But I didn’t mind the reason he’d texted me that first time. Maybe because I’d responded, knowing what it would mean. He’d been blunt and to the point. There’d been no doubt about what it was he wanted. Then the texts had changed over time and now we’d been physically together for over two weeks.
It wasn’t the six months I’d dreamed about for all those years and he wasn’t a sports player, although he had the body of one. He could be a sexy nerd, though, when he had exams or something new to study. He was romantic and went for walks with me and held my hand. Oh, and let’s not forget the incredible, mind-blowing sex.
I grinned as I walked to the library to get to work. The officer at the station said they’d get back to me and that they would investigate my claims. Surely the school would pay attention, then? They’d find a way to make Rachel’s harassment campaign stop.
I frowned as I stood before the building, remembering they’d screamed something about me leaving Rachel alone, hadn’t they? The people in the car yesterday, before they’d tossed that hair dye at me. Maybe she was already in trouble?
It probably wasn’t the smartest thing then to have her friends attack me all over again I thought with a grimace.
I looked at the grass and trees around me, the buildings, the persistent noise from the cars on the streets. And at all the people walking by. Each one could be one of her friends, ready to attack me again. I turned away quickly and walked into the library. This wasn’t goin
g to be a simple matter to get over, I knew that but I still hated how skittish I felt as I all but ran back to the employees’ break-room. They hadn’t really hurt me, I reminded myself as a sudden fear gripped me.
Sure, I could have had a very nasty, even deadly, reaction to the dye but they weren’t thinking of that. They’d just wanted to humiliate me and probably make me run back home. It hadn’t worked though. I was still here and I’d stay here, I said to myself. Straighten your backbone and get to work.
It wasn’t long before I was lost in my work, helping other students find books, replacing returned books to the stacks, and doing whatever I could to make it all run smoothly. I ignored the students that came in to do their thing in the stacks, it wasn’t really hurting anyone, and most of the time they were so quiet you didn’t even know it. I did think about putting up little notices about the security cameras in the building, however.
I’d considered inviting Keith over for a little public fun of our own, but then I’d found out about those cameras. I imagined there was some pervy security guy with quite a little collection by now. I didn’t want to be a part of that collection. Not his anyway.
I walked along the aisles, my fingers and eyes checking for straight books and properly replaced magazines. I wasn’t obsessive-compulsive about straight rows or anything, but it kept me busy and I learned where most of the book categories were from the practice.
It was a large library. Huge compared to the public library in my hometown, with two floors full of reference books. I sometimes wondered how long it would take to read all the books in the place and if it would be decades or centuries. I made my way to the section on human sexuality and made sure there wasn’t anyone watching.
I glanced around one last time, my eyes darting from place to place and bit at my bottom lip. I didn’t want to be seen in this section, not by my employer at least. He was on the second floor though and hadn’t come down. I glanced at the titles and frowned. I wanted a book that would give me ideas about how to make sure I was doing enough to keep Keith interested in bed but the books were all scientific studies of human sexuality. Maybe I’d have to look online.
I knew I could browse the web on my phone, and Keith had given me the Wi-Fi code for his house. I’d look one night when he was busy studying I decided and went back to work. I finished soon enough and found myself with little to do. It happened on slow days when the other students weren’t frantic to finish a paper due the next day or cramming for an exam.
I sighed a deep breath and looked around, my fingers gently tapping at the counter where I stood. I had so much on my mind, so much I didn’t want to think about but there wasn’t much to do to take my mind off things. I looked at the calendar for the library and saw we were supposed to decorate for Halloween soon. There was to be an exhibition here about the holiday and how it had grown in popularity.
I smiled, wondering if Keith and I would be invited to any parties. He knew all the party people on campus. He got so many calls asking if he was going out when we first started our physical relationship that I’d wondered if I was keeping him from a lifestyle he loved. He’d always say no and then he’d kiss me, or we’d go back to the movie we’d been watching. It was nice, it really was, but I felt restless and now that I thought about it, a party sounded like fun. Or a club where I could lose myself in the music even if I couldn’t dance. I probably wouldn’t know any of the songs though.
Maybe a party wasn’t the answer but I did wonder what we could dress up as. He’d be a swashbuckling pirate, with long black curls and a hat that would make his eyes so fantastic. I sat down because my legs went weak at the thought of him dressed up like that. With the boots and the earring, oh my, I had to fan at my face then.
Or maybe he’d be a vampire with the cape and the fangs.
I’d be his damsel in distress in need of a good bodice-ripping and a deep kiss as we sailed into the sunset. Or something like that, I thought with a stupid smile on my face.
“Miss? Can I have these, please?” A very tall girl of African descent, with deep chocolate eyes and a perfect nose, asked me.
I smiled up at her as I stood, glad to have something to do.
“Hi, Alyssa. I hope you’re doing well?” I remembered her because she came in every week.
“Hi, Celia.” She put her head down, shyly embarrassed for some reason. “I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you with that hair.”
“Oh, this.” I touched the back briefly and smiled, shyly embarrassed myself now. “It was a long night, that’s all I can say.”
“It looks good. I like it.” She smiled as I handed her a slip of paper, a reminder of when the books would arrive from the library, we would borrow them from for her.