3

I wake up with a start. I look at my phone. It's dead. I quickly search for the charger and plug it in. I go to my laptop to check the time. It's charged. It is bright out. Shit. It's nine a.m. and I have slept in. I needed to be up early today. I quickly strip off my outfit from yesterday and get into a fresh outfit. I don't have time to take a shower.

I dash down the stairs and out the door. I have to get to the library before nine thirty. I run as fast as I can and get there just before nine thirty. The librarian starts."You are.." "Not late!" I say with almost triumph. The librarian, Ms. Gremp, rolls her eyes. I don't actually see her eyes roll but I have known her long enough (eleven months) to know when they roll. The library is filled with books from so many authors and so many time periods. I have read roughly fifty percent of the books in the romance section. Maybe more. It is truly my guilty pleasure.

I get to work filing the books in the right spots as soon as I get past Ms. Gremp and get my cart. I am over by the graphic novel section when I see him. Shit! Kevin Hends. In the library. At the time I am working at. Is this fate? He looks my way but I quickly turn my attention to the task at hand. Staring at him. I mean, filing books.

I am just finishing the romance section (my favorite) when I hear footsteps behind me. I can hear his breathing before I hear him speak. "Oliver." He says in a soft voice. "Kevin." I reply with a surprisingly calm and collected voice. "I was hoping to run into you." Kevin says. "I…" I start. "Hey! Kev! You coming?" Johnny Trists, May's ex and one of Kevin's close friends, calls to Kevin from between the romance/biography section. "Yeah! I'm coming!" Kevin calls. "I'll see you soon?" He turns his attention to me. I nod. He walks away towards his friends. I stand there, holding a copy of an erotic romance novel in my hands, stuck to the very spot. I feel like I can't move. Kevin Fucking Hends just said he would see me soon. This has got to be the most unbelievable thing that has ever happened to anyone. And it happened. To me.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

I had no idea I could feel this way. I feel completely and utterly shell shocked. I have to tell someone. Unfortunately I am still on the clock so I have to wait until my shift ends to pull out my phone.

After my shift, I pull out my phone and quickly open it. I text May and Anthony. Not even thirty seconds after I text "I need to tell you something" my phone rings with May's number on screen. I swipe to answer the call. "What do you have to tell us?" May yells. I inhale. "Well?" Anthony says. They are apparently together and I am on speaker phone. "Meet me at Pierre's." I say and hang up.

Pierre's is a high class diner that all the high schoolers in the area go to. Even the lesser crowds show up here. I walk there and my friends meet me in the parking lot. We go in and find a table and sit down. We almost never eat here but it is really more of a hangout. "So what was so big that you couldn't tell us over the phone?" Anthony asks. "I ran into him at the library." I say. "Who's him? Jeffrey Prenters?" May asks. "Jeffery Pren…" I sputter. "No!" I say almost yelling. "Him." I say. When they don't respond I answer, "Kevin Hends!" I hiss. "And?" May starts. "What did he say?" Anthony finishes. "He says he will see me soon." I say. "Like he will get you see you soon or…?" Anthony ventures. "He said 'I'll see you soon?'." I quote. Anthony and May exchange a glance from their seats at the round booth we sit at. "What the fuck?" They say in unison. "I know!" I yell. The room is crowded and loud enough that no one notices. "Kevin Hends said he…" I start but can't finish. May, sitting next to me, places her hand on mine and gently strokes it. I bury my face in my other hand. "It'll work itself out." She says. "What if he wants to see me because he is offended that I wrote that kind of note to/about him?" I say. I take my other hand from May and bury my face in both hands. "What if he just wants to humiliate me or something?" I go on, my voice muffled by my hands. "It's gonna be ok." May says. We sit for another forty minutes and then we leave. As we leave I see Kevin's car pull up. I see him through his open window and he sees me. He smiles. I smile back. I think he might not mean anything bad. This is the thought that stays with me and comforts me from the moment I get into May's car until the moment I fall into a deep sleep.