Count Down discussion

Los Angeles Public Library
Stuffed with lot's of book's filled with tons of information. Student's are often found here to study.
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Mills was, as usual, browsing the shelves for another story to escape into. He was always like that, wanting a life that was less picture perfect than his own. So he looked for an escape within the many books in the library. He currently held the record for most books checked out over time, or at least that's what he liked to think. He went to the library so often he knew several of the librarians personally and at what times their shifts started and ended. Mills finally settled on a book. Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. Mills had read it at least three times already, but he still felt the need to read it again. The librarian on duty was named Lily. She was planning on retiring soon and has three grandchildren living in Austin, Texas. She was a sweetheart and always had flowers delivered to her by a secret admirer. Mills liked to imagine it was one of the other people in the library delivering the flowers. He'd imagine a whole life for them. If only they knew. After asking Lily about her grandchildren and checking out his book, Mills found a comfortable corner of the library and began to read. He didn't want to return to his apartment. It was cramped and loud because of construction nearby. So he settled into a chair, and blocked out the world around him as he began to read.

Mills glanced up from his book and noticed a girl cursing silently to herself after knocking several books off the shelf. He could hear Lily shush the loud noise the girl had made from the other side of the library. Mills sat there, watching the girl for several seconds before it crossed his mind to be a decent human being and help her pick up the books. So that's what Mills did. He left behind Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist with one of the pages dog eared down. He knew the librarians would shoot him where he stood if they found out he was the one who folded the pages of their precious books, but he didn't care much.

"You okay?" Mills asked the girl and reached down to pick up several of the dropped books. He knew that books could be dangerous when falling. One of his friends had given him a black eye when tossing a book to him once. Either Mills bruised easily, or books could actually be used as a lethal weapon.

Mills chuckled as he placed several of the books back onto the shelf.

"UCLA, right? What class is the project for? He glanced at the cover of the book she was holding. It was about Anatomy. Mills remebered when he took Anatomy last year. He'd hated it. Unlike everyone else in the world, he prefered physics.

"You know, I can give you a ride." Mills offered. It wasn't exactly like him to go out of his way to help others, but it wasn't like him to be a complete ass and make the girl walk home.

"Do you live in the dorms?" Mills asked her.

((yeah.))

"Alright, if you say so." Mills shrugged. He noticed her looking somewhere and glanced up to see her looking at the clock. He smiled. That clock was more than a little dangerous and prone to causing heart attacks four college students. Mostly because it was several minutes fast.

"I'm Mills by the way." He said with a rather bright smile. "And if you've been using that clock you might still have time to catch your bus. It's at least fifteen minutes fast. I know because it's given me a couple of heart attacks when I think that I'll be late to class or something."

"Alright, see you around." Mills shrugged and watched her go check out the book. After she left he returned to his book. Mills carefully unfolded the corner of the book as he sank into the comfortable lounge chair he had been occupying earlier. He started at the top of page 58 as he began to read.

((Okay!))

After reading for a few more hours, Mills was almost done with his book. But it was getting close to time for the library to close so he grabbed his things and walked to his car down the street. His mind was already running through the things he had to do the next day. He sighed when he realized he actually had class. He wished that he only had his internship to do the next day as he drove away.

Sage jumped off her bike and wheeled it up to lean against a tree near the library, then walked in. Hopefully getting a few books would help cheer up her mood, and she could go home and get some sleep before school the next day. That would be nice, she thought, she could relax a bit and listen to music. Have a shower and do her nails, maybe.

Leigh relaxed in the library, her favorite place. Talking with Lily had been great last night, and she hoped her sister was having a good day. She had convinced Lily to clear things up with Kegan. And Leigh was keeping her eye out for the girl he had been flirting with. She could only mean trouble, just like Kegan. Leaning back against he bookshelf she was sitting behind, she pulled out a random book from the shelf in front of her. She flipped it open, reading from the first page.

Sage wandered through the aisles, relaxing only slightly less than if she had been sitting at her piano or with her guitar. She just wanted to forget about the coffee-spilling girlfriend drama scene at the Starbucks, but it was hard with the bright red burn mark still on her chest. She sighed and ran her fingers over the sides of the books, only stopping to step around another girl.

Leigh let out a soft peep as girl stepped around her. Her sudden noise embarrassed her, but the girl had the element of surprise. She slowly looked up at her, looking at her face yet refusing to make eye contact. It couldn't be. It was Lily's new worst enemy. And this girl had no idea that Leigh was the one who had tipped her off. The best thing to do in this situation was to remain calm, and act normal, even Leigh knew that. Softly picking at the frayed cover of her book, she stared at it until her eye began to water.

