The Beginning of Never (The Never Trilogy #1) by O. E. Boroni Page B

I
was surrendering to. I still had my looming biology assignment, so I decided to
finally do something about it and go in search of a book that I could use; the
deadline was sometime this week.
    I
found what I wanted in minutes, but as I headed back to my table with the book
and the intention to begin the assignment, I suddenly felt exhausted. So I
gathered my things, and headed to the receptionist’s desk. She greeted me with
a smile, and accepted the book so that she could check it out.
    The
sight of a picture in the corner of her desk, showing two small boys – whom I
supposed were hers – hugging a dog between them, occupied me while she worked.
The absolute delight on their sunburned faces pulling a smile from me.
    Just
then, I felt someone come up beside me, so I turned and saw a tall boy with
ginger colored curly hair, placing an impossibly high stack of books on the
desk. When his polite smile met my widened gaze, I just had to ask.
    “Are
you going to read all that?”
    "No,”
he replied, his smile widening in amusement. “It's a list our physics teacher
requested ... I'm just helping him retrieve them."
    "Oh,
okay," I said with a nod. He had a clear sharp voice that anyone would
have expected to belong to a bold person, but he seemed to be very
self-conscious. His right arm kept going up to touch his left elbow as if he
couldn’t quite figure out how to place them, and his eyes were shifty as he
spoke, like he couldn't quite focus on me for more than two seconds at a time.
    His
smile was also shaky, I realized, when he stole a glimpse and caught me
watching him. I found it amusing, but in a good way, endearing almost, and it
instantly drew me to him. He seemed like an interesting person.
    "So,
are you a senior then?" I asked, as I collected my book from the
librarian. He nodded before handing the signed note for the order over to her.
    "Yup,"
he answered. "I've seen you around – you're in fourth year I
suppose."
    I
smiled, "I’m in the third actually."
    "Well,
you could easily have passed for fifth," he said, and I beamed at his ill
attempt at flattery.
    “Style”
was what more or less distinguished the years, and I knew that I would have
passed for someone in the second year (in fact, I was almost certain that I
did). My navy blue pinafore still hung loosely from my body, my hair was
constantly a wild mess and my face, ever devoid of even a hint of makeup, would
have easily led anyone to believe and conclude that I had an aversion to it. My
disregard for refinement was glaring, there was no argument there.
    "Do
you need help with that?" I asked, not genuinely with the intention to
assist, but with the hopes that I could be acquainted with him enough to ask if
he knew Nathan. It was petty and selfish, I knew, but I had run out of options.
    At
first he looked indecisive, but I wasn’t sure I would accept no for an answer
so I saved him the trouble, and took a few of the volumes off the stack before
he could make up his mind. He of course nodded his agreement then, and we
walked away together.
    "So
how come you're the one on library duty?" I asked.
    "Because
I'm the library prefect," he said. “And the geek of the
class. Actually the second geek; my cousin’s the first.”
    "Your
cousin's in your class? That sounds nice."
    "Yeah,
it is. Well, only sometimes, and I guess the duty just fits me more than anyone
else."
    "You
don't really seem like the book type," I teased, and he laughed, a hearty
and genuine sound.
    "You
definitely missed the curly hair memo."
    “There’re
no glasses," I pointed out as he used his back to push, and hold the door
to his class open, so that I could walk in.
    "I’m
just lucky on that count,” he said. “My cousin couldn’t escape it though.”
    Walking
over to the teacher’s desk, I placed the books on top of it while he came over
and did the same. We turned to each other.
    "So
…" I started. "It was nice meeting you."
    "It
was nice meeting you too," he said with his