-2024, December 26th, 12:30 AM-
It's a chilly breezy winter morning, barely any birds are outside chirping and even the ones who did were very short-lived. Although the birds are quiet, the students aren't. The cafeteria is quite lively with students filling up all the seats and it makes a lot of sense as today is a Friday–a day when the students are offered different flavoured slices of pizza. More and more students are flooding in hoping to get a taste of today's delicacies.
Esme got lucky with the selection of foods today and is now sitting at the cafeteria table all alone indulging in his food, his thoughts jumping from wondering where his good friend Astrid is to how quite delicious the food is today.
As he's halfway through his meal, Astrid suddenly appears out of nowhere, "hey! Eating without me, again?!" She exclaims while holding a book quite tightly to her chest, most likely to hide it from onlookers, which are the teachers and some teacher’s pets that'd rat her out. "I always keep waiting for you until my food goes cold, but not this time! You always scurry around like a rat looking for the next thing that'll catch its attention." Esme says, still eating but now looking at her, at first he didn't notice the smaller-than-average book she was holding like a newborn baby in her arms.
"Yeah, right! I have no clue what you're talking about, I'm not THAT late." Astrid sits down without any food or tray, while rolling her eyes. She then looks at the clock thinking she's actually early and will be able to shove it in Esme's face. 12:30 PM, lunch starts at 12 PM, "oh shit… maybe I am late… anyway, look what I found!!" She immediately tries to change the subject by uncovering the book she was hiding, only its cover is showing.
Esme gulps down his food in shock "Seriously, Again?? Have you not learnt your lesson from last time? Or maybe the time before it???" Esme says a bit too loudly but then shuts up immediately, he looks around to make sure he grabbed the attention of no one and thankfully, he didn't. He would really rather not receive an undeserved scolding again due to his reckless friend's actions.
"The teachers were all up your business the last two times you did this, I wouldn't have cared about your antics if it didn't get me in trouble as well!" In a quieter tone this time, Esme says. "Oh, stop being so damn overdramatic, the teachers love me too much to punish me. After all, I'm their favourite student." Astrid brushes her long, auburn hair and strikes a victory pose with her fist on her waist, the small mole on the left of her chin more evident and clear while doing so, the book still in her arms, clearly worried someone might actually see it. She finally decides to lightly place the book on the table. Luckily for them they're sitting a bit far away from any teachers' eyes.
Esme sighs, "alright alright, let's see what book attracted your attention this time…" he looks down to see quite a small book, roughly 12 cm long, 8 cm wide, and about 3 cm thick. The book looks like it was hidden right at the back of the school library from how ancient it looks, remnants of dust are obvious, she didn't even wipe it properly, however due to the wooden material it was made from, it held up quite well.
"The cover looks older than the book itself, how did this thing even survive this long?" Esme wonders to himself as he's observing the book. He picks it up from the table to check it out more easily.
"Hey, be careful not to let the teachers see!" Astrid says, having a worried look on her face while looking around, her heartbeat increasing by the second. "Heh, your actions are starting to dawn on you now, huh?" Esme grins a bit at the now frowning Astrid. He pays her no mind any longer and observes the book cover now and feels around it. The book's brown textures are quite rough with protrusions rising like a hill. Its colour makes it seem like it was once one with the soil. A drawing of a large tree is implanted on it with the roots spanning down to and hugging four circles, each circle has what seems to be different words etched into them. However no matter how much Esme looked, he can't guess what language it is; it's different from anything he's ever seen before. "Was this book made by a fanatic who was obsessed with ancient mythologies? It can't just be a normal hobby judging by how high quality it is." Despite not having any experience at all in this craftsmanship, Esme raises his right eyebrow with a clear scar running down it, although not very clear but it's still there, and he finally admits to how well made it is, even if the cover seems like complete nonsense.
"Hmmmm… I have to say, you really found a unique one this time." Esme says as he's holding the book with one hand while looking at Astrid. "But it feels quite… bizarre..? The more I look at it the more it feels like it was made for something special"
"Yeah, I felt the same as well the moment I saw it and picked it up, however I resisted the urge to open it just to read it with you!", Astrid says, right after patrolling the cafeteria with her eyes to make sure nobody saw them. "Also, I've gotten soooo bored of the normal books, paper or plastic covers with bland generic titles. I just wanted something different this time!" She says, now facing Esme.
