Meet Me In The Umbrella Garden

Chapter 5: The Umbrella

The bookshop.

It was the first thing that came into Ivy's mind which could serve as a way to ward off her annoyingly persistent seatmate.

She figured he'd get bored. She figured, since he seemed to be the type that liked to move around and do a lot of active activities often...

But boy was she wrong!

Ivy truly couldn't wipe off the flabbergasted look on her face as she watched Luke read a book with a calm expression as he stood by the shelf he took it from. To think he could ever even look that calm!

And yet...

"Huh. Now that I think about it, doesn't he look kinda handsome?" Ivy thought to herself as she watched him, her nose literally buried in a book though her eyes wandered off somewhere else.

Meanwhile Luke's was figuratively buried in the book he was reading. And whatever it was, he seemed to be interested in it much as a smile had formed on his face.

"Even his smile is attractive," Ivy mumbled, not noticing that those words had left her mouth. That is, until the boy she was watching blinked, and he turned his gaze towards her.

Almost instinctively, the girl's eyes widened and she turned away, her gaze landing on the book in her hands instead as she pretended to not have been looking at him. Her heart pounded, from the adrenaline she felt, but it didn't take long before a thought occured to her.

"Wait... I didn't do anything wrong, did I? Why am I looking away like it's weird to be looking at him?"

With that, she looked back at the boy she had come to the bookshop with. Only for her to see him reading again, as if nothing had happened at all in the past few moments.

The only difference? The smile on his face had now turned wider, yet restrained still, as Luke seemed to be holding back a chuckle.

Ivy could only frown at him for a second, before she turned back to her book. "Weirdo," she mumbled, though this time, she said it a little louder just to make sure the boy had heard her.

And a snicker actually escaped Luke, only for him to quickly regain his composure, as he flipped the page on his book. Ivy rolled her eyes at that.

A minute passed, soon a few, and eventually, several more. But the two teenagers remained where they were, stuck in the worlds they had discovered among the pages they read. And their presences, accompanied by themselves.

Soon, rain came and began, but the comfort of the books and the shelves surrounding them kept the two figures distracted from the problems they are yet to face outside. That is, until Luke closed the book he had been reading. That was pretty much enough for Ivy to snap out of her own book and turn to him.

"I'm buying this," the boy told her as soon as her eyes landed on him, and he smiled as he spoke, the book held up for the girl to see.

"From the heart"

The title was too vague for Ivy to know what it was about. She would just have to ask if she truly wanted to know.

"So, are you buying that, too?" the boy then proceeded to ask her, as he gestured to the book she had been reading, and Ivy looked down at it.

"Days of Youth" was hers. A story of teenagers from different worlds, yet all wishing for a future much brighter than their ever-so-dull present. Pretty much... just like Ivy's.

The girl flipped the pages of the book in her hand a few more times, before she closed it and returned it to the shelf she had taken it from. "Well... maybe not today. Let's just get that new book of yours to the counter before we get out of here."

"Are you sure? You won't change your mind?" Luke asked, his curious eyes looking towards the book she had returned. "You looked so interested in it, though?"

"Well," Ivy replied, before she approached the boy and suddenly started pushing him away from the shelves, "it didn't interest me enough, so I'll just leave it there for now. If I do remember it and realize I actually like it..." She stops in her steps, then she glances behind her to the book left behind, "I might come back."

"But someone could buy it if you leave it there."

"Then let them. I don't really care."

Luke looked back this time, his eyes going back longingly to the book Ivy had left behind. His looking back doesn't last long, however, since Ivy, short as she was, managed to hold her hand up high enough to block his view, eventually causing the boy to move his face back and look down at her instead.

"Just pay for your book. You wouldn't wanna get in trouble for getting home late again, do you?" Ivy challenged him, and the boy only sighed and shook his head with a smile.

"Alright."

It didn't take long before they finally realized that it was raining outside. And once they did, Ivy could only sigh as she watched.

"Ugh... I don't remember the weather forecast saying anything about rain today," she groaned, as both she and Luke stood at the threshold of the bookshop.

The boy hummed in response as he watched as well, his new book hanging at his side by his hand. Neither of them spoke for a moment, but soon, the boy did.

"Well, good thing I always carry an umbrella." With that, he brought his bag infront of his chest as Ivy watched him keep his book and take out a blue fold-up umbrella out of it. Her eyes were wide, as if she expected him to have no umbrella as well.

Soon, Luke noticed her expression.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mention this at all. I actually had an umbrella with me..." He mumbled the last words as he began to feel awkward, and it was only a few seconds later that Ivy realized why his demeanor changed. "Uhm... Do you want me to walk you home?"

He was shy about sharing an umbrella, Ivy figured, as he avoided her eyes while he was asking.

Eventually, however, she spoke. "Well, technically, it's not like I have a choice. I already mentioned that I don't have an umbrella so..." She turned to the boy, whose eyes finally met hers, "Will you?"

The boy watched her, as if his eyes were searching hers. But soon, he breathed out a quiet laugh, and he opened the umbrella, soon holding it over the both of them. "Well... this is nice. I actually have someone to walk home with," he spoke as he looked down, "and, I guess, so do you."

Ivy's brows rose as she looked at him, and this time, it was Luke who laughed out of nowhere. "What? Now why are you laughing?" the girl asked him, her brows now furrowed instead.

And the boy only smiled as he turned to her. "Ivy... Let's hang out again, yeah?"

Well, the girl didn't know it yet, but that was just bound to be the beginning of something... And one that she had no choice but to be part of. But it was bound to be different. And it was bound to be beautiful, unlike anything she's ever seen or felt in life.

Maybe this time, it could be better.

But that time, she only responded by looking away from the boy beside her, clearing her throat before she mumbled her answer. "... Sure, I guess."

"Hmm?"

"I said, sure," Ivy spoke, louder this time. She did not hear a response of any sort, and that prompted her to look up. And when she did? Her eyes landed on a shining Luke, the rain behind him creating a halo around him as a brilliant smile adorned his face.

"Great! It'll be my turn to choose where to go next time, then!"