When they arrived at the library, the group got lucky enough to find an empty table in a deserted corner of the fourth floor. Camie immediately rushed to sit next to the wall and it seemed Lula would sit down next to her but the next second, Théa put her bag down on the chair next to Camie's.
The bag made a very loud noise and everyone just stared at it in silence for a bit. Théa took advantage of the surprise and turned to Camie:
"Would you mind me sitting next to you?"
Camie shook her head:
"Are you sure?
-Yes.
-Great."
Lula looked at Théa sitting down before saying:
"I wanted to sit down next to Camie too. I heard so much about her, I really want us to become friends. What do you think, Camie?"
Camie really didn't like the idea but what could she say? Pretend to like her. Pretend. Smile. Was she smiling?
"Too late. I was quicker. You could sit in front of me if you want."
Lula's smile widened for some reason:
"Sure. I could always sit next to Camie next time. Promise that we will sit next to each other next time. Okay, Camie?"
Camie opened her mouth to agree but Emma was quicker:
"We will see next time. It's just a seat."
Camie mentally hugged Emma. She really always knew what to say. She loved her so much. Her voice was a bit harsh but Lula just shrugged:
"You're right. I got carried away, sorry.
-It's okay. Now let's study."
Emma took out her notebook and the girls imitated her. Camie didn't really have anything to learn so instead of taking out her lesson, she stared at the five books inside her bag. Which one should she take out? What did she feel like reading? Should she start a new book, or should she reread one of her comfort books? And if she chose a new book, which one should it be? The romance novel, the fantasy one or the true crime one?
Camie hated choosing what to read and she found herself blocked. She had no idea how long she had been staring at the covers when someone slipped her a piece of paper on which it was written:
"Are you okay?"
Camie looked up at Théa who had just slipped her the note and she quickly nodded. She opened her mouth to answer but then remembered that people were studying and she grabbed a pen before writing down her answer:
"I just can't choose what to read.
-What are the choices?"
Camie quickly described the five books and Théa didn't even comment on the fact that she had so many books on her.
"What do you feel like reading? Do you feel peaceful enough to read something out of your comfort zone or do you prefer something you already know is good?"
Camie didn't have time to answer because Lula suddenly bent towards them and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear:
"What are you two gossiping about? I thought we were supposed to study."
Théa shook her head:
"It's nothing.
-Nothing? It sure doesn't look like nothing."
And the next second the paper was in Lula's hands. Camie felt like slapping Lula's hand away but she held back. She was Théa's bestfriend. She couldn't be rude to her. Théa was very nice to her friends so she had to hold back. It was just a paper anyway. She didn't care if Lula saw it.
Camie's friends seemed to mind however and they immediately looked at Camie, questioning her with their eyes. Camie didn't have to be a genius to understand the silent questions:
"Are you okay?
-Is this bothering you?
-Do you need help?"
Camie shook her head and smiled but what she didn't expect was for Théa to say:
"Give it back."
Everyone turned to Théa with round eyes. They had never heard her voice so cold before. The only other time that Camie had heard Théa so angry was when she tried shielding her from the arrow with her own body. Lula didn't seem to have ever heard Théa like this because she immediately gave the paper back, puzzled.
"Sorry. I just wanted to be part of the conversation. I didn't feel like studying and was grateful for the diversion."
Théa smiled:
"It's okay. Sorry I just didn't want to bother the others while they were studying."
Lula looked at Camie's friends as if she had just noticed them:
"Oh, I'm sorry. You seem way braver than me. I gave up studying very quickly. I will stop making noise. Go back to studying, don't mind me."
Everyone turned their attention back to their notebooks and Théa gave the paper back to Camie:
"Do you prefer something light or serious to read?"
Camie looked at the paper with a frown. How could Théa go back to the conversation as if nothing happened? In all those visions that Camie saw, not once had she seen Théa stand up to Lula. Was it because of her? Was this the butterfly effect? And was it for the best? Camie did think that Théa needed to stand up more for herself so she was rather satisfied.
After a few minutes of talking, Camie finally decided which book to read with the help of Théa and she took it out of her bag with an excited sight. Camie immediately got absorbed into the book and the more she was reading the closer she was bending to her book. At some point her chin touched the table and Camie finally woke up, straightening up again.
While looking around her to make sure that no one had noticed, she locked eyes with Théa. The latter immediately smiled and Camie could feel her cheeks grow red. Did Théa just see her collapse on the table? Camie wished for a diversion and a wish had never been granted that quickly.
Camie saw her cell phone light up because of a call. She didn't hesitate a second and quickly left the studyroom to find a quiet place where she could take the call without bothering anyone.
On the other side of the call, her father had called her because he went grocery shopping and he didn't remember what brand of biscuits she liked. Camie didn't understand why her father called her instead of sending a message but she wasn't going to ask that when he was doing something to make her happy. Moreover, thinking back, she found a plausible hypothesis. Her father must have called her instead of texting because he knew that Camie never read her texts.
Therefore she answered, thanked her father and hung up the call. She put the phone into her pocket and just as she started walking back to the room, she realized that she forgot where she came from. The library wasn't that big so she wasn't worried and she started walking in a random direction.
It seemed it wasn't the right way because she passed a painting that she hadn't seen before. It was such a painting that caught people's eyes and Camie stopped in front of it to take a closer look. The painting was in a simple frame. It was smaller than the paintings Camie liked but that didn't mean anything about its quality. Despite being so small, Camie couldn't stop looking at it. The painting was the representation of a forest road. The only colors used were orange, yellow and brown and it seemed the painting took place in autumn. Camie really liked the colors and she wished she could take a walk there. She wanted to know where this road was and wondered if she could take a picture to put the painting as her wallpaper.
"Do you like it?"
Camie jumped, having not realized that there was someone behind her. She had no idea when that young woman placed herself next to her but the stranger didn't seem at all destabilized by Camie's jump.
The stranger was a young woman with long straight and black hair. Her hair was so perfect that it looked like it was glowing and Camie couldn't stop staring at it. Her hair was so long that it stopped at the bottom of her back and Camie wondered how long her hair would be if she braided it.
Camie suddenly realized how long she had been staring and she quickly looked back at the stranger's face. Her face was the same imposing and harsh as Théa's but the stranger's face was way paler. Her eyes were a pale blue and for some reason they looked perfectly fitting for her face.
While Camie continued detailing the stranger, the latter didn't stop staring at the painting once, still waiting for Camie to answer her question. Despite the stranger's rough appearance, Camie didn't feel any negative vibes from her and she finally looked back at the painting before nodding:
"I really do."