FORTE VIRIDIAN LIBRARY STOOD at the end of Birchfield Rd, towering over the neighboring businesses. Polished pillars held the structure, beckoning people to walk up the steps and go inside the large building. Gwenn stared from the cobblestoned path, watching few go in and out, head low as they hurried to get to their lives. Meanwhile the library, once used to be a safe haven from the loud world, now promised uncertainty on the other side of its strong threshold.
A sudden breeze blew through her sheer cardigan, and she rubbed her arms together against her chest. The late September day brought in an unusual chill, though she suspected it would soon be replaced by a normal wave of California heat. She didn't want to be outside when the clouds cleared to reveal the blazing sun, so she mustered up all the courage she could, and trudged up the steps of the library.
Stepping inside, she glanced at every visible corner for anyone dressed in black, Ronan's signature color. Long green tables stretched for what seemed like miles, most filled with students getting ahead on their projects and studies. She spied a girl her age with a large pack of index cards and a massive brick of a microbiology textbook. Gwenn ogled at the collection of markers she used to bring the complicated terms to life, before hurrying to the back.
Rows of books filled half of the first floor, all overflowing with information on various topics Gwenn could only dream of learning about. Since she moved out of Hales Bay, she frequented the spot, browsing through the psychology section for anything she could use for future reference.
She reached her hand out, caressing the spine of an old and well-used book. Her fingers dipped into the gold engravings of the letters, tracing the words A Study of Human Behavior. A book she had taken out on multiple occasions, especially during her freshman year at Lockfell U.
Before she headed back to Hales Bay to her parent's house, she would make a pit stop, scanning the words for anything useful for her papers. At one point in her courses, her professors realized her enthusiasm over psychology, reading essay after essay about behaviors and the brain.
It fascinated her.
Gwenn resisted the urge to flip through its brown pages and turned away. She stopped in the middle of a row, pursing her lips as a random blond guy passed through, arms full of books.
"Something told me I'd find you in the psych section."
That smooth voice sent shivers down her spine, and she turned around to be further chilled by those eyes. Ronan grinned, brightening up the darkened row with his presence, despite his dark tee and jeans. Her gaze flicked to his tattoos before settling over his face.
In one fluid motion, she reached down into her bag and produced a packet of papers, all stapled together for his convenience. "I wasn't sure what you wanted to do here, but I brought this." She handed him the packet, which he grasped firmly. "Questions to do about every unit coming in the next test. Once you're done, I'll correct them and we can go from there."
Ronan said nothing as he read the first few questions on the front page. "You did all this?" He asked, flipping through her work. "By yourself?"
She let out a nervous chuckle. "You wanted help to pass, no?"
"This partnership is going to be cutthroat, isn't it?" Gwenn gave a meek shrug. "Anyway, my plan was to start my part of the deal." He folded the packet in half and squeezed it in between his armpit.
"How do we start?" she asked.
Ronan crooked a finger at her, turning back the way he came. She followed close on his heels before halting. He went out into the open, the golden light shining over his dark head of hair. Gwenn hid behind a bookcase, hoping no one saw them together.
YOU ARE READING
Forever Luminescent
General Fiction"Just shine like you always do." Gwenn Davidson has always known she was adopted, but after clearing up her stuff for her first move out of her parent's house, she finds an old blanket gifted to her by her birth mother that triggers an avalanche of...
