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The college life was tiring. It felt like Norton Campbell had no free time at all and every day was identical with the other.
How was it even possible to forget on of the biggest exams? He had no idea. This exam had a big influence on his grades, and it was one month left. One month is a long period of time, but not if you have to memorize loads of information. His friends started with they studying months ago.
So there he was, on his was in a literal storm. It rained like never before and the droplets hurt as they hit his face. Norton could see the library now, a huge brick building with white details. A rather nice place.
He gently opened the door and entered the large room. It felt like no one was there. Which wasn’t strange, it was Saturday evening and stormy. Who would go to the library at that time?
The large room was covered wall to wall with books, which wasn’t to Norton’s surprise. The dark oak gave the whole library a rather cozy and comforting aura. Tables with desk lamps were placed in the middle of the large room, and some soft couches in a corner. Norton would go to the library more often, if it wasn’t for the detail that he wasn’t a guy who liked to read, but he had always loved libraries. The smell of old books and the silence was comforting after a long day of stress and school.
“Good evening,” a lady with big a warm smile sat behind the desk with a book in her hand. Her name tag said ‘Ann’ with neat letters. “How can I help you?” the librarian asked.
“I am just here to study.” Norton responded with a smile. His back ached after carrying his heavy bag and he just wanted to get started with his studying.
The woman once again smiled and said: “just tell me if you need anything,”
He quietly walked over to a table and sat down with a sigh. The only thing he heard was the rain and sometimes small coughs from Ann. Nothing indicated that another human being was in the building apart from Ann and Norton himself.
He unpacked his bag and opened one of his thick books. It was really boring, he could almost fall asleep. The rain against the windows and the warmth made him feel tired. But his fatigue was also a product of late nights.
It got harder and harder to keep his eyelids open for each second. His eyes finally closed and his head laid in the book a minute later.
-
He woke up by someone gently shaking him. Norton was confused, where was he?
“Hey, are you okay?” A voice was heard and he looked up. He was met by a pale face, not Ann’s, but a man in his age. The other was pale and had almost white hair, which covered one of his eyes. His eye, more the visible eye, was red. Not really red, but more pink. The pale man had a rather bitter look on his face, and he looked away when their eyes met. The latter once again opened his mouth: “sorry, I saw you falling asleep and I Ann doesn’t like that.” His voice was quiet and kinda raspy.
“Oh, thank you for waking me up. I wasn’t supposed to sleep.” Norton smiled sleepily. He rubbed his eyes before continuing: “Norton Campbell at your service.”
The other smiled. “I am Andrew Kreiss, nice to meet you, I guess. Can I sit here?”
One thing led to another. They started talking about their lives. Andrew was studying to be an architect, but also studied history. And he lived a block away from Norton.
“I haven’t seen you here before,” Andrew turned page in his book and looked up. “I am here pretty often.”
Norton never really went to libraries, despite liking them. He just studied at home, which didn’t seem to be a great thing for his grades. “Nah, I usually study at home. But this place is great.”
“I thought so... Do you want any help?” Andrew offered kindly. Despite how he acted when they first had met, this man was too nice for his own good.
“Sure I guess. My studying techniques aren’t the best,” Norton accepted his offer with a sheepish smile. He really needed that help.
Norton tried his best to answer the questions, but got distracted from time to time. He examined Andrew’s visible eye with interest. His white lashes looked like feathers, and his pale skin had a tint of pink now. His thoughts drifted away and he didn’t notice the waving hand right in front of his face.
“Norton? Are you okay?”
His train of thoughts crashed and he came back to reality. His cheeks burned liked fire now. He coughed once and said: “yes, I am fine. I am just tired.” Andrew cocked one of his eyebrows. “Are you sure? You’re all red,” he laughed a little.
‘He noticed it, fuck’
“I’m just fine. Isn’t it late?” He glanced out the window, it still rained like there was no tomorrow and it was dark outside. Andrew looked at his watch. “It’s seven pm. The library is closing soon.” Just then, Ann came from around a bookcase and smiled. “The library is closing now. I am sorry.”
They both stood up and started stuffing their books into their backpacks. Luckily, Norton’s back didn’t ache as much as before.
Norton and Andrew stepped out in the rain. They looked at each other and both smiled a little. Norton fully examined him. His poor posture made him look smaller than what he actually was. But Andrew wasn’t short at all, he looked like he was shorter than Norton. But if his shoulder wasn’t so hunched, then he would probably be taller than him. Norton wasn’t extremely tall, just slightly taller than average.
They stood closely together and Andrew opened his mouth. “I am going in that direction,” he pointed at an empty street. “Perhaps we will meet again.” He started to leave, but Norton stopped him, by grabbing his wrist.
He had to shout over the wind.
“Wait, can I get your number?”