Chapter Nine

At first glance, the third floor of the library building looked spacious, more than the three other floors beneath it. The area was same but this particular floor didn't have partitions that formed compartments, instead several shelves were placed linearly against the walls and the centre space was occupied by similar looking empty bookshelves. 

Mrs. Dixit apparently had a liking for exaggeration too. 

Numerous boxes were lying around on the floor which needed to be picked up and placed into a store room on the ground floor. A think layer of dust had settled on the shelves which would appear fine after a little brushing. Spiders had spun cobwebs in some corners but the electrical wiring seemed to still work. Rather weakly, but yes it did work. The fans hanging from the ceiling rotated fast enough to not drench either of them with sweat. 

Mayra waltzed closer to the shelves and realised they were labelled with genres. Her eyes darted to the list in her hands. 

Hundreds of books to arrange! 

They opened a box filled with books, the dust settled on the lid scattered into the air, irritating their noses and the room was filled with sounds of sneezes for a whole minute. 

The copies were too old. Some were tattered, the pages seemed to be on the edge of giving up the binding. Some pages were folded but Mayra had a liking for such books for some apparent reason.

The smell of new books and the feel of old books! 

Both of them got to work immediately. Mayra started away with segregating the books according to their order. Shrey on the other hand, decided to wipe the shelves and remove any little cobwebs he could reach up to. 

Samarth had vanished into the room the moment they had entered. She really hoped he was working too and wasn't just loitering around, passing his time on his phone. Mrs. Dixit had mentioned she would monitor them but she then she was summoned by someone and decided to call it a day. 

The two of the fell into a casual conversation. 

"How's your Mom, then?" Shrey asked. 

"Busy as usual. Working at the medical centre as always, treating sick people." 

"And your sister?" He asked with a slightly different tone and she knew he was smirking. 

"The same as you last saw her. Rebellious and beyond beautiful. I somehow still cannot believe Dad allowed her to take up MBA after studying Science for years. He wanted her to be in the medical profession, just like mom."

He replied while wiping the top of a short shelf, "She may be rebellious but she's determined too." 

"That she is." Mayra smiled. She was proud of her sister. Mrunal was fearless and honest about her feelings and wishes. 

"There's something I got to tell you." He continued after a comfortable pause, "I tried for the football team and got selected."

Mayra's hand stopped mid-air, her fingers clutched around a book. "Wow, that's so amazing." She smiled and pulled him into a hug, "I know now why you gave up your chance and came here. St. Theresa provides a chance straight to nationals."

"Exactly. I was scared initially, unsure of whether I should go for the tryouts but then life's all about doing all that you fear, right?"

She looked at him, nonplussed. That right there was a deep thought that instilled into her mind. She would remember it someday and this memory of them being in the library, cleaning up bookshelves would showcase in front of her inner-eyes. 

Mayra sighed and responded, "Yeah, it is."

"Has anyone from High school asked you out yet?" The question had appeared out of nowhere. For a second, Mayra blinked unable to believe what he had just asked. 

"No. You?" 

"Lost count."

"In two days? Great. You're living up to your reputation." Mayra remarked and placed a copy of Pride and Prejudice into the shelf. "Did you say yes to any?"

"No, I'm planning on dedicating my time to football at the moment. What about you? Would you have said yes to anyone?"

Mayra frowned, "I can't believe you're asking me that. You know me so well." She patted a book gently, disturbing the inertia of the dust particles. Rubbing her now-brown hands on her thighs of her jeans, she continued, "Mom always says that there are steps in our lives. We miss one and we go all the way down."

"Well, what are your steps like?" Shrey asked, interested. 

"Education comes first. Career second. Love and then marriage at some point if all goes right." She said, gazing unfocused into the distance. 

"You have no idea how boring that sounds. But why not love now? I mean a relationship, alongside studying?"

"There's one word: Distraction. I don't to be distracted from my aim. I want to excel. Gather all knowledge the world has to offer. Currently, I have no time for that." 

