The Midnight Scheme

The storm picked up, the terrors of the night howling owls celebrated the reunion of the 'A' group, gathered in one lonely corner of the library. Their whispers had lured the young librarian to fall into a cozy sleep, as they picked on the empty silence to fill it with their malicious schemes.

"Are we doing it?"

"No!" Saima, the tallest from the group, snapped. "You are doing it."

"What if she finds out?"

"You have been prolonging this for a month, Shaheera." Saima scowled, worry echoing in her tone.

The group of five sat down around a round table, picking on its cheap paint. They had planned this deed for weeks. They had to do it tonight, under the illusion of darkness, with the night howls craving the crispy echo of the wond and soothing their voices with its charm.

Nodding, Shaheera got up. She was a random street girl until this group had decided to sophisticate her. They would test and question, and today, yet again, she was going to have to prove her alliance.

Craving the crispy comfort of her house, she took a deep breath, patting her head and then began moving towards the nearest bookshelf.

Aisle B, Genre: Mystery

The howls outside had muted into a sooting sensation. The slight pitter-patter against the roof echoed the thought of a rainy night. The noise and excitement in the air was just enough to hide the feel of tangled nerves.

Shaheera had never enjoyed mystery books, despised the toxic feel of anticipation that filled her mind while skimming through thick novels. However, this genre also held a hint of illusion, which had worked in her favour.

No one dared to question the theme of mystery books. No blurbs and prologues could ge justified for mystery books.

Lovers of mystery books were simply in for the mystery, and this had given Shaheera the perfect opportunity to pull out the coverless book she had hidden behind a cocoon of mystery books.

"It is still here, guys!" She rejoiced outloud, causing the others to harshly reprimand her.

"Are you insane! Do as you are told." Loud growles scolded away her confidence and excitement.

Giving a sheepish smile, Shaheer immediately nodded and put the book in her bag. She began making her way towards the main counter, feeling anxious fill her nerves.

She had dealt with emotions graver than this, but the silent snores of the librarian kept jolting her heart with extreme dread and fear.

'The thing they make me do' she silently thought, momentarily closing her eyes to calm her nerves.

Nervous, she moved up to the counter while watching the librarian look sound asleep with her head resting on her arm, and slowly began pulling out the book from her bag.

She just had to get it stamped.

Moving towards the stamp box placed near the librarian's head, she slowly began aching towards it, her fingers shaky yet shift, and was just about to grab it when a sudden loud howl of the owl jolted her.

The rain had settled down a bit to allow the owls to howl through its force.

Extremely tense, Shaheer looked back at her friends, who was watching her from afar, and gulped as they gave her an encouraging thumbs up. They believed that she was doing just fine.

She didn't think so.

Breathing in, she began reaching out of the stamp box again, only for her tiny hand to get caught between a set of hard hands.

Oh, no!

"Mrs Shaheera, just, what on earth, are you doing? The librarian had woken up and was no looking at Shaheera with a cold and calculative look...a sharp sneer.

"Umm...I saw you asleep, so I thought I could get my book checked out." Shaheera rambled, panicking to an extreme. Behind her, she could feel her friends already on their feet.

"Very well...I am awake now." The stern librarian pulled out a register, causing Shaheera's heart to sink.

Shoot!

The dusty sceny of the register was nothing in comparison to the dirt that was about to unfold.

As the librarian began turning the pages of the register, Shaheera could feel her friends fastening their pace to reach her

Should they all run?

How, just as the intention settled in her mind, the librarian gave a crookee smile.

"Miss Shaheera, before you borrow another book, might I remind that you are a month overdue in returning 'The Classics of Middle East' back."

Trapped.

"Umm..."

"What the heck, guys! She is shivering. Leave it to the baby of our group to save our reputation." Sadia, the rich daughter from the group, rolled her eyes.

The rich madame then stepped up to the counter and placed a couple of notes.

"Sorry, Mrs Tariq, these girls are just too dramatic. They were feeling pretty nervous to confront you. Here, Shaheera has brought the book. She was just feeling to ashamed to hand it back."

The secret was out.

The school's infamous teacher's pet hadn't returned back her book for a whole month. Shaheera was the librarian's assistant at her own school, scolding students who did the same...

Someone from 'A' scoring group hadn't returned the book back.

"Sure." Mrs Tariq gave a reserved, principled smile.

Relieved, Shaheera moved to stand with her friends. The alliance was still in tack. She was worried that this failure might get her booted out of the group. She had been too close...yet she was confident in Sadia's skills.

Sadia could handle any scheme, plot with a visible show of calm and confidence. No one questioned Sadia's motives unless she wanted them too.

Though still a bit shaky for the final bit, Shaheera beamed with joy as Mrs Tariq quickly stamped the book, her glasses slipping down her nose.

However, before handing back the book, Mrs Tariq leaned over the counter and meet Sadia's gaze with a knowing gleam.

"This isn't just the Classics of the Middle East..."

Sadia gave a big smile, sharing a mischievous look with all the other girls.

"Nope."

It was something more...