"Uh-huh, the "normal" ones don't give you quite the hit anymore, do they?"
"You could say that. But anyway, we really gotta start reading it before the bell rings." Astrid says as she quickly takes the book from Esme's hand.
"Alright, let's-" just as Esme was about to finish his sentence, the bell rings signaling the end of the school lunch.
"Oh, come on! There has to be a limit to someone's bad luck, I haven't even taken a bite yet!!" Astrid lightly slams her hands on the table as she frowns.
"Shouldn't have spent half of lunchtime in the library wiggling around the shelves like the worm you are" Esme laughs lightly. He attempts to eat the slice of pizza given to him by the cooks but Astrid swoops in and immediately gulps it down.
"Hey!! What was that for?? We only get that once a week, if you were this pity you could've just stayed at the cafeteria like everyone else!"
"This, my dear Esme, is called payment for showing you something this cool." She swings the book from right to left as she's enjoying the slice of pizza. "Anyway", she says between bites, "we gotta return the book to the library quick before anyone notices!"
"Ugh… fine. You, however, owe me a damn slice next week, and you bet your ass I'll have it whether you like it or not!" Esme exclaims and they quickly scurry out of the cafeteria to the library to return it, thankfully no one was at the desk waiting for them with a stern look. They start walking down the aisles, with only Astrid knowing the way.
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"My pizza slice… it looked so good and you just… took it right from my hand."
"Oh, stop it! I've seen drama focused shows less dramatic than you are."
"You wouldn't know anything about shows, the only thing you do is read books and study. Also, I've never really noticed but this library is quite huge, just how far did you walk for this thing?"
"Where there's a will there's a way, little Esme, I wanted a cool book and I kept walking and searching until I got one!" She says, trying to rile him up right after making her seem like a bookworm.
"Would you stop calling me 'little Esme' You're only a year older." Esme grumpily says, as they finally stop right at the location where Astrid found it.
"There's a huge difference between 15 and 16, little Esme! Also it isn't just because of our ages, it's also because of your cute height! But anyway, this is where I found it." Astrid says, as she holds the book up and places it right back at its dusty location, the caretakers of this library barely check this place it seems.
"Yeah yeah.. say what you want, I still have 3 years of growth unlike you." Esme grumbles but smiles lightly as they both stand right there in front of the book they just returned, something about it makes them not want to leave it… especially Astrid, like it's calling for her with its unique design and texture. Despite reading hundreds of books spanning from history to sci-fi to fiction and fantasy this is the first time she got that type of feeling from one.
"Astrid? Are you okay?" Esme's smile was replaced with a look of concern on his face while looking at his friend staring obsessively at the book she just returned.
"Huh..? Oh yeah my bad. Just something about this book, y'know? It makes me wanna read every line, every word, every letter in it, it makes me wanna find meaning in its peculiar nature…"
Esme laughs at her, not quite getting where she's coming from, maybe it's something book-freaks develop through the years? "what're you saying? I think that's the weirdest most obsessed thing you've said thus far." Their conversation was cut short as they heard someone walking through to their aisle.
"Oh, it was you Astrid and her friend Esme." The librarian, an old man in his 70s, returned from wherever he was, "I was quite worried there were some rats again"
"Well, you can consider her a book rat at least…" Esme says while laughing, Astrid punches his arm a bit too hard.
"Hello, Mr. Oliver! We were just about to head out, we were just checking out a few books and we were just about to leave." Astrid says as she takes the pained Esme and drags him with her to the library's exit.
"Oh well, it's alright, dear Astrid. You're welcome at this library anytime!"
The duo exited the library, the hallways were empty aside from the handful of students signifying the start of their classes.
"Shit! We gotta head to class now, my perfect score needs to stay perfect or else a part of my soul will die!" Astrid says, with an extremely worried look on her face.
"You'll be fine, Ms.'loved by all the teachers' I'm sure they won't mind you being late for a few minutes" Esme, who's been quiet till now, speaks up.
"You're right, They definitely won't! Anyway, see ya after all the classes are done. Don't ditch me like you did today at the cafeteria!"
"Yeah yeah, cross my heart I'll wait for you this time." Esme says with a smile on his face. The duo say their goodbyes and split up to head to their own respective classrooms.
