The Ride Home

Chapter 3

The library was eerily quiet. Often times, I tried to avoid the library purely because of this strange feeling. It was completely vacant with the exception of the librarian that remained stationary at her desk.

Although this feeling was definitely a setback, it seemed like a better option to finish my homework here, rather than in my own household where my parents bickered back and forth. And for an odd reason, being greeted by my group of friends in the cafeteria seemed unappealing.

I walked slowly towards a table near the back of the room. I placed my backpack on the chair next of me and laid out my necessary items to complete my homework. Almost immediately, I began to fill out the continuous pages of pointless math problems.

"What are you working on?"

My eyes shot upwards in surprise to hear another voice in the deserted library. My eyes met a familiar face. A boy with light brown hair and tinted gray eyes looked back at me. I had seen him walk the halls many times and it was easy to recognize him as a fellow Senior.

"Math," I said simply. The boy nodded and sat down in the chair across from me. He didn't say anything but just slowly started to unpack his homework. I watched him awkwardly as he aggressively pulled out his binder, causing a pencil to fall out and roll across the table.

I reached over to grab it, since it was heading towards the edge of the table. He also went to reach for it causing our hands to collide.

I looked up at him blushing and pulled my hand away, "sorry."

He was no longer paying attention to the pencil, but intently gazing down at my bruised hand.

"You're the one that got in a fight with Holly," he thought aloud.

I internally groaned and shielded my hand away from his gaze.

"It wasn't really a fight. I just hit her and left," I informed in annoyance.

"What did she even do?" He asked, edging closer to me.

I glanced at him with my lips parted slightly. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. It was valid question; why did I even hit her in the first place? The reason had started off as a typical broken hearted story. I had dated this boy for a while and convinced myself that I was head over heels with him. A few months into the relationship, however, I was abruptly informed that he was cheating on me with a girl named Holly. I didn't believe it because I had placed too much faith in him. Then, almost a week later, he broke up with me and shortly after started to date Holly. Although I was completely shattered over it, I found ways to cope with the heartbreak. I would have been able to move on from it, but Holly started to spread rumors about me that implied that I was a slut. And I had reached my breaking point.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry," the boy said quickly, examining my uncomfortable state.

"No, it's okay," I reassured.

"My name's Ben by the way," he greeted.

"I'm Sienna," I informed softly.

He smiled widely and stated happily, "Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you."

I laughed slightly before closing up my math text book.

The next day I went to the library at lunch. I didn't need to finish any work but just wanted to be around a different setting. I saw Blake occasionally throughout the day. He would always look in my direction whenever I passed him in the hallways. He even came up to me during English and began to discuss some random topic about a Doritos Commercial. I wasn't necessarily complaining about the new attention I was getting from him, but more confused over the fact that he was still engaging with me.