All That Leads To You

Chapter 16 | On a Bike

"who has to know? when we live such fragile lives, it's the best way we survive."

***

Less than ten minutes. We have less than ten minutes until the library closes.

     The revolving door is still, meaning they're already starting to end the day. I push the regular door on its side and rushes in despite the librarian's attempts in trying to stop me.

     "There's a process!" she yells, though her voice is still pretty low. We're still in a library, after all, and I guess she'd hate to break her own rules. She points at a piece of paper on her desk furiously, but I keep going. Ocean is right behind me.

     "We're really sorry, ma'am." I hear Dylan say in an apologetic tone, trying to calm her down. "It's kind of an emergency. We forgot about this big presentation tomorrow and we just need to do some extra research. Here, I'll sign our names."

     I hear her mumble something under her breath, but she eventually lets it go, handing Dylan a pen. When I turn at a corner, I see him writing fast yet still keeping a friendly front. There's a slight smile on his face and the librarian returns it. Dylan and his charms.

     Splitting up, Ocean runs toward the entertainment area filled with magazines, CDs and DVDs in its cracked cases. Xander is gone by now, exploring on his own. As I walk, I keep my gaze on the endless racks of books. The seats are empty except for a few college students hiding away behind their laptops and scribbling away in their notebooks. As I pass by them, I try not to make eye contact. Then, one by one people start to leave. Barely five minutes left, and the announcement rings through the speaker. I convince myself that I can't hear it and keep going, despite not knowing where I'm heading. My pace is steady. Whenever I start to race, I tell myself to slow down. And whenever I'm taking too long, I tell myself that time is running out. That thought itself is enough to keep my alerted.

     I go to the fiction aisles, stopping in front of a high rack filled with novels. Putting my hands to both sides of myself in attempt to warm up my cheeks, I whisper to myself, "Okay, Ann. If you were a sneaky, creepy stalker where would you hide a clue?"

     I want to laugh at the thought. I want to laugh at this whole thing. Everything seems almost impossible. But it isn't.

     "Guys!" I hear Dylan shouts over the deafening silence. I don't spare a moment to think or to question if I'm so tired that I'm beginning to imagine things. I just run. The high skyscrapers of books around me seem to me mocking my every step.

     Ocean, Xander and I reach the front desk at the same time. Dylan stands there with an envelope in his hand. His grip is strong, but his expression is still calm.

     There it is.

     "My brother just texted me," he says. Funny, I think. Dylan doesn't have a brother. I hope the librarian doesn't see right through him. "He found his book!"

     "Finally!" Ocean follows along. "See, I told him to check under the bed!"

     "I know, I know." Dylan turns to face the librarian and sighs, once again working his charms, "We're sorry again—you know for running and stuff. This presentation is huge."

     The librarian smiles at him and only him. Her eyes follow the rest of us all the way until we're out the door. Xander shuts the door loudly behind him on purpose.

     We all get in the car and the sound of engine roaring once again enter my ears.

     Before the car moves, Dylan lifts the envelope in front of him. There in the corner, I see his name typed in bold letters.