LAILAH #2
The barista just shrugged her shoulders, probably wishing she’d never said anything to me.
I collected my chai and rushed off to class.
I wanted to get there and go over my class notes to refresh my brain on the information before the quiz.
I found a seat, pulled out my books, and glanced at the syllabus, making sure I was looking over the right section.
I knew this quiz would tell me if I was going to need to bite the bullet and get a tutor or not.
Before I knew it, I looked up, and the classroom was full, and it was time.
Professor Lark had her TA pass out the quiz for us while she went over the importance of them again.
“These quizzes are not to be taken lightly. They can make or break your grade. Fail two of these, and you might make it; fail three or more, and you can kiss your GPA goodbye. Good luck, and when you finish the quiz, bring it up front and leave it in my box. My TA, Hudson, will be watching over you. I have learned my classes do better when I’m not present for the test-taking. ”
I could feel the sweat starting to bead on my forehead.
I could not fuck this up, I needed to pass this class with a B+ or higher.
When Hudson reached me, he handed me my sheet and gave me an encouraging smile.
I tried to smile back, but I was pretty sure I had failed.
I grabbed my pencil and stared at the quiz.
It was only twenty questions; I could manage this.
As I went from question to question, I started to second-guess myself at every turn. I would mark one bubble, then erase it and try again. When I was finally down to the last three questions, someone cleared their throat above me. I looked up to find Hudson standing next to me.
“I just wanted to make sure you knew there were only five minutes left for the class,” he informed me.
I looked around, and I was the only person left in the classroom, everyone else had finished and left. Are you kidding me? It has taken me almost an hour to do this stupid twenty-question quiz!
“Thanks for the heads-up, I’ll be done in time.” I returned to my test, randomly picking the answers to the last two questions.
I collected my things and walked quickly up to the front and dropped my test off in the box. I gave Hudson a small smile and bolted out of the room, humiliated that I had taken so long over a simple quiz. God, could I have looked any more stupid?
Done with classes for the day, I headed to the cafeteria on the main campus that had simple pre-made foods.
I was so thankful that my scholarship covered everything—even the food.
I just had to let them scan the special card they sent me, and it was taken care of.
I grabbed a turkey sandwich and headed to the open seating.
The routine Cami and I had fallen into was meeting here to do homework we didn’t want to suffer through alone.
I glanced down at my watch and saw it was already past four.
I was surprised that she wasn’t already here waiting for me.
I texted her just in case she had lost track of time.
Lailah:
Hey, I’m at the cafeteria if you want to join me
Not wanting to give anyone an excuse to come pester me, I pulled out my school books.
I started on my psych homework since I was excited about that.
After that embarrassing moment with the quiz, I was going to need something fun.
Lost in my work, I didn’t notice how much time had passed.
When I looked outside, the sun was already setting, and the students were now eating dinner.
I looked at my phone surprised that Cami hadn’t called me.
Sure enough, my phone had been on silent, and I didn’t notice her texts come through.
Cami:
My sisters decided they wanted to make a night out of it, so we went into town.
Cami:
Sorry, I forgot to text you sooner.
Cami:
Please don’t be mad at me. I LOVE YOU!
Apparently, she hadn’t taken my silence well.
Lailah:
I’m not mad, calm down, I left my phone on silent and didn’t see them until now.
Cami:
DON’T DO THAT TO ME!!!!!!! Text me if you need anything, you know it won’t take me long to drive back.
I smiled, knowing Cami would love the excuse to drive like a bat out of hell to come to my aid.
Lailah:
I’ll be fine, I have to learn how to do this on my own sometime.
Cami:
My baby’s all grown up!
I grabbed a power bar to eat later while I searched through the library.
Now would be the perfect time to go since everyone would be at dinner, and I could find a good spot to camp out.
I pulled out my map for dummies that Cami made me, with everything written in landmark references that I would understand.
Lucky me, the library was close by, just behind the building I took claculus in.
I headed off, confident I could manage the rest of the night on my own.
I managed to find the library with ease.
I mentally patted myself on the back for a job well done.
I pushed open the heavy wooden doors to the hush of the world within.
I loved how reverent every library was, the hushed tones of people, the smell of books, and the calm that came over you in the silent world.
I walked up to the information desk in the front of the lobby area. “Hello, I’m looking for a book in the reference library.”
“Do you have written permission from a teacher?” the woman asked, peering over her computer at me.
I pulled the note out and handed it to her. The woman slipped on a pair of glasses and read over the note. Then she picked up the phone and spoke softly into it. “Someone will be with you shortly to escort you into the room,” she said, looking back at me.
“Thank you,” I said, thrown off by all this extra effort for a room full of books.
I looked over at the section of books by the front door. Moments later, an older man walked up to me in his loafers and a Mr. Rogers cardigan
“Are you looking to get into the special archives?” he asked.
“I think so. Mr. Phillips gave me a note for the reference section. Is that the same thing?” I asked.
“Hmm, I see. Follow me then,” he said and walked away.
I trailed after him, even more curious to see what could be stored in the special archives.
We walked to the very back of the library and down a short hall.
At the end of the hall, a metal accordion gate blocked the way to the room beyond.
There was a soft glow emitting from the room, making it seem like something out of Harry Potter.
The gentleman pulled an old iron skeleton key out of his pocket and opened the gate for me. “You will have one hour to use the books; no food, no drinks, and no flashes are to be used on or near the books. These are priceless archives that are irreplaceable. Handle them with care.”
I nodded my agreement to the instructions. “I understand. I will be very careful with the books.”
“I will be back in an hour to let you out, unless you are done sooner. In which case, there is a phone in the room that connects to the front desk. Let them know you're done, and I will let you out,” he said, frowning at me as if he wasn’t sure he should let me into the room.
I walked into the room, and he pulled the gate closed behind me, locking it.
It made me wonder if, at some point, kids had gotten permission to be here and let others in who weren’t supposed to be.
I looked around the room, unsure of where to start.
Everything in the room was made of dark glossy wood that made the room feel comforting.
There were two levels to check out, and I was so drawn to the metal wraparound staircase, I couldn’t help but start on the top floor.
Once on the second floor, I looked at the shelves to see if they were labeled.
Plaques on the top section of the bookcase provided guidance as to what each column held.
The columns were ordered by date, dating back to the twelfth century.
I worked my way around to the sixteen hundreds until I could find the right year.
Finally locating the appropriate area, I started to look through the books to find something that would help in my research.
I found logbooks from different artists at the time, filled with clients and commissions.
Finally, I found a book filled with letters going back and forth with the builders of the chapel.
I sat down on the floor, resting against the wrought iron railing, flipping through the letters.
Although super interesting, I didn’t find anything that I could use for my project.
Slipping the book back on the shelf, I tried a few others, getting some good information that I copied down in my notebook.
I checked the next few years to see if there was anything I could use but decided I had gotten all the history on the subject these books held.
I then decided to look at what they could possibly have dated back to the twelfth century.