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It was weirdly quiet that day in the library. Well, most days should be quiet (it was a library, after all), but most days after school kids would wander around making noise, even after repeatedly being told to be quiet.
The sun outside was pleasantly warm, a faint breeze passing through the window Octavius sat next to. He sat there reading that month’s assigned reading for English class, the Odyssey, even though he was most likely the only one out of his class who would read it. He normally enjoyed reading and would either like or tolerate most books his English teacher made them read. Even though, reading the excerpts of the Odyssey was oddly fun for him. He'd always loved Greek mythology and had recently read the latest Percy Jackson book, so he was enjoying his reading, next to the window, where sun hit just right at that time of day and the breeze was perfect.
Octavius was happier though when a figure came into sight and sat in front of him, waiting for Octavius to finish reading and close the book was Aaron, an exception in Octavius’ life.
Aaron came into his life a couple of months back, sometimes they saw each other in school, never interacting, and regularly ran into each other in the library, as they both frequented the place. When they began seeing each other, Aaron merely sat next to Octavius, without talking. Sitting near him was great. Octavius was awfully quiet, so there was no noise, and knew he would never bother him. He was much too anxious to do either of those.
A month back they were both clearly done with homework and were doing nothing productive. Octavius was looking at a pair of mourning doves in a branch outside, trying to figure out if they were the same birds that perched there every day or not. He furrowed his brow trying to focus his vision which, despite his glasses, was blurry. Those glasses never fitted him, and the lenses had the wrong grading, but he wouldn't bother his mum about it; he should be thankful they had the money to buy those to begin with. The birds flew away, startled by some unheard noise, and Octavius, in frustration, decided he didn’t really care. When he returned his attention to his book, Aaron talked to him for the first time.’
“Do you know how to play chess?”
The question startled Octavius for various reasons. Because he was really in his head and the mere sound startled him, because he never expected the other boy to ever talk to him at that point, after more than a month of silent companionship. But mainly because he never thought his voice would sound like that. It was really nice, with a bit of the childish tone still there but not enough that it would be considered embarrassing for his age. It was softer and less deep than he´d expected, like a cello being played in a contiguous room. It was very pleasant.
He sat there staring at him for a couple of seconds before replying “Yes, but I'm not that good.”
Aaron smiled a bit and silently stood up to get a chess set from the library's collection of games.
They played for a couple of hours (Octavius winning 7 times while Aaron won 6) while they barely spoke, only talking about their moves or commenting after a game.
They kept playing until Evelyn, the librarian, saw them playing and approached their table.
“Octavius, Aaron, it is very late. The sun set about half an hour ago. What are you boys doing? You should head home before your parents worry.”
They looked at her when she spoke, having clearly startled them both, as they were currently in their own little bubble and had not realized the sun had set.
They looked at each other, then back at Evelyn when Aaron spoke “Miss Evelyn, can we finish this game before we leave?” As they stared at her she smiled. Evelyn had worked in the library for years now, before either of the kids had started elementary school, and she had seen them take refuge in the little building every recess, lunch, and holiday since they were little. She let them carry on, although telling them to be careful on their way home. They finished their game in peace, none of them rushing to get home. Octavius won, even though during most of the game both of them thought Aaron would, and they both started packing up. They both got their backpacks closed and went together to leave the chess set in silence. They waved to the two librarians still there at that hour, Evelyn, who was still keeping an eye on them, waved back and went back to work organizing the kids' section with a smile on her face, thinking about the two lonely boys who seemed to find each other.
As they left the library and started walking home they both felt a sense of peace. Their walk home was spent in silence, listening to the wind and the echoes of their steps in the pavement through empty streets. When they finally had to split, they waved each other goodbye and continued walking home. Octavius was glad repeating to himself the small lines and comments Aaron had said that afternoon, trying to replicate his voice, and found himself savoring the memory of each sound that came out of his mouth, while Aaron thought mostly the same but was mesmerized with how nice his name sounded, he repeated it a couple of times with a smile on his face as he walked the last bit home. Both of them felt a little less lonely that night.
