A Rhapsody Of Sorts

18- The Spaces Between My Ribs

October 12, 2012.

Belinda didn't like The Plague.

"It didn't do anything for me," she'd said, a tall glass of raspberry iced tea sweating in front of her as she frowned down at the novel like it had personally offended her. "The only books worth reading are the kind that make you cry or laugh, and I didn't do either." I tried to hold back my look of disappointment when she asked if we could read Atonement for our next meeting instead of the Dostoyevsky novel I'd had in mind.

On the morning of our trip up to Edinburgh, I made the cabbie take a detour by a bookstore so that I could buy the book before our train was due to depart — and Liam, Mae, and I nearly missed the train because of it. When we settled in our seats, out of breath and holding our sides as the train started rolling away, Liam had shot me a glare but I only shrugged, held up my brand new copy of Atonement, and blamed Belinda Ferrence.

"Soooo," Niall whispered in my ear, "are you doing homework or something?"

"Shut your gob, Niall," I groaned, not for the first time since our train left King's Cross.

He'd been looming over my shoulder, squinting his eyes in an attempt to read along with me and whining whenever I turned a page before he finished it. I had a ballpoint pen in my hand, ready to jot down notes in the margins, and a pad of sticky notes sitting in my lap to keep track of any passages that I found particularly important. Normally, I didn't like to dissect books piece by piece, but Belinda had encouraged me to read it carefully — not to mention how embarrassed I'd been the week before when she showed up with a stack of notes on The Plague while I brought nothing to the table but the thoughts in my head.

"I can't help it," Niall claimed, cracking a wide smile. "You're stressing me out. I feel like I've got a book report due on Monday."

"Leave her alone, Ni," Liam said through a mouthful of crisps. "It was like pulling teeth getting her in the cab this morning. Don't scare her away now."

Sitting across from me, her legs crossed and her dainty hands clasped together in her lap, Mae laughed sweetly. It was a gentle sound, like the coo of a mourning dove — a strong contrast to Niall's raucous chortle. Her bracelets jingled when she leaned towards me, tucking strands of pale blonde hair behind her ears. "I've read that book before, Rose." Her teeth showed when she beamed. "It's beautiful. You'll love it."

I spared her a smile before turning in my seat to swat Niall's hand away when he tried to grab the paperback out of my grasp. A sheepish grin on his face, he shrugged and ran his hand through his hair.

"Come on, Rose," Niall began. "I thought you were fun." He huffed back in his seat, arms crossed over his chest as he shot me a disheartened look. I was annoyed with him, but I couldn't help but notice how startlingly blue his eyes looked when the sunlight streamed in through the window and cast his face in a mid-morning glow.

"You thought wrong," I bit back, returning to my book.

I didn't know Niall well at all, but sitting beside him for the last half an hour had taught me that he wasn't shy and that he didn't know how to take a hint. In other words, he wouldn't leave me alone and I was two seconds away from stuffing cotton in my ears to drown out the sound of his voice.

"Have you got any gum?" he asked me, eyeing Liam and Mae as they engaged in a hushed conversation across from us, giggling and whispering as they sent each other secretive smiles that neither Niall nor I really wanted to be privy to.

"No," I grunted, shaking my head. "Sorry."

He snapped his fingers in disappointment, and then grabbed his mobile out of his pocket. I got through a record-breaking three pages before he prodded me in the ribs again. I slammed my book shut, glowering in exasperation, and it felt like my blood was near its boiling point when I slowly turned to him. Unbothered by my reaction, he asked under his breath, "Do you want to play Words With Friends? What's your username?"