Down at the local library, where I usually went after work and school, I scanned the shelves for something good to read, I came up with Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, something I remembered was mentioned in her book Fangirl. Once I decided that was all I wanted I walked up to the self check part of the library, placing my book on one of the readers.
"Oh! Um, I'm so sorry but the machines are down today, but I can help you check out if you want!"
I turned to see one of the library staff members, he was new (I had never seen him before). He wore two sun earrings and his hair was a mess of golden curls, his eyes were pools of water. His eyelashes were the longest I had ever seen. His face looked like that of a model, perfectly tanned, freckles everywhere, nice jawline, chiseled cheekbones, and from the neck down he looked like a model too. He hid it well under his blue cloud button up shirt and soft yellow cardigan, but the skinny jeans were tight against his calves, showing off that he was probably a runner. His shoes were larger and printed with the Hufflepuff emblem, his socks were dark green and lacy, something that was surprising, but not in a bad way.
He was obviously nervous, I looked at his name tag William Solace, and cleared my throat.
"Sure, I guess. Thanks," I muttered stiffly.
I cursed my social skills, he smiled at me though, god damn he was cute. William walked behind the checkout counter and started up the computer.
"So," I started "you're new here."
William nodded "I just started today, I take it you come here often?"
"Yeah, I like books."
He beamed and sighed "I love books so much, I guess that's why I work here."
I shifted awkwardly until the computer booted up.
"So, uh, William, is it?" I asked.
"I go by Will most of the time, but William and just plain old Solace works too."
"Noted." Will waited for a moment, expectantly gazing at me.
"And you are?" He asked eventually.
I felt my face heat up, I played with the hair that had gotten loose from my ponytail and tried to calm down enough to speak "I'm Nico, Nico di Angelo."
"Well it's nice to meet you Nico. Can I have your card and book?"
I nodded, handing him my book and digging through my wallet for my card. After a while I found it and placed it into Will's hand. He had really big hands that warmed mine the second I put my card down.
"Thank you, and," he swiped my card and scanned my book "there you go."
He handed me my book, card, and reminder for when it was due.
"Thanks, I'll have it back tomorrow," I said, taking them, our hands brushing once again.
"Alright, see you then," Will laughed, waving at me as I left.
My heart beat against my chest so hard that I thought I'd pass out, he was cute, nice, and he liked books. I was warm as I walked to my car,
I got into my car and placed the book on the passenger seat, heading down to my apartment. I listened to my Ramones CD on the way, humming along to the songs, occasionally singing along. Once I got back I ran up the stairs to my place and unlocked the door. Inside everything was how I left it, nice and clean, other than the bowl of popcorn on the floor and the sweatshirt that I had thrown onto the couch. I ignored all of it and flopped onto the couch and opened the book. After the first hour I was a quarter way through, I decided to make some dinner, which for me meant some top ramen because I was a broke college student.
