James

Stay away from her. Stay away from her. The words kept rolling through my mind as I watched her move her way across the library. I noted how her fingers trail softly over the covers of some of the more dusted books, a gentle light in her eyes when she pulled one free from the shelf. Her glaze flickered toward me for a moment and I ducked my head down and tried to bury myself back into my own book.

I looked back up and saw the hint of a smile tugging at her lips, a slight shake of her head before she grasped the book more firmly and walked purposefully to the head librarian. I let out a sigh and tried to look back down into my own read, but only that one sentence whirled through my mind. Stay away from her.

I leaned back against my wooden chair and yawned, exhaustion dragging at my muscles as the sun barely peaked through the high-arching windows of the library. It was early morning, exactly six thirty-five. I stood from my seat and left the sitting area to return my book to its proper place.

With a strained smile to the librarian, I managed to walk out of the library itself. It seemed that my shoes clapped against the marble steps of the library, and that the noise echoed around me. I shook my head, but that only sent a wave of light-headedness through me. I continued shakily down the rest of the steps, yawning most of the way down, when I bumped into someone.

I staggered to my right and ended up sliding on a patch of ice, arms flailing to the sides as I fought to keep my balance. Gravity and momentum had the best of me and I winced as I landed hard on the marble, letting out a grunt as pain shot up my tail bone.

I glanced back up to see who I had bumped into when I realized it was the girl from the library, the one I had been stalking for a while. Since when was it stalking? I thought bitterly to myself and then scrambled up as the situation hit me. "Oh, God. Are you alright?" her shaky voice carried over to me, swam into my ears and managed to make me shiver.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?" I asked gruffly, making sure to suck out all the warmth from my voice. I attempted to glare at her, but my eyes softened when I saw her wrap an extremely long blood-red scarf around her neck. She laughed, but it was more of a soft chuckle, something that was just for the two of us, or I'd like to think.

"I'm such a klutz. Don't worry about me; I probably just banged up my knee a bit when I hit the marble," she said and I noticed she was leaning slightly to the right. When she placed weight on her left foot, I could see the shudder go through her body and she winced. My hands automatically went out to steady her, but I snatched my hand back before I touched her hand. She didn't seem to notice.

"I should get going." Say it. Say it. I kept telling myself, but I knew I would not listen. I did not offer her a hand, though, instead scratched the back of my neck and looked wide-eyed at her. "Do you need some help getting home?" I asked softly and she looked up at me, apparently startled.

A smile curved at her thin lips and I could also see it in the slight crinkle around her eyes. She giggled like the teenage girl she was, the first sign of her true age that had actually shown. After all my time watching her in the library, I found her mannerisms and overall personality more mature, but maybe that's just what she did in the library; I hated myself for wanting to know more.

"So I knock you over and you take me home," she said finally. I gave her a small grin and she just shook her head, small frame shaking with silent laughter. "I would really appreciate it," she said and I realized with dread that my offer involved her having to lean on me, to touch me. At the same moment, my exhaustion was flung away at the thought, at the slight buzz of having her closer to me. I hated myself for it.

"Sure thing," I said and I ducked down so she could sling her arm over my shoulders and use me as support. The bare skin of her arm brushed my neck and I felt the beat of my heart quicken slightly, shock and dread filling me at the moment. Not now, I pleaded to the monster inside of me that was threatening to break free at my quickened pulse.

"Sorry, I'm cold," she apologized and she snapped me from my thoughts, my heartbeat slowing against as if her words alone had done it; which, they had.