The day I met her, I forced myself to learn how to use the card catalog.

I've ne
ver lived in a place where the library hadn't already switched over to computeri
zed catalogs, so it was a little surprising to have to start doing things the ol
d fashioned way. Of course, these first few weeks that I've lived here, it's bee
n easier to politely ask the librarian to help me find the books I was looking f
or... except he moved on to a better job a couple of days ago. Of course, that's
not to say that the front desk is suddenly unmanned, but when I got up to the c
ounter, the new librarian flashed her smile, asked me if I needed some help, and
I proceded to stammer out something that I suspect didn't resemble the English
language at all.
I'm pretty sure that she thought I was a foreigner, because she gave me an under
standing nod and passed a town map across the counter, then told me that I would
n't have to return it until 200X. I vaguely remember mumbling 'Thanks' before ma
king my way back into the stacks. Two hours later, I had found a copy of "Meatba
lls and You: A History of Shaped Food", acquired a new appreciation of the Dewey
Decimal System, and received a confused look from Ms. Library as I sheepishly s
lid my library card across the table. Once I arrived back home, I dropped the bo
ok on the kitchen counter, slumped against the refrigerator and tried to figure
out why I had been completely disarmed by a total stranger.
'You alright, Nate?' a voice called from down the hallway. 'I hear a thud, you d
idn't bang your head again, did you?' Pinching the bridge of my nose, I consider
ed the wisdom of telling Jason about the girl, then decided against it. I'd know
n him for years, and he had always been very popular and I suspected that trying
to explain things to him would have been like trying to explain to a fish what
it was like to be thirsty. 'Yeah, I'm alright, just tired. I'm going to take a n
ap, alright?' I heard an affirmative grunt come from his room, as a shuffled ove
r the couch and lay facedown on it's cushions.
--It wasn't until I returned a few days later that I realized how torn I was. Part
of me hoped that Ms. Library was only temporarily filling the position, so that
I could resume my business without feeling terribly embarassed by my previous a
ctions. The other part of me couldn't wait to see her face again, apologize for
being so foolish and make proper introductions, quickly sweeping my awkward firs
t impressions under the rug. By the time I arrived, I'd convinced myself that it
was a one-time fluke and that I'd have no problem getting to be as friendly wit
h her as I had been with Glenn, the previous librarian. Naturally, I was terribl
y disappointed when an elderly lady with a slight lisp and cola-bottle lenses gr
eeted me. 'Oh, hello, Bea.' I greeted her. I briefly considered asking where the
other girl had gone, but then decided against it. Beatrice usually worked the n
ight shift, and the few times I'd come in that late, it had quickly become appar
ent to me that she lived a fairly dull life and therefore enjoyed prying into th
ose of other people.
After returning the book and map, I checked out "Grover Cleveland: Twice a Presi
dent, Three Times a Lady", bought a small lunch for myself from the cafe, and he
aded outside to read and eat. One of the benefits of moving to Onett from Foursi
de has been the nicer weather and quiet atmosphere, and I've been doing my best
to take as much advantage of it as possible before it gets too cold outside. I m
oved to the sunny side of the building and sat down in the grass, resting agains
t the wall for a moment before unwrapping my lunch and biting deeply into the co
ldcut sandwich inside. Moments later, Ms. Library had come down the path from be
hind the library, carrying a sack lunch and obviously looking for her own comfor
table spot in the sun.
Brushing a lock of burgandy hair out of her face, she made eye contact with me,
waved and came over, claiming the spot next to me. I suddenly regretted taking s