Sage noticed the girl's freaked out reaction, and from the way she was staring at the book, she didn't seem to be doing so well. "Are you alright?" She asked softly, reaching out to touch the girl's shoulder, the books forgotten although she had seen a few interesting ones. She looked vaguely familiar, and Sage was trying to place where she might have seen this other girl before.

Leigh naturally shied away from her hand, just like her reactions to all human touch. It just wasn't normal for her. Looking up at her, she made quick eye contact before averting her eyes to several books on the shelf behind her. "Me? I'm fine. How are you?" She babbled, trying to remain calm. How did she get herself into this situation? It was going to be hard to get through this. And if the girl had seen her through the window at Starbucks...that would be bad.

"I'm fine, you just look...Really nervous. Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, dropping her hand back down to her side. "I'm Sage, by the way." She said, sometimes a first name basis calmed people down. She looked back to the books for a second. "If you're just weirded out because you don't know me, just say so, okay?" She said with a shrug.

"Fine. I'm fine." She said quickly, and maybe a little to quickly. Sage, that was the girl's name. Leigh immediately figured she had to be a Junior, otherwise Sage would have known that Leigh was Lily's sister. Everyone always assumed Leigh was older, because Leigh was in a higher grade. And Leigh had always felt horrible for the fact that she had been compared to her sister, and declared smarter, moved up ahead. "Leigh." She said quietly, finally looking up to make eye contact with the girl. If this girl found out who she was...and told Kegan...it would be bad.

"Um, okay, well it's nice to meet you, Leigh. Do you go to LAHS? I'm starting there tomorrow." Sage informed the other girl, who still seemed tense but otherwise normal. She turned away from the conversation, not to stop talking, but to look at some books. She hummed quietly, a song she had managed to write and get stuck in her own head. Singing...just reminded of her fight with Kegan. Yay. More negativity.

"Yes I do. I'm a senior." Leigh nodded politely, leaning her head back against the book case. Being the awkward person she was, a few books knocked over onto the floor, and she scrambled to pick them up. She wasn't quite sure if she should mention her sister. No, that wouldn't be a good idea. She felt like an undercover spy and there was no way she would get any information if this girl knew who she was. Anyways, Lily had probably fought with this girl once she had headed to Starbucks. And Leigh didn't want to get off on the wrong foot. "You?" She raised her eyebrows, standing up slowly.

"I'm starting there tomorrow, I'm a junior." She said, repeating the first part and adding the second, not sure if Leigh hadn't heard her altogether or if she wanted to know what grade. It was a fairly generic question, just 'you?' Sage turned back to the bookshelves, picking out a few things.

Thank god, this girl was new. No wonder she didn't know about Kegan and Lily's reputation. If Lily and Leigh weren't completely honest with each other, Leigh would known everything anyways from gossip at school. "I hope you have a good first day." She nodded, her fingers running across the frayed bindings of the books on her side. She had always been passionate about books, while Lily had been passionate about other things. Like boys.

"Thanks. Hopefully school is better than Starbucks- that's where I work, it's kinda been sucky." Sage confessed, thinking back to the girlfriend drama and fights again. She wanted to get some books and go home, she needed to practice, well, everything. Piano, guitar and violin, and work her vocals as well.

Ah, Starbucks. That's where Leigh had alerted Lily of this girl, and Kegan's whereabouts. Hopefully Kegan had no idea it was Leigh though, and had taken out all of his childish anger elsewhere. She felt obligated to tell this girl that she was Lily's sister, but she pushed the urge aside, resisting to the best of her ability. Leigh was lucky enough that this girl was new. But she wished deep down that this girl hadn't gotten into too much trouble with Kegan and Lily. That wouldn't be a good way to start her year.

Sage sighed, the conversation seemed to be over, although it was odd how quiet the girl was being. She looked back to the books, moving down a few shelves. She was now holding seven books and taking care not to trip over her shoelaces, she didn't need another clumsy incident- she was already in enough pain from the burns.

Leigh couldn't stand lying, she had to tell her, had to warn this girl her social life was in danger. "I'm a twin." She said slowly, as if she was trying to make more polite conversation, even though that was something she never did. "Her name's Lily. She's cheer captain." Why was she telling her this? It could all only end badly, she was just making one stupid mistake after another. Leigh should have just avoided the truth, not brought it up.

Sage pressed her lips together. "She's the one that was dating Kegan, right?" She tried to sound as disinterested as possible. It didn't really work, and she suddenly turned on her heel to face Sage. "Are you the one who started telling Lily about flirting when there was nothing- nothing going on?" She asked. She wasn't trying to sound angry, but she was anyways.

