(Ok. I'm gonna be evil and use my angstiest girl I have…. because honestly she needs a hug.)
Hazel swung her legs absently as she waited for her bus to come. It was normal for her to take the bus to the library seeing as she was such the major bookworm. She fidgeted with her twin brown braids, feeling overly self conscious. Her figure wasn't the exact picture of what she defined as pretty. Rather than the skinny being she always wished she was, she was a bit fuller and at the height of an average 5'4. At least her pale sweater and covered her arms and her dark colored jeans didn't make her feel as chubby as she usually did. They both appeared to fit her well enough. Hearing wheels screech lightly, her vibrant emerald eyes looked up towards the opening doors of the city transport. Sighing, she slung her yellow bag of books she was returning over her shoulder and climbed up the steps. The young adult felt relieved as there were no tripping incidents this time. Hazel saw an open seat with no one in either side by side spot and sat herself down. To avoid conversation, she buried her nose in an already finished novel. The only reason she did this was so she wouldn't mess up her words. Just like always.
Carrio hummed as he set books up on the shelf. His library was an old one, but it was at good shape. He flicked his long dirty blonde hair out of his eyes, the gray orbs identifying the fine texts on spines, the author or the publisher. He was currently in the Fantasy section, and was setting away new books he’d gotten from a local Booksavers. He took haste in stamping, registering and sorting them on his trusty trolley, to sort them hastily onto the shelves. He was rather excited about them, but he knew not a lot of people would share in it. Carrio felt around in his pockets and grabbed out a little speaker remote. He pointed it up, pressed the play/pause button and smooth jazz started to play throughout the library. He hummed with the crying saxophone, swinging his hips and shutting his eyes. He probably didn’t look too attractive doing this, since he was only 5’9 and had a skinny frame. He was a slut for jazz, especially saxophone jazz.
Stepping off of the bus, Hazel felt a bit of relief wash over her as she exited the public transportation. Thankfully no one payed her any mind. Playing with the hem of her shirt, she walked into the old fashioned library. She appreciated the cute size compared to a large one. Not that a large one wouldn't spark her interest. The place smelt of gently worn pages and was quiet and calm. It made sense that this would be her favorite place. Hearing the smooth jazz, she let a small grin cross her freckled features. Walking up to the return bin, she carefully placed each book in one by one. For Hazel, it took a bit longer than most seeing as she usually borrowed about four to six at a time than the regular two that most did.
Scanning the shelves, she came across a decent looking romance book. They usually were very heartwarming but in the end they made her feel a bit lonely at times. Sliding the tome back into its usual home, she wandered towards the fantasy section.
The thing with fantasy were that anything possible could happen. Hazel had to contain herself when finding herself staring at a few newer novels.
Only then did she realize that someone was close by, so it made keeping herself calm a bit easier.
(I turned on jazz to get a feel for this lol)
Carrio noted someone walking up from the romance section and immediately ceased in his dancing. He contented himself with humming gently and setting the newer novels on the shelf, grinning at the new covers and the delicious smell of new book. So Booksavers may or may not have given him totally new books. They did. Carrio beamed as he set another book on the shelf. It was a Steven King novel. He never had SK on his shelves, they were much too expensive and hard to find. Booksavers had donated six of his novels to his little library. Carrio was still stunned. Not as stunned as he was to open up a box to find the prestine SK novels on the first day of unpacking them, though.
Hazel grinned at a specific novel in her palms. It was an older copy of the first Harry Potter book. It brought back some memories from when the wizards overcame Voldemort in the end. The man from moments ago had already moved on, seeming as if he worked here. Dismissing the thought, she began reading the inside cover for one of the newer copies, The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston.
Satisfied with her find, she slides it into the crook of her arm before looking for her next book. The dystopian novels were kind of mixed in with the fantasy, and Hazel grinned at the title Red Queen. She had been meaning to get her hands on a copy for a long while now. The series was already finished but she had yet to start it.
Carrio snaked the cart down the isle. He wondered if this recipient would be as excited as he was to find these new novels, since she already found two of the newer ones. He hastily continued shelving the books, knocking his thick glasses askew in his excitement.
