Chapter 16
EVERETT
E ven though I’d never (never, never, never) admit it to her face, Jahnvi was very much correct.
I needed help.
I debate d asking a few friends of mine if they’d like to work at the restaurant, but then I remembered that most of them couldn’t tell paneer from cottage cheese. Most of them still couldn’t do long division! There was no way I was going to trust them with checks and other people’s credit cards.
So, I decided on flyers.
And for that, I needed to sneak into the public library again. Why couldn’t I have gone at a time when the library was open and not at midnight? Well, that was because I was busy running around my restaurant during the dinner rush, again.
But I’d already lied about how I was supposed to fix the heater to the security guard the last time I had snuck in.
I could make up another lie, but if the security guard remembered me from the last time, it was game over.
So, as I walked on the dark sidewalk and the worn-down building came into view, I tried to see if there was another entrance.
But there was no way a door would be left open, right?
I was desperate though. No matter how much I tried to lie to myself that I could handle the crowd, I couldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it. The restaurant was finally full and had a glow again, like how it was when I was younger.
Like how my parents used to keep it.
One person couldn’t handle it all, that was it. Once I had flyers printed, I could hang them up all around town tomorrow. I could conduct a few small interviews where I asked them important questions to make it seem like I was selective and just hire two extra people I thought would show up.
I was so lost in my plan that I didn’t notice a figure in front of me.
It was too dark for me to make out a face, but the person was wearing a dress with a cardigan over it. They were walking fast. The person’s long hair moved as they tried to be secretive about glancing behind them, at me.
Ugh, I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I’d been acting like a creep following them.
I stopped and quickly jaywalked across the street to the other sidewalk. Hopefully, it made them feel safer. It didn’t make sense why they were walking in the dark, but then I stopped my train of thought right there. Who was I to judge? I was walking in the dark too.
But curiosity took hold of me. The person had slowed down now that I wasn’t walking behind them. I covertly tried to watch them to see where they were going to turn. But hello, what’s this?
They’re going to the library too?
The person took a quick left off the sidewalk and onto the grass lawn of the library.
But they weren’t heading for the main entrance where the security guard sat, vigilant.
I squinted, trying to watch what door the person was heading for.
It was the third door from the left. It looked heavy and was unmarked.
The person, with the confidence of someone who’d done it before, swung open the door. I winced, waiting for an alarm of some sort. But nothing rang, and the person swiftly stepped inside and let the door shut behind them. Before it swung shut though, I noticed something about them.
Wait, what is that in their hair?
No. Fucking. Way.
There were no cars, so I quickly crossed the street again and made for the door that she’d opened.
Anger making my nerves disappear, I swung open the door without fear of being caught.
The warm library air and the smell of old paper engulfed me instantly.
The library was shielded in darkness; the only source of light was the moonlight streaming in from the glass ceiling.
Jahnvi was a few bookshelves down, reading the back of a book with her phone flashlight.
She swung her head around when she heard the door, her hair whipping the books behind her.
Her eyes widened in fear, and she sucked in a big gasp of air, probably to let out a scream loud enough to wake the entire town.
Her face fell in relief when she saw it was me. She clutched her chest and gave me a glare like I was the one that was in the wrong. “Jeez, Everett. Thank god it’s you—”
“And what if it hadn’t been?” I asked, walking toward her. “You could’ve gotten kidnapped and killed!” I hissed.
“No!”
“Don’t,” I warned, walking closer to her. “Don’t try to argue with me right now. You can’t walk around in the dark like this, Jahnvi. The least you could’ve done was drive.”
“With what license?”
I grabbed her by the elbows and shook her lightly. “Then ask me ! Jahnvi, I can drive you. Just ask me. Okay?” I was whispering so we didn’t get caught. I wanted to yell, but getting caught by the security guard would not be the best thing at the moment.
She shook herself free of my grasp and gave me a glare. “Why are you walking around at midnight?”
“That’s...that’s none of your business!”
“But me walking around is your business?” she whispered harshly. “You’re being such a hypocrite.”
What was I going to do with her? She didn’t understand at all, did she? She had never been outside of the twenty-mile radius that includes the restaurant, her home, and school. Her parents made sure she had everything she needed in her little bubble.
She was spoiled rotten and had no clue how the world worked.
I was different. Her argument was invalid because I know how to take care of myself. She doesn’t.
I needed to teach her a lesson.
“I’m being a hypocrite?” I asked softly.
“Y-yeah. What are you—” And before she could finish her sentence, I had grabbed both of her wrists in one hand. In a fluid and easy motion, I pinned her to the bookshelf by holding them above her head.
I leaned down to her face. “If someone grabbed you and pinned you to a bookcase like this, could you get loose?” I asked, looking into her eyes. But there wasn’t a single ounce of fear in her eyes. There was only anger and defiance.
In this position, with her whole body under my control, she looked so much smaller than usual.
She only came up to my shoulder, and barely at that.
My body engulfed her small frame and made her seem fragile.
Granted, her face didn’t give the expression of someone who was easy to break.
But some overprotective feeling came over me.
It bloomed from the bottom of my stomach and traveled all the way to the tips of my fingers.
It was a feeling that I don’t think I’d experienced before.
The feeling of overprotectiveness was fiery and warm, but not like love or friendship felt.
While those emotions were a quiet and calm type of warm, overprotectiveness was strong.
It was violent. It was a blaze that engulfed my entire being, especially with her in my arms.
This was the feeling I’d had when I pushed KJ too far. I didn’t know what had gotten hold of me then, and it had plagued me for days.
Why did I do that to KJ? What was wrong with me?
But now I know. I didn’t want her to spend time with KJ. He’s a jerk. I was just being protective; that’s what it was. I didn’t want him to hurt her.
Or was I jealous?
Had I crossed the thin barrier that separated good-natured protectiveness from jealousy? But that would mean that I had feelings for her, right? Feelings more than friendship or rivalry.