The glass-filtered sunlight cast distorted shadows of two figures across the library floor. They looked like oblong and abysmal figures but the objects were far from that in fact the two were quite comfortable, one sitting on the windowsill curved in the alcove and the other seated in a cushioned chain near the window. There was a companionable silence between the two as each read their own volumes.

"I spoke to her today," said the one seated at the table, "well actually she sorta of just yelled at me at the Dot."

The other figure did not reply. She instead flipped the page in her book, which was in fact a textbook about physics of all things. At her silence the boy, Eli, looked at his companion. His face was expressionless, it was a bland expanse nothing like the witty, trickster he had been before the whole debacle with Clare and Morty.

"She was mad at me," he continued to explain, "because I can't feel."

Still no reply from the other person.

"But I can't feel you know?" he said, "It's the damn pills."

At that statement the young girl, Rachel, let out an irritated sigh. She didn't take her eyes away from the science babble before her though she did reach forward to smooth out her khaki uniform skirt. Her perfect, crinkle free polo shirt rippled with the movement. It was a deep maroon.

"It amazes me," she said in a bored drawl, "that you somehow find fault and place blame on something that is made to help you, though studies and doctors suggest that you also need a supportive environment and positive reinforcement. Are you not getting that? Is that why you are whining?"

Her tone was detached and nearly robotic. This was the way Rachel was, however, and it did not faze Eli to hear speak in such a way it may have been the drugs though because nothing bothered Eli much these days.

"Also I told you not to speak to me," she said this reaching forward to tug on her black opaque leggings, "not until you're normal again. You bore me like this."

It was unnatural for a girl as young as fifteen to be so cruel and apathetic as Rachel but in truth the girl just had a hard time conveying her thoughts. It was why she spent all her time in a public library instead of with her peers.

"Right," Eli said turning back to the book he was reading which was still on turned to the title page, "my bad."

Another irritated sigh escaped the young girl's lips.

"Is that it?" she said raising her voice ever so slightly, "no witty remark, or biting comment?"

She almost sounded upset but in truth she was just uncomfortable. She didn't like this version of the boy; he was numb and porcelain-like. He was nothing like the sarcastic, brash young man she had first met two months ago. He was a stranger and if there was anything Rachel feared it was a stranger.

"You aren't Eli," Rachel hissed losing her grip, "and I'm not going to sit here and talk to someone I don't even know. I hate you like this."

She slammed her book shut and hopped down from her place on the windowsill and placed the book onto a table nearby. Then without a word of farewell she made a hasty exit from the section and then from the library all together. She didn't stop until she got all the way to the bus stop two blocks away. Without anything else to do she sat down on the bench and crossed her arms and then her legs. Then out of frustration and utter self-pity she began to cry. You see as collected and adult as Rachel pretended to be, she was still just a fifteen year-old girl who had lost the only person she had considered to be a friend but what was worst of all was that it was her fault.

Two Months Earlier

Eli Goldsworthy wandered into the public library with a, for lack of a better term, big stupid grin on his face. His head was full of that girl, that girl with the pretty eyes, Clare. His lopsided grin grew even bigger as he thought about how she pressed her body against him laughing in mock anger. Her cheeks were flushed and eyes twinkling, my oh my Clare Edwards was quite the beauty indeed.

He nodded in greeting to the librarian who was busy stacking books on to selves. She gave him a strange look and then gathered the rest of the books she had to her chest and scurried away with her eyes glued to the floor. Eli was of course unfazed by this he was flying high.

"You freaked Doris out," said someone from behind him.

Eli turned around and was surprised to find there was a girl sitting on the windowsill. She was curled up into the rectangle impression in the wall with a large book in her lap.

"It's probably best if you leave," she continued her eyes on the pages of her book, "if Doris doesn't like you this place can be quite uncomfortable."

"Is that right?" he replied hopping up to sit on a table that sat between the selves, "and what if I like this place, what if in the small about of time that I've spent here I've grow rather attached to this place? What if I don't want to leave? What should I do then?"

She didn't answer right away. Instead she looked at him with intense eyes were brown and almond shaped. Her face seemed perfectly symmetrical, her long straight brown hair was pulled behind her ears away from her with flat hair clips the kind that snap close when you press down the edges.

"You should still leave," she said after looking Eli over, "come back tomorrow or some other time and be less conspicuous. Doris is very 'out of sight, out of mind' with grudges."

Her answer was precise, her tone measured. Her face remained impassive the whole time and when she was finished answering him she promptly returned to ignoring him. Eli was mildly amused by the insensitive reply. It was obvious she knew the librarian well, well enough to know how she held grudges. His face was almost split in two. Today was just so damn entertaining.

Rachel, on her part, had no idea why she had commented at all. As a basic rule, Rachel hated people and people, save Doris bless her heart, hated Rachel. They avoided her at all cost, calling her things like 'creepy' or 'evil bitch' or even 'creepy evil bitch' and Rachel completely understood why. She never really spoke to anyone and when she did, she was often abrupt and indifferent.

"Thank you for the advice but I think I'll stay for a bit longer," Eli said smiling that infamous crooked smile of his.

"It's of no consequence to me whether you stay or don't," mumbled Rachel in response.

And the pair was plunged into a silence with Goldsworthy swinging his legs back and forth still thinking about his earlier encounter with Clare. Rachel had her nose in her book, which was on the History of Ancient Egypt. She had a test coming up on that subject in a week so she needed to study.

"Hey, kid," Eli said suddenly nearly giddy, "wanna hear a secret?"

He was so happy with the whole Clare thing he felt like he just had to tell someone. Unfortunately for him he tried to tell it to Rachel.

"No," replied Rachel quickly and truthfully.

Rachel didn't like hearing other people's secrets. Secrets were dirty, terrible things that only destroyed the lives of everyone in the immediate facility. They were land mines and booby traps and Rachel really couldn't be bothered by secrets.

At her reply Eli laughed outright. She was so weird. She looked like she barely 13 especially in the get up she was wearing. Her thin legs were completely covered by black leggings that were free of any rip or wrinkle. Over those she wore a pleated khaki skirt paired with a maroon polo shirt that had a gold emblem stitched over the breast pocket. All of which were appropriate for a high school student but on her they just looked too big, too perfect, too clean. Eli felt like she should be in dirt covered overalls and playing on jungle gyms or jumping off of swings.

It was like she was a little kid playing pretend. In her pressed skirt and tightly laced oxfords she looked like she was playing "Grown Up" and it sorta irked Eli to see someone try so hard.

"You're really funny," he said, "you know that?"

"And you're distracting," she said her voice devoid of any tone or emotion, "did you know that?"

And that sent him into another fit. Maybe it was just because of his good mood, or maybe it was the way Rachel couldn't take her eyes off of that smile but both, Rachel and Eli were suddenly aware that something was starting. For Eli it was the beginning of a love affair that would eventually tear him to pieces and for Rachel it was the beginning of the end of her life.