They continued a weird routine during the next month. Some days they both did their homework in silence until one or both of them had to go home. If they had to go home at roughly the same time, they walked together until they had to part with a wave or a simple “bye”. Other days they played cards or chess or whatever game was in the library at the time. Other days they read in silence, just enjoying not being alone. But they barely talked. They occasionally commented about what they were reading. Other times, they talked during their games. And sometimes they complained about school, not in depth, just a small comment or a passing remark. Always in the library as they did not speak in school, most days they did not even see each other.
This changed one particularly calm day in the library.
Aaron sat in front of Octavius and looked at him, even with his eyes glued to the page he could feel how intensely he was staring, just waiting for him to finish reading. Octavius got his bookmark and dropped it into the page and looked back at Aaron.
They looked at each other. The first rays of the Golden Hour caressed Octavius’ face, the gentle breeze ran between them. Aaron smiled and asked,
“Have you played Catan?” For the first time Octavius could say he had not played the game and Aarons’ smile grew “Maybe this time I'll beat you at something”
Aaron opened the box in front of him and began explaining the game in great detail, not even looking at the instructions. While he put up the necessary arrangement to play, Octavius read through the rules and saw that everything Aaron had just said was correct and that he had explained it better than the guide.
“What? Do you not trust me?” He said, not looking up from the tiles he was placing
“Just wanted to know if you were the type to use house rules to his advantage” Octavius replied softly. He felt weirdly comfortable with Aaron, so his normally shy demeanor was tossed aside for a bit, even if he was still a bit soft spoken, his timid nature couldn't be fully cured after all.
Aaron looked up shocked at Octavius who was already looking at him and chuckled a bit, then went back to arranging everything.
When everything is set up they get their game pieces and roll a die to see who will place their settlement and accompanying road. Aaron ends up rolling a 4 and Octavius a 6.
“How are you this lucky? It’s insane “
Octavius shrugs his shoulders and smiles a bit. Octavius proceeds to place his pieces and Aaron follows. They start playing and slowly get into it. After a while Aaron feels the urge to start speaking and Octavius has never seemed opposed to talking to him.
So, he starts.
“What were you reading just now?” Octavius looks up from the board he was staring into and responds softly
“Oh, The Odyssey. Or like a condensed version of it? It's for Mr James’ class” he expects the conversation to end there. They normally do. They ask something, they get an answer and it's done.
It doesn't end there
“Mmm. My class doesn’t even have it on the reading list, I’m taking English with Miss Williams this year”
“Oh, the new teacher, isn't her class supposedly easier?”
“Yeah, apparently.” Aaron said a bit disappointed. It wasn't like he wanted bad grades because a class was too hard but sometimes being in Miss Williams’ class felt like he wasn't being taught all that he could’ve been.
They fell into some comfortable silence while they continued their game.
Octavius wanted to keep talking though. He always wanted to keep talking when he was with Aaron. But he never did. He was a bit too nervous to do so. Even at this stage he felt a bit on edge talking to people his age, as most people he interacted with at school were rather cruel to him. It had always been that way.
"You are chatty today, Aaron"
Aaron's gaze was fixed in the gameboard, "Well, chatring is part of the strategy aspect of the game, Octavius. It's about trading after all." Was he blushing slightly?
Aaron looked up from the board and surprised Octavius once more.
He kept talking.
“Is the book any good?”
Octavius stopped what he was doing to look up, only to see Aaron already looking at him and something inside him gave in.
“Yeah, it’s pretty good. I started it yesterday and I'm already like 150 pages in and I'm having fun. Most people in my class are complaining about it but I really like Greek mythology so I'm pretty excited to be reading it” while talking he averted his eyes and started fiddling with one of the pieces he had yet to place. When he finally stopped rambling, he looked up and thought he may have spoken too much.
