Chapter Two

“And make sure to return the book by Thursday next week”

“Thank you”

The girl smiled so Claire instinctively returned the gesture with a polite one. She was working behind the public library’s check-out counter for her shift today. Usually, she was the one who relentlessly puts away books or stacks them up for double-checking its borrower’s cards, which were too exhausting for her, so she liked working behind the counter more.

“Claire”

She turned around in her swivel chair and raised her eyebrows in question. “Hmm?”

It was Katie, one of the public library’s part-timers, whom she happens to have the exact shift schedule with. They grew closer over the past few months, but not close enough to actually hang out outside work.

“I’m sorry”, Katie said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. “I kinda need you to help this man. He’s looking for specific books but you know these shelves better, so…”

Claire stood up and dusted off her jeans out of habit before starting to head towards the direction her co-worker was pointing at. “That’s fine. I’m sure you’ll be fine here on your own?”

“Yeah, of course”, Katie nodded. “Thanks, Claire”

She smiled and then she was off. There were only a few people who hang out at a public library during the weekends so even if Katie didn’t give her specific details about the man who needed help, she figured that she would be able to tell as soon as she saw him.

Claire walked towards the aisle between the rows of bookshelves and craned her neck from side to side, trying to spot somebody who seemed to struggle with anything. Finally, she found a figure of a tall man slouching over a messy stack of books on the floor. He was wearing a simple shirt and jeans paired with a black cap, despite being indoors.

“May I help you?”

The man didn’t stand up or at least meet her eyes to acknowledge her, which Claire found to be a little bit rude for someone who needed help.

“So I found all these books”, he said, still staring at the books sprawled in front of him. “But… I really can’t decide which one to choose. I need a recommendation”

Claire glanced at the stack of books scattered on the floor and quickly read the titles. Based on the mess, she thought that there must be around twenty books, more or less— all about the history of art. She wasn’t that interested in history nor does she enjoy art, so even if she wanted to, she didn’t have any recommendations to give.

“Uhh”, she mumbled before chuckling awkwardly and scratching the back of her head in confusion. “I really can’t decide which book among those is the best. But one user can borrow at least five books at the same time, so—“

“So you’re saying I can bring home five of these today?”

The man looked up and stared right at her. Claire was a bit taken aback when she met his green eyes, wide in joy and slight disbelief. Oddly enough, the man looked familiar.

“Yes, you can”, she replied a few seconds later than ideal. Claire didn’t like how she got lost in his eyes for a moment there. “Now, if you would just follow me to the counter, I can help you—“

“Wait a second”, the man said. “You’re that girl. Claire, right?”

“Huh?”

He stood up and was suddenly towering over her. He must have been at least a head taller than she was. “Remember me? I’m Ethan”

The picture of Ethan sitting on a couch from yesterday suddenly clicked into her memory. She admitted that he looked a bit different now that he was out of his head-to-toe designer clothing get-up. She couldn’t help but pay more attention to his features instead of his posture and fashion, unlike the first time she laid her eyes on him.

“Right”, she responded, again, a few seconds later than she should. After clearing her throat and taking a step back, she said, “Ethan, yes, I do remember you”

“Great”, he smiled, revealing a dimple on his left cheek and a set of perfect teeth. “Now that I met someone I know here, I can stop pretending like I know shit about books”

Claire couldn’t help but notice how he referred to her as someone that he knew as if they were friends—or at least had a conversation before today.

“Umm okay”, she replied, not really knowing what to say. “Anyway, uhh, do you need more time to pick out books you wanted to borrow?”

“Nah”, Ethan shook his head before quickly picking up five random books from the floor. “I’m going to take these”

She looked at the mess of books on the floor and figured that even though she was an employee at the library, it would be at least common courtesy to look after the mess one had made. So she looked back at Ethan, gave him a tight smile, and gestured towards the floor with a tilt of her head.

Ethan seemed confused at first but when he looked down at his feet, he got the message.

“Well”, he shrugged. “Aren’t you the one working here, though?”

Claire could feel annoyance bubbling inside her. It was true, but still, for her, it seemed rude to make such a huge mess on the floor in the first place rather than just pulling out books before actually deciding which ones to check out. And the fact that he didn’t even take the initiative to help her out pissed her off a little.

She wanted to get her point across but decided against it. Claire thought that it would be more exhausting to try to do so rather than simply get on with the cleaning.

When they met yesterday, Claire thought that he only left so suddenly before they could introduce themselves to each other due to some urgent matter than he had to attend to. But judging from his behavior, she figured that perhaps Ethan was just plain insolent.

“The check-out counter’s that way”, she said instead through gritted teeth while gesturing towards the general direction of the counter and fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

“Thanks”, Ethan responded innocently, although she wasn’t sure if he really was ignorant of her annoyance. She didn’t think she made such a great job at hiding it. “I’ll see you at school, Claire”

With a wink, Ethan walked past her, clutching books in one arm.

---

“Isn’t it cute?” Jess asked, smiling widely while showing off her new cellphone charm. It was a small brown bear with a chain attached on top of its head. “I got it last weekend. I don’t really need one but he’s too cute!”

“Yeah, typical Jess”, Claire laughed before taking a sip from her juice box. “You just can’t resist cute stuff”

“Yes, that’s why I can’t resist you!”

Jess then stood up and reached over the table to pinch her cheeks. She playfully smacked them off and when she successfully saved her cheeks from her best friend’s actually-strong hands, she gently rubbed them with her palms.

“That hurt!”

Jess made a pssh sound and waved a hand at her, a sign that she was dismissing her acting. “Don’t be such a baby, Claire”

“You’re the baby”, she argued. “Who owns a teddy bear cellphone charm when you’re 17?”

“You take that back”, Jess gasped, albeit, exaggeratedly, while holding up her teddy bear and placing her other hand on her chest for added effect. “You monster”

Claire shrugged. “It’s true”

Jess was about to retort back when something caught her eye. She stared at the opposite corner of the cafeteria with wide eyes and a smile slowly formed on her lips. “Oh la la”

Out of curiosity, Claire turned to look at the direction she was staring at. It was quite difficult to know what Jess was looking at exactly since the cafeteria, as usual, was crowded. Then she spotted Ethan, having lunch and enjoying a chat with a few other boys she recognized to be known on the campus for being quite rich.

“Are you seeing that new guy over there with the fancy people?” she heard Jess whisper.

Claire confirmed her suspicions. “Oh, Ethan Collins? Yeah, I know him”

She turned back around to continue devouring her sandwich but Jess’s look of bewilderment caught her off guard. “What?”

“You know him?!”

“Well, we met last week”, she shrugged, trying to dismiss the topic as she was starting to feel annoyed at the memory of their exchange last weekend. “And he’s the one I’m tutoring”

“Why do you look bored?!” Jess half-screamed, half-whispered. “He’s hella cute!”

Claire frowned in confusion and turned around to glance at Ethan one more time. Now that Jess mentioned it, she realized that he did look cute. He had messy brown curls, which made his green eyes even more prominent, and a dimple on his left cheek when he smiles. He had a physique of an athlete too— tall, and buff in just the right places.

She turned back around and bit her sandwich.

“Yeah, he’s not bad”