City of Books

The cursor blinks in front of me. I didn't know what to write about, and the story was due in 20 minutes. Slowly though the idea came to me. My hands started to fly across the keyboard typing furiously. I didn't stop until the 20 minutes were up. Finally I laid my hands down on the keyboard to read back over it. It was my life, with an ending I didn't even know was going to happen. I started to notice it when I was watching tv. I would notice the girls more than the guys. I would go over to a friends sleepover party and they would be talking about guys and I never found that interesting. I started to slip away from my friends that were girls and started to hang out with guys more. I didn't know what was happening but whatever it was I kept it to myself. I would rent books out and read about gay people getting together in the end and I would wonder if that's what was going to happen to me. I didn't know if I was gay but at the time I wasn't interested in guys. I would look for signs to know that I was gay or not. One came and slapped me on the face and left me breathless for weeks.

A new girl showed up at school, she was in my second period. She had long blond hair with dark blue almost green eyes. She wore black ripped jeans with a white shirt. The shirt was tight on her and showed off everything about her. I looked her up and down a couple times. She caught my eye, smiled and then looked away. When I took my seat in the front row I found myself sneaking glances at her. She was really pretty. Her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail behind her head. Her nails tapped on the desk and I could see they were the same color as her eyes. When the bell rang after that class I booked it out of there.

Danny, my best friend since we were born, was sitting in his seat. I slid in next to him tossing my book bag on the ground. He looked over at me. Danny was mute. He hadn't spoken a word since 7th grade. "There's a new girl in my second period." His eyes lit up at this statement. I told him how I was feeling a couple years ago when it first started happening. He was as supportive as a guy who doesn't speak can be. I settled into my chair. He nudged me with his elbow and slipped a piece of paper my way. On good day's we would write back and forth, it was his only means of communication. "New girl? What did she look like?" I scrawled out a note back to him and slipped it to him. I watched as his eyes read over the words. "She had long blond hair pulled into a ponytail. She had on black pants with a white shirt. She had blueish green eyes and her nails matched her eyes." He looked at me with a smile and wiggled his eyebrows. I laughed and rolled my eyes at him..

When class ended it was already lunch, but I didn’t feel like eating. My stomach was doing flips. I snuck into the library and sat down in one of the chairs pulling a book from the shelf behind me. I flipped it open and began to read. By the time the bell rang signaling lunch was over I was almost finished with it and decided to check it out just to see how it ended. I read all through fourth period which was my free period or study hall and by the time fifth period rolled around I had finished the book. 

I went back to the library before fifth period to turn it back in. I flung open the heavy oak doors and standing right in front of me was the girl from first period. She turned when she heard the door shut. She looked at me and then her eyes dropped to the book I was holding in my hands. “One of my favorites.” Her voice was soft making me want to lean into her. 

“I thought it was okay. A little confusing.” When I said this I started to worry I said something wrong. 

“Did you read the other two books before it?”  

“No, I just came in here for lunch and picked a random book. It was this one. By the time the bell rang I was almost done with it so I decided to just check it out and read it later. I already finished it though.” I knew I was speaking fast and I tried to slow myself down. 

“The two books before it are better than the third and the fourth but you don’t seem to have them in your library.” 

“Probably not. A while ago parents came through and banned a lot of books.” We used to have twice as many books then we do now but she didn’t need to know that.

“That’s sad. Every book deserves to be read. Otherwise what is the point of writing and printing it?” 

“True.” Her eyes were shining. Reading was obviously something she was passionate about. 

She smiles and says “I’m Cassidy.” She sticks out her hand and I shake it. Her grip was firm in mine and I felt the tension leave from my body. 

“I’m Dani.” 

“Nice to meet you Dani.” She says with a huge smile on her face. “As much as I would love to stay here and talk with you about these books, we are going to be late if we don’t hurry.” I nod noticing the time. “See you around Dani.” She smiles and then pushes open the door letting it hiss shut behind her. 

All next period I couldn’t focus. My mind was stuck on Cassidy. When the teacher called on me to do a math problem I was in my own world. Ryan, my other best friend, eventually got up to smack me upside the head. Ryan slid into the seat next to me after the teacher finished teaching. “What the heck Dani?” He said with confusion clearly displayed across his face. 

“Sorry I was just thinking.” 

“Well don’t hurt yourself.” I smack his chest when he says that and he laughs. Ryan was like that. Always being sarcastic and always doing stupid things that one day he would get caught for. “Want to go to the cattle after school?” The cattle was one of the only good restaurants we had in town. Ryan, Danny, Eli and I went there almost every day after school. 

“Yeah sure. Make sure to invite Danny and Eli.” I say giving him a punch on the shoulder for good measure. He nods as the bell rings again. 

“Come to my car after school and I’ll drive everyone. I’m sure Danny and Eli will be up for it.” He walks away towards the door, backpack slung onto one shoulder. 

Ryan text me telling me that Danny and Eli were coming. After the last bell rang singling that school was officially over, I hurried down the stairs and out the door heading to Ryan's truck. Danny, Eli and Ryan were already there leaning up against the truck. I slide into my spot in the passenger seat. He rolls the windows down as we drive. It’s a 20 minute drive to the cattle but the food makes the drive worth it. We don’t talk until we reach the cattle. 

At the cattle we sit in our favorite booth, that sat right by the doors. “Did any notice today that the test was extremely hard?” Ryan asks, rolling his eyes. Danny raises his hand and I speak up. 

