Status: I'd love any adivce, since this is the first story I'm actually proud of c:
Songbird
The Library
And So Forth.
It was that year, going into 7th grade that I cut off my hair. I now had a short haircut with bangs, no one mistaken me for a girl anymore. I also started to lose a lot of sleep which resulted in dark circles. Mom always boasted about how brown my eyes were but now she said they were ruined because it was clear that I never slept. The only thing that was kept constant was my grades, which were usually B's and C's. 8th and 9th grade blurred into each other, sage never visited once. I grew taller, I slept less and my voice deepened. Grades still the same. I'm now starting the 10th grade school year. I'm not a big fan of school, none of the classes interest me. During lunch and 10 minutes before class ends I go to the library. I volunteered to fix books as long as it meant I didn't have to talk to anyone.
Today the library was nearly empty as usual, same faces except for this one kid. I had seen him around before. I'm pretty sure he's on the football team or something? He was kinda small for a jock, around my height. His hair was very short on the sides and longer in the middle, it was almost a Mohawk but he had bangs that covered his forehead. I averted my eyes elsewhere, crouched down and, continued to organize books. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him approach me. At first I thought he was going to talk to me, but he just stood uncomfortably close and started to pick up books from a shelf that was just above my head. After a few minutes he tried to get my attention.
"Excuse me.." he said in a quiet voice.
"Yes?" I said without looking up.
"I...Um...Do you have any books that would uh...help me with history?"
He stumbled over his words. I looked at him, his cheeks were pink, and he was looking off to the side. If he was trying not to look embarrassed and he was failing at it.
"Uh, yeah...the history section." I tried not to laugh while telling him, it was obvious. I guessed he hadn't been into a library in a long time.
"Thanks..." He said quietly. He awkwardly walked away looking for the history section. It was weird, although I'm usually reluctant towards talking to anyone, talking to him was....nice in a way. Granted it was a very awkward encounter but....I can't explain.
Throughout the week the boy came back, looking for more books on history.In and out the library frantically. Sometimes he'd spend hours in there studying and he'd still come back to borrow more books. On one particular day while he was furiously studying, he looked up from his book and stared right at me as I was organizing books.
"You're Elijah, right?"
I was surprised, he hadn't really talked to me after I'd directed him to the history books.I got up from the floor and nodded.
"Yeah...Why?"
He got up from his seat that was a few feet away and stood in front of me.
"I heard that you were really good in history. You were one of the only students who passed that huge exam last week." He talked in a tone that sounded like he was trying to negotiate with me. He talked like a businessman. I looked at him puzzled. How did he even know this? and what did it have to do with anything?
I nodded slowly.
"Can you help me?" His tone changed to pleading and he raised one eyebrow at me. The question stunned me in a way, I'd only talked to guy once and he's asking me to be his tutor. I didn’t even know his name.
"I'm kinda bus-"
"PLEASE." His voice was loud and echoed through the library, the other students who sat quietly turned around to see what was going on.
"Please..." he said once more, it was barely a whisper.
"I'm failing and if I don't pass I won't be able to play football anymore." He sulked to the floor and leaned against the bookshelves.
I remained standing and looked at the boy. Like I stated before he was small for a football player, but now he looked even smaller, like a child who's favorite toy had been taken away.
"Yeah. I'll help you." I said.
It was that year, going into 7th grade that I cut off my hair. I now had a short haircut with bangs, no one mistaken me for a girl anymore. I also started to lose a lot of sleep which resulted in dark circles. Mom always boasted about how brown my eyes were but now she said they were ruined because it was clear that I never slept. The only thing that was kept constant was my grades, which were usually B's and C's. 8th and 9th grade blurred into each other, sage never visited once. I grew taller, I slept less and my voice deepened. Grades still the same. I'm now starting the 10th grade school year. I'm not a big fan of school, none of the classes interest me. During lunch and 10 minutes before class ends I go to the library. I volunteered to fix books as long as it meant I didn't have to talk to anyone.
Today the library was nearly empty as usual, same faces except for this one kid. I had seen him around before. I'm pretty sure he's on the football team or something? He was kinda small for a jock, around my height. His hair was very short on the sides and longer in the middle, it was almost a Mohawk but he had bangs that covered his forehead. I averted my eyes elsewhere, crouched down and, continued to organize books. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him approach me. At first I thought he was going to talk to me, but he just stood uncomfortably close and started to pick up books from a shelf that was just above my head. After a few minutes he tried to get my attention.
"Excuse me.." he said in a quiet voice.
"Yes?" I said without looking up.
"I...Um...Do you have any books that would uh...help me with history?"
He stumbled over his words. I looked at him, his cheeks were pink, and he was looking off to the side. If he was trying not to look embarrassed and he was failing at it.
"Uh, yeah...the history section." I tried not to laugh while telling him, it was obvious. I guessed he hadn't been into a library in a long time.
"Thanks..." He said quietly. He awkwardly walked away looking for the history section. It was weird, although I'm usually reluctant towards talking to anyone, talking to him was....nice in a way. Granted it was a very awkward encounter but....I can't explain.
Throughout the week the boy came back, looking for more books on history.In and out the library frantically. Sometimes he'd spend hours in there studying and he'd still come back to borrow more books. On one particular day while he was furiously studying, he looked up from his book and stared right at me as I was organizing books.
"You're Elijah, right?"
I was surprised, he hadn't really talked to me after I'd directed him to the history books.I got up from the floor and nodded.
"Yeah...Why?"
He got up from his seat that was a few feet away and stood in front of me.
"I heard that you were really good in history. You were one of the only students who passed that huge exam last week." He talked in a tone that sounded like he was trying to negotiate with me. He talked like a businessman. I looked at him puzzled. How did he even know this? and what did it have to do with anything?
I nodded slowly.
"Can you help me?" His tone changed to pleading and he raised one eyebrow at me. The question stunned me in a way, I'd only talked to guy once and he's asking me to be his tutor. I didn’t even know his name.
"I'm kinda bus-"
"PLEASE." His voice was loud and echoed through the library, the other students who sat quietly turned around to see what was going on.
"Please..." he said once more, it was barely a whisper.
"I'm failing and if I don't pass I won't be able to play football anymore." He sulked to the floor and leaned against the bookshelves.
I remained standing and looked at the boy. Like I stated before he was small for a football player, but now he looked even smaller, like a child who's favorite toy had been taken away.
"Yeah. I'll help you." I said.