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The bookstore is on a street Allison goes down every other day on her way to the archery studio she works at. It looks inconsequential, like an average used bookstore that boasts the same quaint, dusty charm to offset the shiny international chain the next block over. She’s never had much time for reading these days, and hasn’t had a reason to go into any booksellers since the beginning of the semester when she gets textbooks for class. Even then, she opts for the chain, since its easier than picking through used stores for decent copies of the edition her professors demand. So the locally owned bookstore remains in the background of Allison’s life, inconsequential and sedentary.
But when her noon appointment gets cancelled, Allison goes in for lack of anything else to do.
Her expectations are met as she looks around. The shelves are standard and brimming with neatly placed books all in varying levels of condition. Further in she can see a couple of armchairs in surprisingly good shape, and in the corner there’s a rickety narrow staircase that presumably leads to a second floor. Everything smells like worn pages and dust, with a hint of some floral spray. Idly, she begins picking through the books nearest to her and brushes her fingers across the glossy titles declaring various planet types and garden tips.
“Are you looking for a book on gardening?” a high, clear voice calls out to her.
Allison turns to answer and stops in her tracks.
Across the room, perched behind the counter is the most beautiful girl she’s ever seen. She’s nearly ethereal, with red hair cascading over her shoulders, pursed pink lips, and green eyes that pierce expectantly at Allison. She shines in comparison to the boring store, almost out of place with how well dressed and dignified she carries herself.
She tries to swallow, but finds her mouth is too try. Nerves start crawling up her skin, and Allison hasn’t felt this overwhelmly awkward since high school. But she can’t help it, because even as the other girl starts to frown at her impatiently, she’s still more gorgeous than anyone Allison can imagine.
“Are you single?” she blurts out entirely against her will. Allison is immediately horrified with herself, and watches in terror as the girl’s face closes slightly.
“No,” the girl says primly, straightening her shoulders slightly as she breaks eye contact in favor of looking back at her magazine.
“Oh good,” Allison breathes easier, the prickling subsiding slightly. She beams easily at the girl, who has resumed looking at Allison, this time with a confused expression. “Its just if you were single, I would be too nervous to even talk to you,” Allison explains, feeling silly but still relieved. “It’ll be easier now that I know I don’t have to worry about trying to impress you if you’re already dating someone.”
The girl stares at Allison, who just widens her smile like offering an apology.
“Did you need something?” she asks, apparently going to disregard Allison’s mortifying confession.
“I was just browsing,” says Allison happily, pushing dark strands of hair out of her face.
“Anything in particular or are you going to stick with the gardening section?” the girl nods to where Allison is still idling next to the shelf of botany books.
“I like fiction,” Allison offers. “Something with action?”
The girl immediately slides out from behind the counter and Allison is so glad she’s not single because the girl’s legs were enough to short circuit her brain. Thankfully, Allison considers herself a decent person and would never flirt with someone who isn’t available or receptive, so she obediently follows the girl through the stacks and only limits herself to a single, two second glance at where her skirt meets thigh. Fulfilled of that, Allison begins to contemplate what kind of person wears high heels to their job at a bookstore.
“You look like a Hunger Games kind of girl,” the bookstore clerk says, heading to where there’s three well-kept copies of the first book. She glances back over her shoulder at Allison, immaculate eyebrows raised. “Have you read them?”
“Not yet,” Allison admits. “But my best friends keep insisting I read them, since there’s archery.”
The redhead pulls the nicest copy off the shelf, then plucks the second and third parts of the series out without much hesitation. “Are you an archer?”
“Yeah,” Allison is just trailing after her now. The girl seems to have decided for her that she’s going to be reading the book and is sauntering back to her counter, trilogy tucked under her arm. “I work at the archery studio down the block.”
The girl makes an acknowledging noise and swishes behind the register to ring up the book.
“You’ll probably like this one then,” she says, tossing hair off her shoulder and pinning Allison with a gaze. “I’ll just give you the first one in case you don’t though, and hold the other two if you want them.”
“Thanks,” Allison is pretty sure she’s grinning stupidly as she pays, but the redhead just slides the book over and smiles back.
“Have a good day,” she recites. Its sweeter than the bell that rings behind Allison as she leaves.
--
Allison devours the book in a week and stops by the bookstore again on her lunch break. The entire week she was preoccupied with the novel, but thoughts of the beautiful bookstore girl wtih the steady gaze captivated her even more than the dystopian world.
“Connect with Katniss then?” the girl smirks when she sees Allison sheepishly hovering in the doorway.