Again with the stupid decisions. Leigh shouldn't have said anything, but she hated keeping things to herself. It was one thing both twins both had a problem with. "Yeah, they're dating." She bit down on her lower lip, gnawing on the inside of her cheek as well. Leigh mentally slapped herself, for being so insensitive and stupid. "My sister and I tell each other everything." She told her, her tone defensive. Plucking a book off of one of the shelves, she left that row of shelves, strutting over to the check out desk.

"It doesn't really seem like they're dating so much to me." Sage said, recalling the scene that had gone down in the Starbucks and what Kegan had told her afterwards. "And if you two are going to start trying to make my life miserable and hate me or something, just remember it's not my fault they have problems, and I didn't cause the problems or even point them out, okay?"

She turned back to Sage, addressing her. "They're relationship is very complicated." Leigh said simply, not being one to socialize. This was all very awkward to her. At Sage's next statement, she had to resist the urge for her jaw to drop. Leigh would never be mean to this girl, but Lily probably had it out for her. "I would never." She told her, taking a deep breath. However, she could not speak for her sister. This girl was nice enough, maybe Leigh could talk some sense into Lily later.

Sage smiled a bit. "Thank you, then." This girl was a lot nicer than her sister already, in multiple ways, sage thought. From her willingness to talk to Sage and just being considerate that the people around her were human beings. "Are you a cheerleader as well?" Sage was one to make conversation, so she started talking again, hating the silence.

Leigh was actually proud of herself. She, she was really making conversation! She felt as of she had achieved something amazing. "No, cheer isn't really my thing. I do track and tutor though." She said quietly, articulating each word. Leigh had forgotten you were supposed to be quiet in the library. What was this anyways? Usually people at school just addressed her as Lily's sister. That was pretty much her known name.

"That's cool." Sage nodded. "I'm more of an instrumentalist than anything else, I don't really do sports. I do sing though, and play piano, guitar and violin." She said, thinking bitterly that no one cared about art and music, except for the people that did it and loved it. "So, Leigh, what classes are you in? If it won't totally murder your social life, I do need somebody to show me around."

((You still there?))

((sorry didn't see this!))

"That's cool. I'd love to play an instrument. I mainly ride horses and tutor." She shrugged checking out the book she had chosen. Leigh was so proud, she was actually doing a fine job having a conversation! "Don't worry, I don't have a social life so there will be no problem. You can call me Lily's sister if you want." Leigh rolled her eyes, smiling to herself. She had actually made a joke, interacting with other people was more fun than she had expected.

"Why would I do that? You have a name, Leigh." Sage said, purposely using the other girl's first name to drive the point home. She tried to move the conversation on to something a bit lighter, in her opinion. "So, what books are you looking at?" She asked, moving her own pile of books from one arm to the other. "Anything good?"

"How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. I love her writing." Leigh smiled and nodded with Sage. "What about you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Glancing outside the library windows, she cringed. Time really got away from her in the library. "It was nice talking to you, Sage, but I really have to go." Leigh kept her head down as she exited the library with her book in hand. She slid into her Lamborghini, driving off in the direction of her home. No doubt, Lily would have a lot to tell her about later.

"Oh, um...okay?" Sage said, confused, as she watched the other girl leave. She sighed and started walking to the exit, checking out her books and sliding them into her messenger bag. Maybe Leigh had realized how much she actually hated Sage, or had gotten a message from her sister. Possibly also about herself, who knew. She sighed again and mounted her bike to go home.

Bridget finished her book she was reading and decided it was a good idea to get a new one. Her brother, still gone. He had probably got invited to some party or went to his friends house. She walked into the library and made her way down the row's of book. When she found one she thought looked interesting, she made her way to the back of the library where she normally read's and curled up in a chair and opened her book and started to read. No one ever came back here so she figured she was safe back here.

Travis ran lightly up the library steps. He didn't know what he was doing here but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Lily was hurt and Kegan had gone to the hospital with her even after everything she had put him through. When will he learn? Shaking his head clear of those thoughts he pulled open the library door and went inside. It was quiet. Perfect. He felt a little bad for leaving her sister at the stadium but she was smart. She would find a way home. He went to the stacks and started browsing through the different books they had on stock.

Bridget, being the fast reader she was, was a forth of he way done with her book when the author decided it was a good idea to kill off one of the characters. Bridget got really involved with the characters in all her book's so of course, she was devastated. She chewed on her bottom lip as tear's burned her eye's and she started to sniffle. She ran a hand through her loose curl's that hung around her shoulders and tried to make her sniffle's quiet so no one would hear the weird girl that cried about her book's in the back of the library.

