Niya🖤

Chapter 4 Secrets Between the Shelves

PAIGE POV

Rain hammered against the bookstore windows while thunder rolled through town.

The shop was empty except for them.

Azzi sat beside Paige on the floor near the back shelves, sketchbook balanced against her knees.

"You ever think about leaving?" Paige asked quietly.

Azzi looked up.

"All the time."

Paige traced the spine of a novel absentmindedly. "And?"

"And every time I picture actually doing it.." Azzi shrugged. "It doesn't feel right."

Paige understood that more than she wanted to admit.

Silver Pines wasn't supposed to matter this much.

Neither was Azzi.

Yet somehow both already did.

Azzi flipped her sketchbook around slowly.

Inside was a drawing of Paige reading by the front window.

Paige's breath caught.

"You drew me?"

Azzi suddenly looked nervous. "Sorry. That's weird, isn't it?"

“No,”Paige said too quickly.

Then softer:

"It's beautiful."

Azzi's cheeks turned pink.

Paige realized then that she wanted to memorize every version of Azzi's smile.

AZZI POV

That night changed everything.

Not dramatically.

Not all at once.

But quietly.

Like a door opening.

After the drawing, they started talking about things they normally avoided.

Family.

Fear.

Dreams they barely admitted out loud.

"My dad thinks I'm wasting my life here," Azzi confessed.

Paige frowned immediately. "Why?"

"Because bookstores don't make money.

Art doesn't make money. Apparently joy is supposed to be practical."

Paige snorted softly.

Then her expression dimmed.

"My mom thinks dropping out made me a failure."

Azzi hated the sadness in her eyes.

"You're not."

Paige looked away quickly. "Sometimes I think maybe l am."

Without thinking, Azzi reached for her hand.

Paige froze slightly beneath her touch.

"I mean it," Azzi whispered.

For a second neither breathed properly.

Thunder shook the windows outside while the bookstore glowed warm around them.

Azzi knew then.

Completely knew.

She was falling in love with her.

And judging by the look in Paige's eyes-

Chapter Three: The Bookstore

PAIGE POV

Two days later, Paige pushed open the door to Silver Pines Bookstore and froze.

Warm golden lights glowed above crowded wooden shelves. Plants hung from ceiling beams. Music played softly from an old speaker behind the counter.

And standing on a ladder holding a stack of books-

"Azzi?"

Azzi nearly dropped everything.

"No way."

Paige laughed. "You work here?"

"My grandmother owns it."

The older woman at the register peeked over her glasses knowingly.

"Oh," she said slowly. "So this is the train girl."

Azzi turned bright red instantly.

Paige tried very hard not to smile too much about that.

By the end of the afternoon, Paige somehow had a job.

And by the end of the week, working beside Azzi had become the best part of her day.

They unpacked shipments together.

Argued over book endings.

Shared pastries during slow mornings.

Sometimes Paige caught herself staring when Azzi concentrated-tongue slightly pressed against her teeth while sketching little drawings onto inventory lists.

It was becoming a problem.

A very pretty problem.

AZZI POV

Azzi had never liked working mornings before.

Now she woke up early on purpose.

Because Paige always arrived sleepy and slightly grumpy, carrying iced coffee and muttering about customers who bent book covers.

Because Paige smiled more now than she had on the train.

Because every day around her felt lighter somehow. It scared Azzi a little.

One evening after closing, Paige sat cross-legged on the floor reorganizing poetry books while humming quietly to herself.

Azzi leaned against the shelf nearby pretending to read.

"You know," she said carefully, "you seem happier here."

Paige glanced up.

"I think I can breathe here."

The honesty in her voice hit Azzi harder than expected.

"What about before?"

Paige hesitated.

Then quietly:

"I spent so long trying to become someone everyone else wanted."

Azzi understood that feeling too well.

Her father had spent years trying to map out her future for her-art school, city life, serious career.

Meanwhile Azzi only felt alive here among books and stories and mountain air.

"You don't have to do that with me," Azzi said softly.

Paige looked at her for a long moment.

And something shifted between them.

Neither named it yet.

Somewhere after sunset, conversation came easier.

