Three Words Long

There was no happy ending as Lottie turned the final page in the book. No princess running away with her one and only prince. No restoration of the ruled land. No satisfaction.

She slips the hardback book into her bag before readjusting her oversized glasses.

That's the end of that book, She thought. I wish there could be more happy endings in the world.

It was already 4pm meaning that the library was still open. Lottie would have time to drop off her book and pick up a new one. She slips on her pink flats before leaving her pastel room. There was nowhere else she'd rather be than her own abode except for the laundry room. The trek down the stairs was a bit rougher than usual with the large bag of books in her hands. This week she'd read four new books and was getting closer to her goal of thirty this month. It was a task she'd completed many times before. Reading wasn't just her hobby it was her life.

Her mother is in the kitchen like always fixing lunch. There's a heaviness in the air as Lottie enters. Information that should have been shared years before was just recently revealed and neither knew the best way to treat it. It wasn't something you asked your parents about normally. Weren't they supposed to tell you if you were adopted as soon as you were old enough to understand? Lottie's parents never thought it was important enough to share with her.

"Where are you off to?"

"The library." Her response is short and to the point. There's no need to engage more than she needed to, especially when her mother was busy.

Her mother's face has an expression of knowing. She wants to believe her daughter is sneaking out to be with some boy or at the very least, a party. Both of her parents had given up long ago that she would develop friends. She's reserved, telling everyone that book characters were the only friends she needed. Their exchange was nothing more than this. Lottie takes her fuzzy jacket and opens the door. The cool winds whip in her face making her eyes water. She keeps the books close to her chest not wanting any of them to fly open. The walk to Mildred P Allen Memorial was a short one that Lottie took often. She keeps her head down when she passes a group of boys that go to her school. They look refined but their crude language and vulgar attitudes would suggest otherwise. When they catch sight of Lottie in her cozy outfit they surround her while she walks.

"How's it going Lumpy Lottie?" One of them asks. It was a nickname made by the girl's in her homeroom. She wasn't the skinniest girl at their school but she was by no means what society would call fat or overweight. She was just thicker around the edges.

Lottie ignores them, continuing to walk towards her safe spot at the library. The two boys step in front of her, blocking the way, "Where do you think you're going?"

There was nothing she could say and even if there was it wasn't like she was open to speak her mind. Hundreds of times she'd been called up to the front to do a problem. She never spoke while she was up there and the whispers about what was 'wrong' with her started to get out of hand. Lottie can't go anywhere with the two boys towering above her. They're at least six feet tall. She keeps her head down trying to hold back tears.

"Got nothing to say for yourself?" The other one says.

She shakes her head and tries to go around before one of them grabs her shoulder pushing her back. Lottie stands there still like the statue in front of the library. She could see it in the distance. Its endless shelves of knowledge and musty smell calls out to her with each minute that passes agonizingly. She needs to be there and away from these two. She can't run. It was never her strong suit. Her words are jumbled up in her head with no intention of landing on her tongue to smooth out the situation. She's left with nothing. Her hands are shaking and sweaty. She tries not to bite the inside of her mouth but it's no use. She thinks she's about to cry before someone shouts at the two boys.