FicWad

Frank wandered through yet another isle in the Science Fiction section of the Belleville local library. His callused fingertips running over the cold, tightly–woven canvas spines of the old and new books. Frank liked the old books the best. The wearing of pages, which were dog-eared and coffee stained, the spines broken and tatty, and the covers fading, from bright to dull. The older books had personality, they had a more interesting, intriguing story waiting to unfold in your hands. They’d talk to you, and keep you in painful, slow suspense, like talking to your Granddad about the war.

He could hear his lonely footsteps echoing on the creaky floorboards. He was pretty sure he was the only one in Science Fiction isle, it was even more of a possibility that he was the only one in the entire library. No one visited the aged building any more and barely anyone worked there, except a weird little old lady named Clarissa . It was a shame, the library was a wonderful place.


Frank’s fingertips ran over the book spines, dipping in between the spaces of the novels. He loved the feeling of canvas, paper, and he even enjoyed getting slightly darkened fingertips from the ink on the books.


The young man smiled, finally finding a tale that caught his eye. He grabbed the metal rusty step ladder, (which was probably meant for children, not sixteen year old boys) and stood on it, collecting his balance, before he grabbed the flacking fabric spine of the book, giving a gentle tug, to take it out of the shelf. Another tug tucked it back in amongst the other novels, like it was counteracting Frank’s move. Frank decided to repeat the tug, unsure of what was happening, but another soft pull balanced it out, on the opposite side of the bookcase, yet again placing it with the other books, back in it’s normal position. The short male gave the novel a sharp snatch, yanking it out of the bookcase, leaving a slim, rectangular hole, where the story once sat. In which he saw a pair of hazel eyes, speckled with jade, outlined in a smoky grey eye pencil, peeking through the space between the books.

He let out a quiet shriek of confusion and a quiet "Oh, shit!" But then that feeling went away and Frank just gazed into the other’s eyes, for at least a good five seconds, before the stranger spoke, “Do you want that book?” The voice was soft, and sweet, like cotton candy, “Um..Yeah, I do, but I can always find anoth-“ He was cut off, “No, no, you got it before me, honestly, you can borrow it first.” The voice and eyes insisted. Frank could see the eyes squint, as if the man was smiling. “That’s kind of you, thank you.” Frank replied gently, climbing down from the step ladder, sitting on it like a stool. The eyes and voice came with light footsteps, standing beside Frank. Frank’s eyes quickly examined him.

A boy, not a man, in skinny jeans covering his thin chicken-like legs, an IRON MAIDEN t-shirt hanging from his bony frame, a rainbow bracelet and pink converse, stood peacefully beside Frank. “I’m Gerard, and I’m sorry to of startled you.” He spoke gently, in a strong New Jersey accent, which made Frank blush, for no reason what so ever. “I’m Frankie, and it’s okay, it’s just because I thought I was the only one here.” Gerard nodded, understandably, “Same, I thought I was the only one here.” He giggled, and the giggle made Frank’s cheeks burn a light red, and a smile appear on his face, which he hid behind the book for a moment. He turned to look up at the obviously older boy, who was currently tucking his black, shrivelled hair behind his ear.

“I don’t think I’m going to borrow this book, so you can have it.” Frank noted, passing the book up to Gerard. The book in Frank’s hands, looked massive, but the book in Gerard’s looked like something Tinkerbell would own, “You have small hands.” The taller, slimmer boy nodded in unison with his own statement and Frank just shrugged with a gentle nod in agreement, standing up, “I’m rather small in general.” He chuckled and Gerard replied with a soft smile, and light hearted giggle, “Awh,” He said, running his thumb over the cover of the book, “That’s cute.” Gerard muttered, sweetly under his breath, like he was saying his thoughts out loud, but didn't want Frank to hear. “Thank you.” The small boy replied, with a slight smirk dancing on his piercing lips, sitting back on the step ladder. Gerard’s cheeks lit up in return, keeping his head ducked down, his black hair covering his eyes, falling onto the tip of his pointed nose. The other boy placed the book just in front of his face, his eyes peering out of the top, but were squeezed shut, masking the blush and goofy smile. Frank just shrugged, with a soft smile as he stood up, "I better get going..." He nodded, with a gentle sigh. He wanted to talk to Gerard so much more, but he got so shy. He turned on his heel, walking away, before feeling a soft hand on his own, tugging very softly. "I would love to talk more sometime?" Gerard suggested, cowardly, with an adorable smile. "I'd love that," The small boy's cheeks glowed with a light scarlet.


"Call me," Gerard beamed, scribbling his phone number on the back of Frank's hand. "Just call or text me, when you've thought of a date." He noted, as the younger boy nodded in agreement, "See you around, Gerard." He smiled, walking out of the library.

Frank wandered out onto the street, with a grin plastered on his face. He pulled out his phone, texting Gerard almost straight away, "Coffee, tomorrow 12 ish? xo" He got Gerard's reply suddenly, "Sounds like a plan, Frankie c; xox"

He was only ever planning to leave the library with a book, not with a cute boy's phone number and a date. The day was definitely turning out well for Frank and he hoped tomorrow would turn out even better.