The Lunar Chronicles: Next Generation--Rosemary

Chapter 1-- The Beauty in Books

Rosemary's toes were beginning to throb from standing on her tiptoes for too long. Her calves ached and her stomach trembled as she stretched out a long arm , her fingertips flexing as long as humanly-- or hybridly-- possible in order to reach the desired object mere shelves above her head. Her favorite denim jacket did nothing to hold her back as she stretched for the book. The old, silver ladder she was balancing on gave a warning squeal as it wavered beneath her. It was already extended to its farthest length, which should have been longer.  She was eye-level with the eighth shelf of books on a bookshelf. 

The smell of dust hit her sensitive nose, making her sneeze  as the pads of her fingertips brushed the spines of countless novels-- the shelves were completely packed with books, making it hard to pull out a single one. It was rare to see so many books--real, paper books-- in one place, making this library a wonder, as miraculous as a museum, but in Rosemary's opinion, better than one, as almost all of these were fiction and fantasy adventure novels. This was all still on Rosemary's mind as her long fingernails finally snagged the ridge of a hardcover novel she had yet to read. Yes. All she had to do now was ease the book out from between its peers-- slowly, steadily... Rosemary bit her lower lip, not recognizing neither how close she was to accidentally breaking the skin on her lip-- her teeth were extemely sharp, after all-- nor the second squeak from the ladder as it again shifted beneath her weight, she was so intent on getting her prize. She pulled... And pulled... Just a little more...

Beep. Beep. Beep. Rosemary let out a yelp of  surprise as her port rang out, startling her. She jerked her arm back, wrenching out not just her desired novel, but many of its neighbors as she leaned too far backwards. She grabbed the metal shelf to stabilize herself--her port falling out from the small bag hanging at her waist--but it gave way, releasing its entire shelf of priceless second-era books tumbling down onto her head. Just at that precise moment, her faulty ladder gave way, collapsing into itself and making her lose her footing. She slipped off and crashed down the length of the bookcase and onto the floor, fallen books piling on top of her. She grimaced as she lifted the book she had so wanted to read from its landing spot-- her head. 

Just her luck.

Her phone wouldn't stop as it shrillily demanded her attention. Her "best friend," Sophie--the daughter of her mother's best friend, Émilie--laughed at the entire commotion, looking up from her sparkly- shelled port for only a split second. Rosemary didn't even know why she had tagged along. She didn't like reading.

"Stars," she whispered, still tinkling with mirth. "That was so stellarlishously funny!" All doubts about her laughing at an entertaining post instead of Rosemary were erased with a scowl. "Oh, don't take it personally, dear. It's not your fault your so clumsy. But oh, I do hope you don't mind that I already posted that on my SnapStar page."

Rosemary's brain was throbbing from her ringtone, her excellent hearing making the ring sound ten times louder than it would appear to a human in her head. She scrambled to turn it off, momentarily forgetting to be upset at Sophie or distressed over the state of the priceless books. The annoying pain subsided as she answered her port. She breathed a sigh of relief as she mentally kicked herself at the same time for letting her port's volume be so high.

"Hello? Rosette, are you there?" It was Scarlet. Rosemary couldn't help but feel comforted by her mother's voice, prickly as she was. She almost let out a whimper of relief. How embarrassing would that be, right in front of Sophie, who frequently teased her about her hybrid genes and wolf-like tendencies.

"Yes, Mom. I'm here at the library." The relief shone through Rosemary's voice like a beacon.

"Still? You left hours ago! You're not done yet?"