Apparently, he hadn't
”That does not surprise me at all” Aaron said as they kept looking at each other.
“What?”
“The fact that you like Greek mythology. You look like you like Greek mythology”
Octavius looked back at him a bit dumbfounded.
“Is that supposed to be an insult?” He asked genuinely, a bit scared of what the answer may be.
Panic flashed through Aaron’s face as he rushed to respond.
“Oh, no, not at all. It’s just that. Um. You were reading that one book series that has Greek mythology a while back. And I don’t know. It’s just something that seems like you’d enjoy. I don’t know.”
Blush dusted Octavius’ cheeks as he chuckled a bit. He never expected to see the other boy as nervous as he had been seconds prior, desperate to clear up the situation. The knowledge that Aaron apparently cared enough to see and remember what he read roamed his head and would continue to do so even after the afternoon ended.
“It’s ok, I get it now. Do you want to continue?” The game having been left aside for a moment.
“Sure” Aaron responded, relief clear in his voice.
They continued playing and talking every once in a while. Either about the game or asking simple questions. They talked about a math test they had next week, apparently the math department decided to coordinate all exams for every grade. They talked about what Miss Williams’ class was reading (The lord of the flies) and about how horrible it was that they were firing Mr. Brown (the history teacher that everyone who loved history adored). They talked as their game got longer and longer (Aaron refused to give into Octavius’ strategy and exchange sheeps from him, what kind of maniac has a sheep monopoly with a sheep dock) and every simple topic they could talk about ran dry. But none of them wanted to stop talking. There were about 5 more people in the library at that point and 3 of them were Librarians or worked in the archives. The other two were far enough that Octavius and Aaron didn’t mind speaking at a normal volume in the library as they would not disturb anyone.
While Aaron tried his hardest to find another simple topic to start talking about, Octavius surprised him this time around.
He stopped dancing around deeper topics and went with it as he got another 2 sheep cards.
“Why are you always at the library, anyways?” He wasn’t even looking at Aaron, too preoccupied organizing his game.
After a few seconds of silence Octavius looked up and quickly realized that the question may have been…insensitive or too personal. Maybe both. Anyways he panicked a bit.
“Oh. I didn’t mean- I mean you don’t have to tell me, I’m sorry for- “
“No, it’s okay don’t worry “Aaron decided to cut him off before he started apologizing. The question had just caught him off guard and he needed a bit to analyze the situation. It’s not like he didn’t want to tell Octavius. He knew he would understand, even if they didn’t know each other much, he didn’t seem like the type of person to make fun of or judge someone from their situation. He just didn’t want Octavius’ perception of him to change. He knew he wasn’t cool. He had asthma, wore glasses and spent about 30% of his time in a Library. He was friends with all the librarians and some of the people who work in the Archive. He loves history and board games. He isn’t cool. But talking about his home life would open up the possibility for pity. It could change how they interact.
While he thought in silence for a bit Octavius had started fidgeting with the edge of his shirt and seemed to be in discomfort as he suppressed a tic or two. Or ten.
Just when Octavius was about to start apologizing again, Aaron decided to start talking.
“I have tried to spend as little time as possible at home since last year. I used to spend a lot of time here anyways but I started doing it a lot more lately” Octavius looked up, a bit shocked, but made sure to make it clear that he was indeed listening. Aaron continued. “I have a little sister. Her name’s Isabela. She turned two a week ago.” He made a pause and looked at Octavius, who stared at him patiently. “My parents have always been…uh… not in the best terms, I guess? They say they love each other but bad mouth the other all the time. They sometimes act like it’s my fault they’re mad at each other. They start yelling at me for whatever I did or didn’t do that week, even if I do everything perfectly, they find ways to blame me. We don’t have the best relationship and I prefer to just stay in my room or here.” He paused, considering the situation and thinking that if he already spoke this much, how much worse could it be if he just said it all.