“It was great,” Allison walks up to where the girl is already rummaging through something out of sight. After a moment, she pulls the sequel out and slaps it on the table.
“This is the best one,” she declares, looking Allison in the eye. “I don’t normally read fiction but it gets boring here and I run out of non-fiction.”
“What kind of non-fiction?” Allison can’t help but ask. Of course this girl is devastatingly beautiful and brilliant. Its lingering in the back of her mind that the other girl is in a relationship, but she’s still too entranced by her to pass up an attempt to at least be friends.
“Mathematics and science mostly,” the girl shrugs like its no big deal even though Allison is practically ready to swoon. “I’m double majoring in math and chemistry at the university.”
“That’s amazing,” smiles Allison, because it is and she’s thoroughly impressed by this girl who seems to possess every attractive quality Allison could hope for. Except for being single, or even possibly into girls.
The girl just hums a little, a smile toying at the edges of her mouth. She leans down behind the counter and retrieves the final book in the trilogy to add on the counter with the second. “I assume you’ll want both?”
Trying not to show her slight disappointment because she was hoping for a third reason to come back, Allison nods and digs in her pocket for the cash.
--
She finishes the trilogy in three weeks and is back at the bookstore before she can help it.
The usually empty bookstore is occupied this time with an arrogant looking guy leaning against the counter like he does it all the time. He’s arguing lightly with the redhead so Allison ignores the burning twist in her gut and heads to the non-fiction section. She tries not to eavesdrop, but its pretty clear that the gorgeous guy is the girl’s boyfriend, judging by the familiar way they act around each other and the fond look in their eyes even as they snipe at each other.
Allison wanders along the shelves, looking for something she can get her dad for his birthday and pretending like she can ignore the couple across the store. After a while, she finds something on the history of hunting and pulls it from the shelf to flip through.
“Allison!” the high voice raises to call out to her and Allison’s head jerks up to see the girl and guy staring at her. The guy is pouting, but the girl is smiling, so Allison focuses on that.
“Lydia --” the guy gets cut off by the girl -- Lydia, Allison thinks, finally a name, she’d been meaning to ask -- who just charges over him.
“Done with fiction?” Lydia asks, her voice beckoning Allison closer. She approaches warily, clutching the book and aware of the way the guy is regarding her. Idly she wonders if he always looks so disdainful or if he somehow knows about the crush she’s formed on his girlfriend.
“This is for my dad,” Allison says. The guy is blocking the counter, so she stands awkwardly until Lydia holds out a hand for the book and pushes at her boyfriend with the other.
“Hunting?” Lydia asks curiously. The guy scoffs. Allison locks her eyes on Lydia to avoid glaring at him.
“My dad’s into it.”
Lydia smiles at her, but the guy is there, impatiently interrupting.
“Lydia --”
“Go back to London, Jackson,” Lydia snaps, not looking at him as she rings up the book. “Its fine. Danny’s fine, I’m fine. We don’t need you to call or email like last time. Not at all.”
Allison winces at the severe sarcasm dripping in her saccharine voice and wonders if she caught them in a break up. While that would normally be ideal for her, she wouldn’t actively wish Lydia would break up with her boyfriend if that caused her any unhappiness. Lydia is shooting for a haughty, casual attitude, but there’s still a displeased twist hovering at the corners of her eyes and between her brows. Allison just wants to soothe those lines, but keeps her hands firmly at her sides instead. Huffing, Jackson throws himself further against the counter and crosses his arms. He glares at the shelves nearest to him, waiting for Allison to finish paying.
“I’ll see you next time,” Lydia says sweetly and Allison leaves, a turmoil of emotions swirling inside her.
--
Its another month before she can steal away to the bookstore. Allison is balancing working at the studio as well as her own archery practice, school, her dad’s sudden interest in increasing family time, and Scott’s eager attempts to make her best friends with his new girlfriend.
But all her stress still dissipates when she walks into the store.
Lydia’s there as usual, lounging behind the counter with a physics textbook so Allison starts toward her immediately.
“When do you have time to go to class?” she asks in lieu of greeting with a teasing edge.
“Maybe I just always happen to be working when you come in,” Lydia says, casting her a sly look from over the edge of the book. Allison beams before she remembers the guy from last time.
“Did your boyfriend go back to London?” Allison can’t help but ask. Curiosity burns through her helplessly as she thinks about how long Lydia would need before Allison would have a chance, or if Lydia was even into girls, or if Allison would at least be a friend to her if she needed a shoulder to cry on. She naws at her bottom lip with her teeth, trying to keep these thoughts off her tongue.