As Travis was browsing the stacks he heard a sob. What the hell? He began making his way to the back of the library where the sound had come from. There he found a girl sitting in a chair, reading a book and crying. Oh god. She was one of those. Travis sighed but walked up to her until he was standing b=in front of her chair.

Bridget looked up suddenly see a boy standing in front of her. For some odd reason, she stood up, dropping her book.
"Sorry." She exclaimed bending over to pick her book up and wiping her eyes to cover up the fact that she had been crying but it was too late, he probably already saw her red eye's. "I-I-I'm so sorry." She said again, sitting on her knee's and not looking up at him again. She didn't know why she was saying sorry, she has been told she apologized way to often for no reason.

Travis exhaled loudly through his nose. This was the reason Crew's plan would never work he thought, quiet girls were to nervous around him. He knelt down and picked up her book turning it over to look at the cover. It wasn't what he had been expecting. He thought she would be reading some romance book but this wasn't one. "Don't apologize." He said flashing her his megawatt smile.

Bridget looked up at him. He was being nice... He... Wasn't making fun of her. She closed her mouth, realizing she was staring with her mouth open like some idiot.
"Sorry." She mumbled taking her book. "Uh, I mean... Okay." She nodded standing to her feet again and hugging the book to her chest. Usually people (Especially guy's that look like this guy.) Made fun of her for crying over a book. Even her brother made fun of her for it! He was probably laughing at her inside of his head.

Travis offered her his hand. "I'm Travis by the way. I don't think I've seen you around before." He wondered why people always thought he was a bad guy. It was probably because of his reputation with girls. He only lived that way so he wouldn't get hurt. His family hurt him enough and he learned that love suck and you couldn't expect anything from anyone or you would be sorely disappointed.

Bridget bit her bottom lip and took Travis' hand.
"I'm... Uh, Bridget." She said quickly before she forgot her own name. "I'm a senior. At LAHS." She told him. She had actually seen him around before. She studied him a while longer and then began to think they might have a couple classes together. But she didn't say that. People don't notice her at school. She'd quiet and reserved and tries to stay out of everyone's way. It's easier that way.

Travis's eyes lit with surprise. "You are? So am I. Why haven't I seen you before?" He asked. She was probably one of those girls that chose to stay in the background. Travis had a tenancy to ignore people he felt we inferior to him. It was most likely his father's influence. Getting raised in a house where everyone thought they were better than everyone else didn't really make good social skills.

Bridget shrugged not wanting to make him feel bad about not noticing her.
"Not a lot of people do." She said, shrugging because it was no big deal to her. She looked back down at her book briefly and cursed herself mentally for losing her page. Why had she dropped her book? Why was she so awkward and weird around people? She hated herself for it. Travis probably never talked to her because she was so weird! He was probably thinking up a way to get out of here without being rude! She wouldn't blame him.

Travis nodded but stayed silent. He glanced to the front of the library and saw the librarian glaring at them from her desk. Stepping out of her line of sight he lowered his voice. "Do we have any classes together?" He asked. He was normally goofing off in class with his teammates and didn't pay attention to his surroundings. Crew was wrong. Quiet girls were even worse. It was awkward talking to them because they didn't offer much to the conversation.

Bridget looked at the Librarian and the sat down in a chair to hide herself from the old ladies view. She looked up at Travis.
"Uh... Maybe." She tried to think back. "I think we have English together." Actually, she knew they had English together. Now, she was sure. She knew him only because him and his friend's always are messing around in class. She wondered why he was still here. Not that she hated talking to him because it was nice... To have someone talk to her with out making fun of her. Though Travis friends were the type to make fun of her an he'd probably not ever talk to her ever again.

Travis thought back to his English class. That was the one that he barely even acknowledged the teacher. He couldn't remember ever seeing Bridget in class. Travis shrugged. "Well now that I know you're there I won't ignore you." He gave her a lazy grin and ran a hand through his hair. He was trying to be less like his father but it was a hard habit to break. Always thinking he was better than everyone. It wasn't a goof thing.

Bridget found a smile tugging at her lip's and allowed herself to smiled at him. Though she knew it might not be true. At least now she could go home and tell her brother she made a friend... Kind of.
"Thanks... I guess." She said. She was a bit unsure if 'thanks' was the right thing to say. She ran her fingers across the cover of her book chewing on the inside of her cheek. She hated that this was so awkward. "So, what brought you here?" She asked him. She was trying to make conversation, lame of her. She was bad at it.