Mated to my bully

Chapter 9. The Dark Library

Emma's POV

After lunch, I couldn't go back to the courtyard.

Everyone had seen the scene Adrian caused. Everyone was whispering about the new girl with white hair who told Adrian Gray to leave her alone. My blank expression had worked, but now the staring was worse. Girls I didn't know looked at me like I was either very brave or very stupid for messing with the most popular guy on campus.

So I went to the library.

Emily had told me where it was during our tour — a small room on the ground floor, at the end of the hallway, next to the art room. It was supposed to be quiet.

It was.

I pushed open the heavy wooden door and it smelled exactly like I wanted it to smell — old paper, dust, and wood polish. Like my mom's books in California. There were only three tall bookshelves, a few tables, and a big window that looked out onto the oak trees. No one was inside. The librarian wasn't even there.

Perfect.

I found a corner in the very back, behind the history shelf where no one could see me. I sat on the floor, my navy skirt spread around me, my white hair falling over my shoulders, my second pair of glasses clean on my face.

I was reading.

I had brought one of my books from home — _Pride and Prejudice_, my mom's favorite, with her handwritten notes in the margins. I was minding my business, reading in the corner, trying to make my heart stop beating fast after what happened with Adrian. My bright blue eyes scanned the familiar words and for the first time all day, I felt a little safe.

The school was noisy outside, but in here it was silent.

Then, all of a sudden, the light went out.

CLICK.

The fluorescent light above me flickered and died. The light in the hallway outside died too. The big window behind me was shaded by the oak trees, so everywhere was dark. Very dark. Almost pitch black.

There was a small yelp from the hallway — "Ay, se fue la luz!" — someone saying the power went out.

I should have been scared. Any normal person would be scared to be suddenly in the dark in an empty library.

But I wasn't.

Because I could see very well in the dark.

I know it's weird. But I could do it since I was a kid.

Since I was little in California, I never needed a nightlight. I could walk around our dark house at 2 AM and see everything — the chairs, the table, the stairs — like it was faintly glowing. My parents thought it was strange. My mom used to call me her little owl. "My little white-haired owl," she would say. My bright blue eyes would adjust and the dark would become grey and clear.

So when the lights went out in the library, I blinked once, and then I could see everything. The bookshelves, the tables, the door, the dust floating in the air. Very well. Like it was twilight, not midnight.

I stayed sitting for a second, listening.

Then I heard voices right outside the library door.

Two guys whispering.

"Did you turn it off at the breaker?"

"Yeah. That will serve her right. Let's see how that pathetic human gets out of here. She thinks she can talk to you like that?"

It was Adrian's voice.

And one of his friends — the huge rugby guy from class.

My blood went cold. He had turned off the power. On purpose. To trap me in the dark library. Because I told him to leave me alone. Because I gave him a blank expression and embarrassed him in front of everyone.

He called me pathetic human. Like I wasn't even worth being in the same school as him. Like my white hair and my bright blue eyes made me less than him.

I scoffed.

A loud, clear scoff in the dark, quiet library. I couldn't help it.

Inside the library, it echoed.

Outside the door, the whispering stopped.

"What was that?" his friend whispered.

Adrian laughed, low. "It's her. She's scared. Let's go. Leave her in there until the librarian comes back."

I stood up.

I didn't stumble. I didn't feel my way along the shelves. I walked straight, confidently, my white hair glowing slightly in the dark, my second pair of glasses glinting.

I walked right to the door and pushed it open.

Adrian was standing at the door.

He was standing there with his hand still on the light switch on the wall outside, his golden-brown eyes looking down the dark hallway, expecting to hear me crying or banging on the door.

He was not expecting the door to open by itself.

He was not expecting to see me out of the library, standing there calmly, my bright blue eyes looking straight at him and seeing him perfectly in the dark, my white hair almost luminous.

He was surprised to see me out of the library. So surprised he actually jumped back a step, his mouth open.

His friend jumped too.

"You — how did you —" Adrian stammered, his golden-brown eyes wide, staring at my bright blue eyes that were clearly seeing him in pitch darkness when he could barely see me. "The lights... how did you get out? You can see?"

I adjusted my second pair of glasses, my expression blank again, the same blank expression from lunch that got on his nerve.

"I told you to leave me alone, Adrian," I said quietly, in that same flat voice. "And I meant it."

I walked past him, my white hair brushing his arm, leaving him standing in the dark hallway, staring after me, his surprise turning into something else — something confused and intense and almost scared.

I walked back to class, and behind me, I heard his friend whisper, "Dude... her eyes were glowing."

I pretended I didn't hear it.