She said no.

Just a no.

Well not just a no because she'd explained why she couldn't let me do it alone but in the end, she'd not granted me the opportunity to do the project alone, that was the conclusion, we'd spoke, and she hadn't given me the permission.

That was literally it.

The more detailed version is that i'd spoke to her about being absent, that when I was absent it was because I wasn't ready to face her and being as understanding as she was, even if that was a very crappy reason on my part, she'd not dwelled on it, but then i'd asked for more.

I'd asked for the permission to work alone, telling her it'd be easier for me to work alone and she'd visibly tensed, and then she sighed like it was the worst thing I could've possibly asked for.

She'd told me a lot of people had requested changes with partners, and she'd had to decline them because it wasn't allowed, so of course if that wasn't allowed, working with no one at all wouldn't be allowed either.

She'd made a valid argument but I was a stubborn girl, so stubborn that I hadn't went to the class for the rest of the week, only having spoken to Karsen when i'd walked passed him in the hall to tell him that I couldn't make it later that day and then I left.

I was stubborn, and apparently... a little, childish, too.

Now I stood in the library as I packed some books away in an order I thought was better, even if they'd been shelved by the day worker, but I didn't much like his working style.

So I decided to redo it, pulling and pushing books into its given shelves till I was physically too tired to set out books anymore, having restocked an entire shelf which were pretty high up here, even using a ladder.

It was my happy place this library, one place I could do whatever I wanted with the things i'd always loved.

Books.

I was a person who judged books by covers, maybe it had something to do with being an artist or maybe it had something to do with being extremely picky.

All the books I thought were similar in cover as well as in the same genre's would go to one side and the others to the other, almost like sorting it into different aesthetics after sorting it into its correct genre.

It worked well because i'd never heard any complaint on it but I knew if I did get a complaint i'd just ignore it, because it was one thing I had my own way and I didn't want it to be taken from me.

I climbed down the ladder when I was done and walked over to the counter, holding some books that were misplaced by people, wanting to reorganize them into their rightful spots in here but as I came to the counter and dropped the books down to it I took a break to look around and I saw the one person who seemed to enjoy popping into my life lately.

Karsen Krist.

But he wasn't alone.

He was at a table to the far right of the library with his friends, the two guys with him, messy blonde haired boy, ginger buzzcut boy and dirty blonde haired girl.

They were studying, evidently, talking between their studying and laughing and I looked away when i'd realized i'd been staring for sometime, swallowing as I took the books and separated it on the counter.

Some were history, three were fiction, two african literature and three non fiction, and yet every single one of them were in the wrong place.

I shook my head, just about to pick up the eight books again when someone suddenly stopped me, "Thats way too many books to carry at once, don't you have the cart?"

I blinked at Karsen's words.

Cart?

What cart?

I shook my head, looking over to the side behind him and- cart.

I blinked, closing my eyes longer than any normal person would. After such a long time working here i'd forgotten I could just use the freaking cart to stack a huge pile of books without breaking my arms bones.

He took four of the books from me and I didn't protest when he did, protesting would mean talking and I didn't want to talk to him.

I walked over to the cart and I assume he followed me.

We were walking in silence as we made our way through the library. which was good, especially since I was for some very odd reason, miraculously annoyed all over again.

We went to every section starting with African Literature then to Non fiction, History and lastly Fiction, all books packed back in place and all ladders put back to respective sides when I finally looked over to him.

"Thank you." I say, crossing my arms over my chest as I made my way to walk around him but he stopped me, moving in front of me and I took a step back immediately before our bodies could collide.

"What happened?"

I rose a brow at that. What happened?

To what?

"Its been more than two weeks, just two more till the month is over Addy." He stressed on the word two, like it was a catastrophic disaster but it wasn't all that bad, we had five months and around a week and a half left which would be fine, especially if I did it alone.

He was really using this Addy nickname, huh?

I huffed softly to myself.

I hated working with someone, because now his own timing mattered too, now we had to talk and plan and not just freely work on all of this at our own desired paces.

We had to worry about the others school or work schedules if he did work, others emergencies that could occur, hell even personal times on the weekend.

I nodded in acknowledgment to his words.

"Okay."

"Okay?" He said the word like he was confused and I nodded once again, "Yeah."

"So?"

"I'll see you when I see you." I tell him, just about to walk around the library's high shelves when he stopped me again, his hand holding mine as he used the other to take something out his pocket and I blinked when he popped open a permanent markers cap with his teeth before he let go of my hand.

"Why do you have a marker on you?" I ask him before I could stop myself, before I could swallow the words and you could practically hear the leak of confusion in my tone.

"Drawing, I like using markers." That is... odd.

I didn't respond to that though, just watched as he took my arm and my eyes widened.

What the hell was he doing?

"Karsen."

"I think thats the first time you've ever said my name." He says, looking up to me and away from my arm with a wolfish grin on his face.

I stare back at him expressionless.

For such a sweet man, his grin was devilishly handsome, even if it made a single dimple indent into his cheek, but he didn't look cute because of it, he looked really sexy and I almost cringed at myself for thinking that.

I did find men attractive like any heterosexual women of course, but I didn't think of them as sexy and also never had to be forced to work with them on a project or anything, so this was new, and very unwelcome.

He looked back down to my arm and started writing on me and I was knocked out my admiration for his stupid face and pushed into the realization of the black marker tip being pressed onto my skin as he wrote numbers down.

"Krist!" I hissed in a poor attempt to stop him.

This- this is vandalism! Of my person!

Arg.

When he was done he popped the cap of the marker back onto its top and put it back in his pocket, showing me my arm that had a scrawl of numbers on it and I blinked.

"Its my number."

Oh wow, I thought it was a fucking pizza delivery number Karsen

"I know you're not gonna give me yours, not even if I got down on my knees in the middle of this library but we really need to start with the project Addy, im not that bad of company, I promise I can keep my mouth shut for longer than five minutes." I really doubted that.

I looked to him with a quirk of my brow, a sudden thought setting into me as I stared at him. He looked exasperated, maybe nervous or even a little... anxious?

I eye him thoughtfully.

"Do you have anxiety... or something like that?"

He blinked at my question, definitely taken aback by its randomness because it honestly wasn't a common question to ask someone you weren't really acquaintances with.

"Is it obvious?"

I only shrugged at his answer. It wasn't noticeable until you actually watched what he did, said, or acted, maybe even his expressions where a tell.

He was constantly worrying about a project that isn't even due anytime soon, plus, waking up late and yet still going to class- I also saw the way he taps his foot in class as soon as he sits down, how he runs his hand through his hair an unearthly number of times and how persistent he is for everything.

Im pretty sure he was one of those people who stressed even when they had nothing to stress about.

I didn't have anything more to say to him, so I nodded as I moved around him, "I'll see you Karsen."

He quickly whips around and speaks, "Just... use my number, please."

I almost felt but as I nodded once again and walked away, knowing this number would be washed away tomorrow morning... or not.