“Jackson?” Lydia scoffs with a little roll of her eyes. “He’s not my boyfriend. He was, like two years ago, but we broke up and we’re just friends now.”
“Oh,” Relief courses through her before Allison remembers that Lydia still said she was in a relationship, and if its not Jackson, then that means she’s likely still with whoever she’s dating.
“Yes,” Lydia smiles at her fondly for a moment before clapping the physics book shut. “What are you looking for today?”
“I need something in French,” Allison says, enjoying the slow spread of Lydia’s mouth as her expression changes from slightly amused to entertained. “For my French class.”
“Upstairs,” Lydia says, nodding to the narrow stack of stairs in the corner. She hops off her stool and smooths her skirt. “I have to go with you, to make sure you don’t steal anything.”
There’s a teasing crinkle to her eyes that makes Allison laugh. Lydia leads her upstairs, heels loud against the creaking structure of the steps. The second floor isn’t too different from the first, just with different sections. The worn hardwood floor is the same, and the signs proclaiming the subjects are all similar to the neatly made ones downstairs. Sashaying across the floor, Lydia goes for a bookshelf labeled ‘Foreign Languages’ and indicates the French shelf with a flourish of her dainty hand.
“Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of donations for foreign works,” Lydia says, leaning against the bookshelf as Allison inspects the titles. “What French class are you in?”
Allison explains to her the French minor she’s tackling that has no bearing on her kinesiology major. She even goes as far as to admit that she’s considering switching to a French major entirely, since learning about the history and connecting it with her family is more appealing than boring biology classes. Lydia listens intently, toying with the edge of her skirt as she looks up a Allison.
Its flattering to have Lydia’s full attention like this, and Allison loses herself a bit as she speaks, only half aware of the words she’s rambling as she holds Lydia’s gaze.
The sound of the bell faintly tickling through the air downstairs shocks her out of the moment though, and Lydia sighs as it breaks apart.
“I have to go down,” she says. Allison nods, blinking away the haze that Lydia had cast in her mind.
Five minutes later, she goes back down with a book in hand to see Lydia laughing spectacularly with another guy, this one with darker skin and a friendlier face. The stairs squeak so both glance up when Allison enters, Lydia beaming and the guy smirking.
“Find one?” Lydia says, perky as ever. This, Allison thinks, must be the real boyfriend. He moves over to let Allison take a place at the counter and winks at her when she accidentally catches his eye.
“Danny,” Lydia sings in a high tone edged with warning, and the guy snaps his eyes back to her, grinning ruefully.
Did Lydia think her boyfriend was checking Allison out? Surely he wouldn’t do that right in front of his girlfriend. He already seemed more easygoing than the last guy, Jackson. She frowns to herself, watching Lydia’s small hands swipe her credit card with practiced ease.
“So you’re Allison,” Danny says without it being a question. She raises her eyebrow, wondering if he had glimpsed it on her card when Lydia took it. His dark eyes keep sparkling with unknown mirth, flickering between Allison and Lydia with raised eyebrows.
“Danny,” Lydia says again, her voice pitched lower and more threatening than before. She doesn’t look at him as she hands Allison the book, receipt neatly tucked into the front page as usual. Allison smiles at her automatically when Lydia says, “Hope to see you soon.”
The warm tingling spreading low in her belly stays with her all the way until she reaches the door and she hears Danny laughing. She remembers boyfriend and the pleasant feeling dissipates by the time the door swings shut behind her.
--
Scott knows her better than anyone in the world, earned by their four year relationship in high school and the fact that she’s still pretty sure they’re stuck as each other’s soulmates no matter what. Its just considerably more platonic these days, especially with Kira getting Scott’s dopey romantic face at full blast and Lydia weighing on Allison’s mind every time someone brings up dating or she sees a redhead on the street.
She’s turning her head at the sound of clicking high heels when Scott brings it up.
“Who are you in love with?” he sounds curious and slightly hurt that she wouldn’t tell him, but his eyes are earnest as ever. Always ready to support her.
“I’m not,” Allison says, even as her mind starts scrambling to push thoughts about Lydia out before Scott can read them all over her face.
“You are,” Scott accuses lightly. He grins. “Someone I know?”
“She has a boyfriend,” Allison says, because its better to nip these things before Scott gets too attached to the idea and starts helping her plan sweeping acts of grand romance.
In tandem to her confession, Scott’s face falls. “I’m sorry, Allison. Don’t give up hope though?”
