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He nods at me almost frantically. “I fucking told you they were good. Anyways I think Jade was heading to the library. She was telling me about how she finished the last Harry Potter book and needed something else so I would look there.” He tells me before getting up to look in the fridge. I swear he’s forever hungry.
“Thanks.” I tell him as I head back out to track her down.
“Make sure you tell her you liked the brownies.” He calls after me once I’m in the living room.
Yeah. Just like I thought, he’s definitely in love with her.
“Yeah, yeah,” I call back with a roll of my eyes.
I head through the living room and down the hall. The library’s at the West end of the house and was originally a few rooms that we turned into one large room when we remodeled. We redid most of the house when we bought it. It had been sitting for almost twenty years and needed a lot of work. We kept the bones but redid just about every room, leaving only the parts we thought were best. Like the spiral staircase that Jade loves, we just fixed that up.
When I enter the library, I notice Spencer sitting at one of the tables he usually works at. He’s got his head in his laptop, but whatever he’s doing must not be super intense because he looks up when I enter. Usually, when he’s in something big, he tends to tune out. Either that or Jade’s here. I can’t imagine he would be okay tuning out with her in the room.
“Have you seen Jade?” I ask.
“Yeah, she came in a few minutes ago. I think she's in the back looking for new reading material.” He says, nodding his head toward the area he thinks she's in.
I nod my thanks, and he goes back to his computer as I make my way through the library in search of her. Our library’s set up a lot like my mother's, but instead of the bookcases being built into the walls, ours are all old tall shelves. For some reason, we all felt it gave a more authentic feel. We did, however, include her use of huge comfortable chairs and sitting areas so there are many places where someone could curl up with a book if they wanted to.
I make my way to the shelves that I know house books similar to Harry Potter.
I turn the corner and find her standing in front of the shelf, reading the back of a book.
She doesn’t move as I approach her, but I’m almost positive she knows I’m here.
“Time to go?” She asks even before I reach her. Like I said impossible to sneak up on.
“Yes, I was hoping to leave now if that works.” I tell her as she finally looks up from her book. “Also, I printed your new schedule with weight training so that you can find it on Monday.” I hold out the paper, and she takes it before smiling at me.
“Thanks.” She says as she looks it over before folding it up and tucking it into her pocket. “Yeah, I’m ready, I was just looking for a new book to read, but I think I found it.” She holds up the new book she grabbed, and I look down to see a book calledVampire Academyin her hand.
I’m kind of glad we paid someone to stock the library now. When we were rebuilding the house, I wasn’t sure anyone would ever appreciate it, and I was initially debating on whether we should include one or not.
Spencer may spend a lot of time in the library, but almost none of it has to do with the books and everything to do with it being a quiet place. So at least someone is using them.
We head back out, passing Spencer as we go, and to my surprise, he doesn't even look up. It seems they are doing a good job of pretending the other doesn’t exist.
I wonder how long that will last before one of them snaps and who will snap first.
* * *
The driveto the market isn’t long, but I enjoy it. Unlike the last time when Jade wore her headphones, this time, I offered to connect her phone to the car's Bluetooth so she could listen through the car speakers.
You would think I just bought her a puppy with how her face lit up when I suggested it. She turned on something I'd never heard before,InsanebyBlack Gryp0on,letting me know it was her favorite song right now. It’s not terrible, though I can tell her music choice lines up much more with Zander than with my own. I wonder if that's because he introduced her to it or if that's just something they have in common. I make a note to play some of my music on the way back to campus.
Not that it matters what kind of music she likes.
We make it through a handful of songs, and she sings to every single one looking completely relaxed. Zander was right. She loves music. This happy version of Jade is so different from the girl who crashed into our lives just a few weeks ago that I almost don’t believe they’re the same person sometimes.
I catch myself stealing glances at her whenever I can while she sings along with a smile on her face.
I know it's a bad idea, but I can’t help it.
Jade has been beautiful from the moment we found her in that pit, but now–
Fuck.
Now she’s stunning.
