Her fingers scanned the page of the novel that was resting upward in her arm as her eyes fixated on the object. She stood in the middle of an aisle in her local library, wandering aimlessly through random book after random book, trying to distract herself from normal life. She felt as if deep down that she had too easily been sucked into day by day living, and for that, she hadn't cherished the much simpler things in life that could give one the utmost inclination: books.
People would always say that books could practically pull you into another world, given a noble novel. That the simple act of reading the text in front of you and letting it all course through your mind could take you to different cities, states, countries, and maybe even planets. And letting this euphoria or nirvana take over your body was available by just curling up and reading a bunch of words placed together beautifully. That you could achieve happiness, even if it is only for a mere few seconds, by taking time out of your day to read, something most take for granted.
She closed the book, sighing to herself softly before she turned the corner. She continued to walk down another empty aisle, 'This place probably only has like three people, and the librarian is one of them..', She thought to herself, hardly even surprised if she had accidentally muttered those words out, not that anyone was close enough to hear.
As her eyes scanned up and down the bookshelves slowly as she walked past them, her mind was in a flurry and she wanted- no, needed to find a book before she went insane. She needed that feeling of nirvana, that feeling of getting away, away from her friends, away from the world, away from her thoughts.
She didn't want to feel biased or give herself leeway to be even more indecisive than she already was, so here was, standing still as she took a deep breath and released it seconds late, reaching out and seizing the first book that had come into contact with her fingertips. Pulling the book out slowly, she retracted her arm to pull the story closer to her body, opening her eyes to read the enchantingly traced words, 'Beauty and the Beast'. Her lips curved upward into a soft smile, but also a grin for she had not actually read the book nor paid much attention to the movie so her picking that out must have been fate. She may have known the basis of the plot but that wasn't going to ruin it for her, she was in that certain place at this certain time to find a getaway. And a getaway is what she was going to receive.
The young girl turned on her heel and headed for the librarian's desk where she would scan her book, stamp a return date, and then give her a grimy smile that read 'I want to go home and feed my cats and put my feet up, is that too much to ask?', to which, the girl would reply with a polite smile and then leave the rundown, yet historical building.
The birds chirped and flew around freely. The wind pushed through the grass, emitting a soft and inaudible noise that you couldn't hear, but you could definitely feel it in your bones. The quietness has rung through her ears and coursed through her body, making goosebumps rise from her skin, making her eyes divert to the closest moving figure. She didn't mean to, but she had made eye contact with the male, with him. But it wasn't him.
Her heart shook inside of her chest as she climbed into her car and furthered herself from the other human being that was near her as she analyzed him over and over again, indicating every feature of his that reminded her of him.
His vintage flannel was similar to the one that was effortlessly thrown onto her floor from when he would come over to her house and the hot day had gotten the best of him, to which she had multiples of his shirts as it happened frequently. His careless hairstyle was the one that he had after laying his head on her lap and she spent an entire movie running her fingers through it, in which his eyes would slowly flutter close, as the exhaust from his day finally caught up to him at that moment. His skinny jeans that had the rips, holes, and tears in the knees that she would always find herself to poke his bare skin through, and he would let a strange and inhumane noise escape his mouth as he didn't expect her to do it, although she always would do it and he was supposedly always expecting it. His stubble that would appear after three days of not shaving as he was cursed with having hairy genetics but she found it quite adorable, from when he would bury his face into the crook of her neck when he was tired, and it would send her into a fit of giggles as she seemed to be extremely ticklish when it came to him.
She clenched the steering wheel, shutting her eyes tightly after she closed her car door and put her keys into her ignition, feeling an incoming breakdown. She had worked so hard to get past this. She missed him, more than anything in the world, but he left her, and he didn't even deserve her second thought. But still, she sat there, leaning her forehead against the cold leather while taking deep breaths.
Next thing she knew, she found herself at home, finally at one with herself and the world, feeling the serenity that she dreamt of for so long. She was truly sucked into the book, her heart and everything in her being was a part with the story. She was curled up on a huge bean bag cushion with a hot cup of vanilla chai latte that calmed her nerves ultimately. Her eyes scanned each sentence over and over as she read on, over-analyzing the text that laid in front of her eyes. Books were supposed to be enjoyable, not to make you feel on the verge of going crazy. But this feeling- it was the good kind of crazy. Crazy like a wild first date that makes you fall for someone even harder. Crazy like a road trip that had many unexpected stops but it would forever leave an imprint on your mind as it was possibly the best time of your life. Her mind jumbled up with words and questions as she continued to go through the much-adored children's novel, brought to appreciation with the assistance of Disney. It had such a deeper meaning then most children could ever perceive as well as herself, the story becomes something she never thought she would see of it as.
How Belle could still love him after he treated her so poorly, how she could still forgive him after taking her father, how she could live with him after he had done so wrong. Even after all that he did to her, and all of the pain that he could spark for her, she loved him with every ounce of her heart. And that's when it hit her:
"He wasn't the bad person after all.."