Allison just shakes her head. They’re sitting in the cafe outside of the university so Scott can meet with her between classes. She’s on edge ever since a stray thought filtered into her brain that suggested perhaps Lydia frequented this cafe between classes as well. The potential to see her outside of the dim bookshop and in the light of day leaves Allison darting her eyes every time the door opens. Examining this behavior, its easy for her to admit how Scott would pick up on her crush.
“Sorry, but it looks like I don’t have a chance,” Allison says with a little shrug. She’s getting used to the fact that Lydia has a boyfriend, even if jealousy still sours in her whenever she thinks about Danny’s laugh or the shine in his eyes when they were together. At least Lydia is happy, and Allison doesn’t have to worry about embarrassing herself too much.
They can be friends. Allison really wants to be her friend.
She voices this to Scott, who smiles approvingly at her. “I think that would be nice. I’ll have to meet her sometime and we can all hang out. We’ll invite Stiles so its not like, an accidental double date.”
He leaves not long after that, on route to his animal physiology class, but Allison has another half hour before work.
She heads to the bookshop.
--
This time the space behind the counter is empty when Allison walks in, but at the sound of the chimes above her head, Lydia calls from the back of the shop.
“Be with you in a minute!”
Not having prepared any sort of excuse to be in the bookstore so soon after her last visit, Allison starts forward, following where Lydia’s shout originated.
She’s in the Shakespeare section, shelving a stack of books. Allison gets caught up in watching the pull of her shoulders under her blouse and the way she has to stand on her tip toes to reach higher shelves. Its adorable and sexy and Allison has to shake herself out of the trance quickly before everything derails over the sight of Lydia’s smooth calves. She’s biting her lip, trying to collect her thoughts when Lydia whirls around, hair flying and skirt skimming. Eyeing Allison with an unreadable expression, Lydia cocks an eyebrow expectantly even as her lips start to curl softly.
“Here for another book?” Lydia asks, half turning to resume her job.
“Yes.”
“Any thoughts as to what kind?” Lydia considers Allison knowingly and for a wild moment, she thinks Lydia knows about her crush.
“No,” Allison forces out. Lydia nods, unsurprised, and draws a worn paperback from the stack to press into Allison’s hands. “A Midsummer Nights Dream?”
“Yup. Its about love.” Lydia continues reshelving until everything is in place, then spins back and brushes by Allison to ring up the book.
Something about the way Lydia is acting stirs in the back of Allison’s mind, but she’s used to attempting to suppress her feelings, so she pushes the thought away and focus on where Lydia is tapping at the register.
“How’s your boyfriend?” Allison says when the silence has stretched. Lydia gives her a sharp look momentarily before rolling her eyes and sighing.
“Danny isn’t my boyfriend either,” she says briskly. “He’s my best friend. And gay.”
“Oh.”
It’s deja vu. Lydia tosses her an exasperated glance before gently nudging at the book into Allison’s hands. Thick curls swim down her shoulder as she purses her coral lips and tilts her head at Allison. “Yes, I think you should definitely read this one.” Lydia’s eyes are intent and focused. “And pay attention to the themes, alright?”
Allison nods in agreement and leaves the store in a daze.
--
She comes back the next day, utterly confused as to what Lydia was getting at with A Midsummer Nights Dream. Allison has never had the head for Shakespeare, but she can pick up on the running thread of, wake up from your dream and get your head on straight.
But she’s really hoping that’s not what Lydia meant. If it is, then Lydia has picked up on Allison’s crush and is trying to let her down easy via cryptic Shakespeare messages. Hopes of being Lydia’s friend diminishes by the second, so she’s grateful when she steps into the store and Lydia is by herself at the counter.
“Hey you,” Lydia greets, easy and open. Allison’s heart soars, thinking perhaps Lydia will be okay with Allison’s little crush and can excuse it. Maybe friends is still on the table. “Did you like the play?”
“I’m not really a Shakespeare person,” Allison admits, fiddling with the strap of her bag.
“So you didn’t get it?” Lydia sounds disappointed and frustrated, and Allison hates that she put that tone there.
Frantically trying to backtrack, she says, “Maybe you could clarify it for me?”
The other girl’s mouth quirk up at that, and Lydia settles more comfortably on the countertop, flashing an eyeful of cleavage as she taps a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “Well its about love, of course, and its complexity. But the part I was aiming at for you to get was the mis--”
“Lydia are there any books about math tutoring that you haven’t scribbled notes into?” another girl appears out of nowhere, a frown on her face that doesn’t change when she sees both of them. Lydia heaves a sigh and straightens off the counter.
