I’m so tired of being trapped in here while Mom gets to go out, socialize, and make friends. No more. I’m sick of feeling trapped. Anyways, how much could a quick library trip hurt anyone? Especially if nobody notices I’ve left.

Mom is still sprawled out on her bed. I’m sorry Mom, but I don’t want to feel stuck forever.

The bright sun rays shone through the library’s long windows. The bright light was almost strong enough to blind me. I have to open the heavy doors with my eyes barely open to avoid the sun's rays.

“You again?” Moira teases, waggling her pointer finger in my direction. I smile back at her. I can’t even count how many times I’ve snuck out here to see her.

“Just browsing,” I reply, starting down an aisle of books. Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see the elderly woman shaking her head with a smile. On my knees, I pull out the same book I’ve grabbed possibly a hundred times before. A cold chuckle comes from the end of the aisle. Slowly, I rise to my feet to meet the owner of that laugh.

A tall, lean man stares at the floor unwaveringly. He looks to be about my age, if not, then he’s barely older than me.

“Ha, you look like the type to be in the library as soon as it opens,” he says snidely. “No friends, huh?”

I clear my throat. “I have friends. Tons of them, actually.”

“I don’t think that books count as actual friends,” he challenged.

I approach him quickly, jabbing a finger at his chest. I keep my finger pointed at him until he looks at me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to get rid of some of the hostility in my voice.

He bites his lip, not looking like he’s going to answer me. I step closer to him, clearly making him nervous, as we are barely a foot apart from each other now. “Other than annoying citizens so early in the morning,” I add. The light in his eyes dim.

“Thinking,” he replies quietly. Raising an eyebrow, he adds, “Though I was hoping there’d be no pretty girls annoying me in the library.”

I punch his arm roughly. He looks at me with a pained expression. “What was that for?” he asks, wincing in pain. I roll my eyes.

“You said I’m bothering you,” I say, crossing my arms. “Which I’m not.” I turn away from the man. Long, slender fingers grab my arm tightly and twirl me around to face him.

“I’m sorry,” he says, looking askance. “I’m just not great at…people. Talking isn’t one of my strong suits.”

He looks down at where he’s holding my arm, and despite my intentions to keep calm, my face burns at his blank stare. I’m sure he can read every emotion that crosses my face, which is irritating since I can’t guess how he feels. I look away from him.

“I’m fine,” I mumble. Pulling myself out of his entrancing gaze, I ask, “What did you come here to think about?”

There’s about a twenty percent chance that he’ll answer me, but surprisingly, he does.

“We may need to sit down,” he mutters, pointing at the small, round table behind him. I nod and go to take the seat in front of him. With a long sigh, he clasps his hands together and begins to tell his story.

****

I wipe away the stray tear rolling down my cheek as he smiles sadly at me.

“Remind me to never go to a sad movie with you,” he jokes.

“What’s your name, anyway? Just in case I need to complain to somebody about you,” I say, changing the subject. He shakes my hand with a wide grin.

“Hades.”

“Persephone.”

The edges of his mouth quirked up. “I think I like Seph, better.” I smile along with him until he stiffens suddenly

“Why?” he asks out of nowhere.

I frown at him. “Why what?”

Hades shakes his head, somehow irritated by me, even though he’s the one with the cryptic questions. “Why’d you listen to my sob story? You could have left at any point, but you didn’t. Why?”

I shrug. “Human decency, I guess.” I gasp as I realize how long I’ve been in the library. Mom’s going to flip a table when I get b ack.

I chaotically rise, startling Hades. “I have to leave,” I tell him simply. His hand wraps around my arm, but not as tightly as they had been earlier.

“I’ll see you again, right?” he asks uneasily. I smile at him.

“You know where to find me,” I tell him quietly. He still looks nervous, but his grip lessened. He stares at me for a moment, before finally releasing me.

“See ya, bookworm.”

I grin.”See you, creeper,” I shoot back. A small smile grows on his face.

****

The apartment smells like coffee. Mom is up already. I creep into the living room, where Mom is waiting for me on the couch, a cup of coffee in her hands. She doesn’t even look enraged. Not my mom. She looks like she had just seen something calming. Like she wasn’t seeing her daughter sneak back into the house. She sips her coffee loudly as I shift my weight under my mother’s gaze.

“So, how was your outing?” she asks me calmly, with no hint of anger in her voice yet.

“It was fine,” I mumble back. Wrong answer. She places her mug on the coffee table, and scoffs, letting some of her irritation show.

“You directly disobeyed orders that were put into place to keep you safe!” she shouts. Her hands tremble as she speaks. “I tell you to stay inside so then you’re safe.”

I roll my eyes, suddenly filled with anger of my own. “I’m a prisoner and I hate it! I might’ve just made my first friend in twenty years.”

Mom sighs and starts walking over to me. She tries to cup my face, but I swat her hands away from me. Right now, the last thing I want is for her to try to comfort me.

“Honey,” she begins, but I cut her off.

“Don’t start,” I growl at her. She backs up, but then the world turns black and seems to swallow me whole.