All Roads Lead to Library - Part 3
Thomas woke up early, happy to show Leonard some of his new clothes. He put on a white undershirt, just in case it got too hot, along with a yellow short-sleeved button-down shirt and khaki shorts with a nice leather belt. He left the shirt untucked.
As he finished buttoning the shirt, he kept the top button unbuttoned. After making coffee and having some breakfast, he thought, “Something is off.” He tried to button the top button of his shirt again. “Damn it, it’s too choky. How can Leonard wear it like this?” Frustrated, he left it open, grabbed his new leather bag, and headed to the library.
When arriving at the library, he found Leonard already busy sorting through some books.
Leonard was wearing a white short-sleeved button-down shirt, khaki shorts, and white socks pulled up to his knees. Despite not wearing a bow tie today, he still had the top button securely fastened. “Howdy, friendino!”
“Look, I got the same shirt you had yesterday. If you were wearing the yellow one today, we’d be like twins!” Thomas laughed.
“The bag is nice. It’s good to see you have a bag for adults now. But I wouldn’t say twins,” Leonard responded, trying something.
“What do you mean? I have the same shirt you had yesterday. I don’t know why, but I’ve come to realize that I dressed really sloppy.” Thomas looked a little disappointed. He just tried to surprise Leonard. “I should have thrown those stupid dorky clothes into the trash.”
“Don’t take it the wrong way, Mr. Journalist. I see what you did there. But I would never wear my shirt untucked.” Leonard pointed to his own outfit.
“Oh, if that’s all, let me correct myself!” Thomas quickly tucked the shirt into his shorts.
“Almost there.” Leonard pointed to his collar. “If you already look like a nerd, go all the way!”
“I don’t know. I’m not one of those dorky nerd geeks or whatever you call yourselves. I just wanted to make you happy—I mean, not to make you happy. Something is just telling me to stop drinking, wear clothes like you, not watch horror movies but read comics… I…”
Leonard stepped closer to Thomas, raised his hands, and buttoned the top button of Thomas’s yellow shirt.
“Now, you’re complete. Don’t overthink it. Remember how great you felt the last couple of days? Remember how you were adjusting your collar in front of me? I could tell you felt something is off. Thomas, that’s you. Look at yourself—you are a nerd! Come with me.”
Thomas had no more words; he just followed Leonard.
“Look, look in the mirror. Who do you see?” Leonard showed him the mirror in his office.
“I… I look like you,” Thomas said, standing in front of the mirror.
“I asked who you see in the mirror.”
“I see two fu… niftily dressed dorks! But the collar, how can you stand it? It’s freaking choking me.”
“Now, now, you will get used to it. After our next interview, you will never want to wear it any other way! So let’s get the interview done. I’ll prepare some tea. After that, you can help me in the library. It’s good you have glasses; most of the books have very tiny letters.”
After some time, when Thomas had already finished his tea and still hadn’t written anything in his notebook, Leonard took something from his pocket. “I guess you noticed I’m not wearing a bow tie today. Correct me if I’m wrong, Thomas.”
“Haha, sure thing, friendino, it’s missing!” Thomas said, still a little sleepy.
“I am aware of that. I had one this morning, but I realized you would need it more than me.”
Leonard opened his hand and showed Thomas a dark green bow tie with tiny ducks all over it. “How would you feel about trying this on?”
Thomas touched his collar; it was still choking him like hell, but something deep inside told him it was the right way. “I… I can try. I must try. I would look spiffy super duper like Peter Parker!”
As Leonard lifted the collar and placed the bow tie around Thomas’s neck, a small tear appeared on Thomas’s cheek.
“Don’t worry, friendino, old Tom is still fighting this, but you will be the dorkiest, nerdiest young man in town! I can introduce you to my crew! We play Dungeons and Dragons every Saturday evening!” Leonard finished adjusting the bow tie. “Look in the mirror, Thomas. You look spiffy super duper, right? You’ll always feel incomplete and nervous if you ever change anything about yourself. Correct?”
As Thomas looked in the mirror, he couldn’t believe his eyes. “I look awesome! I should show my cool bow tie to the guys at the newspaper!”
A large ear-to-ear smile appeared on Thomas’s face.
“Want to slick your hair back a bit? You know… to match my hairstyle.” Leonard, now holding an old-school pomade, opened the can and put a good amount into Thomas’s hair. “Here, comb it from front to back. It will be shiny, and everyone will think how cool you are!”
As Thomas finished slicking back his hair, he felt complete.
“Holy smokes, Batman! I… I want to show myself to everyone. I look so great!”
“Hey, slow down, you promised to help me in the library, friendino!”
“Affirmative, just give me an hour, and I’ll be back here!” Thomas took his bag and headed to the newspaper office.
“Everyone will think I am so cool, and maybe I will be promoted, and I will be an inspiration, and I will be…” he repeated all the way.
