This is a short and steamy story. Enjoy, and please leave a comment and rating.
All characters are fictional and over the age of 18.
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I had thought that by taking the initiative to study somewhere quiet, I might achieve some progress. The truth was that I'd gone from procrastinating at home to procrastinating somewhere else.
I had never seen the campus library this empty. It was late, most students would have left at this point. The only kind remaining were desperate or obsessed. I was the desperate kind. I suddenly remembered Ezgi, she was the obsessed kind, though I hadn't seen her in over a year. The impact she had on my way of thinking remained, though. The effect best friends have on us isn't washed away so easily, not even by something as destructive as time. I wondered if she was here. I glanced around, looking for her, wondering if I ever had the intention of studying at all, or if subconsciously I just wanted to see her again.
My heart skipped a beat. There she was, her back to me, hunched over a pile of books and notes on her desk. I'd recognize her silhouette anywhere. The slender frame and short stature. The light brown skin and dark brown hair. She still dyed the ends red, after all this time. It has been 18 months since I'd spoken to her. 18 months since I decided to exit from her life completely. It seemed a good decision at the time, but now I wasn't so sure.
I gathered my books into my bag, not sure what to do. I should have left. Should have moved on. Should have gone home and gotten ready for this goddamned physics test tomorrow. Instead, I found myself standing behind her. Heart noticeably beating. What was I going to say? How do you break that long of a silence? How do you right that many wrongs?
"Hey, Ezgi," I said.
Smooth.
She turned around, looked me in the eye, her expression unreadable. She stood up. She was a full head shorter than me. She took a deep breath, I waited to hear what she would say. Instead, she reared back to deliver the king of all slaps. I didn't defend myself.
SLAP!
It stung like a bitch, but I deserved it, and it washed some of the guilt away. I rubbed my face, letting her know it hurt.
"Vic! Where have you been?!" She yelled. I knew I was in trouble then, she was a stickler for rules and a lover of libraries. If she was breaking the library rule of silence, it meant she well and truly didn't give a fuck.
"It's been ages," she said, "you were my best friend, and you just disappeared, you didn't say anything!" Her voice broke off at the end. Her eyes wettened. Shit. Before I could react, she hugged me. Tighter than I deserved. I held her back, I didn't have any words to say that didn't sound stupid. Over her shoulder, I spotted a few curious glances from other students. I played for time.
"I need to talk to you, is there anywhere quiet around here?" I said, glancing around. She was always in this godforsaken library. she'd know a place. She let go of me, nodded. And led me on. The library was huge, six stories high and full of paths branching off in all directions. This time of night, it held a soothing kind of calmness to it. I hated it, I needed distraction and noise to hide the unease.
The little office she led me to had a couch and the large kind of desk you assume important meetings are held over. The windows facing the rest of the library had blinds to allow for privacy, and she shut them and locked the door. I don't know how she had the key to this office and it didn't seem like the time to ask. We were alone. In a secluded room. I still didn't know what to say, neither did she. There was a kettle in the corner, with sachets of coffee. She busied herself while I stood there like an idiot. She had been my best friend. I'd met her five years ago in my first year. We caught on like a charm, sharing the same hobbies, the same silly sense of humor. The infamous Ezgi and Victor. After four years, I had finally admitted that I wanted more. But she wasn't ready. And I couldn't live with her as just a friend. So I chose to live without her at all.
