My feet landed upon the ugly blue-gray carpet within the library. How much dust hid within the horrendous, dotted design of the floor beneath me, I didn’t even begin to wonder about. The air felt stuffy, and the silence was awkward. As quietly as possible, I closed the library’s door behind me. 

Not that it mattered, anyway. This library was too small to remain unnoticed in for long. 

I could already see him, through the cracks between books and the very bookshelf that hid me from him — it was only a matter of time until he saw me. 

My heart fluttered as I watched him, sitting in a weird, but comfortable position within one of the few armchairs, chewing once more on the lid of one of his ink pens. 

His legs dangled off one armrest, his body crooked and only barely did his head rest against the back of it. Oliver’s body was almost too tall for this chair, as cramped as he appeared sitting within it. On his lap, a book, and some crumpled papers, all of which he was highly focused on. 

I tiptoed forward, observing him, trying my hardest not to get caught. 

But with this ancient, barely-looked-after library, it was no surprise the wood creaked beneath the carpet once I stepped forward, announcing my espionage to none other than Oliver. 

At that very spot, I froze, poking out from behind the bookshelf, and Oliver lifted his gaze immediately, his eyes falling upon mine. The way our eyes met was hauntingly intense, his frown deepening in response, his irises darkening.

“O-Oliver. Hi.” My stutters embarrassed even myself, and I would have loved to disappear, to be swallowed whole by this blue carpet I stood on. 

His first response, though, was to throw the book he’d been so invested in behind his back, hiding it from me. My head bobbed to the side.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he grumbled. 

“You—You know, I was just—I … Um—” My cheeks burned, and I could barely finish a sentence. Hell, I hadn’t even thought about what I wanted to say or do. 

I should have left as soon as I’d seen him go to the library. Why do I even care where he goes? I could have ignored him, and now, I wouldn’t be in this kind of mess. What did it matter to me whether he smoked or hid himself in the library?

“You followed me?” Oliver groaned, now pushing himself onto his feet, building himself up before me in all his might. Forcing me to throw my head back, all so I could continue looking him in the frightening eyes he carried, he approached me, lips tight, and eyes as wild as expected. 

“I…” A high-pitched peep, my voice was. 

“What the hell, man?” Oliver said, anger resonating in the scratch of his voice. 

I squeaked and flinched as his hand reached for me. My eyes clenched shut, and I felt his fingers claw at the collar of my shirt, pull me closer with incredible strength, and force me to tumble forward. 

“Are you trying to make fun of me?” 

My eyes ripped open, realizing he hadn’t hit me just yet. His face was as close as never before, and so was the fist that held me ever so tightly by the collar, ruining my shirt’s fabric in the process. “W-What?“ 

In that moment, I gazed to the side, and noticed the physics book he had hidden on his chair. 

“Y-You’re studying for physics?” Because he’d failed his test? Because he wanted to understand what he’d done wrong? 

“Are you mocking me? What, because you’re so smart, and all you do is get good grades?”

“N-No! Why would I do that? I’m not!” My voice trembled, my body shivered in fear. My fingers reached for his wrist, trying to make him loosen his grip, but it was impossible. He was too strong, and he didn’t budge, his eyes piercing through me in interrogation. 

“You don’t need to be embarrassed—“

“Shut it, before I make you!” I squirmed, my eyes clenching shut once more as he raised his other fist. Tears welled up in my eyes, ready to burst out of them. 

“I—I was just curious, I swear! I just wanted to know where you go during our breaks, because you’re never behind the gym with those friends of yours!” Stumbling over my own words, I spoke as fast as I could, having my explanation burst out of me in the hopes it would spare me. 

To my surprise, his fist lowered, and ever so slightly, his grip around my shirt loosened. “Didn’t I tell you not to go there anymore?” he asked, trying to sound threatening, but his voice had eased just a little. He was quieter, now.

“Why should I listen to what you say?” 

Oliver was it that flinched this time. His eyelids throbbed, widening in response, only for his fingers to tighten once more around my collar. I could hear threads snapping in half. “And what’s it to you where I go? What is your problem? Can’t you just back off, and leave me alone?!” 

Where my sudden confidence came from, I’d never know. The words exploded out of me in an unstoppable waterfall, a dam finally having exploded. “And you?! I can ask you the same thing, Oliver! What is your problem, huh?” 

“Huh?” His eyebrows arched. 

“Seriously, why are you like this? I’ve done nothing but be nice to you, you know? And you have yet to apologize for hitting me with that ball during that game, and for pushing me into the table that other time. You made me drop my gummy bears, and didn’t even say a word, and didn’t even help me pick them up! I apologized for bumping into you, and you?”

Speechless, Oliver’s mouth remained opened, and I just continued rambling straight into my funeral. 

“I wanted us to get along, since you’re the new guy in class! I even gave you the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe you’re not that bad of a guy, and maybe the rumors are exaggerated!” I took a deep breath, but thoughts — there weren’t any in my mind. Just blurred fury. 

“But you … You’re seriously unbearable! Do you want everyone to hate you? Aren’t you aware everyone is terrified of you, and no one actually likes you?!” 

I’d gone too far, and even I knew that. His eyes were like daggers, and I had no idea what he thought. With that frown on his face, he appeared as angry as ever, and with his lips a tight line arching downwards at their corners, I wasn’t sure what to think. 

Inhaling in a panic through my nose and opened mouth, our eyes remained connected for an eternity longer, only for me to clench them shut as I trembled. 

“P-Please don’t hit me,” I whispered in a sudden regret over my explosion, fear dominating my every fiber. 

Silence so deafening followed, I thought I could hear the buzzing of the school-bell preparing itself for the next ring. Through my clenched eyes, I dared to open only one, a slight slither of a crack, to try and catch a glimpse of Oliver’s perplexed reaction. 

His grip around my collar loosened completely, and his hand dropped lower. 

“Tsk.” He clicked his tongue, flipped around, and snatched his book and backpack off the chair he’d sat at not long ago, only to flee right past me.

When the door fell shut behind him, leaving only me behind in the library, my knees turned week and I let myself drop onto the armchair he’d sat on, trying to recover from the stupidity I’d just committed.

Followed by the cloud of his perfume, I noticed only two things.

He’d spared me.

And again, the tips of his ears were pink.