Chapter 5
Chapter Five
“That last goal was crazy, huh? Just whoosh—”
Sierra tuned Tyler out as they went about reshelving books the next day.
Ever since their shift had started, Tyler had done nothing but talk about the soccer game from the night before.
While Sierra was glad to see Tyler happy and excited, she hoped this hadn’t given him the wrong idea that she was interested in the sport.
The soccer game breakdown became background noise as Sierra looked at the titles in her hand and found their spots on the library shelves.
Like most libraries, this one was organized by the Universal Classification System, which was similar to the Dewey Decimal system the United States used.
While she had to learn the UCS system when she initially got this job, she hadn’t been familiar with Dewey Decimal in the first place, so it hadn’t bothered her much, and she had picked it up quickly.
Although she wasn’t a reader, Sierra did like studying and organization, two things that the UCS system made easier for students.
Sierra liked the look of some of the book covers as she slid them away, especially some of those in the fantasy section.
She wished she liked reading books, but she couldn’t get over the fact that it was just so boring to her.
She would much rather take a walk or learn a new skill, leaving the storytelling to movies she could consume in a few hours.
Tyler must’ve noticed she wasn’t paying attention, as he suddenly changed the subject. “Oh, is that Silver Kiss? I loved that book as a teen.”
“Uh,” Sierra looked down at the book in her hand, which featured a man biting down on the neck of the woman underneath the title, Silver Kiss. “I suppose it is.” Sierra squinted to look closer at the image.
“You should check it out, I bet you would like it.”
Sierra shook her head. “I don’t think vampire books are my thing.” She quickly shelved the book in its spot, hoping Tyler would drop the conversation.
“Oh, come on, you’re telling me you haven’t read Twilight?” Tyler was staring at her, open-mouthed.
Sierra shook her head. “No. But I saw the movie. If the book is anything like the movie, no thanks. I’m a huge movie fan and that was just…
No.” She vaguely remembered a movie with an anorexic-looking man who had fallen in love with a teen girl who was terrified of turning 19.
If only her character had been faced with the same situation Sierra was now, she was about to turn 26 and she hadn’t done anything but study and had no idea what kind of job she even wanted to work when she was done.
Maybe she would just study forever, at least then she wouldn’t have to worry about paying her mountain of student loans.
Tyler shook his head. “Ugh, everyone knows the book is better than the movie. From now on, no more watching movies based on books until you read the book first, okay?”
“Like I would ever agree to that,” she laughed.
Tyler groaned and put his palm over his face. “And to think I thought we could be friends.”
Sierra noticed the smile on Tyler’s face, indicating he was joking. “Yeah, well, sorry, I’m such an impossible friend.”
Tyler joined her in laughing. “Actually, maybe you not being into books is better. That way, you can’t spoil anything for me. If you were into books like me, you would probably spoil all the endings since you read faster than me.”
“See? Books are bad.” Sierra jokingly nudged Tyler, her sleeve riding up. With a grimace, Sierra quickly pulled back down her sleeve until it covered her wrist, hoping Tyler hadn’t seen anything.
Lucky for her, Tyler was fairly oblivious to, well, everything, and he simply continued shelving the books from the cart.
The two continued to joke about books and movies until the cart was empty.
One glance at the clock told Sierra it was time for her break, so she told Tyler she was heading for lunch before grabbing her bag and heading outside.
The library was located near a small campus café that offered coffee, sandwiches, and pastries.
While vegetarian food was becoming more common in Dublin, there were only two sandwiches they regularly offered that came vegetarian, and, of course, today they were out of them.
Not wanting to ask if they could make one special, Sierra grabbed a croissant and banana and headed outside to eat.
There were a few benches in the common area, but they were taken, so Sierra sat on the cement with her back against the café building, people-watching as she consumed her sad lunch.
She was always curious about people, and she enjoyed watching their body language and trying to guess what was going on in their lives or conversations.
One couple sitting on the grass was clearly arguing during what should have been a romantic afternoon picnic. Another young woman was on the phone, pacing back and forth, clearly dealing with something serious. Feeling for the woman, Sierra hoped it was something she would be able to solve.
After her food was gone, Sierra pulled her homework out of her messenger bag and began working on a lab write-up, which was due the next day.
Focused on her work, Sierra didn’t notice what was going on around her, oblivious until, at some point, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.
She looked up, confused at the sensation.
Across the campus, seated on a bench, was Aodhan.
He was leaning back on his muscled arms as he lay on top of the bench, looking incredibly relaxed and attractive in a way that made her chest tingle.
Sierra felt a shiver go through her but quickly brushed it off.
Aodhan wasn’t looking at her; in fact, he appeared to be observing other people just as she had been before the hairs on the back of her neck had alerted her that something was going on.
Although she was itching to report Aodhan to campus security, Sierra knew that the fact that she had seen him in the common area at a school they both attended was no reason to make a report. He was likely just here by chance, and it looked like he hadn’t even noticed her.
Sierra took a moment to take in his profile, which she had to admit was much more attractive than some of the other men she had met over the past few months via Tinder. If only Aodhan hadn’t turned out to be an asshole in the end.
Her neck prickled again, causing her focus to leave Aodhan and look around. Why did she feel that something wasn’t right, but no one was even looking at her?
A final look around revealed that no one in the common area was even glancing in her direction, but Sierra couldn’t brush off the odd feeling that something was wrong.
Regardless, a glance at her phone told her that break time was almost up anyway, so she packed up her book and notebook and headed back into the library to resume work.
She was so focused on where she was going, she was oblivious to the green eyes that followed her every step until the library doors closed behind her.