5SOS Book of Imagines

LRH // Bookish (1)

There she was again, sitting by herself in the far corner of the library. I sat a safe distance away from her, so she wouldn't notice me staring.

I've always wanted to talk to her but she never seemed to talk to anyone else, I don't want to embarrass myself when I talk to her and she just ignores me. That'd be a disaster.

Loaine. That was her name. Cute name for a cute girl.

She's cute. Really. I've been secretly staring at her since she goes here to the library every single day. She wears her black hair down to half her back, that always covers her face when she looks down everytime she reads - which is all the time. She has this habit of pushing her glasses up her nose when it slips down, sometimes she just scrunches up her face to adjust it, making her look like a little kitten. She was cute, and what I'm doing definitely isn't.

I wanted to grow some balls and go talk and befriend her but everytime I see someone sitting beside her in the table, she flinches and changes her seat. As if she was scared of talking to people. Why?

Nobody's sitting on either side of her. Everybody else who's frequent in the library must have noticed how she wants her space to herself. She had her eyebrows scrunched up in her forehead like she was in pain, then she sniffs. She was making this really sad, broken expression like she was about to cry that I just couldn't help but stand up and slowly sit beside her.

She flinched like I expected. She closed her book which she was almost finished with and aimed to stand when I gripped her arm, softly pulling her back to sit.

"Hey, um, are you okay?" my voice came out a bit raspy, making me curse myself internally. Damn nerves.

She looked at me with widened eyes, with tears brimming by the edges, not speaking.

"Hey, are you crying? Hey," I stared at her, willing a response, a deep feeling inside me wanting to take away the reason for her pain.

Much to my surprise, she softly laughed.

She settled in her seat, making me awkwardly pull away my hand which was still gripping her arm. She shook her head and smiled - a sad smile still, "It's nothing."

Okay, hold up. This is weird. I mean, she laughed and talked. This is the first time I ever heard her voice and it sounds so fucking enchanting.

"It's okay if you don't tell me, I mean, I just want to know if you're okay because you look like you were in pain. But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. If you want to then go, just don't think you have to," I blabbered on nervously, rubbing the back of my head at how stupid I sounded.

She laughed again, a little bit louder now. I was falling in love with sound. Honestly.

"It's really a stupid reason," she shooks her head one more time.

"Why?" I willed her to keep talking. I wanted to hear her voice.

"I'm almost finished reading this book and it's giving me the feels. I got carried away with the scene and felt like crying myself," she shyly gestured for the book she was still holding.

Oh. I felt myself smile. Widely.

"Georgie chose Neal, didn't she?" I commented, feeling lucky because I've read the book she was reading.

"You've read Landline?" she gasped.

"It's a fascinating story. So realistic," I smiled at her, growing comfortable with the conversation.

"I know," she smiled, mostly to herself, "Everybody wants an extravagant love story but I want something like Georgie's. There was magic, there was love, there was pain, and she chose Neal even though she found out Seth loves her. It's how all love stories should be. It's all how real-life love stories are."

I stared at her in awe as I listened at the same time finally seeing her face. She had wonderful eyes beneath those glasses, dark brown orbs that express everything, that says everything. And she has a wonderful point of view, a smart, little bit poetic mind. She spoke of the book so dearly, like speaking of something important to her, like speaking of an artwork. She was fascinating. She was a book herself. A work of art on her own.

"You're beautiful," I blurted out, unable to stop myself. I blushed at what I said, nervous to what she'll react.

Her eyes widened with...fear? Why? She was looking at me like a cornered animal, the beautiful small smile gone.

"N-no," she said shakily before she abruptly stood up and left without a word. I sat thinking she really was a book. A book so hard to read with mysterious twists and metaphors but I'm determined to read and find out.