Shai Soi

Chapter 15

The hustle and bustle of people was overwhelming. The beeping of cellphones, the chitter chatter of gossiping teenagers, the whirring of segways, (I've always hated those things. Why ride those bulky scraps of plastic when you could, I don't know, walk? Humankind these days!), met my ears. The crowd's heat beat against my skin. My face became warm. My neck started to moisten from my thick hair, my chest tightened like some invisible hand was squeezing my heart.

I careened down the hall, straight past a cop lazily spinning circles with his segway, (really?), and into Barnes and Noble. Despite the big brands like Macy's or REI, this was the biggest store. Not only did I like the peacefulness here, but also the fact that it was adjoined with a nice café that held tables outside. There, it held a beautiful look over the town's only fresh spring. The mall was originally built on lower ground, but after a costly flood, it was rebuilt on top of a hill so high, it was like an acropolis.

The crisp sweet smell of pages filled my nose. I know that sounds weird. Let's put it this way... you know when you get a new book, and when you first open it you can tell it's never been opened? That sweet but crisp, (can crisp be used to describe a smell?) scent blows up into your face, and it reminds you of the places you went with other novels. It's like two stories in one. That smell overtook me. The scent of safety, and imagination. Another reason why I loved this place.

Click, clack, clack, clack, click, clack, click...

I sidled up the the counter, staring at the guy pecking furiously at the keyboard. He still hadn't noticed me. I sigh. "It's like you're trying to break the keys. What did they ever do to you?" I conked him on the head with my empty Coke bottle.

He never looked away from the screen. Instead he fixed his crooked glasses and stated, "Pleasure to see you too. Mind being a thorn in someone else's side for once, and leave me to fight this stupid piece of technology by myself?"

"Oh, Derek, I never get tired of your snarky remarks." He smiled a little still stabbing at the keyboard. Half irritated at the loud noise, half amused, I hoisted myself onto the counter, hopped off on the other side, and bumped him out of the way.

"Hey!"

I giggled. "Oops. What are you trying to do beside kill the key board?"

Derek ran a hand through his impossibly curly hair. The front of it stood on end. I stifled another laugh, because he told me, "I'm telling it to indent here. And it won't." Derek has been writing a thesis on the division of the Roman Empire starting with the Emperor Diocletian. It was ten percent of his grade, and it was due at the end of the summer. I know it sounds weird but he wouldn't raving about.

Because of formatting, you have to have headings line up one way, subheadings another, and then you have to worry about the text and citations. But this wasn't even slightly challenging. I placed the cursor in front on the first line then tapped the 'tab' key.

"There," I looked over, trying to keep a straight face. His cheeks went pink.

"I know that part. I just don't know how to do that and back the whole text over a margin!"

Two clicks later, Derek's face was as red as a tomato. I laughed so hard, I snorted. People gave me looks which only made me laugh more. It was really funny, and Derek chuckled a bit. Derek never really laughs, because he sounds like a braying donkey when he does. So when he chuckles, that's his equivalent of cracking up. Even with the short laugh, he sounds weird. I couldn't help but guffaw. His ear tips turned deep purple.

Tears collected in the corner of my eyes. Between gasps of breath I said, "Sorry, but was that really so hard?"

"Shut up, Echo." 'Echo', was the nickname Derek gave me after he'd asked for my name, and I said it so quietly, he thought I said 'Echo'.

"Aww, is someone embarrassed for being a dimwit at pushing two buttons?"

"One, I am not a dimwit. I'm what you call anti-tech-savy..."

"Uh, huh."

"And, secondly, you pressed three buttons and clicked twice. So technically, you pressed five times."

"Technically, you're hopeless."

"And you're helpless," Derek countered, now getting serious. He brushed a knuckle against the saggy skin under my eye. "What was it this time?" He asked, knowing about my sleep deprivation habit.

"Reading," I admitted sheepishly.

"Better than studying." That's why I liked Derek. He may have been two years older than me, but he still understood me very well. Plus, he'd actually talk to me. It wasn't until the middle of the school year that we met. I had kept coming here almost every weekend, and one day, he decided to talk to me. First calling me Echo, where I laughed and corrected him. After that he would call me Echo just to get me to talk. It took a little longer to realize he went to Boar Hill High School.

I never saw him. He was either burning his eye cells out looking at a screen in the computer lab, or doing other nerdy stuff. But, he would take time to listen to me, whenever he was there. I guess I hadn't really counted him as friend before, just because we usually meet at this store, away from my complicated boring life. (Now, it's even more complicated, and less boring.) That reminded me of the change into a different animal this morning.

"So what book was it?" Derek asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"To Kill A Mockingbird."

"Haven't you already read that, like, thirty times."

"Nope, six and counting."

"Weirdo," he ducked under the desk.

"Nerd," I shot back. Derek came up with a dusty stack of papers. I coughed as a big mushroom of dust exploded in my face.

"Cough. Well, I still have to finish recording the printed catalogue data into digital," he said 'data' with a long 'a' that drove me nuts. "So if you wouldn't mind helping-"

I checked the time on the wrist without a watch. "Oh, wow, look at the time!" I swiped a book I'd grabbed earlier under than scanner and put twenty bucks on the counter. "I've gotta do some homework," I jumped off the other side. "Then I have to wash the car..."

Derek shook his head but was smiling. "Aww, that's so not fair."

I backed out of the store still listing the most random things that pop into my head. "...clean the fishpond, mow the lawn, take a nap..."

"Liar!"

I peeked back inside the doorway, already having been out of the store. "What are you talking about? I desperately need some sleep. Bye!" Before he could protest that I couldn't say something just to get the last word, I slipped out of the shop, and down the hall.