Suddenly Allison connects that Lydia never said boyfriend, just “not single,” and if Danny and Jackson weren’t with her then --
Her heart sinks spectacularly at the juxtaposition of emotions: sudden hope that Lydia is into girls and crushing disappointment that she’s got a girlfriend. The other girl barely spares Allison a second glance before sauntering behind the counter to join Lydia, all loose bones and careless movement. The new girl is pretty, with large eyes and thick hair, and even an expression that appears permanently disgruntled doesn’t detract from that. Allison is hyper aware of the lack of personal space the girl gives Lydia as the redhead types into a computer, presumably looking at their database.
“My notes are more beneficial than those undeveloped books,” Lydia says crabbily. She’s jabs a finger at the screen and the girl hooks her chin over Lydia’s shoulder to see. Dread shudders down Allison as she watches the girl press her entire body against Lydia’s, leaning with the air of nonchalance. Definitely the girlfriend. Intense envy joins the dread because now Allison knows Lydia is into girls but still isn’t on the market. “Those are the only ones we have, Malia. You’ll have to wait for the semester to end when the freshmen come to sell them back.”
Malia whines, still hovering in Lydia’s space until the latter pushes her away. Allison loiters awkwardly.
“Can you not do that while I’m at work and there are customers,” Lydia snaps lightly. Allison’s heart lands even heavier into her stomach at the word. Just a customer, then. Maybe she could work with that.
Rolling her eyes, Malia retreats from behind the counter and finally glances at Allison. “Why are you staring at me?” she asks bluntly, jolting her from her thoughts.
Lydia looks between them and answers before Allison can fumble with an answer. “Malia isn’t my girlfriend.”
The girl in question furrows her brow and curls her upper lip, like she’s confused but still prepared for a challenge. “Why would you think I’m Lydia’s girlfriend?”
“You lack personal space,” Lydia waves her off, still regarding Allison with a fresh wave of determinism. “Leave, Malia.”
“Even I know that’s rude,” Malia grumbles. There’s not much fight though, as she obediently takes for the door, shooting another glower at Allison and tossing a half-wave to Lydia. When the door’s usual bell jingles her exit, Lydia presses her lips together.
“The theme in the play I wanted you to think about was miscommunication,” Lydia says carefully. She raises her eyebrows as she watches Allison’s expression, which is still stuck on perplexed.
“Okay,” this doesn’t clear anything up in Allison’s head about what Lydia is trying to say. Maybe she was trying to tell Allison that she wasn’t into girls and there was a disconnect in communication about it?
She should have paid more attention when they did Shakespeare in high school.
“Allison,” Lydia exhales with excessive exasperation. She squeezes her eyes shut as if collecting herself, then opens them with renewed vigor. “Why did you ask me if I was single that first day?”
“Because,” Allison picks up the thread easily: this she can at least explain. “I told you, if you were single I was going to be all weird and too nervous around you because the potential for dating would be on my mind. Since you’re dating someone I can act respectful and don’t have to worry about trying to, I don’t know, impress you because dating isn’t on the table. I was just relieved I wasn’t going to act like an idiot around you because you’re so amazing.”
“Alright,” Lydia nods at this slowly, soaking in the words with a calculating expression that quickly morphs into something sly and fierce, scorching straight into Allison’s chest. “Well let me clarify for you: I’m not dating anyone.”
“What,” the confusion is back, but this time, with a layer of optimism. This time, Allison doesn’t tamp it down. “But you said --”
“I said I wasn’t single because you could have been a creep,” Lydia shrugs. “I get those all the time and its awful when I’m at work because I literally can’t escape. So I’m used to telling people I’m in a relationship.”
“But you’re not,” Allison echos distantly. The blood is roaring in her ears, heart thumping wildly where it’s soaring in her chest. With the way Lydia is looking at her, fondly amused and lit up with anticipation, Allison knows she can ask now. She knows that maybe she has to start worrying a little about impressing the beautiful genius who works part time in a bookstore, but by Lydia’s smile, it looks like she doesn’t have to think about it too hard.
“Okay,” Allison steps forward so her stomach is flat against the edge of the glass counter. Lydia cocks an eyebrow in almost a challenge, unconsciously leaning forward as well. Licking her lips, Allison watches Lydia track the movement and smiles helplessly, using all her teeth. “Okay,” she repeats herself, letting the corner of the barrier between them dig into her. “I’m going to ask again, just to be sure. Are you single?”
“Not anymore,” Lydia murmurs, and presses their lips together.