Words Unspoken

Not that long after leaving my house, the library came into view as I passed Jill’s Pharmacy. Adjusting the strap of the satchel on my shoulder, I strolled over to the door and opened it. The scent of a woody and sweet musky smell of books is what hit me as soon as I entered the small building. And it was fairly small. On my left side there was a small dark chestnut table with flyers for different types of events and on the wall there was a shelf with a variety of travel areas for families. Right on the left of it was the desk and counter of the librarian, Susan, but she wasn’t there at the moment. I’m the middle of the room there were four rows of coffee colored tables with four chairs around them. And on the right there was the book area, about 6 aisles but the space between them gave enough room for at least one person to go through.

A few minutes passedand Susan, the librarian, emerged from one of the aisles and peered over her glasses and gave me a welcoming smile, her black hair with silver gray streaks in them flowed down to her shoulders. She had a few books in her hands as she made her way over to her desk.

“Good morning Sam.” She said as she placed the books on her desk

“Good morning Su.” I replied with a smile and took a few steps over to the desk, leaning against it with my hands folded.

“You’re usually not here during the week.” She said as she sat in her chair and flipped through the two books before glancing up at me with a raised eyebrow. She’s right, since I work Monday-Friday, I’m always here most of the day on the weekends.

“Yeah, Jill had a doctor’s appointment today, probably an all day one and she didn’t want me to be there alone I guess.” I said, nodding my head.

“Such a sweet woman.” She said with a smile. I nodded in agreement.

“Well, you go ahead and read to your heart’s desire.” She said with a chuckle as she turned her attention back to the books.

“Thanks Susan.” I said and gave a little tap on her desk before slowly making my way down the aisles until a book caught my attention. As I made my way down the aisles, my thoughts wandered back to the graffiti, TIS. What exactly did that stand for? I finally ended up in the history section of the library and scanned each and every book, hoping to find my answers in one of them. I pulled a few books out from the shelves and made my way over to one of the empty tables. Setting the books down I soon began to scan the pages, reading more on the history on why and how the world changed.

As I flipped through the pages of one of the books, a little section in the book caught my attention. The section mentioned the riots that happened 30 years later, people began to protest once again hoping to bring back the world how it once was. Without the Regulations of Lawrence. But to their failure never succeeded.

‘We as a community will not be stopped in bringing back the country to where we were 30 years ago. As a society we shouldn’t be told what to wear or how to speak because the president made it a law. We want our freedom! We want to be heard! We will not be silenced!’

-Anonymous, 2064

My eyes stared at the words on the page. We will not be silenced. Those were the exact words I saw the other night. Could this be it? Could this be the founder of the rebellion group? I sat there as my thoughts were all jumbled and scrambled trying to make sense of it all, but still nothing. I looked through the rest of the book and the other books I had but there wasn’t much else I could find on who this group or person could possibly be. But they’re probably not alive or maybe they are, who knows.

A long frustrated sigh escaped my lips as I rubbed my face with my hands before closing the books and making my way back to put them back where they belonged.

Deciding to take a break from reading up on our history. I wandered over to my favorite genre section, mystery. I am a sucker when it comes to mystery books. I love trying to solve things just like the characters in the stories.

After choosing some books, I made my way to the front desk where Susan was flipping through some books ans stamping them along the way.

“Hey Susan, just wanted to check these books out.” I said, setting them down on the counter as I reached into my bag and pulled out my library card and handed it over to her. She took it and stamped the books before handing me back the card.

“You know you can hold on to them as long as you want.” She said to me with a smile.

“Yeah I know.” I said with a soft chuckle and put the books in my bag before making my way out the door.

“See you later!” I called out to her and she waved a hand goodbye.

I decided to make my way into town, rather than go back home since I really had nothing else to do. I spent the rest of my morning walking down the streets and window shopping. The weather was warm, the sun beat down on my face but it wasn’t too hot. I rolled up my sleeves as I made my way to a local cafe. I stepped inside and the scent of coffee and sweets took over my senses. Strolling over to the large counter where the desserts were displayed behind a glass window, I ordered an iced coffee and a brownie. Once the barista handed me coffee and dessert, I looked around the room to find a seat. And the only one available was by the window.

I set my bag down on the chair across from me and took a sip of my coffee before pulling out one of my books and placing it on the table. My eyes wandered around the room as I observed the other people sitting around for their afternoon coffee and sweets. Some people were working, piles of paper on the table, while others seemed to be socializing and catching up on life and what not.

I picked up my book from the table and turned to the first page, settled into my seat and began reading.

About an hour had passed and I was already 3 chapters in my book. The sound of the door opened and I glanced up to see a young man, probably around my age walk in, his hands in his pockets. You might be thinking, tall, dark and handsome, well he was. He looked about six feet tall, light tanned skin and his eyes were a deep chestnut color. His hair was blackish brown and had a little curl to them. Realizing I was staring at this guy too long, I quickly looked back down at my book.

A moment later, a deep husky voice spoke as I looked up to see the guy who walked in was standing over me.

“Hi.” He said a small smile plastered on his lips. I blinked a few times and cleared my throat before replying back.

“Uh, hi.” I said with a shy smile.

“Is this seat taken?” He asked, motioning to the chair where my bag was. “Or are you waiting for someone?” He added as he looked back down at me, his eyebrow raised slightly as he tilted his head.

“Oh no, I’m alone.” I said standing up and reaching over and grabbing my bag and setting it down on the floor next to me.

He smiled at me before plopping down on the chair across from me and took a sip of his coffee.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your reading. There was nowhere else to sit.” He said with a chuckle, looking around the crowded room before turning his gaze back to me.

“Don’t worry about it.” I said as I placed my bookmark in my book to not lose my place and set my book down on the table. I reached for my coffee and took a small sip as I kept my gaze fixated on him, this mysterious man who just appeared out of nowhere and whom I have never seen before in my entire life.

“I’m Noah.” He said as he held his hand out in front of me and I raised my eyebrow at him before reaching over to take his hand in mine. I now felt my heart beat against my chest heavier by every minute holding onto his hand.

“Samantha.” I said with a smile as we shook hands. “But you can call me Sam, I guess.” I said as he let go of my hand, but part of me didn’t want him too. What’s wrong with you?? You just met this guy! Get it together! I thought to myself.

“It’s nice to meet you Sam.” He said as we both kept our gazes on one another, but I snapped back to reality when someone was knocking on the window. Another guy with light brown shaggy hair with the same tan complexion as Noah and a girl with jet black hair and pale skin with eyes as blue as the sky were standing right outside. Which I’m guessing they were together by the way they were holding hands.

“Noah! Come on! We’re gonna be late!” The other guy said from outside the window as Noah nodded his head at him.

“Well it looks like I gotta, I’ll see you around Sam.” He said as he stood up, gave me a wink with a dashing smile before exiting the cafe. I watched as the strangers walked off, hearing them laugh with another as Noah turned back to look at me. He gave me a smile before facing the other way as he raced off with his friends.

“Yeah..I hope so.” I mumbled under my breath and went back to my book.