so yeah i wasn’t really planning to go to the library that day honestly i just needed to get out of the house it was one of those boring afternoons where everything feels stuck y’know anyway i get there with no idea what i’m looking for just wandering around the shelves and pulling out random books like some kind of aimless treasure hunt eventually i find this old book with a super worn-out cover looked like it had been read a million times which made me think maybe it was worth a shot i sat down near this big dusty window that barely let in any light not the most cheerful spot but it was quiet and that’s all i needed i got through like maybe the first five pages when i realized i left my phone at home super annoying cuz i always take notes when i read or look up random things that pop into my head but whatever i told myself i’d survive without it
so i’m sitting there trying to focus on the book when this girl walks by and suddenly stops right in front of me like just stands there for a second looking at the book in my hands “that’s a great one” she says and it kinda startled me not gonna lie but then i look up and there she is holding this small stack of books and smiling like we were already friends “oh yeah” i said feeling a little awkward “i just grabbed it randomly didn’t really know what to pick” she laughed and sat down across from me “well you picked a classic” she said and started telling me about why she loved it how it made her cry at the end and how it’s one of those books that makes you think about life differently i nodded like i totally knew what she meant even though i’d only read like two pages at that point
we kept talking for a while first about books then about random stuff like favorite places to read or the weirdest things we’d ever found in used books she told me her name was claire and she’d been coming to this library since she was a kid said it felt like a second home i told her i usually just read at home but for some reason i ended up here that day “maybe it’s fate” she said with this little smirk like she wasn’t serious but kinda was i laughed and said “maybe or maybe i just needed a change of scenery”
the next thing i knew the librarian was coming over telling us they were closing and i realized we’d been sitting there for hours claire got up grabbed her books and handed me this scrap of paper “here’s my number” she said “call me when you finish the book i wanna know what you think”
i finished it in like two days and yeah i called her we met up at the library again cuz apparently that’s just what we do it became our thing meeting there finding books talking about life it was never really romantic or anything but it felt special y’know like she was one of those people who come into your life and just make it better even if it’s only for a little while
we eventually drifted apart she got busy with school or work or something and i stopped going to the library as much but every once in a while i’ll pick up that book or walk past the library and think about her wonder what she’s up to if she ever thinks about that afternoon too maybe she doesn’t but for me it’s one of those memories that sticks with you no matter how much time goes by
