Deviating from the Norm (A "Freaks and Geeks" Fanfic)

Chapter 28 - Uncivilized animals... (Part 1)

I quickly decided that my first stop should be the Kelly household. It wasn't that I didn't trust Cookie not to be lying to me. No, actually, it was.

After a speedy run to the corner store to pick up a very specific item, I drove passed 2413 West Alumni Avenue and there was indeed no Kim.

Okay, so if she' not home, where would she be? Maybe Daniel's? Aw, fuck, I hope not. Then again, she didn't come home last night.

Dismayed by the very thought, I made my way to Desario central in hopes of not finding what I was looking for there. I breathed out a sigh of relief as there was no sign of Kim at his house, either.

Strike two. Where the hell? Maybe Nick's? It's worth a shot.

When the Andopolis residence left me disappointed as well I honestly began to feel like some kind of crazed stalker, nearly convincing myself to just give up right then and there. Here she was, back in town for all of a day and a half, and I was trying to chase her around like a little puppy. It was pathetic, I was pathetic, and yet...

Ken's? No, his dad hates everyone. I guess that would mean Lindsay's place is out, too. Maybe... shit, maybe she really is at the library.

To my complete and utter surprise, Kim's car was sitting in the parking lot next to the library. Who would have guessed that she wasn't lying to her mother? And her mother wasn't lying to me? I stationed my car right beside hers and grabbed the small plastic bag I had picked up at the store, shoving it into my front pocket as I made my way into the building.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

The library was unusually active for a Saturday, or at least I assumed it was. The last time I set foot in the place was during a school field trip when I was around eight or nine.

As I undertook the task of trying to find the blonde beauty, pleasant memories of past library trips floated into my head. I began to vividly recall reading Where the Wild Things Are, The Little Engine That Could, Harold and the Purple Crayon and practically every Dr. Seuss and Berenstain Bears book ever published. I was actually quite the little reading machine when I was a child. The more I reminisced, the more I wondered when my reading habit suddenly stopped. As I pondered the idea and made my way up to the second story of the building (the place where the more grown-up books were, such as history, science, health and the like), I found Kim sitting at one of the tables along the half-wall that gave a nice view of the lower half of the library. The table was cluttered with magazines and big red and blue textbooks (the kind that surely only held boring information). Her head was half buried in one of them, going back and for the as she jotted down something in a notebook beside her. There was a small pile of crumpled up pieces of paper at the far end of the corner. They were obvious rejects of some sort.

She didn't even notice my presence until I stopped right next to her and placed the small bag on the book she was so engrossed in.

"H-hey!" she said, looking up at me with her bright blue eyes as a smile formed on her face.

"Hey," I replied, once again sporting my goofy-ass grin.

She began to laugh as she looked at the small gift in the middle of the textbook. "Jelly beans! You remembered they're my favorite!" She happily scooped up the package and ripped it open, plopping a few in her mouth a moment later.

"What're you doing here?" she asked through a mouthful of sugary-sweet candies as I took a seat at the opposite end of the small table.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied, picking up an issue of Scientific American magazine that looked like it was from the seventies. "I called your house and your mom said you were here. I didn't actually believe her at first and checked everywhere but here."