Alex and I selected a table near the back corner to set our things on. During our walk 156/695
over, he’d informed me that Aislin was still sick so it was just going to be him and me.
“So which should we work on first?” he asked, dropping his bag onto the table. “The map or the report?”
“Um…since we don’t have any of the supplies for the map,” I slid my messenger off of my shoulder and hung it on the back of a chair, “I don’t think there’s anything else we can do except work on the report.”
“Do we even know what we’re doing it on?”
“No, but looking through some books might help us come up with something.” He held back a smile. “Well that and the internet.”
I glanced over at the Computer Station, which was crammed with people. “How about you go over to the computers, and I’ll go pick out some books.”
“Sounds good to me.” He headed off for the Computer Station.
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I turned for the bookshelves. As I passed by the New Release Section, I couldn’t help but stop and skim over what was there.
Nothing was too catchy, except for one with a dark purple star on the cover. It made me think of the fallen star story Alex had told me about yesterday. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to read the back to see what it was about.
Halfway through, electricity shockwaved up my spine and I just about dropped the book.
“That doesn’t look like it would be very helpful for our project.” Alex came up to the side of me and leaned against the shelf.
I held up the book, showing him the cover “Hey, it has a star on the cover.” He laughed. “So it does.”
“I thought you were going to look stuff up on the internet?” I asked him.
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“Yeah, I was until I realized there really isn’t any point of us splitting up since we haven’t chosen our topic yet.”
“Oh yeah, good point.”
He flicked the book I was holding with his finger. “So what’s it about.” I glanced down at the book, then back at him. “From what I read off of the back, I think it has something to do with witches.” For some reason, this seemed to entertain him. “Witches huh? You really do have a thing for the supernatural, don’t you?” I put the book back on the shelf. “I guess you could say that….” I was so confused. “But how do you know that?”
He shrugged. “Whenever I see you reading, it seems like the book is a science fiction one.”
I gave him a funny look. “Have you been watching me?”
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I thought I detected a flicker of panic on his face, but it disappeared before I could be absolutely sure.
“I wouldn’t exactly call it watching you...” He dragged his finger across his lip and sauntered past me, tracing the tips of his fingers across the base of my back. It sent an eruption of sparks surging through me.
“More like…observing you.” It was the first time he’d touched me on purpose, and it almost seemed like he’d done it to distract me.
I tried not to flinch at the sparks firecrackering all over my body, causing my blood to sing and my heart to pound.
For a moment, I thought I might faint.
Alex watched me very closely, as if waiting for me to react to his touch. It was like he thought I was going to freak out or something. I very easily could have too. But I fought hard and managed to keep my cool.
At least on the outside anyway.
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A gap of silence passed by. The sounds of clicking computer keys and soft chatter trailed through the air. Beneath the lights, Alex’s green eyes shined like glass. It was amazing how staring into his eyes could make me feel like I was losing myself.
If it wouldn’t have been for a guy—whose name I think is Jason—scooting past us, I’m fairly certain we may have stood there forever, just staring at each other.
But the Jason guy ruined the moment.
Alex sighed, seeming disappointed, and motioned me to follow him as he headed back toward the astronomy section.
We didn’t speak to each other as we searched through the titles of books. I found one on the Milky Way that sounded interesting and sat down on the floor.
“So do you want to know what I think is funny.” Alex flopped down on the floor next to me without a book. “That we chose our project based on what would be the quickest 161/695
and easiest, yet I think out of the entire class, we’ve
probably
gotten
the
least
accomplished.”
I skimmed the list of titles in the index.
“That might be because we skipped out yesterday.”
“Yeah…maybe.” He paused. “So what is it?”
I looked up at him, perplexed. “So what is what?”
“Your fascination with astronomy.” He leaned against the shelf behind him, creating a domino effect with a row of books. “I mean, you’ve got to have some kind of interest in it since you chose to take this class.”
“I guess.” I closed the Milky Way book.
“Well, what’s your fascination with it?” He smiled a smile that lit up his whole face. “An easy A.”
I rolled my eyes and exchanged the Milky Way book for one that said it was about planet locations. As I turned back 162/695
around, I spotted a blond girl bouncing her way up the aisle toward us. It was Kelsey Merritt. Great. I was sooo not in the mood to deal with her right now.
She wore a short pleated skirt and a pink sweater. She stopped just short of us, her gaze wandering between Alex and me like she was trying to make some kind of connection as to why we’d be sitting here alone together.
I couldn’t really blame her, though. I probably would have been trying to make the connection too.
She shot me a dirty look before flashing a smile at Alex. “Hey, mind if I get back in there,” she asked, pointing her perfectly manicured finger at the row of books between Alex and me. “I need to get a book.”
“Sure.” Alex scooted closer to me so that we were almost touching. “Go ahead.” Of course Kelsey took it upon herself to invade Alex’s personal space, kneeling down 163/695
so close to him that her arm was practically resting on his leg. He moved over more, his shoulder pressing into mine. I froze, knowing I should probably slide over and give him some room, but I couldn’t seem to find the motivation to do so. Instead, I sat there, my body humming. Beside me, I could feel Alex stiffen, but he didn’t move away. I felt his eyes on me, watching me. I turned my head slowly toward him, and our eyes met. What happened next, I couldn’t tell you? My mind tuned out and didn’t come back into focus until I heard Kelsey’s very loud and obnoxious voice—didn’t she know this was a library?
“So what do you think?” she asked.
Alex and I blinked simultaneously liked we’d both just come out of the same dream.
Very reluctantly, he looked over at Kelsey. “Huh?”
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Taken aback by Alex’s irritated tone, Kelsey eyes went wide. “About the project,” she said, fumbling to pull a book off of the shelf.
Alex raised his eyebrows at her. “What about it?”
Now she looked extremely upset, probably because it was the first time she’d been blown off by a guy. “That it’s such a waste of time.”
Alex shrugged. “It’s not that bad.” Kelsey tossed her hair off of her shoulder. “Yeah, I guess it’s not that bad. But don’t you think it would’ve been better if we could have chosen the people we worked on it with.” She shot a smirk at me.
I glared at her.
“Not really,” Alex said dully.
“Oh. Well. Yeah. I guess.” She tucked a book beneath arm, got to her feet, and fixed me with another dirty look.
I don’t know if it was the electricity, or Alex’s shoulder still pressed up against mine, 165/695
but I suddenly felt possessed to put her in her place. “What the heck is your problem?” I threw her off a little, a beat of silence skipping by before she found something to say back. “You’re my problem,” she said and stormed off, her hair swinging across her back.