Chapter Text
On the one hand, the girl needed help. She was trying to reach one of the books on the high shelves, and she was short as Honey Lemon was tall—that is to say, very.
On the other, she looked mean. Really mean. And if she looked this angry from not being able to reach a library book, then how much more could she get?
A part of Honey Lemon—the optimistic side—said she might not make fun of Honey Lemon.
Another part of Honey Lemon—the realistic, but not pessimistic side—reminded her that everyone made fun of Honey Lemon. Especially nowadays, when puberty had hit everyone, some like a freight train.
Honey Lemon had always been taller and lankier than everyone else, but puberty had just worsened that. And with what you look like—especially compared to what you used to look like—on everyone's mind every single day… well, it was really a question of when she'd get made fun of, rather than if.
A third part—the pessimistic side—tried to speak up, but Honey Lemon didn't let it say so much as a peep. It always made her feel bad, and she didn't like feeling bad.
I mean, who did?
So, Honey Lemon walked over, and got the book for the girl. Helping others always made her feel better, so much that Honey was smiling as she handed it over.
She hoped she wouldn't have a reason to stop smiling soon. Those were the worst—even worse than the pessimistic side.
But, to Honey's delight, the girl smiled back as she took the book.
“Thanks.” She said.
“You're welcome.” Honey Lemon replied, just as she was taught to, and always did.
It was then that Honey finally noticed just what book the girl was holding in her hands—and with their difference in height, it was easy to see the cover:
“Advanced Engineering Principles and Concepts”
And then Honey Lemon remembered what she was doing in the library in the first place: she was looking for a book on chemistry.
“This library needs more ladders.” The girl grumbled.
“Definitely.” Honey Lemon replied.
The library books were arranged from grade level and difficulty from ascending order, starting from the bottom shelves. The logic being, by the time someone would need, want to, or be able to read it, they would be old enough and consequently tall enough to actually reach it.
But if students like this girl—and the older students who were short—couldn't reach them, well, the library definitely needed more ladders.
“Hey.”
Honey Lemon snapped out of her mild outrage at the lack of accessibility for the vertically lacking, and turned to the girl. “Hm?”
“Did you need to find a book or something for class? You helped me get mine, I help you get yours, you know.”
Honey Lemon nodded automatically. It hadn't occurred to her that she might want not want to have a reason to keep interacting with this girl—if only because that minimized the chances of her being made fun of.
If you weren't around, they couldn't make fun of you. It was flawless logic. Well, more accurately, you couldn't hear them make fun of you, but still, it worked.
The girl looked back to the stacks of engineering and mathematics books. “So what is it?”
“Hm?”
The girl gave her a withering look. “The book you were looking for?”
Honey Lemon jumped a little and blushed. “Oh, right, it's uh...”
She debated lying. But then, that meant she would have to spend time searching for a book she didn't really need, and that would waste the girl's time, too, which made it doubly bad, so she didn't.
“It's a book on chemistry--'Sustainable Solutions for a New World,' it's called.”
The girl nodded. “You need it for class?”
Honey Lemon shook her head. “Actually, no, I need it for my own personal research.”
Honey Lemon froze. Terror filled her. “Personal research” implied she was studying for fun. And it also implied that she, obviously, wanted to be a scientist of some sort, or was doing something that required science.
She started thinking of what exactly this total stranger would think of someone like her wanting to become a scientist.
Honey Lemon knew she didn't look the part, at all—sure, her glasses were big, and glasses were nerdy, but did they ever have them in bright pink? And did any scientist she know wear dozens of rainbow good luck bangles on her arms, dresses that went out of style sometime in the 60's-70's, and pink kitten flip-flops?
The optimistic part of her said the girl would think it was pretty cool that she wanted to be a scientist at best, or make a polite, noncommittal answer that didn't swing to any real opinion.
The realistic, but not pessimistic part of her said the girl would probably look at her strangely, but only for a few seconds before they went off in search of the book.
The pessimistic part of her… well, Honey Lemon still wasn't listening to that.
The girl hummed. “You a scientist or something?”
Again, Honey Lemon shook her head. “Not yet. But I want to become one.”
The girl smiled. “That's cool. I want to become a scientist, too. An engineer.”
Honey Lemon smiled back even wider. “I want to become a chemist.”
The girl put her book under her arm and held out her other hand. “They call me GoGo.”
Honey Lemon reached out and took it. “Everyone calls me Honey Lemon.”
There were many more names than that, but Honey Lemon was the one that wasn't used to make fun of her.
“Let's go find that book, then, Honey.” GoGo said, before she walked off in search of the chemistry section.
Honey Lemon nodded and happily followed after her.
It was the start of a lot of big things, but Honey Lemon didn't know that just yet.