Bookworm « Thread Started on Jun 15, 2009, 2:34am »
Pandora stood at the front desk of the library, her side leaned heavily against the woodwork and her ankles crossed as she waited for her next task. So far, all she'd done that morning was sit in the back office [the one without air-conditioner] at a computer that had internet connection slower than molasses, organizing and backing up old files. It wasn't a hard job, but it grew tedious quiet fast. After a couple hours in that room, she'd emerged looking more haggard than before.
'If I'd just had some damn A.C in there it would've been better. It felt like I was in a sauna!' She thought, pursing her lips in annoyance.
Pandora pulled at her brown, long-sleeved top and smoothed down her plaid skirt. She wasn't the type cut out for working, at least not in a place the required her to be around people so much, but it was the best she could come up with. Initially, it seemed easy; she could put up a few books, read to some kids over in the children section, help a couple people out if they needed it. But being a librarian, at least at this place, wasn't what she had expected.
As her boss came into her line of view, Pan immediately stood up straighter, all the while hoping she didn't look as worn out as she felt.
"Hello, Miss Hail." The elder woman said, pushing her thick glasses up her nose. Mrs. Hepburn looked like, what Pandora thought, a typically librarian should; old, not very friendly, always seeming as if she wanted to tell someone to be quiet. She dearly hoped she never looked like that. "I assume you are ready to do something more 'hands on'?"
'Oh, thank Jesus.' She thought, her shoulders slumping slightly with relief. She reallllly didn't want to go back to that room. Ever. Again.
Mrs. Hepburn instructed her to gather all the books behind the drop-box into one of the push carts, and to go about putting them back in their places.
"Psh," Pandora muttered to herself as she stacked the books one by one onto the cart, "How hard could this be?"
||We don't know; Don't know or care where we go (Just turn up that radio) We'll sing along to all our favorite songs And hope these interstates will go on and on and on
Joined: Nov 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 492 Location: stuck in a valley of Cali. Karma: 13
Re: Bookworm « Reply #1 on Jun 15, 2009, 3:16am »
Why? He wondered to himself. Why did he have to be dragged along on his family’s escapades?
It was the second Saturday of the month. Probably Dalton’s least favorite day: shopping. It had become almost a tradition among the Briscoe family, that once a month that the seven of them would pile into the van [yes, now they were forced to purchase a big, lumbering van. One you’d expect to find hippies living in the back.] and drive a good half hour or so into the city.
Dalton tried to hide his irritation as best he could. While his sister, Dahlia, and his mother goggled over the buildings, he was satisfied with the view of the inside of his cowboy hat. Never before did he feel so much like the black sheep in the family. His father was always up for any kind of adventure, his mother and sisters only had shopping on the brain, and Dustin and Dallas were excited to get away from the ranch.
He, on the other hand, hated everything about the city. The cars, the people, the buildings… all in all, the lack of space. What he wouldn’t give for fresh air again. Or maybe a patch of land that wasn’t occupied by some building.
Dalton was so sulky about the trip, his parents thought it best he go somewhere “educational”. Dalton only say it as a way to lighten the mood. One sourpuss could be contagious. And luckily [or not so luckily] there was a library in the vicinity of the shopping center. So he began his long and lonely trek through the city streets.
Were people always so rude? More than once he caught a passerby staring at him in amazement. Like he just walked out of a black and white western. Rolling his eyes, Dalton straightened his hat and looked up at the building in front of him. The library, no doubt. So, wiping off the bottoms of his boots on the doormat, he stepped inside, not too sure what to expect.
Once Pandora was sure Mrs. Hepburn was back in her department [the top floor, where all the research material was], she slipped off her black high-heels and stuffed them under the book cart. She really wasn't the type of person to dress so... dressy, but her mother had thought it best. And she was right, of course. She couldn't very well go into work wearing skinny jeans, Converse, and a t-shirt with a cartoon dinosaur on it, could she? She couldn't, no matter how much she wanted to. She wanted to be taken seriously, though, more so than she wanted to be comfortable.
With all of the books piled up, and her feet bare [but no longer sore], Pandora pushed the cart out of the small backroom and into the large library's lobby. She looked around. There weren't many people here, but that was to be expected. It was a good temperature today, not too hot, not too cold, and she figured most people would rather be outside beside a pool than inside reading. She could see a few kids through the glass inside the children section, playing learning games on the computer, and a few people by the YA aisles. As soon as she passed the entrance desk, someone entered the library. Pandora looked over her shoulder to see who, out of mild curiosity.