It’s now 2:30 PM, the duo’s classes are finally done and they exit their respective classrooms and meet at the school’s gates.
“Oh, you actually kept your promise, Maybe I should start seeing you as a considerate friend after all!” Astrid says when she notices Esme leaning on the wall next to the gates, he has his phone out, most likely browsing through his photo gallery.
“The most considerate thing I have done for you is not beating your ass right after you stole my damn pizza slice, or maybe when you got me in trouble multiple times and had to use your teacher-loving good student status to fix a problem that shouldn't have happened in the first place, or maybe-"
"Okay okay shush, I get it. God, I never knew you had a foul mouth and held such a strong grudge." Astrid responds to Esme's rant as they start walking home.
The roads are quite empty, not many cars or pedestrians. The sky is cloudy with barely a hint of sunlight. Despite their differences, they both adore cold weather and harsh winters, so it's not really a bad deal for them to be walking in these conditions.
"God! Can you believe the nerve of Mr. Rowan? I was only a few minutes late and yet he acts like I never attended his class before. He has it out for me I swear! It's definitely because I'm a smart young beautiful lady while he's a decrepit old man. Always on my ass over the tiniest of things." Astrid rants about her history teacher.
"Yeah, even in our year he causes us trouble, especially to me– wait, could it be that he's targeting me as well because I'm your friend?? Astrid… I think we may have to stop being friends." Esme says, faking a sad look in his eyes while looking at Astrid with a look of pity as if saying 'I'll be alone but it's better than being with you'
"Right, and who will you hang out with exactly? A short silly boy who doesn't have much to do except play video games and watch shows." Astrid throws shade towards Esme.
"I could say the same to you. Do you think there are many people who'd sit there and listen to you speak about the library of Alexandria? Or the French revolution?" Esme makes fun of her back.
"I guess we're made for each other then, huh?" Their conversation was cut short as they finally reached Astrid's home. It was a shabby apartment complex in a not-so-safe location in the city but she was content with it for the time being, or at least she acts like she is.
Her smile she had along the way faded completely, replaced by a droop in her eyes hinting at Sandra's. She was reluctant to walk up there to her apartment, knowing that for the next two days, until school resumes, she'd once again face a painful and hellish time
Esme notices her sudden shift in her demeanour, he also knows what goes on up there. She always vents about it both in text and real life, breaking down when she does so, but she always feels a little better after. But what's the point in venting and ranting if the core problem isn't fixed?
He hasn't always been the best when it comes to dealing with emotions or when someone vents and conveys their deepest troubles, however he still wants to be there with his good friend and always be available for her when she needs him.
He comes up behind her and hugs her tightly, just a tiny bit shorter than her but it still means a lot. "It's okay, Astrid. Only two more years and you'll finally be free. You're a great student and an even greater friend. I'm absolutely certain you'll manage to attend a great university, move out, and make a name for yourself." Esme tries to comfort his sad friend, he doesn't know what helps and what doesn't, so he just says what sounds right to him.
"Yeah, just two more years, it'll be done in a jiffy. Let's hope I'm not dead by then!" Astrid says with a faint laugh. Esme, not amused, responds by pinching her abdomen. "Hey! What was that for?? Do you not know how sacred a woman's body is??" The now frustrated Astrid pulls away from Esme and holds the pained part on her body.
"That's what you get for, once again, using humour to cope with your problems! Maybe you should've thought twice before doing so."
"Humour is all I have, and it obviously helps judging by how I'm still alive and sane till now."
"You might be right, but you're still too stubborn to listen to me anyway so it doesn't matter what I say"
They continue bickering like incoherent fools right in front of the entrance of her apartment complex, when they've exhausted their arguments, the time for Astrid to leave has come.
"Well, see ya on Monday like always?" Astrid says, with a smile. Most likely trying to comfort the concerned Esme as if to tell him 'there's no need to worry! I have it under control.'
"Yes, on Monday. And I promise you we'll definitely finish that book in one sitting immediately when we have the chance." Esme smiles back.
Astrid now gives a proper smile and just like that, she turns around and starts walking up stairs to her apartment. Esme waits for her to disappear from view, staring at her back as she slowly fades upstairs. He then walks away back to his own home.