The old bookstore was Elisa's sanctuary, especially on a quiet evening. The scent of aging paper and dust motes dancing in the dim light always soothed her, a stark contrast to the college's first-day chaos. She was tucked away in a back corner, lost in the brittle pages of a forgotten novel, when a familiar, deeply annoying voice sliced through the silence.
"Seriously? This is what passes for literature these days?"
Elisa's head snapped up. Of course. Felix. He stood a few feet away, holding a worn paperback between two fingers as if it were contaminated. His expression was a familiar mask of disdain, his eyes, dark and sharp, scanning the shelves with a critical gaze that seemed to judge every single volume. Even in a place of peace, he exuded an agitated energy.
She tried to shrink further into her oversized armchair, hoping he hadn't noticed her. No such luck. His gaze snagged on her, and his eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of recognition—and something that looked suspiciously like annoyance—crossing his face.
"Oh. It's you," he stated, his tone flat. He glanced down at the book in her hands. "Lost already, or just hiding from the real world?"
Elisa felt her cheeks warm, her usual calm shattered. "I'm not lost, and I'm not hiding," she managed, her voice softer than she intended. "I just... prefer quiet places. And reading."
Felix scoffed, tossing the paperback he was holding back onto a shelf with a soft thud. "Quiet places are fine. It's the reading part that's questionable." He gestured vaguely at the surrounding shelves. "Most of this is just recycled clichés anyway. No originality."
"Maybe you're just not looking for it," Elisa retorted, surprised by her own boldness. Usually, she'd just avoid his abrasive comments. But this was her bookstore. "Or maybe you only see what you expect to see."
He paused, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes, before a smirk touched his lips. "Feisty. Didn't take you for that, running around apologizing for everything." He took a step closer, and Elisa instinctively pulled her knees tighter to her chest. "Tell me, do you spend all your evenings burying your face in old paper, or do you ever, you know, do something?"
Elisa clutched her book tighter. "I am doing something. I'm relaxing. And it's better than whatever you do to annoy everyone around you."
Felix's smirk widened, though his eyes remained sharp. "Ouch. Someone's got an opinion." He leaned against a nearby bookshelf, crossing his arms, looking entirely too comfortable invading her space. "So, the quiet type has a bite. Interesting."
The silence stretched, filled only by the distant hum of the building and the rustle of pages as Elisa tried to regain her composure. She wanted to disappear. Why did he have to show up here, of all places?
After the bookshop incident Elisa thought worse of Felix that she already did.
**********
I will give names to the chapters instead of Fantasy, (part) since it hinders with the story.