Overdue

“Two weeks,” is what the librarian had snarled to Violet at the checkout counter. Violet had nodded and quickly shoved the book in her bag, running out of the library and going to soccer practice. She hadn’t started reading the book when she remembered it was nearly overdue. There was no way Violet was letting one of her books be overdue. 

She'd always been scared of that librarian. Usually, librarians had soft smiles and warm personalities, but this one always shot Violet with withering glares before she even thought of making a sound. Violet didn’t even want to imagine what she would do if Violet turned in an overdue book.

“Where is it?” she whispered to herself, shaking her blanket. She was a tornado traveling through her room, overturning chairs and kicking clothes around to check underneath them. She’d checked everywhere; under the bed, in her dresser drawers, her laundry basket, she’d even checked her dog’s kennel. She scanned her bookshelves again, searching for the orange sticker that marked a library book. 

Already thinking of the librarian’s cold smile that she would have to endure every time she was at the library, she continued searching. The book wasn’t under the couch or in her school bag. She began opening the kitchen cabinets, even though she would have been terribly surprised to find her book in the cupboards. 

Rain was pelting the roof. If she’d left the book at soccer practice or dropped it on her walk to school, it would be ruined. It had to be somewhere! She had three hours before the library closed. That was plenty of time if she could just find the book. 

Her face brightened when she saw the spine of a book wedged between her bed and a wall. She yanked it out, delighted to find that it was the library book. 

“MOM!” She screamed across the house, “CAN YOU DRIVE ME TO THE LIBRARY?”

There was no answer. Violet yelled again, but there was no reply. 

She took the steps two at a time, slamming her mom’s door into the wall. The room was empty. Violet walked down the hall to her older sister’s room and knocked loudly on the door. 

“Who is it?” Lea said, and Violet barged in.

“What are you doing?” Lea asked, setting down her guitar.

“At least I knocked!” Violet said, sitting on the bed and ignoring the scowl she got from her sister. 

“Yeah, and I asked who it was, that doesn’t mean come in.”

She reached out and picked up a stuffed bear on Lea’s bed, “you still sleep with this? Really?”

“Shut up,” Lea snatched the bear from Violet’s hands. 

“Where’s mom?”

“I don’t know,” Lea said, looking back at her phone, “shopping, I think.”

 Frowning, Violet looked out the window. The rain was still coming down, hard. “When mom gets home, can you tell her to come to pick me up at the library?”

“At the library?” Lea glanced towards the window, “and how do you plan on getting there?”

“Just tell mom to pick me up, okay?”

“No, not okay. You can’t just leave. It’s pouring.”

Violet rolled her eyes and left the room, ignoring Lea’s shouts. She shoved the book into her backpack. Bracing herself, she opened the door. 

She was soaked to the bone almost the instant she walked outside. She doubted they had any working umbrellas in the house, but even if they had, an umbrella wouldn’t have done much to shield from the rain. The wind whipped her hair around and a she was shaking like a leaf. 

Violet unlocked the shed and pulled her old, pink bike out. She hadn’t ridden this bike in years, both wheels were on the verge of being flat, and her knees hit the handlebars, but it would have to do. 

It was a little over a mile to the library. The sky was dark, and every once in a while, thunder shook the ground. Fear threatened to nudge its way into her mind, but she pushed it away, refusing to think about getting struck by lighting or losing her way. Water and mud splattered her legs as she started to pedal the old bike. She could barely see through the rain, a sheet of water covered her glasses, and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to see better with or without them. The wind snatched her beanie from her head, but she barely batted an eye. She was starting to think that the librarian’s wrath wouldn’t have been that bad, but there was no going back now. 

Violet tried her best to focus on the road ahead, making out headlights and general, smudgy shapes.

She tried to turn onto Fifth street but must have made the turn too late or too early. The bike slammed into the curb, sending her flying. Her stomach dropped, and she threw her arms in front of her face. 

Pain ripped through her. Her arms, knees, and chin throbbed furiously. She laid on the ground for a while, letting the rain pummel her. Her hair was dripping wet, and her nose was running. 

She turned over, onto her back, staring at the sky. It was beautiful watching the rain tumble towards her. She picked herself up bit by bit, checking that she was fully intact.

Her mangled bike was a few feet away. She reached for it but didn’t get back on. She wasn’t far from the library now. Maybe she could walk the rest of the way. Her knees stung, but she stood, limping to the end of the block. She arrived at the front steps of the library and left the bike outside. There wasn’t anyone outside to steal it anyways. 

Ignoring the worried looks she got from the librarians, Violet slid the book into the return slot and sighed. 

“Vi! Are you okay?” A voice called. 

“Hey, mom,” Violet smiled, “yeah, I’m fine.”

“You can’t just leave like that; what were you thinking?”

“My book was almost overdue,” Violet shrugged, “so I biked.”