An Eye for an Eye **LT**

Chapter 37

Cecilia's POV-

I got to the library about 15 minutes earlier than I was supposed to, to ensure I didn't appear tardy at all. The same old lady that was working at the desk yesterday, Beth, was the woman I was supposed to train with apparently. She didn't seem to interested in helping me, though. She went over the basics, like how to clock in, where to find my schedule, and gave me a quick tour of the library. Then she sat me back behind the desk for awhile to stare at the Dewey Decimal system chart. Supposedly, I was supposed to memorize it, but I'd never heard of it before.

Once I had stared at that single piece of paper for about two hours, Beth went and got a cart of returned books, telling me that I was to go reshelf them. I felt a little insulted, as that seemed like such a basic job that a high school volunteer could do. But without arguing with the already grumpy lady, I took the cart of books into the aisles of the library. 

The whole system was still confusing even though I had the Dewey Decimal chart with me because aside from that, the books were sorted into different sections for kids, adults, young adults, graphic novel et cetera. I probably should have organized the books on the cart first because what ended up happening was me weaving all over the library unnecessarily.

I was working on shelving a couple of the Daniel X James Patterson graphic novels, and I pushed back some of the neighboring series to make room. The other aisle was revealed behind the gap of books, and I caught my breath. There was a girl standing there, her back to me. But I could recognize the back of her head, and her fading highlights, anywhere. It was, without a doubt, Ashley.

I stepped back, holding my breath and pressing myself against the other tower of shelves. I knew Ashley read a lot, but what were the chances I would see her here after Leah showed up at the bar Louis was at yesterday? 

I didn't know what to do. My legs felt literally frozen in place like I'd been sent into a spontaneous paralysis.  My heart was racing, pounding against my chest. Jacob wasn't the only one that had hurt me, it was also my friends. They had both betrayed me, disrespecting me by agreeing to the affair. If my boyfriend had wanted to cheat on me with my "best friends", they should have come to me and told me.  And of course not participated in the scandal.

And they knew I knew about it. How was I supposed to even face either of them again? And the fact that Leah was going after Louis now, too? What a total fucking bitch.

Shutting my eyes, I took a deep breath, trying to rid myself of the stress. Should I just push my cart to another area and wait for her to leave? No, surely she would see me. But what if she walked around the aisle my way? There was nearly no way I could get out of this situation without her spotting me.

I opened my eyes again, still trying to figure out what to do. Hesitantly, I took a step forward, risking a glance back through the books. And there she was, running her fingers along the spines of the titles on the top shelf curiously. Her hair fell over her shoulders in that beautiful curtain I was always so jealous of. It always looked so well groomed, even if we had been outside all day. I don't know how her locks managed to be so fucking perfect, but it was something I couldn't stop being envious of.

Her fingers suddenly stopped, and her head slowly peered over her shoulder. Our eyes met. Awkwardly, she shot me a little smile, then walked away, heading toward the front door.

The bad part? She'd literally seen me.

The good side of it? She was gone now.

I let out a breath of relief that I hadn't known I'd been holding. My face was red from the heat of feeling so damn uncomfortable. I didn't want to encounter either her, nor Leah ever again. And especially not Jacob. Because I knew if my ex was still fucking my "friends", he was probably somewhere close by...