“Actually yeah. The questions weren’t anything like the ones on the study guide.” Danny, and Ryan nod along. Eli was in a different math class. He was smarter than all of us combined and would probably become the next Einstein. 

“How ‘bout you smart boy? Have you had any hard tests today?” Eli rolls his eyes when Ryan says this. Ryan makes fun of him for being so smart but we all know that he doesn’t mean it. 

“If you must know, no I didn’t have any hard tests. Well for smart people like me it wouldn’t be counted as hard but for your minion brain, Ryan, I’m sure it would be really challenging.” Ryan laughs and Eli and him high fives. I laugh and Danny rolls his eyes. Ryan and Eli start fighting each other and get so loud that I don’t even notice the door opening and blond hair swishing in. Danny nudges me and points over to the counter. That’s when I notice that Cassidy was standing at the counter looking over the menu. Danny pushes me and I fall out of the booth and onto the sticky floor next to it. I turn and stick out my tongue but he’s already looked away and back down at the menu. I look back up to see Cassidy turned looking at me with a confused look. “Dani? Are you okay?” I stand wiping my hands on my jeans. 

“Yes I’m fine. Danny pushed me out of the booth.” I say pointing at Danny who has a smirk plastered on his face. 

“Mind if I sit with you guys for a little?” Ryan and Eli stop fighting and are looking at Cassidy with googly eyes. Their eyes make me want to slap them. 

“Yeah sure, pull up a chair.” Eli says. Cassidy turns and grabs a chair from the table next to her. “How do you know Dani?” Eli asks. 

“We met in the library actually. After fourth period, she was holding my favorite book so I decided she must be cool but turns out she hasn’t read the first two.” I could hear the sarcasm dripping from her voice, and I smiled at her. 

“This is Eli, Ryan, and Danny.” She says hello to all of them and they say hello back. Danny nods his hello. “Danny is mute.” I say. I can see the surprise in her eyes but she doesn’t say anything. 

Our food finally arrives and I realize she never ordered. I slide my fries and shake over to her opening another straw and putting it in for her. “Here we can share. Your food will take a while if you order now.” She smiles and takes a french fry out of my basket, thanking me as she puts it in her mouth. “Did you take any tests today?” She holds up a finger and finishes chewing before she speaks. 

“Actually no. Since it was my first day I was exempt.” She looks at my shake and I push it over to her and she takes a sip of it. 

“Did you just move?” Eli asks as he takes a bite of his burger. 

“Yeah. We got here a couple days ago. We’re still unpacking the house.” She pops another fry in her mouth. “We moved from Oklahoma. Prices got too high so we couldn’t afford it.” Every so often there would be a crunch of bacon or a slurp of a shake. 20 or so minutes passed in complete silence before Ryan stood tossing his bin in the trash. 

“Well this was really fun. We’ve got to run. Cassidy it was so nice to meet you and I hope that we will be able to meet again soon.” He picked up her hand and kissed it. It made my stomach do jealous flips that I was worried would make my stomach give up that milkshake on the way back to the school. 

The next day at school I sat down next to Cassidy. She pulls a book out of her backpack. “I thought we would be able to go to a spot I know and read this.” She set the book down on the desk in front of her. “I know you already read the third one, but I thought it would make more sense if you read the first one.” 

I smile at her and nod. “Yeah I would love to. You want to go after school? I can drive if you want.” 

“That would be perfect. Should I meet you at your car?” I nod as the bell rings. 

The day goes by really quickly. Danny and Ryan aren’t in school which I find strange but don’t think much of it. Maybe they ate something bad yesterday some day. By the time the last bell rings I sprinted to my car. Cassidy was already waiting for me. I unlocked it and climbed in the passenger side. I turn on the car and start to drive. She gives me directions as we drive. She takes me out of the little town we lived in and into the middle of nowhere. “You aren’t trying to kill me are you?” I say laughing 

She giggles and it makes my stomach flip. “No I’m not trying to kill you.” 

Twenty minutes later she tells me to pull off the road. I pull into the gravel and put the car in park. She opens the door and climbs out. I follow her. She grabs my hand and starts to run. I follow her my hand still wrapped in hers. She stops in a clearing. The sunlight was shining into this clearing and the grass was a beautiful green. She pulls me into the clearing. The tree’s around it provided privacy for us as she sits on the grass. She places the book in front of us cracking it open. She smiles at me and grabs my hand again. She begins to read out loud to me. I couldn’t even focus on the actual book and what she was saying. All I could think about was her voice. She would look up and smile at me every few minutes. She would grab my hand. I wanted to tell her that I was already catching feelings for her. I decided to take a leap of faith and just tell her how I felt. I took my hand and placed it in hers. I closed the book and placed my hand over it. She looks at me the question clearly written on her face. “Cassidy I know you haven’t been here for more than 48 hours and when I put it that way it sounds even shorter but I feel like we have had this instant connection and I’m catching feelings for you already and I think that you are catching feelings for me and I may be wrong but I had to tell you that.” I feel my face heating up the bright red spots blotching my face. She looks at me before she starts to lean into me. She kisses me. Her lips were soft and tasted like honey. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulling me closer.  I wrap my arms around her waist. She pulls apart from me and leans her forehead against mine. She was breathing hard and so was I. I smiled at her feeling my whole world blossom. She giggles as I open the book back up to the page. I started to read but ended up just looking back up at Cassidy and smiling.