The Red Swan (On Hold)

Chapter 12

Sorry for the late update. This week and last week was very hectic. Had so many events to deal with.  Anyways, Enjoy :)

The library was an average sized room, wide enough for less than two hundred students. Ten large bookshelves stood in rows, piled with thousands of books arranged in an unorganized manner. Several students were bent and rummaging through the huge pile. In the middle of the room was a large wooden desk behind which sat a tiny old woman. She was holding a black file in her hand, not even glancing at the mess on the shelves. The air carried students' whispers and fluttering of pages all around. Small wooden desks and chairs were arranged in a circular fashion at the other corner of the library. The famous physics quadruplets were already sitting with their faces covered in thick textbooks, revealing only the bush of black hair from above. Wood mixed with dust scented the air inside.

Four students entered the library; Derek, Claire, Claudia and Olivia.

“Seems more like a backyard sale to me. I’m sure you’ll find some handy notebooks out there.” Derek pointed to the pile of mixed notebooks as they headed forwards. Claudia held his hand tightly as they walked.

Olivia stared at Claire with an evil grin, “I told you. He will regret Claudia’s friendship.” She pointed at Derek who was in front of them trying to get out of Claudia’s grasp.  “She gets attached very easily. No pun intended”. Both the girls giggled earning glares from the tiny librarian as they passed by her.

Claudia grabbed Derek and scuttled off to the far end corner of the library. He glanced behind with a look of envy and regret before being pulled by her and disappearing into the large cluster of shelves. “What is it that he becomes girls’ target? First Raven and now Claudia?” Olivia spoke with a hint of envy in her tone.

“Let’s get going and get the notebooks.” Claire hurried off to the shelves. She decided to check the jumbled books before reaching over for the organized ones.  The pile was filled with brown hard cover books, old classic novels, dusty folded papers and some very old course textbooks. The previous students rummaging through the pile had caused some of the papers and notes to fall down on the floor. She placed her bag on the floor and bent down to look at the fallen books. Suddenly, she felt a small jerk on her side as if the shelf had pushed her. More books fell on her and her bag, almost drowning her in the mess. She looked up at the gap among the left over books. At the other side, Indie stood with her face visible in between. She was smiling with her lips pursed and her brown eyes as expressionless as before.

Claire quickly put the books back on their shelves ignoring Indie’s presence. Somehow, this girl creeped her out. Olivia, Claudia, Derek and the tiny librarian appeared with worried expressions plastered on their faces. The librarian eyed them all with suspicion and headed back to her table muttering something about inconsiderate teenagers.

“What was all that about?” Olivia asked.

“Indie was behind the shelves and I felt that she almost dropped the whole thing on me.” Claire pointed at the other side. Indie came from behind, the innocent smile still plastered on her face.  Olivia glared at her.

“Hey Indie. What’s up” Derek chimed in an annoyed tone. His hand was still tightly held in Claudia’s. She was rubbing her face on his hand while letting out a small purring sound. Claire and Olivia suppressed a giggle. Indie took out a small pencil and notebook from her uniform pockets and started writing something. After moments of awkward silence broken by small scribbling sounds, she handed the paper to Derek who read aloud. “Hello Derek, it’s nice to meet you. Would you like to go out?”

He stared back at her and then at the others who looked at him with an awkward face. “Well that escalated quickly.” Olivia whispered in Claire’s ear.