I slam my locker door and hurry over to Daisy's. She hasn't spoken a word to me or anyone since her encounter with the library. After I asked her about going to the library, she just cried and nodded. Not a word since.
When I approach her locker, she smiles with her mouth only and turns away. "Are you ok?" I ask her.
Quiet still. I sigh. Of course, she's not ok, why would I expect her to be? I just wished she would talk to me.
We walked over towards our class when Jade came up and pulled me aside, anxiety clouding her face, "Can I talk to you real quick?"
"Uh, I'm not sure, the bell rings in like, 30 seconds," I replied tentatively.
"Please, it's so important."
I sighed and said my goodbye to Daisy, who pulled her hood over her head and scurried over to Bio. The bell rang. "So what's up?"
"Is she ok?" Jade inquired, concerned.
"Uh, it's not something I should talk about. What did you need, did I miss something in English?"
"If you did, I did too. Look, I know you and I don't know each other," she bit her lip and her eyes widened, "but I don't know who else to talk to, and... you seem like a trustworthy person. There's this, this library? And, oh my god I don't know how to say this without sounding crazy, but I could read about my life? And, I found some stuff out about some friends, so I don't really feel like I can talk to them? And I'm so sorry I know we don't know each other-"
She stopped as my face paled, "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, never better. You read about your life? What part exactly?"
"Just, read up on some fake friends."
I let out my breath.
"Why don't you tell me exactly what happened from the beginning?"
The second bell rang signaling that all who were left in the hall were late. Jade sucked in her cheeks and tilted her head as if to think. Then she nodded and motioned me to follow her.
We walked through the hallway, for the first time no one had bothered to stop and ask for a pass. She stopped in front of the janitor's closet then turned towards me, "In here."
Once we both fit ourselves inside, Jade proceeded to tell me everything. How she had stumbled into the library and found the books with familiar names in silver letters. How she read the life of one of her friends and discovered their true feelings about her. How part of her felt it was fake, but it felt so real.
"And the thing is," she concluded, "the weirdest part was the librarian. She called me by name, but I don't think I ever told her."
"Wow... Crazy"
She paused, "You don't believe me do you."
"No no, I do! Actually, I've been there myself."
Her eyes widened and a bright grin lit her face, "You have? So you know what I'm talking about! What did you read? Tell me everything!"
My mouth opened in response, then I remembered the specific story I discovered, "I just... read about my day that time. Nothing special."
Jade nodded and sucked in her cheeks again, "You live right next to the library right? Well, what if we did a bit of digging?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, who the fuck is this Auntie Tess? What does Roseanna know about the books? How does Auntie Tess know about everyone in this town? There's so many unanswered questions! Think about it!" Her face turned tomato red, "But it's up to you of course, there's no reason to do it if you don't want to..."
I nodded in thought, "I'm down. On one condition."
"What's that?"
"Daisy helps too."