A Spine and Fold

B&B’s Science Fiction section was the calmest place in the bookstore. My other favorite spot of the store was Young Adult but it the hotspots for the crowd and noise. Coming to the sci-fi section was the greatest choice I made all day, for sure. The aisle was spacious and reserved, which was exactly how I preferred it to be.

The sci-fi shelves were exceptionally beautiful. The books were lined nicely against each other, spines were especially clean of creases and covers were designed with authenticity – font designs, cover photos and the little quotes that lured people within.

While sliding against the shelf, I sat down on the floor with my tablet in my left hand and my coffee cup in the other hand. I take a sip of my latte (plot twist: my coffee cup didn't have coffee in it haha) and began browsing through my tablet. After opening up iBooks, I begin to search for my headphones in my bag. I felt it on the tips of my fingers and ultimately knew it was tangled.

While nearly placing the earbuds into my ear, I noticed that somebody was standing over me. I lifted my chin to see a tawny-eyed guy – with the most angelic smile on his face – peering down at me. He freaked me out at first because people don't normally do this, but he said something unexpected and made me chuckle.

He tugged on his shirt collar and began to babble, “I don't mean to bother. . . Am I bothering you? Gee, I probably am. . .” And that made me crack a smile. He spoke quickly with a hint of nervousness in his tone that made me feel all warm inside. He raised his phone up for me to see and continued, “Do you know the wifi password? I don't come here often and it says it's free but obviously, it's locked and so I was just wondering if you knew it. . . I am so sorry for rambling. But uhhhhhh.”

“Yeah, I do,” I replied slowly, moving my tablet to the side.

He gave me his phone and another toothy smile. He lowered himself to my level and kneeled next to me while quickly adding, “I don't normally come here.”

I piped, “You made that very clear.”

I looked at him briefly and noticed that all he was doing was watching me and that got me nervous. I bit down on my lower lip while I felt my cheeks redden.

“Yeah, I'm here to do research, uh, for a class,” he hesitantly added, telling me more about his personal agenda.

“For what class?” I curiously asked while typing in the password – which was B&B_LoweStreet.

I lowered his phone from my eyes and watched him scratch his chin. He explained, “It’s actually a combination of classes.”

“What classes?” I pressed, feeling obligated to.

“Criminology.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Oh yeah? That sounds interesting.” And it really did. I felt my mood change once he mentioned that particular course only because crime was big at Beacon Hills. And because I thought it wasn't boring.

“I mean, I'm not trying to alarm you with my research,” he quickly defended. “I'm just looking for books about this, um, case.”

I let out another chuckle that could potentially make me flush harder. “It's not alarming, um –”

“Stiles.”

“It's not alarming, Stiles. I mean, in this section of the bookstore,” I beamed while looking at the world of books around me, “there are some wild, out of the world stuff that made it to printing.”

Stiles, weird name, blurted another harmonic laugh that made my palms sweat and heart beat quicker. “You're completely right.”

I looked down at my hands and realized that I was still gripping onto his phone. “Sorry but I still have your phone. I already typed in the password. It's B&B_LoweStreet with capital b’s, l and s. It should be good now. Your phone is good. You’re good.” And that was when I shut my mouth. The words slipped out faster than I thought and it made me weak in my knees.

But he doesn't notice that. All he did was politely grin at me. “Thank you, uhhhh –”

“Esther.”

“Esther.” He repeated my name like no one else has ever done, and I knew it because my heart skipped a beat the moment he acknowledged it. “For helping me with something a seven-year-old can do, the next one's on me.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Meet me here tomorrow at three, okay, Esther?”

I opened my mouth to ask more but my head nodded before responding. He slowly backed away and began to bounce on his heels. His eyes, oh, his eyes were evident in my mind. I could effortlessly imagine that they were still staring at me. Only me. And that made me giggle.