Pushing up her lenses, Hazel ended up seating herself on the floor. It wouldn't be polite to simply take all of the new ones…
Glancing up, she found a novel she had been meaning to check out a few weeks ago, but would always get distracted by others. Red Rising.
Despite not being completely new, it gave off the scent of one.
Carrio shook his head a little, his nose aching slightly. He rubbed the buttoned, flat nose of his, checking for blood. He always knocked into his nose, it was a miracle he didn’t break it. He was forced to buy cheaper, thicker framing for his glasses so he didn’t break those, either.
(All the books I've listed I actually wanna read. Minus Red Queen and HP as I've read those)
"Four so far…" Hazel murmured to herself. Not having the room in her arms, she slid them into her now empty yellow bag. She had also slid a classic, Fahrenheit 451, in there as well.
(Awesome. I don’t have much of a reading list other than SK.)
Carrio slid in the last new book into the shelf and gave a happy sigh. This job didn’t pay too well, but he got to work with books, his favorite things ever. He pushed the cart out of the isle to go sort out the romance section.
Finally standing, Hazel took herself over towards the next isle. It was horror. She wasn't the fan of being horrified out of her mind, but could appreciate the crisp look of a new cover. She brushed her fingertips over the spine before glancing at the mystery novels.
Carrio shelved all the romance with ease. It wasn’t much, since the romance was so popular he could just heave them up into the shelves in their empty homes. He smiled as he shelved, happy for the books to see them back in their little spots safe and sound.
It was always amusing to look at each individual cover of the books with their designs and fonts. Even if they weren't fancy didn't mean the book would be bad. Thinking this to herself, Hazel decided to give one of the horror novels a chance. The only thing was she had no clue which one to pick.
Carrio carted his way to the horror section. He only had a couple books to shelve here, but they were very hard spots to insert without damaging a cover. He found the spot and carefully slid in the book.
Looking up, she noticed the man from before. He pushed in a novel a few away from her. Hazel thought about asking him for his opinion since he worked here, but looked away. Her mind started scolding her for thinking such things. There was no need to bother someone over something she should do herself.
Carrio shook his hair out of his face and grabbed a second book. Mystery. Belongs in the N’s… He glanced up to see the regular looking confused and lost. He walked over, holding the book carefully.
“Excuse me, I need to shelve this book.”
"Oh, I'm sorry," Hazel apologised quickly. She scooted backwards timidly and waited for the man to finish. For some reason she felt her anxious thoughts explode in her mind upon seeing him. Everything told her not to bother him and to move along. Having nothing better to do, Hazel began twisting her braid needing to distract herself.
Carrio hummed softly and kneeled, shelving it. “That’s alright. Do you need help? You look rather confused.” He rose back up and moved out of her way, smiling warmly.
Returning her focus back to him, she released her hair from her grip. Her mind was a buzz of thoughts and feelings and she couldn't control them.
"I'm okay," she felt her mouth say. It was a routine to always say those same two words despite if she meant it or not. Were she to have worn a short sleeved shirt, it would be quite obvious with what she really dealt with.
Carrio raised an eyebrow and looked at the shelf. “I’d recommend this book.” He pulled out Girl on a Train, a classic mystery-romance and stuck it out.
“Judging by what you usually get, this looks appropriate.”
Taking it, she looked down at the cover. It was a slightly worn copy.
"Oh. Um t-thank you," Hazel said quickly, remembering to make eye contact. His eyes were kind of pretty…
Carrio met her gaze with a slight grin. He liked the way they looked, the pretty patterns around her pupil. He liked her glasses frame, too.
“I like your glasses. They look really nice on you.” He smiled.
Hazel felt her cheeks warm instantly. I… look nice…?
The young woman was unsure as to what to do with herself and could only respond with, "Um, yours too."
She mentally wanted to slap herself since she was probably making a fool of herself.
Carrio gave a gentle laugh and shifted his glasses on his face. “Thanks. They’re not too impressive, though. Oh, a book came in that you might like. It’s over in the romance section, I just shelved it.”
