READ FOR ME

If there's such a thing as the other half then mine was 'books'. " Looking for something?", a blond girl peeked at me from the other side of the aisle, a smile on her face. My eyes shifted from the novels on the shelf to her. Blue orbs twinkled with something I couldn't name and my heart skipped a beat at the sight. Who was she supposed to be? " I'm here if you need any help.", She looked at me as if she was trying to make an alien understand her language. My eyes squinted but clarity hit me when I saw the badge on her chest. 'Barbara. ( Librarian)' , it read. " No, I'm fine." , I replied. " You sure?, you've been searching those shelves for hours." What- I wasn't allowed to tour around to find something I like? I thought this was a library? Wait- had she been watching me? " Just checking the books out." , I casually said, wondering why she had approached me when they were a dozen other people around doing the same thing. Weird. Did she check on each and every one of them?? " Okay. I'll be around if you need any assistance", she smiled and left. No. I think it's just me. Or maybe I didn't notice her check up with the others. I shrugged it off as my eyes came across an interesting title.. 'Sing You Home', by Jodi Picoult. I grabbed two more other books- okay, five, just in case I get to finish them faster than I expected... and for some reason, I felt somebody watching me. I turned around and my dark eyes met a piercing blue, ' Barbara '. She quickly looked away, typing something in the computer infront of her. Strange I've never seen her before. I mean, not like I had been here long but it's almost a fortnight since I discovered this amazing place existed in this small town. Shamelessly, I took a seat that put her perfectly with the line of my sight but not in a distracting or creepy way. What, not my fault she was so pretty. I got so immersed in my reading I became completely unaware of my own surroundings. Actually, that's what happens every time I grab a book to read. It's like the world melts away and the world from the book comes to life. " Hey! " It was her who called me out of my personal world back to reality. My eyes flopped open to discover that I was the only one left in the building, everyone else had left. " We're closing up ", she said, a familiar expression on her face. I knew the look. My Mom had it when she had spent hours trying to call me out of a book. Exasperation. But Barbara's was different .... It wasn't exasperation, it was like a little shock and a secret interest that made her uncomfortable. " s**t. Sorry. ", I quickly closed whatever I was reading, panicking. 04:30 pm, the clock said. They closed at 04:00pm. " Just leave them there.", She said when I was about to carry the books back to the shelves. But I was too guilty for wasting the lady's time. How long had she been calling me? " It's okay, let me-" " No-", stopping me. " -there are arranged in a specific set of numbers that you aren't aware of so just leave them there." I knew the book-arrangement code. Figured it out first day. Yeah, but I wasn't here to look smart so... " It's my job, by the way" , she pointed, as a matter of fact, as if daring me to pull an act of kindness and offer her my help. Yes I so was! " I - I can help?", I watched her piling the books up and carrying them. I had no idea why I said that but next thing I know I was helping Barbara collect books from tables and put them back in their places in the shelves. " Wait-", she halted halfway our little chore. " How did- .. you know the arrangement code? " Oh. I should've played dumb and asked her for it in the first place I guess. " Uhh..", I played casual. " I spend too much time on shelves- I kinda figured it out", and shrugged it like it's no big deal. Barbara looked at me for a minute before moving on. She got tired using her hands so she ended up pushing the cart while I collected everything from the desks and dropped them in. " So... are you a bookworm?", She asked as we took our third round. God, this place was huge. Was she really going to do all this alone?? I almost laughed at the question. " More like book-psycho", I answered, more to myself than her. "Is that why you get so carried away like that?", She tilted her head. Yeah, and it takes me like ten minutes to tune out. " My mom says it's a disorder, something on the borders of schizophrenia but of it's own kind." , I put more books in the cart. " ... You freaked me out a bit, I almost thought you passed out with your eyes open" " That's exactly how it is. I see things ... , characters ... and places and ... sometimes feelings." If it was a disorder then I wasn't ashamed of it one bit no matter how disgusting my mother found it. Barbara was frozen ... staring at me as if I just stated something like 'I like raw moths for dinner'. Okay, maybe I got a little bit ahead of my mouth there? Did I? I was just being honest and- " That's ... sexy", she marked, making me almost tumble on my lousy feet. What?! That's the last thing I expected to hear. " I mean- I'd love to be able to actually see the characters I read. That's the best thing ever! And feel what they feel? That's awesome. Not everybody has that gift. You're lucky. " She's crazy. " You got a free ticket to the imaginary world, it never gets cooler than that.", she added. I blinked. Unbelievable. She thinks that's cool? Now I'm starting to question my sanity. Was she serious? My mom had gotten me on a dose of pills for this! I dismissed it and kept on collecting books. It was 05:30pm by the time we finished and I wondered how long it would have taken her to accomplish the task on her own. I bet she's used to it. " Do you have an assistant or something?", I asked as she packed up her stuff. " ..n-not anymore, she left" " So you do all the work, huh?", I rested my hands on the marble counter. " Yep.", She finally wore her satchel and grabbed some keys. We walked out together and I waited as she locked the doors. " Thank you .." , I heard murmur. when I looked up she had a smile on her face and for a second I wished she did just that. " It was nothing", I admitted, hands in my jeans pockets. She looked at me in disbelief. " Really", I added. " I actually had fun, as weird as it might sound." I didn't intend to enclose that last part but there was just an aura around her that made me wanna say everything I wanted to say. " Really?", her eyes bulged out in surprise, " me too!" She was smiling again and I had this stupid idea of kissing it off her pretty face. s**t. Did I really think that? We both froze, stupidly beaming at each other until uneasiness settled in ... leaving us completely silent. I swear I could hear a fly buzz. One of her hands was holding the strap of her satchel while the other aimlessly fiddled with her keys. " Um", I cleared my throat. " I gotta catch up with the bus so..." " See you tomorrow?", She was taking off her badge. My heart skipped at the thought of seeing her again. Why was I getting excited? s**t- my body was getting ahead of itself. I just gave out an awkward wave and began to walk away fast before I ended up doing or saying something stupid. Last time my heart misbehaved like this, I ended up broken,so No. I wasn't repeating mistakes. For some reason I felt her eyes watching and it took everything in me not to look back. I didn't stop until I reached the bus shelter. It was empty. No people, no bus. I let out a heavy sigh I didn't know I was holding and sat down to wait. God. I pulled out my phone, wore my earpods and spaced out on Billie Eilish while more people filled up the empty space next to me. Just when I thought I had avoided the devil, a silver Audi stopped by. Barbara stepped out and my breath hitched. Fuck- why was my respiratory system doing this to me today? I hoped she hadn't seen me but Lord, she gazed right at me. I bet I looked like a cat struck by lightning. I hoped I didn't because she was heading for ... me? " I hope you don't live somewhere beyond the city because I'm about to offer you a lift.", She marked. " I live in Corner street", I found myself saying. " Good. C'mon", she led the way to her car and I followed, getting in. It smelled like lemons inside her car and I immediately loved it. I shouldn't. Barbara followed the directions I gave her until she stopped right infront of my uncle's house. Where I lived. " Thank you", I said, unbuckling the belt. " It was nothing.", She winked and I almost choked on nothing. Jesus. I need to stay away from her. " It's Barbara, by the way.", She added, s**t- why was the belt not leaving me?! I didn't want her saying anything else. " Mack- Mackenzie.", I finally stepped out. Whew. Stupid lemons. " Well, goodnight Mackenzie!", She waved with a smile and drove off before I could even think of replying. I had slept that night with trouble. Why? Because a bizarre excitement from seeing Barbara was tugging at my heart strings.