Library Secrets
“Wha?!” I almost yelled, jumping into the air as her sudden appearance startled me. Totally lost in thought, I didn’t notice that she had come back and had found me perusing the shelves of books.
“Oh hey, yeah, I was looking around for a book.” I tried to play it off by pulling a book off the shelf and thumbing through it. But she could tell that her untimely appearance unnerved me.
“So what were you thinking about?” she inquired.
“Oh nothing…just some thoughts about, you know, things.” I was trying to stall for time as my mind raced for an excuse, but I was simply trying to pull myself together. The tension was overwhelming and I feared that I would explode any minute now, pouring my heart through the obviously gaping hole in my demeanor.
“That was real clear,” as she rolled her eyes at me. She turned and walked away, much to my relief.
We went to sit down and started gossiping, instead of doing our homework. We talked about who liked who and who was going out with who and who looked good. Jess did most of the talking, with a few sound-bites coming from me now and again. I was totally enthralled about the various tidbits of “news” spilling forth from her glossy lips. I never knew I could be so shallow.
“So… who do you like?” Her simple inquiry set me back on my heels.
“What do you mean, ‘who do I like?’”
“You know exactly what I mean,” she pressed.
“Oh, like a girl,” I offered,”…no one really. You remember Soo-Min, right? I liked her a lot and we were together for a while…” I trailed off and tried to guage her reaction to what I had said and how much she actually knew about what had happened between Soo-Min and I the year before. Did I cover up all the jumpy mistakes I made up until this point?
“I remember her. She’s so cute! Do you two still keep in touch?”
“Yeah, we do talk now and again, and she writes me too. I write her back, but we’re just friends now.”
“So you don’t currently like anyone? You sure about that? Sometimes I look into your face and I know that look. That far off daydreaming look, as if you’re thinking about someone.”
“Nah, I just look like that cause I’m always lost and I don’t understand what the teacher is saying,” I lamented.
“You’re lying. You’re one of the smartest guys in school. You’re never lost,” she flatly stated. “Come on, who is it? I know you like someone, just tell me,” she pleaded.
This miniature tug-o-war lasted for a good 15 mins, neither side letting go of the rope. Although we were both getting tired as the clock ticked away, I wasn’t about to cave and she was too curious to let it go. She knew there was something hidden away inside of me, but out of everyone in school, I was the most tight-lipped and held the most secrets and that she knew.
“I’m going outside. When you feel like telling me, I’ll be at the phone,” she huffed. She got up out of her seat and started to walk toward the stairs.
She wasn’t mad at me, but frustrated since I wasn’t one to give up information so easily. I sighed to myself and took a drink from my water bottle. “Here goes nothing,” I thought. I descended the stairs in a hurry and saw her walk out the front door of the library. Running outside after her, I grabbed her arm and turned her around.
“Hey Jess, I’ve got something to tell you…”
Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.
