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She accepted the compliments, not that it would actually be something odd to happen to her. Bethany wasn’t one of those girls who didn’t acknowledge the fact she was beautiful, she knew that, but she would never let it define her. The brunette had learned from a young age that she could be anything she wanted to be, and she decided to look beyond it, she was the beautiful dork who would hide behind books because if felt good, and later because if felt easier. “I don’t really read them for a living, it’s mostly a hobby. After all, I focus on reading about countries and their cultures, about their food and habits and I’ll probably keep talking about it because I don’t ever know when to actually stop talking. One of my flaws,” she replied, flashing a smile as she updated the books on his name. Moving them back to the counter so Peter could have them along with his card. But her acts stopped once he said he was a writer. Someone who would place her passion in the blank pages and make them come true. “Shut up, are you? That’s so cool! And while information online is good, a book is always better… and I apologize, about getting your name wrong. Won’t happen again.”

She kept her eyes on him for a bit, debating inside her head. What harm would it cause? While Bethany was never looking for more than just a one night stand, she could have in Peter a friend… or another person she would run from their bed next morning. It was hard opening herself up, it was hard letting someone new in, it was easier avoiding it. Definitel easier. “Friday. I’m free.” She replied before turning her back at him to grab a piece of paper as she grabbed the pen inside the desk to write her number. He is a stranger, Bethany. He could be just like them, pretending to be nice so you will be fooled. You will be fooled one more time. 

She shook her head ignoring the ideas inside her mind that would force her to think this was all a bad idea. Please don’t be a bad idea. The conflict was always there, with every stranger she would met, with every person she would lay with, afraid if she closed her eyes next to them she wouldn’t see the light of day again, that a drink bought from someone would be drugged. Fear was all over her despite all those years, after all, her friend was back. And deep down she was starting to think she would never be. “Here it is.” She allowed herself to stop thinking about her worries as she moved back to him, with a smile and her number. “Call me, you don’t need to use pick up lines. Trust me, sometimes they won’t be the best ones, they will only make someone look worst. And its Bethany,” she replied. “My name, I mean. Bethany.” 

“I like talkative women.” He cut in, more in a ‘I was thinking out loud’ kind of way, than in an ass-kissing kind of way. “I think you’d like talking to my dad, then. Good ol’South Korean old man, has lots of stories to tell.” Hopefully she wouldn’t take this the wrong way. Peter knew how the mention of parents to a random person that he was actually flirting with, without the actual intention to flirt, would sound bad, but at least he was being honest. If she liked reading about different cultures and countries, his father might actually be interesting to talk to. “And, well, if you like all of these things, these books might be interesting to you. You know, Anthropology being what it is. I don’t know. It might interest you. But I’ll let you know what I think of them as soon as I return them. Hopefully it’ll be your shift, because the last times I’ve been here, it was another girl checking out the books.” Peter didn’t know when to stop talking, too... and maybe that was one of his flaws, or maybe that was the reason why he liked talkative people, too. Because he wouldn’t feel so alone, just talking and talking and talking. “It’s definitely not a flaw. I mean, you’re kind of like me, so how could it be a flaw? As for the name, it’s not a big deal. People get my name wrong all the time. I’m used to it. Besides, I’m in a good mood, so I won’t hold it against you, promise.”

“Yeah, I’m working with the MTV studios here. I mean, it’s not what I love doing, but it brings home the bacon. It allows me to work on my own projects, so I can’t really complain. If I have to write about teenagers messing around with supernatural things, I totally will.” He laughed softly, even though they were still in a library and people would probably reprimand them soon. See, this is why he needed to take this girl out for a drink or maybe dinner and a movie. No strings attached, no weight of it being a date or anything of sorts. Just two people chatting about their interests. It didn’t sound as serious as most people would claim it to be, right? He lit up at the mention of her being free on Friday and even though he did a horrible job at hiding it, Peter still tried. He tried not to look like a teenager who had just received a ‘hi’ from the prettiest girl in school. “Friday. Okay. Friday is perfect.” He took his card back, a childish smile toying on his lips, and nodded, when she told him not to use any pick up lines. “Oh, no worries. I wasn’t thinking about using them either. I suck at pick up lines. I mean, look at me... I’m as dorkish as I can get, right?” Peter laughed softly as he put the books into his backpack and looked back up at the brunette.

“Don’t get be wrong, but I can’t wait for Friday to come. I’ll call you, okay? Um... And please pick the place where we’re going? New in town, remember?” He pointed his thumbs to himself, before adjusting his backpack on his shoulder. “I’ll talk to you soon, Bethany.”

Slow afternoon, but what was new about it? While Bethany could appreciate the beautiful place she worked, people were hardly using it. Internet had become their only source for researches at school or univeristy, even books. But she couldn’t let go of the joy that she could feel of grabbing a book and flipping through pages, that was her moment of peace. And the same would happen only for a few citizens. But at the moment, her attention wasn’t on any of them, since the few people inside the library were respecting the silence that was needed to focus on their reading, the brunette had her eyes on the book in front of her. Foccusing on what she could have was better than the idea of what she had lost, while Bethany was still afraid of getting in a place and the unknown what would be expecting her on the other side, it didn’t mean she couldn’t dream about it. About the day she would be able to travel again and get to know the beauties that every city were providing to their own habitants and tourists.

