Swift

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Book: Swift by Heather London Read Free Book Online
Authors: Heather London
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Eventually, I decided to take charge and let myself in. The door creaked closed, and I stood in the entrance, feeling like I had just committed a crime or something. I had a key, so it wasn’t like breaking and entering, but I certainly felt like a criminal standing there in the darkness. The time seemed to drift by slowly, and I checked my cell phone for the time: It was ten till 9:00. I wavered over what to do next, not sure on how comfortable I should make myself; it was still my first day after all. Just as I was about to walk over and knock on the door marked “Private,” I heard footsteps coming down the stairs on the other side of it.
    “Good morning.” Ms. Donaldson smiled as she opened the door and saw me standing near the entrance.
    “Good morning. Hope you don’t mind that I let myself in.”
    “Not at all. That’s why I gave you the spare key, dear.” She smiled, shutting and locking the door behind her.
    I returned the smile, suddenly feeling a little more at ease. Glancing around, I searched for a place to put my purse and backpack.
    “Here, let’s put your things under the counter over there.” She motioned me to follow her as she made her way across the room toward the checkout counter.
    We spent the first part of the day going over the computer system and how to check books in and out. Thankfully, the system was very user-friendly, and I was confident that I could use it without any major issues. Before I knew it, it was lunchtime, and Ms. Donaldson went upstairs to her apartment for the hour, leaving me to run things downstairs. She told me to just holler if I needed anything. Before eating my lunch, I brought the overnight drop box back to the checkout counter and decided to multitask as I ate.
    Just as I was about to pull out my sandwich, I heard the front door squeak closed. I looked up to see our next patron. It was just the same as the first time our eyes met that afternoon at the crosswalk, that evening after the party, and that afternoon at Omega’s. Breaking our shared gaze, Blake walked further into the library, and I tried my hardest not to stare at him as he made his way to the reference section toward the back of the room. But it was out of my control; I couldn’t help it. My eyes followed his every step as he pulled down two books and walked to the table nearest the window.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Seven
    A large thudding sound broke my concentration on Blake. I flinched, my heart picking up speed as my eyes turned back to the person standing at the counter in front of me. I apologized to Ms. Brownlee for not noticing her sooner as I picked up the large stack of books she had thrown down.
    “Uh, let’s see here. Do you have your library card?” I asked, trying to juggle both the stack of books and the scanner as I walked over to the computer. I’m not sure if it was my nerves from being startled or if I was just having a klutzy moment, but my hand started to lose balance with the books. Before I knew it, they were toppling over and falling toward the ground, each of them making a loud crashing sound as they hit, creating what felt like a never-ending echo in the previously silent library. My face began to heat up, and I could feel my color changing to a bright red.
    I muttered a lot of expletives in my head, but luckily the word that came out was not one of them: “Crap.” Bending over, I quickly gathered the books back up. I made two trips to the computer instead that time.
    I glanced back at Ms. Brownlee, who was still thumbing through a large stack of cards that she had pulled from her purse. It was unclear if she had just missed my episode of clumsiness or if she was just trying to be nice and not stare. I assumed it was the latter. When I reached out to take the bright yellow card marked Marblehead Public Library she handed me, my hand was still shaking from humiliation. I scanned each book and then handed the card back to her, making sure to remind

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