I watched as the hands of the clock moved agonizingly slow, my frustration increasing by every sentence uttered by Ms Bellemor.

Of all the goddamn places.

𝘛𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘬

It had to be...

𝘛𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘬

The freaking book club.

The bell went off and everyone made a mad run for the door. I, on the other hand, was stalling. I needed to find an escape route. Any way to get out of this suffering. I gazed out the window, fantasizing about my father's chocolate chip cookies.

I could be smothering all those pastries in my dad's bakery if I wasn't such a goddamn moron.

"Ms Bernard? Could you please exit my class? We, teachers, have things to do on weekends too you know."

"Huh? Oh right sorry. I was just, um, savouring the moment. You know I just love 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺."

I was completely horrified by how boring this subject was. But I needed more time. Even if I had to lie through my teeth.

"Emilie," she says in a low voice. "Leave my class. NOW!"

I scramble for my books, spooked by the sudden yell, and reluctantly head out. I look around for Katherine and heave a sigh when she is nowhere in sight. I make my way quietly towards the school's exit, my ticket to freedom. I could almost taste Dad's cupcakes-

"Ms Bernard! Where do you think you're going to?!"

I freeze as Katherine's voice boomed in the hallways, and I inwardly curse at myself for not moving quicker.

The memory of this morning's interrogation washes over me and I let out a frustrated sigh.

...

"Ms Bernard, care to explain why you were found nibbling on cookies in the janitor's closet during club hours?!"

Katherine watches me intensely, afraid I might make a run for it.

I feign ignorance. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You left cookie crumbs everywhere. And the janitor saw you." Katherine frowns, suddenly looking ten years older.

"Look, Emilie. I did a background check on you. The school's policy specifically says every student of this establishment should be a member of at least two clubs. And somehow you haven't attended one in three years."

She pauses to look at me, and I mutter a string of curses for being such a messy eater.

"As you know, club sessions are every Thursday. But as your punishment for skipping this session, and the other sessions for the past three years, you will have to attend club sessions every single 𝘥𝘢𝘺 until you graduate. Well, except Sunday."

My blood runs cold but I say nothing. Judging from Katherine's smug smile, my facial expression was anything but happy.

"Unfortunately, the catering club is full. The only club that will accommodate you at this time of the year is book club."

...

"Emilie! I know you can hear me!"

I slowly turn around to face my oppressor, Katherine. She gives me a fake smile.

"Book club," she points down the hall. "Is that way."

I give her a tight-lipped smile and walk down the hall, straight to hell.

I sigh again as I approach the door. I push it open, and my nostrils are immediately filled with the smell of old damp pages and death. I spot the book club instructor a mile away, smoking. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"Ms Bernard, you're late," he says. "Have a seat over there."

I walk towards the seats lined up at the back and notice a fiery blonde-haired boy sitting on one of the chairs. As I take a closer step, I recognize it to be Daniel Kim.

Now, I didn't know much about Daniel, but I did always hear rumours about him being a soulless prick who was incapable of love.

Okay well maybe I knew enough to make me wary of him, but we've never had like a conversation you know. Maybe I shouldn't judge him based on rumours-

"Can you stop staring at me." He snaps, suddenly ruining my train of thoughts.

Yep, he was the monster everyone said he was.

I scoff and take the seat beside him. He rolls his eyes and leans back into the chair, now completely ignoring me.

I look around for something interesting, my boredom growing by the second. Finding nothing, I reach for my phone but get stopped abruptly by the book club instructor.

"No phones allowed," he breathes. "In the library."

Kill me now.

At this moment I was angry. Angry that I could be home stuffing my face with doughnuts if Katherine just minded her own business. Angry that I still had writer's block and couldn't finish my Tumblr series. Angry that Daniel was undeniably handsome but a huge asshole.

Screw it. I was going exploring.

"I'm just going to check out some books," I say quickly as I get up from my seat. "I wouldn't be long."

"Don't go too far." Is all he says before he goes back to his cigarette.

I walk away, wondering if there's a school rule against smoking. I look back and a wave of disappointment washes over me as I see Daniel rooted on his seat, still not acknowledging me. Whatever, I just need to occupy myself for an hour then I'll be out of here.

At first, it's just a bunch of random boring books, and I was already regretting even trying, but then I noticed a book that looked a bit odd and out of place. It looked...new.

The book had a particularly striking shade of red. And it was...glowing?!

"What the-"

"What are you doing?!"

I scream as I turn around and my face meets Daniel's chest. A feeling of fear and ecstasy fills me. I can't say the same for Daniel over here.

He moves back, keeping a reasonable distance between us. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not deaf," I snap. "I heard you the first time."

He gives me an intense glare and says nothing.

"What do you want anyway? I thought you were ignoring me."

"I was. But I got bored." He shrugs and reaches for the book I was just staring at. "Is this what you were looking at?"

When he pulls the book from the shelve, I feel a sudden change in the libraries aura. I say nothing, not wanting Daniel to think I was nuts. But he gives me a look that makes me realize I'm not the only one.

We study the book for a moment noting the lack of title and authors name. Daniel slowly opens the book, as if afraid something was going to jump off and eat him. We peer inside and see nothing.

"Is this a joke-" but Daniel is cut off when the pages begin to turn on their own. Daniel and I watch as the familiar mix of fear and ecstasy come back, and the book reveals a key. I gingerly reach for the key but I am stopped by a loud yell.

"I told you not to go too far!" the book club instructor yells at us, a look of fury in his eyes. "Now look what you've done."

My gaze and Daniel's simultaneously meet before we stare straight ahead at the pink glow coming from the bookshelf. At that moment I could have run away and never look back. But I didn't, and nor did Daniel.

Impulsively I grab the key, ignoring the book club instructor as he yells obscenities at us, and I take a tentative step towards the bookshelf. The key gets absorbed into the pink glow. There is a clicking sound and the bookshelf splits into two and the light coming from it is almost blinding.

Daniel and I walk through without looking back.