They talked about books first, then music, then terrible coffee-shop jobs and strange childhood memories. Paige learned Azzi liked thunderstorms but hated lightning.

Azzi learned Paige secretly wrote poetry in the backs of notebooks she never showed

anyone.

When the conductor came by to check tickets, he frowned.

"Silver Pines?" he asked. "Not many people head there anymore."

Paige looked up. "You're going there too?"

Azzi held up her ticket. "Looks like it."

Silver Pines was the kind of mountain town people forgot existed. One bookstore. One grocery store. One café with flickering lights and crooked menus.

Paige was moving there temporarily to stay with her aunt after dropping out of college.

Azzi was there because her grandmother had gotten sick and needed help running the family bookstore.

The coincidence felt strange.

By the time the train arrived near midnight, they were walking side by side through the cold mountain air like they'd known each other longer than six hours.

"Need help?"

She turned to find Azzi standing beside her with one eyebrow raised.

"With what?"

"You look approximately three seconds away from dropping that suitcase on your foot."

Paige laughed despite herself.

"I'm managing."

"Debatable."

Together they walked through the sleeping town beneath soft yellow streetlights.

Their footsteps echoed quietly against the pavement.

Paige couldn't explain why walking beside Azzi already felt natural.

Maybe because Azzi didn't ask too many questions.

Maybe because Paige didn't feel pressured to pretend around her.

Or maybe because some people simply entered your life like they'd always been meant to.

"You know," Azzi said lightly, "this town has one café, one bookstore, and approximately twelve elderly women who know everyone's business."

"Sounds terrifying."

"It is."

Paige smiled.

And Azzi smiled back so easily that Paige had to look away for a second.

AZZI POV

Azzi kept stealing glances at Paige while pretending not to.

It was embarrassing, honestly.

But Paige had this quiet sadness around her that made Azzi curious in a way she couldn't explain.

Not fragile exactly.

More like someone carrying too much alone.

When they reached the intersection near the town square, Paige stopped walking.

"This is me," she said softly, pointing toward a small house tucked behind tall cedar trees. Azzi nodded. For some reason, disappointment flickered unexpectedly in her chest.

“Oh.”

Paige noticed.

"You sound sad about it."

Azzi immediately panicked. "What? No. I mean—not sad. That sounded weird."

Paige laughed again.

Azzi decided very quickly that laugh might become her favorite sound.

"Well" Paige said, adjusting her bag,

"thanks for walking me."

"Anytime."

The word slipped out too naturally.

For a second neither of them moved.

The silence wasn't awkward.

If anything, it felt too aware.

Too full.

Finally Paige smiled softly.

"Goodnight, Azzi."

Azzi watched her disappear into the house before whispering quietly to herself:

The Girl On The Train

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

The first time Paige saw Azzi, she was sitting alone on a train, reading a book about two forbidden lovers. Mountains slipped by outside the window, their snow-capped peaks glowing beneath the afternoon sun, but Paige barely noticed. Her nose was buried so deeply in the pages that nothing seemed capable of stealing her attention.

Until someone laughed.

It wasn’t loud or obnoxious. It was warm, effortless, the kind of laugh that made other people smile without realizing it.

Paige looked up for the first time in nearly an hour.

Across the aisle sat a young woman with dark curls escaping from a loose braid, headphones resting around her neck. She was apologizing to an elderly passenger after accidentally dropping a bag of oranges. The oranges had rolled down the aisle, and the two of them were laughing as they chased them before the train rounded a curve.

The woman caught the last orange just before it disappeared beneath a seat.

“Victory,” she declared, holding it up like a trophy.

The old man chuckled and thanked her.

Paige smiled despite herself before quickly returning to her book.

A few minutes later, the train lurched unexpectedly.

Her bookmark slipped free, and the novel tumbled from her hands, sliding across the floor until it stopped beside the stranger’s boots.

The young woman picked it up carefully.

“These Violent Delights?” she read with an amused grin. “Good choice.”

Paige felt heat rise to her cheeks as she reached for the book.

“You’ve read it?”

“Twice.”

There was a brief silence before the woman extended her hand.

“I’m Azzi.”

“Paige.”