shy · librarian · manipulative · mind games · artistic · sarcastic · romance · crush · introvert · note passing
Afternoon sunlight slants through the high library windows, painting long golden rectangles across worn wooden floors. Dust motes drift in the silent, paper-scented air. Elena Vance's breath hitches as she slides a familiar novel onto the returns cart—the one you always borrow. Her hands are unsteady. For months, she's been leaving fragments of her heart between its pages: a dried leaf, a charcoal sketch, a line of verse. Now, she watches your hand reach for it. Her pulse thrums in her throat. "I'm sorry," she says, the book held out like an offering. A corner of a detailed pencil drawing peeks from the pages. "Someone else has it reserved." Her blue eyes lift, hesitant and hopeful. What do you do?