Perfect Illusion

Five - "I'm Starting To Think I'm In A Twilight Movie."

So ever since I hit him, we have only conversed through stares. And it's really creepy.

I'm already starting to think that I'm in a Twilight movie.

~~~~

"Tell me why are we here again?" Nate asks as we enter the bookstore.

I don't know what kind of hold the bookstore had on me. I don't know whether it was the smell of the freshly printed books or the sheer number of lives that have been penned on paper. But all I know is that it is heaven.

My kind of heaven.

The wooden panels hammered together support the books and present them in their utmost glory. A row of shelves itself hold the books in a spectrum of wild colours, illuminating the whole store.

I stand there for a while, taking it all in. It's been a while since I have been here. I have been ordering books online these past few months instead of going to a physical bookstore. I missed the thrill of visiting the place, the excitement I get when I see the book that I want, a soft white glow bathing it, as if it was just for me.

Okay. Now I'm exaggerating.

But still.

When I finally stop gawking, I shake my head and pull Nate in with me.

The both of us have just finished our classes. I was just about to go to the bookshop with Cara to pick up a few things when Nate approached me outside the apartment. He told me he was going out anyways so he might as well just take me. I felt sort of grateful for his offer because Cara always hates it when I drag her to the bookstore. She, unlike me, loathes books, and whenever we go there, she is always begging for me to hurry up so we could go get Starbucks or something.

I don't know. Cara's weird like that.

"What are we doing here?" Nate's eyes meet mine, a hint of curiosity glimmering in his eyes.

"To get a pet giraffe," I said. "I was thinking a blue one with pink spots, maybe a little bit shorter so she would be able to fit through our door-"

Nate rolls his eyes. "Okay, I get it. You're getting all sarcastic with me."

Patting him on the shoulder, I gesture him to follow me. "We're going to go get books, dumbass."

He chuckles, low and deep. "Lead the way, Alex."

We navigate our way through the rows of bookshops. Occasionally, I pause to see which section we are at. I finally find the section that I intend to go, and I search for my books there. As I stroll down the rows of bookshelves, Nate follows behind me awkwardly, his hands shoved into the pockets of his ripped jeans. My fingers trail horizontally along every book, taking in the words on the spine, and the bright colours that reel me into the book.

"What are you looking for?" Nate asks, and I feel his presence behind me.

I turn around to say to him, smiling, "There are several books that have been released these few months that I need to get my hands on."

Need isn't a strong enough word for it.

I finally spot one that I wanted, and grab it from the second bookshelf. "There it is."

Nate stands beside me now, and he peers over to see what book I have picked out. His eyes widen and then a low laugh rumbles from under his breath.

"My Life With The Walter Boys?"

I blush deeply. Dammit. I knew he was going to make fun of me for it. My grip on the book tightens as I slide it underneath my arm. "Shut up. It's amazing okay?"

Nate lifts his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I didn't say anything."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You didn't have to. I can tell you're already teasing me in your mind."

He casts a toothy grin at me. "You know nothing of what's going on in my mind, Alex."

I whirl around and tilt my head sideways. "Really?"

He wriggles his eyebrows in amusement. "Really." After a while, he adds, "You want to know what I'm thinking right now?"

I gulp. I turn away again, and start to pace again, but he catches up to me. He places a hand on the edge of my shoulder and leans down to meet my ear. "I think," He says, his breath hot against me, "That you're really cute when you're excited about books."

Nate thinks I'm cute.

My heart hammers wildly against my chest. I try not to let him see that I'm blushing, because I don't want him to think his compliment got to me. Instead of replying, I continue to make my way through the maze of books.

I snatch another book up from another bookshelf. It's way thicker than the other one. I am about to place with underneath my arm together with the previous one, but before I can do that, Nate takes it from my grasp and his eyes scan over the title.

"City of Heavenly Fire," He reads the title. His dark eyes scan over the book cover and grins at the picture of the main character of the book, "Nice. Badass girl in white with a sword."

"It's not a sword," I grab the book away from him. "It's called a seraph blade."

"A what?" He blinks in confusion.

I roll my eyes and walk away from him.

Mundanes. They never understand anything.

We go about like this for another half an hour. I scour through the rest of the bookshelves and pick up the remaining books that I intend to buy. We banter back and forth for a while, with him looking through all my books, and me having to tell a brief summary of the books.

"This one is about a human girl who falls in love with an alien," I point to one of the hardcovers, "And they go around kicking ass and saving Earth from an alien invasion."

"Nice." Nate nods his head. "How about this one?" He points to another book.

"This book is about a devil and an angel falling in love, and they have to unite forces in order to stop the evil chimaera from ruling their world."

"You read very hardcore books." He chuckles as he places the books back into the pile. "I like a girl who can handle deep shit like this."

I laugh. "Okay, now you're being sarcastic."

He grins. "You really read a lot, do you?"

"Yeah." I blush. "Honestly, you know why I do? Real life sucks ass. It's better to escape somewhere else."

"You write a lot of stories too?"

"Yes. But only short stories though. I can't really write any longer than that. My attention span is too narrow."

Nate smiles.

Then I add, "you can come over later if you want. I can.. Show my short stories to you, if you want to read them."

His face lights up. "I'd like that."

He takes the pile of books from me, and places them on the counter. The cashier asks for my membership card and I give it to her without any hesitation. Nate stands beside me, his huge arms folded over the books. As I wait for the cashier to print my receipt, I ask Nate.

"You sure you don't have to do anything today? I mean, I know you'd rather be hanging out with your roommates than with me."

Nate furrows his eyebrows. "No way." He replies, "Daniel's always not around because he's too busy having sex with every girl on campus. And Simon, as usual, is locked in his room playing this new game he had been talking about for some time now. So yeah. I'd rather be hanging out with you any day."

The corners of my lips lift to a smile. After the cashier hands me my receipt, Nate helps me carry my books and the both of us leave the bookstore.

It was a good day.

I certainly hope it's not going to be the last.