It was a guy, about her age, looking like he was one of those people who'd rather be outside. His attire immediately made her think 'county', so she assumed he must be from Dridgeville, since that was the closest farming town to the city. She turned her face away after a moment, not wanting to be caught staring. Without her glasses, his face was a bit blurry, but even so, she figured he was at least mildly cute.
'No boys!' she screamed at herself, continuing to push the cart. 'Work now, you can worry about boys later.'
||We don't know; Don't know or care where we go (Just turn up that radio) We'll sing along to all our favorite songs And hope these interstates will go on and on and on
Joined: Nov 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 492 Location: stuck in a valley of Cali. Karma: 13
Re: Bookworm « Reply #3 on Jun 15, 2009, 2:00pm »
Dalton glanced around. Letting out a sigh, he decided it was better to stay in here than to be out there with his family. With a wince, Dalton recalled how embarrassing they could get. Dustin would be picking on Dakota, Dakota would complain about Dustin, Dallas would be wailing, and Dahlia would be begging their parents to buy her some over priced item. And he would be rolling his eyes, thoroughly humiliated to be associated with them. But what else was new when it came to his family? They were as dysfunctional as they come.
With another heaving sigh, Dalton figured it would be best to do something other than stand there. People might actually want to come in the library instead of stand in the entrance. As if reading his mind, two people with irritated expressions edged around him and made their way further inside the building, not before throwing him two dirty looks to match.
Had he been in the country, he would’ve tackled them right then and there. But he wasn’t. He had to be civilized, no matter how angry he got. And it was getting to be really really hard to, especially when the people here looked at him like he was some country hick. So clenching his jaw and pushing his hat over his eyes, Dalton walked further in, glancing at the many books on the shelves. And he was supposed to find something to read, in all that?
Not that he minded reading. It wasn’t so bad once you got used to it. Sure, it was nothing compared to flying down a race track on the back of a good horse. Dalton stopped in mid step. He was in a library [and a big one at that] so surely they had to have a book or two on horse racing. But how to find them?
Wearing a puzzled expression, Dalton was wrought with indecision. He wasn’t one to ask for help, but there was no way he would be able to do anything on his own here. So throwing pride away, Dalton scanned the library for the librarian. Rather quickly, he spotted a girl not too far from him, pushing a cart of books. She looked to be around his age and he could only assume she was an employee. Not even he would want to check out that many books. So he walked up to her briskly, removing his hat. [It was the custom, of course, to always take off your hat when meeting or speaking to someone new. especially a lady.] “’scuse me, miss.” He tapped her shoulder to get her attention. “I was jus’ wonderin’ if you could help me find a book.”
She didn’t look like the stereotypical librarian, out to bite off your head if you make a peep. She actually looked nice. And in more ways than just her disposition. Though he almost smiled, noting she was barefoot, along with the pair of shoes shoved haphazardly on the bottom of the cart. Yeah he wouldn’t want to wear those either.
“If it ain’t a heap of trouble…” He trailed off, fixing his eyes on the cart
Pandora leisurely pushed the cart along the carpeted floor. She was sure her boss wouldn't bother her for at least a good two, maybe three, hours, as long as she did as she was told and didn't cause any sort of as ruckus. She angled her eyes downward, to the books on the top of the pile. Most of them she'd never heard of, but from their spines, she could tell that the majority of them were young adult novels. Good thing she was heading in that direction.
Suddenly, someone behind her spoke and tapped her shoulder in a gentle, polite way to gain her attention. Perplexed, she turned to stare at the boy who was only about three inches taller than she was. 'Country-boy!' she thought, recognizing the guy she'd just seen entering the library. She started to smile, but it froze for a moment as nervousness hummed throughout her body. Her first... customer! Of course, he wasn't a customer customer, but she wasn't fully sure what librarians called the people they helped. Patron, maybe? Nevertheless, this wasn't really the time to ponder titles and terms.
"No, of course not!" Pandora assured, shifting to face him completely. She glanced down at his hat and smiled. How cute, he was a gentleman! "Just tell me what you're looking for and I'm sure we'll be able to find it." She tapped her foot absently, then suddenly realized she wasn't wearing any shoes. The girl flushed pink in embarrassment and hoped he hadn't noticed, but she could see his eyes linger on the cart behind her. She peeked over her shoulder quickly to see she hadn't really 'hid' her shoes well at all. Pandora never really expected to help anyone so soon, or else she would have left the blasted things on.