uch a large bite. 'Returning the map already? You know, most people don't even b
other to bring them back, we just say it as a formality at this point.' she said
, as I forced myself to swallow my partially chewed food. 'N-no! I just wanted t
o exchange my book, 'Meatballs and You' was a pretty short read.' I replied, ges
turing to my new reading material. 'Ah-hah! So you do speak!' she exclaimed, unp
acking a homemade ham sandwich and a leafy green salad. 'I was wondering if a ca
t had gotten your tongue.' I felt my face turn warm as memories of our previous
meeting ran through my head. 'Yeah, sorry about that. I just wasn't myself that
day, I guess.' 'Mmm. Happens to the best of us.' she said understandingly. 'I'd
actually hoped you'd be here today, I wanted to apologize... but when I saw Beat
rice inside, I figured that maybe you were just a temporary hire.'
'First off, no apology necessary, these things happen.' she paused, suddenly dev
ouring a portion of her sandwich 'And nah, Beatrice came in to check on me, and
I asked her to take over for an hour so I could go home and get some real food.
After a few days, you get really tired of the crap in the cafe. My name is Amy,
by the way.' Ms. Library had a name! I turned to face her, the sunlight suddenly
making me aware of the hazel color of her eyes. 'Ah, well, I'm glad to hear it.
I'm Nathan.'
Before I knew it, both of our lunches were gone and we had somehow killed twenty
minutes talking about nothing in particular. 'Well, Nathan, I've got to get bac
k to work... I'll see you around, alright?' 'Oh, uh... yeah! Cool, I'll see you
around!' I stumbled, suddenly disappointed at how quickly time had passed. Amy p
ulled herself to a standing position, desposited her trash into a nearby recepti
cle, gave a soft wave and was gone as suddenly as she had come.
--'Hey, I'm new in town and don't really have any friends yet... argh, no that jus
t sounds sad.' I said out loud, addressing the empty walls of my apartment. 'Hey
, do you want to hang out this weekend? 'Spacecataz' is showing, we could go see
it! ...wait, no, that almost sounds like I'm asking her out. Wait. Would that b
e so bad? No... no, don't think like that, don't overthink things.' Looking at m
yself in the bathroom mirror, I couldn't help but wonder when I had become total
ly incapable of talking to new people without coming apart at the seams.
'Dude, you've been talking to yourself for nearly an hour. Cut it out, or I'll j
ust go do it for you.' Jason said, confronting me in the hallway. 'Look, I know,
alright? I just... this helps me.' I sighed, waiting for him to move so I could
continue pacing down the hall and into the living room. 'No, it doesn't. It jus
t makes you sound like someone who's been rehearsing in his apartment for two da
ys. Stop worrying, just go do what feels natural. You used to be good at making
friends, what happened?' 'I moved away from twenty-three years of familiarity, t
hat's what. You know you're the only friend I have here, right?'
Jason frowned for a moment, then put a hand on my shoulder. 'Do you remember whe
n we first met?' he said, with an air of seriousness. 'Yeah. Me, Sara, and Brian
were at the sushi restaurant talking about our classes, and you just sat down a
nd started talking like you had known us forever. At first we were confused, but
then we started having fun and didn't worry about it.' I said, smiling at how r
idiculous the story seemed now. 'Right!' he answered, raising a finger into the
air "And the only reason I did that was because of a little book that someone co
nvinced me to read. If you'll remember, I didn't have any friends then either.'
Thinking about it, I suddenly remembered that we first met, Jason hadn't quite c
ome into his popularity yet and we were the only people he really spent much tim
e with. If this book is what changed him, then maybe there was hope for me yet?
'I don't have it anymore, though. I gave it away to that kid who was always aski
ng Sara for help with his science homework.' I nodded, vaguely remembering the b

oy in question. 'The one who always wore bright orange everything? What was his
name?' Jason shrugged his shoulders before continuing, 'Not important. What IS i
mportant is that you go to the library tomorrow and ask your girlfriend to pull
you a copy.' 'Yeah, real funny. Just tell me the title.'
--'They didn't have it! The only copy of 'Overcoming Shyness' in their catalog was
checked out a week or so ago by some kid named 'Ness!' What now, Mr. Ideas?' I
plopped down on the carpet in front of our couch, looking up at Jason, who was c
urrently fumbling to unwrap a package of new batteries for the television remote
. 'Hey, chill! You at least talked to her like a sane person, ri-wait, Ness? The
kid who smashed all of those malfunctioning taxis back home? What's a guy like
that need with... oh, nevermind. So, what happened?'
I took a moment to recall the details of the day's conversation with Amy, then e
xplained, 'Well, after she told me that they didn't have it on hand, I realized
that I was hungry, so I asked her if she'd let me take her out for dinner tomorr
ow night.' Jason's face went blank as he processed what I had told him. 'So... y
ou realized you were hungry today... so you asked her if you could go get dinner
TOMORROW?" 'I... er... well, yeah. Pretty much that.' Pinching the bridge of hi
s nose, he took a deep breath before finally responding 'You're not shy, Nathan,
you're just stupid.'
--Crouching behind an overturned table, I grabbed Amy's hand and squeezed it gentl
y 'Look, I'm REALLY sorry about this.' She turned to look at me for a moment, he
r countenance wrapped into a frown. 'Nate, did you summon this army of robots an
d monsters to attack the town? Because if so, then I'm going to start beating yo
u.' I started laughing, trying to stifle myself as not to draw attention to us.
'Well, no, bu-' She forcibly pushed a finger to my lips. 'Then shush. If you're
going to apologize, then do it for choosing the crappiest burger joint in town.
That's a joke, by the way.' Amy smiled before turning her attention back to the
front window of the restaurant.
'Alright, fine.' I told her, 'Frankly, though, I can think of worse places to be
holed up during an invasion. Surrounded by food, plenty of tables for barricade
s, and... really good company.' I crouched beside her, peering over the table an
d through the glass window in front of us. I can't be sure, but I thought I saw
her blush at that last part. 'Well Nathan, this is definitely the most interesti
ng first date I've ever been on.' 'Well, I'm glad to hear it!' I laughed, before
her words sunk in. 'Hey wait, what?!'