THURSDAY, 11:33 A.M.
Dane sifted through the shelves.The more often he went through them, the more he noticed the differences between the books. Most of them looked like they had been read by many students before him—others already appeared dusty even though they were brand new. In each case, there is a shared trait: the eight-digit code glued to their back, aiding in keeping them sorted. They may appear cryptic to anyone who hadn’t spent a significant time here, but Dane knew he only had to check the last two numbers.Sixty-eightwas what he was searching for. It should be in the third tier of the fifth shelf from the left. His fingers slid over the covers.Sixty-five, sixty-six, sixty-seven… sixty-nine.
“Damn it,” he whispered.
They were still all there, except for theonebook he needed. He kept going. Chances were, it was still on that shelf, simply sorted incorrectly, and he overlooked it during his first two rummages.
Even when it was crucial to find that book, Dane didn’t care that he had already spent twenty minutes searching. For him, just being in the campus library was like heaven.
For one, he loved silence, and nowhere in the City of New York was it quieter than in the library of his University. It was a nice change from the noise his roommates constantly made, not to mention the loud music at their weekly parties at their apartment, which still left him wondering why no one had ever filed a noise complaint against them.
Secondly, Dane loved books—how it felt to skim his fingers over the coarse surface of a hardcover, comparing it to the smooth touch of a softcover, and how each book smelled a little different due to the used glue, paper, and ink.
Lastly, and probably most crucially, the reason he lovedthis particularlibrary stemmed from a secret he discovered seven months ago at the end of his second year—a place of pleasure hidden within the restroom on the third floor right behind the computer science section. A spot he would never admit he’d visited, even though he frequented it more often than the nearby campus cafeteria, which everybody else loved for its cheap prizes.
So, of course, he agreed to the tedious task of looking up citations in a paper his professor wrote, even though it’s an ungrateful and tiring job that most of his fellow students refused to take despite the generous pay. Even better, the paper was big, set to be published in one of the major science journals, offering him at least two weeks of work and, therefore, the perfect excuse to come here every day and sneak away to the third-floor restroom for some well-earned relaxation after a hard day of proofreading.
Dane glanced at his wristwatch. Still, about half an hour until he had a lunch date with his roommate Leon, enough time to hopefully locate the book so he could start going through it after his break.
It shouldn’t have been that difficult. Like always, Dane had looked it up in the digital library catalog. It precisely tells you ifthe book is rented out and, if not, where it can be found. It was the same procedure without exception, and he had already done it over twenty times for this job alone. Still, even after spending so much time going through the entire aisle over and over again, it was nowhere to be found.
Dane straightened his back, pushing his hand into it to stretch after standing bent over for quite a while.
It’s no use. Third time wasn’t the charm.
If he wanted to find the book before noon, he had to ask a library employee for help, and that was precisely what Dane tried to avoid most, having already seen who was in charge of the biochemistry section today.
It was that insufferable prick of a new hire who had been interfering with his inner peace since he started working on that paper.
The first time he noticed him was on Monday last week. He was searching for the second book on his list, and, as he always did, after he pulled it out of the shelf, he brought it to his nose and took a whiff.
It was an unusual habit, for sure. Dane couldn’t remember when he developed it. While others needed to read a book to enter different realms, he just had to smell them. So whenever he picked one up, he held it close, took a deep breath, and for a moment, he was taken away to different worlds far beyond human reach. Never before had anyone noticed or commented on it until that day.
Just as Dane inhaled deeply, a chuckle reached his ears. He searched for the source, only to find himself being laughed at by this guy.
He was slightly shorter than Dane, around his age, with short brown hair and a well-trimmed five-day beard. He wore dark blue jeans, brown leather sneakers, a tight black shirt accentuating his well-trained biceps, and a name tag adornedhis left chest. Typical jock—not someone you would expect to be working at a library. (Though to be fair, Dane probably also didn’t fit the grid either. Despite his nerdy nature, he lifted weights almost daily, giving him a toned appearance. His long hair was tied back into a bun most of the time, and he only wore his glasses when his eyes got tired of the contact lenses.)
With a smug grin on his lips, the guy furrowed his eyebrows as if he thought Dane was about to kiss the book.
Never had Dane returned to his desk so quickly.
Since then, it seemed to Dane that this guy had set his goal to make Dane’s time in the library as miserable as possible. Whenever Dane got up from a desk, the guy appeared out of nowhere, shushing at him as if Dane was reversing satanic verses at the top of his lungs. Dane would’ve understood it if he constantly scratched the dark wooden chairs on the historic floor tiles, but that wasn’t what was happening. He just stood up like anybody else but was treated as if he was disturbing everyone when, in reality, the only disturbing thing was that guy’s constant shushing.
So, of course, Dane wasn’t eager to ask him for help, but not seeing another option, he hurried down the aisle. As he turned around the corner, he collided with someone carrying a stack of books.
“I’m so sorry,” Dane apologized as the books got squished between them. Two fell on the ground, and without hesitation, Dane squatted down to pick them up.
“You have to be kidding me,” the guy scolded him.
Dane looked up, only to stare into the gloomy eyes of the person he was set to ask for help.What a great start.
“Everything okay?” Dane whispered.
The guy sighed and made a face as he scanned the books he was holding. “Lucky for you, they look alright,” he whispered, glaring at Dane. “You must find it fun to always make acommotion.” He eyed all the other people sitting at desks in the center of the library, probably hoping someone would take offense, but none of them even glanced their way.
Fun? Commotion?Me?
Heat flushed through Dane’s body as he couldn’t grasp why that guy seemed to take so much enjoyment out of provoking him. He scanned the name tag on his chest. It didn’t have one on it and just said “Library Staff.” At least now Dane knew he wouldn’t have to deal with him forever because he had to be a temp. All the full-time employees had their names imprinted.
