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“No. He has an older brother, but they’re estranged, and I think he’s in the military. He won’t care what happens to Joey.”
Ok, well, all we have to worry about are the police and a violent gang. Good, good… I’m nodding to myself as if this makes everything less horrific.
“Wouldn’t that look suspicious if we both up and leave tonight? And what about my car?”
“We won’t leave tonight.” Pianna sighs and looks around. “We’ll leave in a month. That gives me, or one of the Firebirds, time to ‘accidentally’find Joey at his place and report it to the police. If they find Joey before me, they’ll think it’s a hit from another gang and then can go to war with whoever they think is behind it. I’ll mourn a bit before you and I leave. No one would blame me for wanting to move out of the town where my boyfriend was killed, and everyone knows that we do everything together.”
As much as I want to, I don’t hate this plan.
“We’ll have to clean up our mess,” I start slowly. “I can sell my car…”
“I’ll burn the baseball bat and get new carpet in the house,” Pianna adds quickly. “And I’ll wear makeup until this is healed.”
With a deep breath, I straighten my shoulders and nod. “Ok, then it’s settled. Let’s go dump his body.”
One
Three and a half years later
“Andthatis one happy student,” I declare proudly, sliding back into my seat behind the information desk.
My co-worker, Jonathan, glances up from his computer screen to watch the student I’d just helped precariously carry a stack of books over to one of the multiple worktables that sit in front of us. As always, Jonathan Bruce is dressed to the nines. Today he wears a pink bow tie with white polka dots, his pristine pale blue button-up looks new, and his pants are freshly pressed. His goatee is well-groomed, and his bald head shines under the bright lights. I swear he buffs it. Out of all the librarians here, Jonathan dresses the best.
“You do too much.” With that, he continues to tap away on his keyboard.
I scoff. “Excuse me? Too much? That student has every book pertaining to the migration of whales and other mammals of the sea. How is that‘too much’? I say that’s ‘incredibly efficient and helpful’.”
Jonathan pauses his typing to shoot me an incredulous look before rolling his eyes and getting back to his task at hand.
“As I said before, ‘too much’. That kid is going to crack openonebook, get bored or distracted by something on her phone, and then stare at her screen rather than the words on those pages. Then we’ll have a massive stack of books about the mammals in the sea that we’ll have to put away later.”
I glance at the student who already has her phone out, the pile of books sitting on top of the table go untouched.
“You’re wrong. She’s going to be super productive in her studies.”
“It’s the third week of the Fall semester. If she isn’t a goodie, goodie student then she’ll forget she even has those books in the next five minutes.”
I sigh. He’s probably right. Having been here for nearly three years, I’ve begun to notice the habits of the students here at Groveton College. The first few weeks back at school, students are eager to get their work done, finishing projects way before deadlines approach, and are fully committed to studying. They come here, to the Atwater Library situated on the campus, where they fill up all the tables on the first floor, then make their way up here to the second floor, where more tables, both large and small, are clustered around. The third floor usually remains relatively unvisited, even when the swell of students pack every corner of the first and second floors.
But after the first few weeks, the number of students that visit dwindles. Why study when you could go to a party? Hang out with friends? Why not go doanythingother than sit down and learn? Right now, we’re at the dwindling phase.
Soon, the library will be relatively empty.
There are a few students, however, that make it a point to come to study here. Whether it’s because it’s quieter than a dorm room, or the internet is better, or they’re just the type A kind of people, who knows? But in any case, they are here, and they’re working hard.
There’s one student in particular that I can count on showing up every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoon who stays until nearly six o’clock, with his head in a book or scribbling furiously in a journal. I shoot said student a furtive glance.
His permanently tanned skin has grown darker over the summer, probably from being outdoors. He looks like an outdoorsy kind of guy, with thick arms, a wide muscular chest, and a shirt that’s just snug enough to tell he has muscles covering his stomach. He’s gotten a haircut, as most students do, at the start of a semester. His dark hair is cropped a few inches shorter than normal, but the curls are still present. Good, they give him a more boyish appearance. I like them a lot. I like this so much, in fact, that I’ve dubbed him ‘Mr. Curls’ in my head.
I probably like them a little too much, if I’m being honest with myself. In fact, the whole student is just a beacon of deliciousness. It’s difficult to tear my eyes away from him whenever he strolls in and plops down.
Cut it out. Ogling a student is what caused the last librarian to lose her job here, I remind myself severely.
I know this information not from the faculty gossip, but becauseIcaught her and a student from a local high school, who, it turns out, was onlyjustsixteen years old, in the act. Since I moved to Groveton, Texas, I’d been pinning for a job here in the Atwater Library. So, when I stumbled upon Jackie Hoisman and heryoungsuitor, it was like the whole situation just fell into my lap. I’d watched as the woman, who was just a few years older than me, was thrown up against a tree at the park near my apartment complex and fucked thoroughly by the male student. Both had been so swept up in the moment, thinking they were hidden away, just out of sight of other park dwellers, that they hadn’t seen me on my walk.
In a desperate and devious act, I’d used what I’d seen to blackmail Jackie into quitting, which then provided an opening here at Atwater. It was a shitty move, one that I’m definitely not proud of or will ever do again. Then again,because Jackie had been so scared of being exposed, she left Groveton, Texas, altogether, leaving her student behind. Technically, I saved a kid from being molested. Despite how illegal and immoral my blackmailing had been, ultimately, no one got fired or hurt. And, as long as no one ever finds out about it, I won’t ever get in trouble. It’s a win-win for everyone because if I had been a decent person, it could have ended up differently for all parties involved.
Peeling my eyes away from the student who I’ve been daydreaming about on the daily for the past year, I go back to clicking away at my computer. In my pocket, my phone vibrates. I know who it is, but I ignore her for now. Pianna is just going to have to wait. My boss, Ms. Barbara, is around today and she’s a stickler for no phones out at the information desk.
