How did it get so late so soon?-Dr.Seuss (Mathieu)

[Alchemy Igelkott]

Aly smiled to herself, thinking how perfect the library was.

She had always loved being around books, but this was better than anything she'd ever experienced. The library back in her home town was nothing compared to this.

It was her first time in there, though, but she already had an armful of books she was going to sit down and read.

She was already tired with the summer, tired of having almost nothing to do. So she had decided to come here, in hopes of just finding a good book, or just finding inspiration for something to do.

She walked around for a little, trying to find a good spot to read, her arms aching from the weight of the books.

Either I should have gotten lighter books, or not as many, she thought. Or I could start working out again. That's probably my best option, considering I'm already carrying the books, Aly mused to herself.

Aly finally found a good spot in a chair by a window. She sighed in relief, setting all of her books down.

She sat down, then had to decide which one she wanted to read first. She started to sort through them, putting them into two piles: school related and misc.

The only book in the misc. pile was a Dr. Seuss book she had picked up for fun.

She smiled for the second time, looking through it, thinking of her childhood, before he dad had gone psycho and had started beating her, of course.

"How did it get so late so soon?" it said. She looked around, then muttered exactly that. The library was close to being empty, and outside of the window she could see the sunsetting.

Not that she had any problem with that though. She was a hedgehog, and felt more comfortable at night. And Aly had never liked being surrounded by people, or deep water, but that was something different.

She put the Dr. Seuss book down next to her, keeping it open on that page, then picked up a book, called, "Tricks to Perfecting Your Martial Arts," or something like that, at least.

As soon as she opened that book, her eyes were glued, and she loved the smell of the old book, too. There was so much information it it! So many things that she didnt' know! But that best part of it was the pictures of how her feet she be at the start and at the end, and more.

She pushed her hair out of her face, but continued reading. She wished that she had known these things before, but wondered what it would have been like if she had.

Aly pushed that thought out of her head and kept reading, not even noticing that her leg had fallen asleep.

[mathieulark]

The library always managed to shock Mathieu whenever he entered. He'd stop and wonder how he forgot how tall the bookshelves were, and how they looked like a wooden army in their multitude and formation. His mind would then shift to whatever task he had in mind - today he was doing some research for his Linguistics Summer Assignment. However, Mathieu has the attention span of a gnat, and therefore got distracted by a book that had nothing to do with Linguistics.

'Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge' emblazoned the cover, and Matt swore that it was glowing with the wisdom of wise, old gurus. Technically, it had to do with school, as he had a Kung Fu class. So therefore, he could read it and, technically, not be procrastinating. Plus, as much as Mathieu loved culture, he really didn't feel like learning about word phonics at the moment. The latter is the main reason Matt was learning back in a public chair ten minutes later.

It was about ten pages into 'Chapter 1: An Introduction to the Way of the Warrior' that the voice at the back of his mind nudged him to focus on work. No amount of rationalizing excuses to how he wasn't procrastinating seemed to make it go away. Matt decided that he would get back to work, but only after taking a quick study break. What better way to take a break than by meeting somebody? Matt slammed his book shut and swiftly got up. This could've looked impressive if it weren't for the fact that he was just wearing a casual T-Shirt and the whole 'Being Mathieu' thing.

Not too many students crowded the library that day. It probably had something to do with how the moon shining outside, the stars gathered in a stagnant dance around it. Most students were getting ready for bed at this time of night, or felt there were more exciting things to do than hang around the library. He saw a few students lounging around a table, along with one of the teachers searching for a book. Other than that, the library was near stranded. Matt frowned in disappointment as he failed to find someone he knew, so he began the quest to find somebody approachable.

"I guess this is my cue to leave," Mathieu muttered to himself, gathering his books to take to the checkout line. It was at this point that he noticed someone he'd overlooked, though he had no clue how. She was sitting next to the window, engrossed in one of the many books piled on her table. Mathieu subtly shifted his pace towards the area. The girl was brown haired and rather pretty, and Matt decided he'd found somebody to talk to.

"Dr. Suess?" He said, all smiles as he looked at the lone book in the pile. He readjusted the books tucked under his arm, and continued talking. "I love him! It's so rare to find someone else who enjoys reading him!" There are several people who would've said this cruelly, but Matt's tone was bubbling over with happiness. It was at this point that Matt noticed she was reading a book about martial arts - a sure indicator that he had found someone good to talk to.

[Alchemy Igelkott]

"Dr. Seuss?" Aly heard someone say. Looking up from her book, Aly found herself face to face with a brown-haired boy.

She blinked, clearing her mind, focusing on his eyes, trying to remember where she was. She always felt that after reading it took her a while to get back to the real world. Her eyes flickered quickly to the window, and saw that the moon was already out, the stars surrounding it like a very shiny blanket, and she wondered how long she had been reading.

Starlight, starbright. First star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might... Aly thought to herself. She wished that this boy could be a friend. Her eyes moved again, and caught on the martial arts book in his own arms. Aly smiled, hoping this was a good start.

"I love him! It's so rare to find someone else who enjoys reading him!" the boy continued in a sort of bubbly voice.

This caused Aly to grin even more. He was totally right.

"I know!" she replied. "I've always loved him. I had thought everybody else grew out of him though," she said with a slight laugh. "But when you think about it, he was really pretty smart. He wasn't just someone who had an ability to rhyme; Dr. Seuss was able to come up with the idea of a tiny world on a dust speck in another world."

Aly had started to ramble, one of her least favorite traits about herself, so she was about to stop talking, but then she remembered...

"Igelkott," she said, getting some James Bond inspiration. "Alchemy Igelkott," she continued with a laugh. "But most people call me Aly, 'cause my real name's kind of a mouth full."

Reaching into her pocket, Aly pulled out a pack of sticky notes, planning to use one as a bookmark. Her hand peeled one off absentmindedly, for she was more focusing on the boy's face, or at least her eyes kept flickering back to him. He was kind of cute, but more so in a little brother way, than anything else, at least for Aly, because she definitely wasn't romantically into guys that were younger than her.

The sticky note in place, Aly closed the book, regretfully, for it was really very interesting and said, "Law enforcement major, before you can ask, and my shift's a hedgehog." She smiled dreamily, in love with her shift, like always.

She felt herself opening up more, and she thought it was probably because it was night and she was becoming more comfortable, but she realized that it was more so that she got the vibe that this guy was pretty cool.

A guy who likes martial arts and Dr. Seuss definitely equals someone worth talking to, at least.

"What's your name? If you don't mind me asking, of course. Though I don't see why you would mind someone asking what your name is, unless you're in the witness protection program," she said, continuing with, "Sorry for my rambling, mystery guy, but I like getting first impressions out of the way."
[/color]

Clothes.