seemed to be in the same uninformed and abruptly horrified state as I was.