#bookmarkedfic

“I have compiled a list for you,” she explained, sliding it in front of Aurora so she could read. “These are all the returns that are due today. If they aren’t on the cart over there, they will need to be charged for the book unless they return it within a week. Scan each book and their name will pop up, check off their name…” Aurora had stopped listening, waiting for the librarian to stop talking so she could get started.

 She nodded at the appropriate times before grabbing the clipboard, setting her backpack behind the desk. She grabbed the first book on the cart, scanning it and marking down on the paper that they had returned it. Aurora placed the book back on the cart to be put away.

 It only took her a half hour to go through all the returned books, marking down who returned what and circling the books that weren’t returned. She ignored her own. “I’m done,” Aurora said, sitting back in the chair.

 The librarian came over, looking over the list briefly. “Okay,” she nodded. Aurora looked at the elderly woman, hoping that she would release her from detention to do her own work. “Now you can put those books away. I’m sure you’re familiar with the Dewey Decimal system. When you’re finished, I’ll have another job ready for you.”

 Aurora’s shoulders sank, her faith dissipating. She had never had to deal with detention before, but she already knew that she didn’t like it and never wanted to get in trouble again – especially for something that she didn’t do.

 Aurora picked herself up out of the chair, wheeling the cart to the nearest shelf. The cart itself was nearly full, the three shelves lined with books to be put back. She looked to the last name of the aisle she was in, finding the appropriate books on the shelves and sliding them into the empty spaces.

 She hummed to herself as she worked, hoping that it would make the time pass faster. She moved onto the next aisle, wheeling the cart behind her. She had only put away a few books in the first aisle, many waiting to be returned home.

 Aurora scanned the author’s last names, grabbing a book and sliding it into a vacant slot where it belonged. Just as her fingers left the book, she noticed a shadow lurking on the other side of the bookcase. She looked up, meeting the dark chocolate eyes that she had noticed many times before.

 He blinked once before breaking his stare, looking towards the floor. Aurora bit her lip. This was the closest she had ever been to him. Through the space of the bookshelf, she could tell he was tall, taller than she originally thought he was. And more importantly, beneath his mysterious eyes hung dark bags. It was almost as if he hadn’t slept in a month or was stressed out to the point where he was losing his mind.

 He moved silently to the end of the bookcase, Aurora watching as he pulled out a random book, his eyes flickering over the cover. She took a deep breath, returning to her duties. She couldn’t let him distract her anymore than he already did. She wanted to be done with detention and finish her own homework.

 She grabbed another book, shoving it a little too hard into the empty slot. She wasn’t entirely sure that it was the right spot for the book, but at this point, she didn’t care.  

 “So what did you do?” She heard, startling her. She dropped the book in her hand, the pages flopping open as it hit the carpeted ground. She looked up to find the same enigmatic boy from the other side of the bookcase, now just beside her. She hadn’t heard him.

 He chuckled silently, bending down to grab the fallen book. He looked at the barcode before scanning the shelf and placing it back where it belonged.

 Aurora swallowed, “Thank you.”

 The boy shrugged. “So what did you do?” Aurora looked at him uneasily, not quite sure what he meant. A small smile pulled on the edges of his plush lips. “What did you do to land yourself in detention? Unless you volunteer in the library in your free time.”

 “Oh,” Aurora thought out loud. She should have known. “They said I checked out these books that I never did and I don’t know where they are and they gave me detention for it,” she explained, grabbing another book before placing it on the shelf.

 “That’s rough,” the boy said, plucking another book from the shelf, checking the barcode and returning it home. “You know what I would have done?” The boy said, looking at Aurora out of the corner of his eye.

 Aurora swallowed again, shaking her head. She didn’t know what he would do; she didn’t even know his name.

 “I would have told them that I wouldn’t pay anything. That it wasn’t my fault, and if they didn’t accept that, then I would walk out,” he told her, his hand resting on the handle of the cart.

 Aurora found herself laughing. “I don’t have those kind of guts. I’m the kind of girl that doesn’t like conflict,” she said, letting her hair fall in her face as she grabbed for another book. She smoothed her finger over the barcode, before wheeling the cart around to the other side of the shelf.

 “Even if it lands you in detention? How long are you stuck doing this for anyway?” He asked, following along as she maneuvered through the aisles. Aurora nodded, eyes flicking over the long line of books before finding the spot it belonged in. “Now that takes some guts.”

 She watched as he took another book from the cart, checking the barcode before striding past her and placing it on the shelf where it went. “What are you doing?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

 The boy let his hand fall to his side, turning his head to look at her. The corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn’t smile nor smirk. “What do you mean?” He asked, his eyebrows pulling together slightly.

 Aurora spanned her hands through the air. “This. Helping me. I don’t even know you,” she said as if she was making the already obvious even more obvious.

 The boy stayed silent, his eyes even on hers before he was licking his lips, rubbing the tip of his nose with one finger. She caught a glance of the initials on his hands again before he was giving her a tight smile, muttering something before backing out of the aisle and out of sight.

 Aurora’s shoulders fell again. She didn’t mean to offend him, but she just never had a filter – especially when it came to overly attractive mysterious boys who wanted to help her with her detention duties. She tucked her hair behind her ear, grabbing another book and shoving it onto the shelf in a random spot.

 She’d probably get in trouble for it later, but she didn’t care. She pulled another book from the cart, raising it to place it on the shelf when something fell out of it. She watched as the piece of paper floated to the ground, bouncing slightly. Aurora quickly stooped to the ground, scooping up the fallen paper.

 She checked to make the librarian wasn’t watching her before unfolding it, only to find one word scribbled inside.