When Thomas arrived at his job, he found his desk empty. “Holy moly, where is my gear?”
“Tom, I’m not sure if this is some kind of joke. Did you join the Mormons or something?” one of his colleagues laughed. “Look at yourself. Nice bow tie, dork! Did your mom buy it for you?” another one joined.
“I got it from my friend, Leonard. For your information, he is my friendino, and you should get one too if you don’t want people to laugh at you!” Thomas got angry.
“Tom, what are you doing here?” Jully came out of her office.
“Thomas. It’s Thomas, m’lady. I… I don’t even know why I’m here. I guess just to tell you that I’m progressing with my article!”
“Tom, or Thomas, whatever. Are you drunk again? Why are you dressed like it’s Halloween? Never mind… I sent you to do an interview last week. One short interview! It should have taken you two days at most! I’ve lost any hope in you; you’re fired. Your things are already packed.”
“Last week? You sent me there two days ago. You cannot fire me, Miss Fantastic!”
“You are completely drunk, I guess. Get out, please…”
As Thomas closed the door, he completely forgot that he had promised Leonard to help him in the library. He went home, took off his clothes, and headed to the fridge to get some beer.
“Aaah, son of a biscuit! Good boys do not drink alcohol. Good boys do not drink alcohol. Good boys do not…” He rolled down on the floor. “Good boys read books and comics. Good boys wear appropriate clothes. Good boys do not swear. Good boys go to sleep early and wake up early.”
The mantras Leonard taught Thomas just appeared in his mind.
Thomas, still dressed only in his boxers, opened the door.
“Greetings, good sir! I had anticipated your assistance in the library today. Is everything copacetic?” Leonard stood at the door.
“Howdy, I… I just got fired from the newspaper. All the work we did on the article was a waste of time.” Thomas sounded very down.
“How come? It was not worthless! I remember one drunk, smelly guy entering my library, and one very nice nerd going out of it. It was still worth it. But look at you, where’s the dork? Why do you look like that?”
Thomas just stood there. “Good nerds are never sad. Good nerds…” he repeated in his mind.
“Come, let’s get you dressed.” Leonard took Thomas’s hand and walked him to his closet.
“Here, take this.” Leonard grabbed one of Thomas’s undershirt, new white short-sleeved button-down shirts, khaki trousers, and long white socks. “I see only one appropriate underwear for a boy like you here.” Leonard took Thomas’s only white briefs. “Now, put that on.”
Thomas went to the next room and took off his boxers, put on the white briefs, white undershirt and white socks, which he pulled up to his knees. After that, he slipped into the khaki trousers and put on the white shirt. He tucked the shirt into the trousers and started buttoning it, leaving the top button open.
Leonard appeared in the door. “Already feeling better?” He asked when he saw Thomas.
“Kind of, companion,” Thomas said in a much happier voice.
“You know what’s missing?” Leonard took the green bow tie he found lying on the floor.
“Good nerds feel awkward with a naked neck and always have their top button closed, and proudly wear their bow ties!” Thomas’s voice grew even happier.
“Correct, now put on the bow tie, good boy.” Leonard handed him the green fabric. Thomas buttoned his collar and put on the bow tie. "And remember, good nerds do not loose their bow ties or unbutton collars even when relaxing and reading comic books in the evening.
“Better!” Thomas loved how the collar hugged his neck. He couldn’t help but adjust his bow tie with a big smile on his face.
“Now, boy, let’s put some pens in your shirt pocket and get rid of those scruffy T-shirts, hoodies, and jeans. We need to do some shopping today!”
“But I have no job. I need to save some money now,” Thomas murmured.
“No need to save money. You can work with me in the library. After all, you’ve spent some time there; it will feel like home after a while.”
The two nerds opened the closet and started throwing out all the unnecessary clothes.
A young student dressed in jeans and red button down shirt hurried across town. “Shit, shit, how the fuck am I supposed to write an essay about the local lake? No mention on Wikipedia about that…!” He turned right into the library, now sporting a new shiny sign “LIBRARY”.
The student opened the door and walked to the dark wooden desk. “Oh fuck, stupid Tommy. Hated his discourse when school celebrated March, The Month of Books day. Such a dork!”
The young student approached the desk. The young man behind it was dressed in wool trousers with a belt cinched high at his waist, a white shirt with a big yellow bow tie around his neck covering his Adam’s apple, a pocket protector, and greasy long hair slicked back, with thick black glasses on his nose.
“Salutations! My name is Thomas, but you can call me Spider-Man! Welcome to the finest repository of knowledge in the universe. How may I assist you, esteemed companion?”
“Oh, I mean, hello mate. I need some study materials for an essay about the local lake. Is there a chance you have something?”
Thomas looked at the young student. “I am no mate for you young man. You may button your shirt, it is quite chilly here. Allow me to procure some material for you, I’ll prepare a tea while you wait.” A little smile appeared on Thomas’s face.
