Dear Diary,

I think I spoke too soon yesterday diary, honestly I must have jinxed myself or something because… Just, things happened and I really don’t know what to think.

School was boring, I think I’m just going to skip over that. But after school things started to get interesting. I was going to go home after school, you know, chill at my own house, when I saw crowds and crowds of popular kids piling into Nathan’s car. I immediately knew I had to change my plans. If they were getting into Nathan’s car then they were going back to his house, back to my house, which meant I couldn’t be there. Well technically I can be here while Nathan’s friends are hanging. There’s no rule against it, I can just barricade myself in my room and flinch every time I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. But what if I get hungry or need to go to the bathroom or something. Being heckled and ridiculed in my own home doesn’t sound very nice.

Instead I hopped on my bike and took a fifteen-minute detour to the library. More cold wind whipping in my face was a fair trade-off for not suffering in my own home. The Daedalus Regional Library is a branch of an intercounty wide library system so even though the building was shoved in the corner of a brick-patterned strip mall it still has plenty of books. I locked my bike up in the rack then shoved the doors open, no waiting for me today.

Even though it's small, I can see the back of the building from the entrance, I love it. I waved to the middle-aged librarian Mrs. Jones when I walked in. She was sitting in her wheelchair behind the front counter, reading a book that was really on brand for her. She waved back but didn’t move to help me, she knows I’m a low maintenance patron.

Instead of browsing, I went straight to the comfy chairs. The good leather one that I could put my feet up in. I wasn’t really there for the books today, just for the atmosphere. Since I already have the app installed on my phone I just opened that, took off my boots, and started listening to an audiobook. It was a funny one, about a time traveling castle with an enigmatic host, but I tried not to laugh too loud, I was in a library after all.

I did my homework as I was listening, and unfortunately, it went pretty fast. But the peace didn’t last long enough. Even though the library was better than my house today, it wasn’t the perfect place to hang out. Not even forty-five minutes after I sat down the doors opened again and three people streamed in. I didn’t even register who had come in until two hands covered my eyes.

“Guess who?” a male voice asked me cheerfully.

“Get your hands off of my, Kelly.” I didn’t think they would actually stop but I said that anyway.

A girl’s voice respond this time, “I’m not going to stop until you guess who~”

Kelly and Jonathon are robotics club members that volunteer at the library to get volunteer hours. I should have remembered that they were going to be there today, but I just thought they would be with Nathan. And for that one mistake I found myself in that situation.

Kelly was the one that spoke this time, in a sort of whiny voice, “Oh come on NaNa, Nathan’s always fun why are you no fun?”

I guess they were done pretending to be five-year-olds because Jonathan snorted, “There’s not actually related Kelly, Nathan’s not a walking monument to hot topic it’s pretty obvious they’re not actual siblings.”

Kelly removed her hands from my face, finally, and I was staring at Jonathan’s pale smirking face. I hoped that my face looked unamused but I was actually a little scared. Kelly moved from behind me and stood next to Jonathan, they’re volunteer pins shining the same golden color as Kelly’s hair.

Kelly leaned into my face, I could smell her vanilla and passionfruit bath and body works perfume and picked up one of my braids, “We really should give you a makeover some time, you’re like a cross between a toddler and fucking satan, NaNo.”

I didn’t respond, instead, I looked over her shoulder and waved at Mrs. Jones who was still behind the counter reading her book. Jonathan saw who I was waving to and pulled Kelly back.

“You’re knight in shining armor is a 55 year old widow, Naomi? I’m terrified,” he giggled, “But anyway we should start shelving now, no need to get up though. Just laze around here as long as you want, you wouldn’t of any use anyway.”

They split up, Jonathan going to the kids section to shelf out of place books, and Kelly going to the front deck to check in returned books. Both well within eyesight of me. I could have stayed there and kept reading but everytime they even glanced at me my heart beat faster. Instead I shoved all of my binders and notebooks back into my backpack and ventured farther into the library.

Most of the building is visible from everywhere else in the library, at least all of the seating areas are so those were out of the question. But deep in the adult section the shelfs are thick and full of books and most importantly opaque enough so I can’t be seen from everywhere else in the library. I sat down in the between two talls shelves of books and restarted my homework. But I didn’t hit play on my audiobook, I needed to be aware of my surroundings so that Kelly and Jonathan couldn’t sneak up on me again.

But somehow I managed to zone out again and by the time my mind got out of my homework and into the world someone was standing over me. I flinched before I realized that it wasn’t one of the popular kids. It was Isabel, I hadn’t seen her since she graduated last year. And yet there she was reaching over my head to shelve books.

“Oh sorry!” I breathed, picking up my backpack and scooting out of the way.

“You’re fine,” she said, but she did move closer to the shelf now that I wasn’t blocking the way.

My homework abandoned I watched her as she shelved. She’s so pretty! I just can’t diary, she’s just so… I can’t even. Today at the library she was wearing those same fishnet sleeves that I saw her wear 70% of the time when she was still in highschool. I bought the same ones because I saw her wearing them so much. Her eyeliner was smudged on her lower lash line just like mine was. But that’s pretty much the only thing that we had in common. She was wearing a corset, an actual corset, diary! And even though her jeans were ripped they were wide legged with tulle peeking out of the seams and out of the ankles. Just the amount of self confidence and grace that radiated off of her was amazing.

She looked over her shoulder and I picked up my pencil again and started on my homework. Do you think she noticed I was staring diary? I really hope not I want her to like me. I really hope she doesn’t think I’m creepy, Isabel’s just so stunning! But let’s stop talking about how absolutely drop dead gorgeous she is and talk about why she was in the library.

Every time I asked Pastor Reagon about her he said that she was going to college in Seattle. Her sheer amazingness must have fried my brain because I couldn’t think of any reason for her to be shelving books at the library. I mean she finally escaped this town, why would she come back?

“I thought you were going to college?” I couldn’t help asking her, which was the wrong thing to say. That was practically admitting that I asked where she was after she graduated! Honestly, what is wrong with me?

Isabel turned around and stared at me, her brown eyes were only a few shades lighter than my own and her olive toned skin was made harsh with white powder. When she finally spoke there was no air in my lungs.

“The county says they can’t hire another librarian to help out Mrs. Jones so I decided to help out when I don’t have class.” She explained, and I detected a bit of annoyance in her voice that I hoped was just my imagination.

I nodded and she continued with her work and I went back to my homework. Although I was significantly more sweaty than when I started. She walked off once all the books were in their place, and I was left staring at where she had been. But there was something off, a piece of paper was laying on the shelf next to all of the books. Thinking that she forgot something important I stood up and reached up to the shelf, but the piece of paper was thicker than I thought it would be. There were some drawings on the back but when I turned it over...

To Be Continued in Part 2...