His dark eyes were always framed by furrowed eyebrows, either in focus or anger – Aurora could never figure out which. Though, his sharp jawline and pouted lips never seemed to make her think he was happy.

 It was often that she found herself watching him more than working on her own classwork. He never seemed to sit down and work on his own stuff; he just meandered through the aisles, picking out a few books before moving onto the next aisle.

 He never spoke to any of the other students; he never even said a word to the librarians on duty. He only seemed to be absorbed into his own little world, as if the people around him didn’t exist.

 Aurora watched him move between the aisles, his coffee brown eyes focused on his feet. He stopped a few times, skimming the titles before picking a few out, looking them over before putting them back. It was then that he disappeared into the back of the library, gone from her vision.

 She looked back down to her textbook, but she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Aurora wanted to read him like the books he surrounded himself with. Instead, he was a language she wasn’t quite fluent in. She took a deep breath, pushing away from the table and abandoning her work.

 Aurora stepped into the aisle she had caught glimpses of him in. She skimmed the shelves, looking for the books he was looking at but put back. The way she figured, they were small pieces to the puzzle he was. Books said a lot about the people who read them.

 But somehow, the books Aurora had seen him pick up were gone. All that was left behind was an empty space.  They marked his path, but left no further clues to whom he was inside. But Aurora could have sworn that she saw him put the books back, sliding them back into their designated space on the shelf.

 She glanced through the aisle again, but there was no trace of where he or the books went. Defeated, Aurora made her way back to her own books, trying to push the dark-skinned boy free from her thoughts. She grabbed her pencil, but instead of pressing the point to the paper, it found its way between her teeth, gnawing at the eraser.

 No matter how hard she tried, Aurora couldn’t stop thinking about him. She spit the pencil from her mouth, trying to focus on her classwork. She shouldn’t have let him distract her, but he was a beacon for curious eyes. Aurora scribbled down another problem, letting the numbers flood her mind.

 And before Aurora knew it, she had finished the worksheet and problems she was assigned for the night. She was definitively free for the rest of the evening. She was content that she could finally escape back to her dorm room and slip into the new pajamas she had bought this morning before class.

 Aurora packed away her supplies; shoving it into the black abyss she called her backpack.  She was never an organized person, that was one thing she knew for sure. Aurora swung the bag onto her shoulder, making sure she had everything before making her way towards the exit.

 She grabbed the pen at the sign-out station. Aurora scribbled down her name, the time she left and the books that she checked out (which was none.) Her school was big on safety, in case something was to happen to someone, which it hadn’t in a long time. But it was never a bad idea to take precautions.

 Aurora was just about to push the door open and head towards her dorm before she heard her name being called. She turned, finding the librarian, the clipboard she had just filled out clutched in her hands. “Aurora Fields?” She questioned again, peering out over the bridge of her glasses.

 Aurora nodded, arching a brow in question.

 But the librarian didn’t say anything; she sat the clipboard down before motioning for her to come around the front of the desk. Aurora obeyed, watching the librarian curiously as she shuffled through a stack of papers before pulling one of them free.

 She handed it to Aurora, waiting a few seconds before speaking again. “This is a list of books that you have checked out over the past two months and never returned. It’s come to a grand total of twenty books, Ms. Fields. Other students need to use the books and you need to return them as soon as you can before we take any further disciplinary action,” the librarian almost chided.

 Aurora stared down at the paper incredulously. Some of the titles she had never seen before. She may not have been an organized person, but she would never stoop as low as stealing library books. What she took, she always returned.

 “But ma’am,” Aurora started, glancing up from the paper. “I haven’t checked these books out, nor do I have them in my possession.”

 The librarian pursed her lips, but again remained silent. She searched through another stack of papers, Aurora watching her silently. She pulled out a few more papers, spreading them out on the counter in front of Aurora.

 “On all of these days you have checked out books,” the librarian started. “They are all catalogued, and need to be returned as soon as possible.”

 Aurora grabbed one of the papers, looking it over. She glanced down the list, finding her list. She let her eyes follow across the line to the space where they were supposed to list the books they checked out. And much to Aurora’s surprise, there were titles listed under her name.

 But she was positive that she didn’t write them there. The handwriting didn’t match hers, but it was close enough that it could pass as real. She sighed.

 “Ma’am,” Aurora began. “Like I said, I didn’t check these books out. And I have no idea where they are or who has them.”

 “Then I have no choice to assign you detention. And you’ll have to pay the amount the books come to since you aren’t able to return them, we’ll have to replace them,” she concluded. She handed Aurora another piece of paper with the grand total of the books. Aurora found it hard to swallow once she had saw the price she had to pay for the crime she didn’t commit.

 Aurora waited patiently as the librarian typed up her detention report. She watched as it spit out of the printer, the librarian grabbing it and handing it to her, but pointing out the main details.

 “You’ll have detention every other night for the rest of the semester,” the librarian explained, narrowing her gaze when Aurora went to argue. To her, it seemed a little extreme. “You will still have to pay for the amount owed, but there is no deadline for that as long as it gets paid.”

 Aurora sighed, but nodded. She had no choice but to agree. She just didn’t know how she was going to keep up with her classes while working extra hours to pay off the charges and go to detention. She rubbed at her forehead as the librarian dismissed her, freeing her to do what she wanted.

 She broke out into the evening, her backpack hanging off one shoulder as she shoved the papers into the main compartment. Aurora was angry, but there was nothing she could do now. She swung her bag back onto her back, slipping her arm through the strap.

 She looked across campus, the street lamps already illuminating small spots of the sidewalk. A shadow moved across one of the circles of light. It seemed familiar in the way it moved, as if he was still maneuvering through the aisles in the library.