Her attention was only changed when she noticed someone was approaching her, using her best smile, since Bethany had never desired to be unpolite with someone, it didn’t take longer than a few seconds for it to turn into an honest smile. For what she could see, he was really having trouble being able to form a simple sentence, which causes him to look really cute from her point of view. “No. Oh my… Don’t worry. I’ve heard worse in my life, trust me. And you were just nervous? But clearly, there’s no need to. I’m just a dork behind a desk.” She replied as she got the books. “I just need your library card or your id.” She answered while opening the books to get the code to put on the system that they were taken. “I’ve never read any of them, but I’m sure they will be amazing. That’s what books are for. And when you return them, maybe you can tell me what you think of them…” She winked at him, moving the books back to the counter as she got his card to get the books on his name. “Mr. Hee.”

Bethany was so used to being behind books, only using her free time to hang out with her friends, ignore the past in her mind, the absence of her friend and sleeping with the wrong guys that she would never see again, that while in the library was the only place she would actually have a nice and normal conversation. “I guess i’ll be seeing you around, and next time… you can use a better line on me. Maybe it will work.”

Scratching the back of his head, Peter looked away for a moment, chuckling nervously, because the last thing that he needed, was for that woman to feel like he was one of those guys who would use cheap lines on them in order to get them to bed. Because he wasn’t. He had no luck whatsoever in that department, so he would rather, have a nice chat with them before deciding to actually suggest they’d go somewhere else. Most of the times, it worked. Others, it didn’t but, oh well. You can’t win everything. “Yeah, but you’re a beautiful dork--that’s kind of intimidating for a dork like me.” Now that he felt less idiotic, though not completely at ease, Peter found it less troubling to talk to the young woman without putting his foot into his mouth. Reaching into his jacket’s inside pocket, the young writer pulled out his wallet, producing his ID and brand new library card. Usually, it was the first thing that he would do when in a new city: look for the public library and get a library card. Call him old-fashioned, but there was something about libraries and old books that had always fascinated him. 

“They’re for research.” With a shrug, he shoved his hands down his jacket, watching her register the books on the library’s system. “I’m not a huge fan of Macroeconomics, but I’m afraid I need to know more about it... Besides, I don’t think the internet is that much reliable in this case. Same goes for the Anthropology books.” Although he didn’t have a particular reason for saying those things, it was easier to talk about books, rather than keep mentioning how beautiful she was. Maybe she would think that he was forcing his way into scoring a date with her. It was confusing. His two older sisters would scold him all the time while growing up, so Peter was very self-conscious in that department. “I’m a writer, so the books help me focusing on what I want to learn about. There’s just--too much information online, and it’s already processed, so it kind of keeps us from thinking and processing the information ourselves--but you didn’t ask anything.” Clearing his throat, Peter twitched his lips for a moment. “Ah... It’s Rhee, actually. It’s alright, though. Common mistake.” It wasn’t exactly a common mistake, but he never saw any harm in people’s mispronunciations of his name.

I guess i’ll be seeing you around, and next time… you can use a better line on me. Maybe it will work. He blinked a couple of times, taking the books once she was done registering them and putting them into his backpack, before taking his documents and putting them in his wallet. “Oh... I uh--I wasn’t trying to work a line on you. I’m just awkward like that...” Another nervous chuckle escaped his lips as he adjusted his backpack over one shoulder. “But um... I could take you out some time? I mean... only if you’d like, of course. You can totally say no, by the way. No pressure. I’m not really good with pick up lines anyway, so you’d be safe from them.”

Peter needed to head to the library, mostly because he was an old school kind of man. He needed to do some research for an upcoming episode of the show that he wrote for, not to mention, he needed more background information on a certain topic for his next documentary, and since the internet was coming up with a bunch of shitty information that was making him more angry than informed, so, the library it was. Ever since moving to Wilmington from Los Angeles, because MTV wanted their writers to be in town, to feel the town that was one of the essences of the show, and being the most recent writer to be hired, Pete didn’t have much time to explore yet, but the town looked beautiful. Maybe once the show got in hiatus he would be able to enjoy the nice, colder weather. Los Angeles was fine and all, but it was also difficult. Peter’s had his big break a few years ago when he worked on the screenplay team for Kill Your Darlings, but ever since then, he’s been focusing on his docs.

Hollywood was in crisis, or so it seemed. They didn’t want to make original movies anymore, and that was what Peter was about. His screenplays were all original stories, just like his documentaries, and since he wasn’t been given chances to prove his worth, he resorted to TV shows. MTV had a good one, so he accepted the offer when it was presented to him. Besides, Wilmington had proved itself to be more beneficial to his creativity than the busy LA anyways. He had been at the library for several hours already and had gotten enough information from the books that he had picked, before burying himself in them. He realized that he had skipped lunch by looking at his watch and noticing the time. Letting out a sigh, Peter grabbed his notes and two other books and proceeded to check them out. He almost stopped short when he noticed the librarian at her desk. Great. See, now that’s why he had decided to stay behind the cameras all the time, because his ability to speak to beautiful girls like that was close to none. Sometimes he luckied out. They came and talked to him, but most of the times, it was like that... freezing, sweating, stuttering. What a loser.

A slightly successful one.

But a loser.

Clearing his throat, he tried... He offered the woman a small smile and placed the two books on her desk. “Hey, I um... I’m checking you out.” He widened his eyes, lowering his gaze. “I mean, checking these out.” ...Only to realize that he was staring at her chest, which stole an embarrassed cough from the back of his throat, and made him turn his head, looking completely away from her. “I meant, I would like to check these out, please?” And then, Pete returned his gaze to the brunette’s blue eyes, making a face at her. “I just made a complete fool out of myself, didn’t I?”