Page 1 of Dear Bookworm Beauty
1
GRANT
Laurel Stewart started coming into my section of the library a few months ago. Each week she asked to borrow another volume of Josephine La Monte’s journals and sat for hours reading and taking meticulous notes.
If I'm honest, I’d seen La Monte’s paintings hanging in galleries and printed in books over the years, but I knew nothing of the woman. I didn’t even know that the university had a collection of her journals until Laurel first walked up to my desk and made the request.
I was taken with her the moment I looked up from my screen and locked eyes with her. There was a quiet beauty about her that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It’s like she went out of her way to hide the physical features that would have set her apart and possibly make people question her intelligence. She was never without her black-rimmed glasses. Her long chestnut brown hair was always down, like a shield to cover her face. But when she smiled, she couldn’t hide the light that shined from her. It lit up a room and my heart whenever I saw it. I liked to think that I was the only one that could see the beauty in this bookworm, but I doubt it.
“Is she still here?” Fergus asks.
I turn from my work on my laptop and see him ready to leave for the evening with his coat in hand. He asked if I would cover for him tonight and close up, so he could go out on a date. And since my personal life was nonexistent at this point, or at least my hope of a personal life was still here in the library, I was more than willing to help the guy out.
“Are you finally going to get the guts to ask her out?” he asks.
“Will you shut up?” I hiss, turning to see if Laurel heard him. She didn’t. “I’m working on it.”
"Well, work harder because this pining from afar was cute for a little bit, but now it's just sad."
I glare at him. “Do younotwant me to cover for you tonight?”
“Did I say sad?” Fergus straightens. “What I meant to say was it’s still charming and not at all pathetic.”
I grab the small rubber band ball I've been building off my desk area and throw it at him. He laughs and bats it out of the way with his hand. It bounces around and makes considerably more noise than either of us was expecting. I glance over at Laurel. She watches us for a moment before returning to her work.
“Get out of here before I change my mind,” I tell Fergus.
“Fine,” he sighs and slips on his jacket. “You don’t want to wait too long. You may think that you are the only one who has noticed her in here, but I heard Beckett say that he was going to ask her out next time she comes in when he’s in here.”
Panic hits me in the chest like a battering ram. Beckett is Professor Attwater’s teaching assistant and uses that position to sleep with all the grad students he can. I can’t stand the thought of Laurel getting caught in his web.
Fergus gives me a quick wave and heads off towards the exit. My gaze returns to Laurel. This could be my last chance of asking her out before Beckett. What's the worst thing that could happen? No, wait, I can't think about the worst-case scenario, or I'll chicken out before I'm even out of my seat.
I look around and see that we are the last two people here. So at least I won't have an audience if she laughs in my face.
“Don’t think,” I whisper to myself. “Just do it.”
I'm out of my chair and walking towards the table she's sitting at before I even realize it. It’s too late now to turn around with my tail between my legs. I’m going to do this.
Closing the distance between us, I stop at her table and wait for a break in her frantic scribbling in her notebook before I say anything.
“By my clock,” she says without looking up at me. “I still have ten more minutes before this place closes.”
She’s not wrong, but that’s not why I’ve come over here to talk to her.
“You’re right.” I clear my throat. “That’s not why I came over here.”
Laurel's pen stops, and she looks up at me. Her gaze is both curious and expectant.
“Did you need something from me?”
“No, I mean, yes.”
She smiles, amused at my befuddlement. “Which is it?”
My mouth dries up from the wattage of her smile directed at me, and I nearly forget how to speak.
“No, I don’t need anything from you. But yes, I came over here for a reason.”
