The Library; Monday [ 10/27 ]

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

The weekend had been good to Cal. Very good. It wasn't, of course, without its awkwardness, but it was good to see his mother again; it was good to see her, and talk with her and, with a few exceptions, interact with her as though nothing much had really changed, as though things weren't actually any different than they had been three years ago.

There had also been advice that Cal needed to think about. So, of course, he was doing what any good teenager would do when they had advice to consider: completely ignoring it and finding other things to distract him from thinking.

Comments

Re: First Period -- 10/27.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal glanced up from his book, with a faint, slight double take at the girl before repremanding himself that if anyone had a right to gawk over a nose like that, it certainly wasn't him. His small smile took on a sheepishly apologetic appearance, but he was mostly hoping she didn't notice.

"Hi. Can I help you with something?"

He probably couldn't, but he could try.

Re: First Period -- 10/27.

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

Peneloped noticed. She was used to noticing. Ducking her head in slight embarrassment and inwardly berating herself for not wearing her scarf, she responded politely, with just a touch of wariness in her tone, "I've never been in a library, so I am not sure where to start or how to begin. I'm looking for books that deal with curses? Might you be able to point me in the right direction?"

Re: First Period -- 10/27.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Mmm, curses," Cal said, lips pressed together slightly in the pre-empt for another apologetic expression. "Not exactly something I know anything about. I know there's something here; there has to be, this place has damn near everything, but as to where?"

He shrugged a little. "We have a computer; you can enter in what your looking for, but I personally hate using the thing, so we still have a card catalog...thingy over there, and you can look it up there, too, if you want."

Re: First Period -- 10/27.

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

...there has to be... Please, please let there be something. Penelope did not want to have to resort to the manipulation of her mother if at all possible.

"I wouldn't be any good with a computer," she admitted meekly. "A card catalog?" She looked over, blinked questionably. "Thank you, I'll do that." She was a bright girl, she could figure it out.

"May I have your name, in case I need your help again?"

Re: First Period -- 10/27.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"I don't know if I'll be much help at all," he said with a little bit of a self-depreciating laugh, "but it's Cal. Can I have yours so I don't have to just call you 'girl looking for books on curses'?"

Re: First Period -- 10/27.

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

"Please forgive me, Cal. I assumed library people knew so much more than non-library people," she replied, blushing. Not understanding the way the library system worked, her assumptions were justified in her mind, yet assuming did cause her often humiliation.

"I'm Penelope Wilhern and I'm pleased to meet you. I will just go search the cards now. I look for the word 'curse' or 'curses', correct?"

Re: First Period -- 10/27.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

The quickness of the apology filled Cal with a very strong feeling of shame, because, really, library people should know more than on-library people, but he was just lazy and apathetic. "Usually," he corrected her lightly, "they do. You just came in on the wrong day if you wanted any help. But, yeah, look under 'c' and curses should be one of the subject cards in there."

Re: First Period -- 10/27.

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

Penelope nodded a little, with more ducking of her head. She'd just bothered someone on the wrong day and felt awkward for it. If her weekend wasn't terrible, her self-worth might not be so touchy today.

"Thank you," she managed quietly and moved off towards the card catalog, hoping to find something that would benefit her cause.

Re: First Period -- 10/27.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Hey, no--" But Penelope was already on her way, so Cal shrugged and just went back to his reading, keeping an ear open if she needed any help. Never been in a library or not, it couldn't be that difficult to figure out, though, anyway, right?