Library

It was a lazy Saturday, and I found myself engrossed in a conversation with Zoe over the phone. She was still grilling me for being late to our café meet-up earlier in that week when I had stumbled into Izan. Luca was quick to brush it off but Zoe, well, she is Zoe.

“Are you certain you will be able to make it tonight?” Zoe’s voice rang with a hint of exasperation, the question feeling all too familiar.

It was a lazy Saturday, and I found myself engrossed in a conversation with Zoe over the phone. She was still grilling me for being late to our café meet-up earlier in that week when I had stumbled into Izan. Luca was quick to brush it off but Zoe, well, she is Zoe.

“Are you certain you will be able to make it tonight?” Zoe’s voice rang with a hint of exasperation, the question feeling all too familiar.

“Yeah, yeah,” I sighed, a twinge of guilt in my voice. “I just need to find something to wear for your party.”

“I have tons of dresses. Just make it on time for the dinner, will you?” Zoe’s tone softened, mixed with a touch of playful impatience.

“I promise,” I assured her, the chatter of the campus fading as I approached the library steps. “I just need to finish this paper then I’m all yours. I’ll catch up with you later; I’m stepping into the library now.”

“Ugh, it’s like you’re addicted to that place,” Zoe teased with a hint of frustration. “Just don’t keep me waiting!”

Chuckling, I slid the phone into my pocket. In a way, she wasn’t wrong. The library held a certain magnetic pull for me. That encounter with Izan lingered prominently in my thoughts, occupying a rent-free space in my mind. A small part of me dared to hope for another accidental meeting. Despite giving him my number that day, there hadn’t been any word from him since. I doubt whether I ever would.

The library was unusually busy for a Saturday. Even though it was supposed to be a lazy weekend, students were hustling around, filling up every spot. I weaved my way through them, on a mission to find what I needed for my research. Buying books that would just sit on a shelf collecting dust after the semester didn’t seem worth it, so I headed straight for the library instead.

With a sense of accomplishment, I finally gathered the required books and papers, my arms loaded with a mix of knowledge and information. But finding a spot to seat down and work was a whole other story. In the midst of the packed shelves, a lone seat called out to me from a corner. As I headed over, a spark of recognition hit me—the person sitting right in front of that empty spot. My heart did a little dance inside me, like it had suddenly turned into a ballet dancer. Each beat matched a drumroll in my head. There was Izan, wearing a plain black hoodie, looking totally different yet still captivating – his usually perfectly styled hair now tousled in a charming way. He seemed so relaxed, not like his usual professional self, fitting right in with the rest of the students.

It was like something out of a dream, almost dizzying. He looked like any other student buried in their studies. But my heart? It was pounding like crazy, like it wanted to break free from my chest. I felt this urge to run, to escape this surreal yet captivating moment. I just wanted to disappear into the stacks and hide from all the feelings Izan being here stirred up in me. But before I could sneak away, our eyes locked, and it was like everything else faded away. Izan glanced up, a friendly grin spreading across his face, inviting me to join him in that empty seat.

I had this urge to run when I first saw him, to dodge the inevitable. But his warm greeting made slipping away impossible. So, with a little smile, I accepted his offer and sat down. 

“Hello, sir.” I said softly, trying to hide the quiver in my voice. He just nodded back in response.

“I did not expect to see you here today. What is a young woman like yourself doing in a library on a Saturday afternoon?” Izan’s curious tone made me chuckle as I set down my pile of books and took a seat across from him.

“Well, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be, Sir. Plus, I’m not exactly the life of the party,” I replied, trying to keep things casual even as butterflies danced in my stomach.

“Oh, is that so?” Izan’s eyebrow raised ever so slightly as he folded his hands on the table and rested his chin on them. I nodded, focusing on setting up my laptop, deliberately avoiding meeting his gaze. The memory of his hazel eyes was too much of a distraction to begin with. I was afraid if I looked into them again, I would lose myself in their depth and wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else.