'Calm down, Pan.' she told herself, waiting for the odd boy to tell her what he was looking for, 'It's only shoes, not the end of the world. Yeesh.'
||We don't know; Don't know or care where we go (Just turn up that radio) We'll sing along to all our favorite songs And hope these interstates will go on and on and on
Joined: Nov 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 492 Location: stuck in a valley of Cali. Karma: 13
Re: Bookworm « Reply #5 on Jun 17, 2009, 1:31am »
Dalton let a small smile appear at the corner of his mouth at her expression. Not wanting to make her anymore uncomfortable, he hurried to answer her question.
“Well, miss, I sure wouldn’t mind a book on horses, ‘specially race horses.” Dalton glanced around the library at the full shelves once more. “Then again, I wouldn’t mind tryin’ somethin’ new too.”
Though he couldn’t help but get the feeling she was new here. Not that he was going to be rude or anything. Heck, he’d be some good practice for her then. Especially since he’d never been to a library this big. It was nothing compared to the one closer to his home. Everything there seemed so small compared to the city. Maybe that’s why he wasn’t so comfortable here; he missed the small, close knit feeling of the country. “That is, if you have any recommendations, miss, of books you’d think a guy like me might find interestin’.”
'Horses, racing horses... non-fiction, reference section?' Pandora wondered, the moment he told her what he was looking for. 'Non-fiction certainly, reference... well, I'll just find out, now won't I?' She hated feeling like 'the new girl' and right now, she certainly did. She'd been told before if anyone came to her looking for help, to direct them to someone else, but dammit, she felt like she could handle this one. Nothing wrong with using the guy as practice.
"'Something new', eh?" she smiled, "Alright, I will find the something new, and the something you are looking for." She paused for a moment and looked him over. Obviously, he'd love anything that screamed 'country', but he asked for something new, didn't he? Maybe she should choose something he'd normally avoid. Maybe something she'd go looking for. "Okay, I have some ideas, but lets go find your book about horses first."
Pandora, sadly, could not walk around barefoot; leaving the first floor was just too big of a risk, and if Mrs. Hepburn saw her... "Just.. lemme get my shoes." she muttered with another embarrassed flush, quickly turning around and jerking her heels out from under the cart. She shoved them on and turned to him once more. "Okay," she blew her bangs off her forehead, "lets go find your book."
||We don't know; Don't know or care where we go (Just turn up that radio) We'll sing along to all our favorite songs And hope these interstates will go on and on and on
Joined: Nov 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 492 Location: stuck in a valley of Cali. Karma: 13
Re: Bookworm « Reply #7 on Jun 19, 2009, 2:37am »
“After you, miss.” Dalton said politely. Something told him he’d have an interesting time in this library. Much more interesting than if he’d been out shopping with his family.
He had no idea what she would come up with next. To be honest, taking off your shoes in a public place was a little amusing in itself. Especially in a library this big. Dalton never knew they needed so big of a building to hold books. He would’ve thought the president had a library this big in the White House. Guess it was the feeling of being a small town guy in an obviously not so small town.
Pandora smiled, pushed the cart off to the side, closer to the wall so it would be out of the way, and started walking back toward the lobby. The elevator was under maintenance [not that she ever wanted to ride in that deathtrap anyway], so they would have to take the grand staircase up to the second floor, where the boy's book on horses would be. Or, at least, where Pandora hoped it would be...
As she started up the stairs, she paused briefly to look behind her to make sure he was still following her. "Oh, uhm..." she didn't want him to continue calling her 'miss', and she hadn't got her nametag yet, so at least a quick introduction seemed needed. "I'm Pandora, by the way, you don't have to keep calling me 'miss'."
||We don't know; Don't know or care where we go (Just turn up that radio) We'll sing along to all our favorite songs And hope these interstates will go on and on and on
Joined: Nov 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 492 Location: stuck in a valley of Cali. Karma: 13
Re: Bookworm « Reply #9 on Jul 13, 2009, 1:47pm »
Dalton gave an easy smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Pandora." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, embarrassed. "Callin' ladies 'Miss' is a bit of a habit. I was jus' raised ta talk like that." A bit bashful, he realized he hadn't given his name either.
"Ah, sorry. The name is Dalton. Dalton Briscoe. I'm afraid I ain't from around here either." He looked up the staircase, wondering just how many floors-and books- this place had.
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