Freak (Troyler AU)

Chapter Fifty-One

*Troye's POV*

Timeskip to mid-November (so two weeks if you're a nincompoop)

I ran my fingers along the book spines as I tried to find the one I was looking for, beginning to get frustrated with how long it was taking to find it. Yes, the library was arranged alphabetically, but our very useful and not-at-all-lazy librarian hadn't gotten around to putting all the books back yet. Given this was a grade-wide project, it made sense someone else had snagged the book first, but I'd purposely put this trip off until the day before it was due in hope's of getting it after they brought it back. At this rate I might as well just give in and accept my F, even if I get the book I doubt I'll be able to pull the whole project together in one night. God, Tyler was going to tease me to no end, he'd brought it up a thousand times claiming he was reminding me so I didn't put it off until last minute. That didn't do much good, huh?

"Excuse me." My head snapped up, immediately jumping out of the way politely. The girl giggled slightly at the awkward reaction, giving me a smile before stepping forward and raising a book onto the shelf. I was about to turn and give up on studying altogether when my eyes landed on the title of her book, my mouth falling open.

"Hey, are you done with that?" I blurted, realizing a moment later I could have just waited to see if she left it on the shelf rather than interacting. She looked over her shoulder at me, flashing a bright smile before turning completely and extending the heavy book to me.

"Yeah, I was just flipping through to write the notes for my presentation. It's all yours if you need it." She offered, batting her eyelashes at me and causing me to unintentionally make a face at her. It wasn't anything personal, she was very pretty, I just wasn't really a fan of girls flirting with me. Actually, I wasn't really a fan of anyone flirting with me other than Tyler.

"Thanks." I muttered simply, gently taking it from her hands and eyes going wide when I misjudged it's weight. However before it fell she caught it again, giggling and once again holding it out to me. I took it, sighing under my breath when she followed me out of the aisle and toward the seating area.

"Putting the finishing touches on your project?" She asked conversationally, swinging her hands at her sides as she walked beside me. I shrugged noncommittally, feeling slightly embarrassed considering I'd yet to even start it. She was clearly the type who'd had it all done weeks in advance, it made me wonder why she'd looked at the book today at all.

"Um, yeah, something like that." I laughed, running a hand through my hair as I fell into one of the many colorful beanbag chairs in the corner of the room. The librarian's desk was in the middle of the room and I could see her eyeing us curiously, pushing her glasses up further on the bridge of her nose with her middle finger.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" The girl asked, my eyebrows arching as I looked back up at her. I wasn't sure when or how, but she'd ended up with some small novel in her hands. A romance novel judging by the close-up picture of two half-dressed people kissing. Lovely. She's going to read literary porn next to me.

"Yeah, but I'm trying to study so try not to be too distracting." I said, unintentionally sounding more irritated with her than I should have. She just frowned slightly before falling into the seat next to me, making me feel a bit bad. I didn't mean to come across as rude or snappy, I just wasn't really into spending time with people and liked it even less when I was practically forced into it.

I tried to urge an apology out of myself, knowing it was the right thing to do, but I also couldn't bring myself to speak up when she was already wrapped up in her book. What if I just made things worse by annoying her? She doesn't seem that bothered by it. I'm sure it'll be fine, I don't even know her name.