“After my sister was born, they were both pretty happy for a while. They didn’t pay attention to me at all. But at least they weren’t fighting” At this point Octavius is completely focused on Aaron, no longer fidgeting, while the other started to feel overwhelmed with the attention and started to look out of the window. “After my mother’s maternity leave ended, she refused to go back to work. She just wanted to stay with her baby until she could be left at a nursery, she just keeps drawing out when that will be. So, the fighting started again. And it's worse. They never get physical, they've never hit me, but they scream at each other and the only times they remember I exist is to make me care for Isa or to scream at me for whatever.”
Aaron finally managed to look back at Octavius, who just stared at him wide eyed, not really judging or pitying, just surprised. Aaron looked down and decided to end his rambling. “So yeah, I don’t really want to be at home most of the time and the library is nice, I get to read and do my homework in peace. Also, I have nice company here” Octavius felt his ears flush as he tried not to look at Aaron so intensely, but he just couldn't look away. He didn't look sad or angry, he just sat there looking back at Octavius expecting any kind of reaction, he looked… scared or maybe anxious, as he started fiddling with a piece of the game long forgotten, just like Octavius had done minutes before.
Octavius could tell both of them were starting to get anxious, but he just couldn’t stop staring. He just couldn't get over the fact that Aaron actually opened up to him, a little more than a month ago he believed full heartedly that they would never actually speak, that they'd always sit in silence, sharing the same table almost every day. And now they were sitting talking and Aaron looked so open, and the light hit him just right as the sun started setting. His face being illuminated in a way which made his face look perfect, even with the remnants of childhood clinging onto his factions, his skin looked this beautiful color that complemented his eyes that shined an almost amber color behind his glasses. While he stared for an embarrassing amount of time, something clicked in his head. Something that made his chest warm and that he decided he didn’t want to think about right now. Or maybe ever.
He also realized he really needed to say something back.
“I uh. I stay here often because my mom usually works until really late and ends up getting home at horrible hours. 9 or 8:30 if she’s lucky. My dad’s never been in the picture and my grandparents are dead, so. Uh. She works really hard for us to live a nice life." He was still blushing and incredibly nervous, but he tried his hardest not to show it as he continued his second nervous rambling of the day “Anyways, I’ve never enjoyed being alone, I actually hate it to be honest. So, I ended up reading a lot at home, to distract myself. And then I decided to start spending time here. I can get new books when I finish one and I never feel really alone so it’s great. And now I get to spend time with you, which is also great” He cringed a bit as he realized what he said as his blush flared up again. “I really enjoy your company, even when we didn't talk. It's nice to have someone around and your company is really nice” He knew his face was red and that he’d probably die of embarrassment in a couple of hours, but right now he needed to say this. “So, maybe we could go to my house one day. If you’re sick of the library, I guess. Um..you’d be out of the house, and I get to be less alone. A win-win situation. And maybe I could bake something or make pancakes or whatever.” he breathed in for a second and continued “What I’m trying to say is: You can come over to my house, If you want.” he finished, almost as wed as the discarded game pieces Aaron held in his hand.
Now it was Aaron’s time to stare as he looked at Octavius, who tried his best to maintain eye contact but was apparently too anxious to stare back properly, looking at his sides a bit and fiddling with his shirt again.
He tried to look at him and ended up giving a small nervous smile as the last of the setting sun illuminated his face, his freckles showing through his slightly flushed face and glasses as his hair glimmered slightly. And he looked prettier than he ever had. As they both shared the silence and Octavius continued to fidget, Aaron felt something warm in his chest as he decided to finally respond.
“Yeah, I’d like that” Aaron said with a genuine smile “Are you free Friday?”
Octavius smiled back, still a bit nervous but with excitement clear in his eyes and looking like a weight lifted off of his shoulders
“Yes, I am. We could walk together after school?” he asked still a bit unsure
“Sure, that would be great” He responded as the sun finally set and they both looked at each other, feeling a bit less lonely than they had been before.