Two people bond over an overdue library book.
Olivia grabbed the book off of the shelf and went to check out. It was the only thing in this library that even vaguely seemed interesting to her.
She was never really a reader or a bookworm. Books weren't her groove. She was the popular girl, the musician.
She got in line and waited for the nerds to finish discussing Shakespeare.
"Hurry up," she said, tapping her foot impatiently as they in front of her placed their books in the deposit and got them stamped.
When she finally reached the front of the line, the young, curly-haired librarian smiled at her. "Name?"
"Olivia Rodrigo," she said, chewing her gum obnoxiously.
"Excuse me," the boy chuckled, "there's no gum in the library."
"Who cares what you think?" she said scornfully.
She glared down at the name tag that said, Curl Up with a Great Book! Joshua.
He gave her one of those looks. "Hand over the gum," he said.
The girl spit it out into his hand, which he deposited into the trash can.
"Alright, Olivia...Rodrigo," he muttered as he typed it up on his computer. "You have an overdue library book," Joshua said, analyzing the report.
"What?" the brunette sputtered. "I don't even check out books."
"Sorry, but it's titled, A Beginner's Guide to Playing the Guitar?"
Olivia searched her brain and snapped her fingers.
"I think I checked that out when I was seven and I wanted to play the guitar."
"Fabulous!" Josh shrugged. "Unfortunately, you have to pay a fine of $20. Or, I can come to your house and we can search for the book. I honestly don't want your money, I just want my books."
"I'm not someone to invite a random stranger into my house," Olivia said.
"Well, try finding it solo," Josh said. "Good luck."
After one week of (not even caring) to search, Olivia came back.
"Fine," Olivia said, tossing her long hair over her shoulder.
Josh climbed from the seat behind his desk and followed her out.
Olivia drove through LA, blasting Taylor Swift on her radio. "Could you not?" Josh groaned. "Literally why is everyone obsessed with this woman?"
"Shut up!" Olivia said, dialing the button even louder to purposely annoy the boy next to her.
He moaned in agony and opened the car window.
No one in the world:
Me: AGONY!!! THAT CAN CUT LIKE A KNIFE!!!!
When they finally got to Olivia's house, Josh gaped.
"You live HERE?" he said in shock of the large mansion that stood before him.
"Yeah, it's no big deal," she shrugged.
They entered the house, and Olivia looked around. "How the hell are we supposed to find a book here? There's so much space to cover."
"Divide and conquer," Josh winked.
They spent the next two weeks searching the humongous mansion for the book. Josh claimed that he would know what it looked like, since he'd memorized the barcodes of every library book.
"We are not giving up until we find...that...book!" he groaned as he dug under the couch to find an unbelievable amount of dust bunnies.
"Why do you even read, anyways?" Olivia asked, looking at the stack of books under the coffee table.
Josh sorted through the piles and set them back up in apple pie order. "It's...my getaway. From reality, from the real world. Sometimes, you just pick up a book, and you're transported to another world. You don't have to worry about anything, and all you need is your imagination."
For once, Olivia was silent.
"Maybe I never really thought of it that way," she said.
"Yeah? Well, you don't think about a lot of things besides yourself," Josh chuckled.
Finally, their last stop was her room.
Josh's mouth was agape.
"Do you not have a housekeeper, woman?" he yelled.
"I do, but she's on vacation," Olivia said, chewing her gum. "It's a permanent vacation, as far as I'm concerned."
Josh shuddered and dug under the bed, where various sneakers and clothes lay. In the far corner where cobwebs grew, he saw a rectangular figure. It was covered in dust and spot, but no doubt the outline of a book.
His heart skipped a beat. Josh bent over to grab the book, and his head hit the bed. "Ow!"
He rubbed the sore spot and crawled out from underneath. "Got the book."
"Well, I'll be leaving you alone for the rest of your life. Cheerio!"
With that, he closed the door.
Two years later...
Olivia entered the library, hoping to find a familiar face.
She was here to pick up a few books, maybe some romance. Tragedies, possibly?
Then, she saw him behind the counter and slipped him a discreet note.
I never thanked you for helping me find that library book. Meet me today after your shift, 5 PM at the Starbucks.
Joshua grinned. Maybe this was fate.
After his shift, Josh drove to the Starbucks and found Olivia sitting at the table near the door.
"Hey."
"Hey, yourself."
It was overdue time for a meeting between the two, and perhaps something more than friends.