Shrey's voice suddenly turned soft, "Even if you fall for someone?" 

Mayra laughed, "You're asking weird questions, Shrey."

"Just doing all I fear." He chuckled and continued, "Answer it, honestly. Please."

"Hmm. I do hope I don't. Not so soon. I'm certain I'll be distracted. You know I'm a sucker for romance novels. But I really don't want to end up like one of those girls whose lives revolve only around their significant others." She confessed. 

"You're scared if you do, your life might too revolve around your significant other."

Mayra pursed her lips together, "Maybe. I don't want to disappoint my parents. Once I'm independent however, I can definitely try my luck at love. "

She sighed and shook her head to get the brewing thoughts out of her mind. That was definitely the weirdest conversation she'd ever had with Shrey. 

A while later, she searched the box but couldn't find the book she was looking for. The list had clearly stated it would be in it, "Hey, have you seen the copy of Wuthering Heights anywhere?" 

Shrey had finished his duty of shelf-cleaning in that area earlier and had decided to help in arranging the books, "No, I haven't."

"It has to be here, right? The list says so." 

"A few books could go missing. It's no big deal, really." Shrey shrugged it off. 

Mayra decided to look about in other boxes. For some reason she couldn't give the thought away. 

She walked to the other side of the room and passed various book shelves she had already arranged. She froze suddenly as she walked past one. With a deep breath, she took some steps behind. There was definitely someone sitting on the floor! She had seen it with her own eyes. 

She walked behind and forward across the shelf, the figure was quite and she saw a book in his hands. "Samarth?" She whispered. He was sitting on the floor, his back was supported by a bookshelf. The place was dimly lit but enough to read a book. 

His weary eyes looked up at hers in disinterest. 

The copy of Wuthering Heights was in his hands. "So this is what you've been doing? Reading that while we're working out asses out." 

"Don't, please. This is no bone-breaking job. And I think you two are doing just fine without my help. Stop disturbing me now. I'm reading." 

"No! Get up and start working." She ordered. 

He ignored her and continued reading. She stomped her feet and walked towards him. She grabbed the book from her hands and pulled it away. 

"Hey! Give it back!" He complained and tried to get hold of the book. 

"No. This isn't what you are supposed to be doing." She snapped back. "You're the reason why all this is happening, remember?" 

"You slapped me!" 

"You played a prank on me!" She knew how stupid it sounded but said it anyway. 

His hand grabbed the book and he pulled it away. Somehow their feet got tangled with each other and with a dull thud either of them fell to the floor with Mayra landing on top of him. 

"Ow!"

"Oomph!"

"Get your hair off my face. My eyes!" Samarth yelled. 

"My ears! Stop screaming!" She pressed her arms against his chest and lifted herself a little. She noticed the end of her hair poking his eyes and enjoyed it well. He closed them. 

With a giggle, she lifted herself up and put a hand forward to help him. He ignored it and stood up. 

"You're so heavy. What do you stuff yourself with to be like that?" He asked while straightening his tee. 

"That's not a nice way to talk to anyone!" She replied, crossing her arms. 

"I never intended to be nice to you!" 

She held her head in dismay, "You're unbelievable!"

For a while, Samarth struggled to think of a comeback, "And you, you are heavy!"

Groaning, she walked away while stomping her feet to the ground. 

He stared at her retreating figure in disbelief. He had decided to be quiet the whole day but this girl had someone managed to disrupt even that. Instead, he had yelled at her and that had worked well in distracting him from the thoughts running in his mind. 

Distraction. Exactly. That was what he needed. And revenge. He had gotten it wrong earlier. He thought detention seemed like a good revenge plan but that had flopped. In the two days he had spent in the same class as her, he'd figured out what was most precious to her and he couldn't wait to take it away. He was going to hit two birds with one stone and he knew he was going to enjoy it very much.