Slow and Speedy Win the Fight

34. Old News

Sheldon

Libraries have information about whatever, right?

Rudra said that any student could use the school library and could even check out books with student identification. He wanted to accompany me there but he has to work on his own assignment as well.

I pushed the large doors and stumbled into the library. A wave of heat came over me and I swore I felt my eye twitch. It's winter, how the hell is the room so hot?

I thought libraries were supposed to be quiet.

There were lots of people chatting amongst themselves and taking up space in the computer section of the library. The general seating area seemed to cram itself next to the computers and the actual section with all the books seemed empty. I could probably search for something in peace.

That was when I made eye contact with Haresa.

You had to be kidding me. We saw each other in class, wasn't that enough?

I was about to walk away before the person next to them noticed their stare. She waved at me and it took me some time to recognize her as the president of the club. She motioned for me to come over and I froze in panic. I gave a look to Haresa and they gave a shrug.

I made my way to the table and put my hands in my pockets.

"Sheldon, right?" Mia asked.

"What's it to you?"

Mia laughed. "Relax, dude. I just wanted to say hi. We didn't talk much so I wanted to get to you more. You're always leaving GSA the moment it ends."

"Ah, well you know villainy." I rubbed the back of my neck and avoided eye contact. "Doing lots of crimes and then going to jail only break out for a comeback."

"Really? I thought we stopped doing that in the nineties," Mia raised an eyebrow.

"What? You're an expert?"

"Psh, more like someone with the internet."

I leered over the crowd of people with cellular devices in their hands. "Mmm, figures."

"What brings you to the library anyways?" She asked.

"Books. You know."

"About what?"

"Vietnam," I mumbled. "We have a cultural presentation in English class."

"Ah, you're Vietnamese?"

I shifted my weight to another foot. "You could say that."

"Darn, I was so sure you were Filipino."

"Huh?" I scrunched my eyebrows together.

"There's a large Filipino community at the school, so often most of the South East Asian students are Filipino or Filipina."

"I see. Does that mean...?"

She laughed. "Yes, I'm Filipina."

"Sounds... nice to have a community."

Ew, people. When can I leave?

"Are you liking the school so far?"

"It's okay." I pointed my head towards the bookshelves. "I should get to finding the books I need."

"I can help." Haresa stood abruptly. "You probably need help finding the non-fiction section, right?"

I give them a glare and they sent back a pleading look.

"That's a good idea." Mia didn't seem to notice the silent conversation the hare and I were just having. "I got lost the first time I tried looking for something here. Haresa used to volunteer for the library."

"Did they?" I said through gritted teeth.

"Well, it was nice catching up with you Mia." Haresa nearly tripped over their own feet as they wiggled out between the chair and table.

"Don't forget this weekend."

"Course not!" Judging by their strained smile, they were not looking forward to that.

I thought they had a crush on her.

"See ya," Mia waved. She put her focus on her notebook and didn't give attention to Haresa and me.

Haresa began walking to the bookshelves and I reluctantly followed.

"What the hell was that?" I shouted quietly.

They didn't look in my direction and continued on their path. Rows of books obscured my vision the farther away we got from the groups of people. Haresa absentmindedly had a hand on the spines of the books as they walked through the area.

"I swear to god, hare," I seethed. "If you don't explain—"

"She's my ex."

That stopped me in my tracks. "From the way you looked at her... I thought you had a crush on her."

"Ha... well... I... didn't want the breakup."

They pulled out a book from the bookshelf. It had a large bulky font with a background image of what seemed like a river surrounded by a jungle.

I couldn't help but think about my own recent breakup. It still stung whenever I thought about it but I wasn't bawling my eyes out at least.

"That sucks," I said lamely. Soothing did not seem to be a strong suit of mine.

"I've been... getting over it, I guess." They gave an unconvincing shrug. "This book is good for general information about climates of countries. You might need others books to find specifics like clothing and food."

"I don't even know what I'm going to do for the food portion. I don't have a working kitchen."

"Do... you live alone?"

I didn't respond to them and pulled out a book before reading the cover. "Vivid Vietnam. Sounds like it'll have more stuff in it."

They glanced at me and gave a meek nod. "You know... you could do downtown and buy snacks for the presentation. She didn't say it had to be homemade."

"That... isn't a bad idea. But..."

They had taken out a book but put it back after changing their mind it seemed. "But what?"

"I don't know if they sell any Vietnamese snacks in the city."

They let out a small laugh and I stared at them. Their laugh died down and realization slowly spread over their face. "No way, you never been into an Asian grocery store, have you?"

"I haven't... really explored the city," I admitted.

"What about searching it up online?"

"I don't need— Have. I don't have any access to the internet."

They tapped their fingers against the book they were holding. "You know what, I could show you around. I know there are some places I go to that sell a variety of Asian goods. I bet there's Vietnamese stuff there."

"You... and me? Out? Being... casual."

"We did it yesterday. I don't see what the big deal is."

I continued to browse through my section of books. I made a disgruntled sound of uncertainty, not sold on the idea of me spending time with a hero.

"Oh, come on. You want to pass your classes, don't you?"

They got me there.

"Alright, but this will be a quick trip and after that, we act like we don't know each other."

"You can do that and I'll just act like I usually do."

I tapped my toe against the ground and sighed. "Well, thanks or whatever for the book finding."

"It's no problem."

Looked like I had a lot of reading to do.