Lin nearly jumped out of her seat when she looked over towards the window and saw it. A wispy darkness in the shadows that watched her with blood red eyes then disappeared a second or two later. It made Lin wonder if she had just imagined the creature. She had been seeing these little glimpses of strange things for a while now, but had always brushed them off as some kind of hallucination created from lack of sleep. That was until the other night when the flower pot nearly smashed her head open. Now, she wasn't so sure what the sights were.

"Is something wrong Miss Millward?"

Lin turned to see the teacher and everyone else staring at her. "Umm...No...I uh...thought I saw a roach, sorry..." Lin apologized and sat back down at her desk.

The professor shook his head and turned back to the blackboard to write. "As I was saying, you need to know these three formulas for the test. I will be giving you a quiz on it Monday, so you will need a par score...that's all for today, have a good weekend."

"FINALLY!" Trish exclaimed, as the class started to pack up their things and leave the classroom. She looked over at Lin, who had just finished zipping up her bag and asked, "You okay?"

Lin peeked back out the window to the spot she had seen the strange shadow and nodded.

"You didn't really see a roach, did you?"

Lin shook her head and started walking out of the classroom, closely followed by her friend.

"What was it? What did you see?"

"I don't know..."

Trish stepped out in front of Lin. "You know what!? I feel like going to the mall! Let's go to the mall!"

Lin looked around and ignored her friend then jumped when Trish touched her shoulder. "Ah...umm...can't. I need to do my homework."

Trish stared at her friend a tad worried. Lin had never been so jumpy before. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah..."

Trish put her arm around Lin's arm and dragged her out of the building. "Alright then, we are going to the mall!"

"But–"

"AND don't try to excuse yourself with some lame excuse like, 'But, I have to finish next month's homework!' Kuz we both know you are probably that far ahead already. You need to let it all loose and have some fun once in a while!"

"Alright, fine...but ONLY for a little bit," Lin replied and they both piled into Trish's car.

They went to several different shoe and clothing stores, where Trish made Lin try on the many different styles that were 'in' that season. After about the third store, Lin was itching to get out of the complex maze of stores and just relax at home. "Trish...I really need to get going now," Lin said and watched her friend grab another blouse off the clothes rack that was in front of them.

Trish turned to Lin and said, "Just one moment...pleeeeeaase? I want to try these on."

Lin sighed then nodded and Trish hurried over towards the changing rooms. "I'll be waiting outside the store, 'kay?" Lin called after her and started towards the exit when her friend waved back in response.

Once outside the store, Lin walked over to a bench and was about to sit down when she noticed a bookstore around the corner. "That must be new..." she mumbled to herself and headed towards it.

The store was nestled between two clothes stores and had an antiquated feel to it even though this was the first time Lin had seen the store since the mall existed. A tiny bell hung in front of the door that rang to announce Lin's presence as she entered the store. Someone greeted her with a warm welcome and asked if she needed anything in particular then went back to organizing some shelves when Lin told her she was just browsing.

She looked around, taking in the warm cozy feel of the wooden shelves lined with books. The smell of paper, ink, and leather bindings with metal clasps all mixed together in the air. Lin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She loved the smell of books. Some of the books looked old; their papers yellow and curled or missing at the edges with rough sewn leather bindings. Other books with delicately ornate covers still appeared to be pretty old, but in better condition than their rough leather bound siblings. And then there were the books that gleamed with the look of being hot right off the press, new.

Lin went to the section labeled journals and started searching the shelves for a nice notebook. She had thought about keeping a diary, but had never gotten around to actually buying the nice journal she wanted to write down her memories in. A volume bound in dark brown leather with ornate gold decorations and metal clasps caught her eye. Leafy twisting golden bows and arrows decorated the front, side, and back of the book. The gold colored metal clasps holding the book closed had leafy designs etched into them as well. The book was heavier than she'd imagined and made her wonder if the clasps were made out of real gold.

She opened the journal and flipped through the blank lined pages to make sure some customer before her had not left a mark in it.

"That's an excellent choice," a man's voice spoke up from behind her.

Lin whirled around, a bit startled, and dropped the book in the process. She bent down to pick it up at the same time the man did, but he got to it before she could.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you," the man said and held out the book for her to take. "Here."

Lin grabbed the book then turned bright red when she looked up and recognized the young man that had handed it to her. His platinum blonde hair was tied back now and he had a lanyard around his neck that suggested he worked at the bookstore. She quickly glanced back down at the book embarrassed. It was almost the same situation as when she had first seen him earlier that day. "Umm...thank you," Lin said hastily then stood up and quickly strode over to the register to pay for the book. She had a feeling that his gorgeous blue eyes had followed her to the register then out the store when she left.

"Oh, there you are!" Trish exclaimed when Lin exited the bookstore. "I thought you might've left me."

"And get back home how? You're the one who brought me here, remember...and my stuff's in your car," Lin responded.

"I don't know, maybe you decided to join a circus and rode off on a unicorn to your house," Trish said sarcastically. "Oooo or maybe, some rich handsome guy spilled coffee on your clothes and decided to repay you by going to the dry cleaners with you then giving you a ride home and then–"

Lin put her hand up to stop her friend from speaking and just shook her head trying hard not to laugh, "You've been watching WAAAY too many of those Asian dramas."

Trish smirked and nudged her friend. "What don't tell me you wouldn't like that to happen to you?"

The corners of Lin's mouth turned up into a slight smile. "That would be pretty awesome...I've always wanted a unicorn." At that moment they both burst out laughing.

When Lin got home to her small one room apartment she pulled out the journal, kicked her shoes off and went to her desk then turned on the lamp beside it. She unzipped her backpack then drew out some books and her pencil bag. Her favorite pen was balanced on top of the little mountain of writing utensils inside of the bag, which she picked up and turned over in her hands. It was simple in design; a smooth beige colored cylinder with black lettering on it and with no comfort cover to grip it.

She uncapped the pen and opened the journal she had just bought. The tip of the pen hovered over the paper for a few minutes before Lin put it down and closed the book. It was such a beautiful book; the blank sheets were pure, untouched by the thoughts of its owner, perfect. No scribbles, or scratches, to mar it. She wanted to write something, to fill the book with treasured memories, but at the same time she did not want to ruin the beautiful pureness of its empty pages. She set the journal aside then pulled her Algebra textbook closer and opened it to the next week's homework.