“But I would like to get to know you,” Brody said, smiling. “If you would let me.”
Brody walked them out to his car, and once again he opened the door for her. Once Mina was safely inside with her seatbelt buckled, Brody started the car.
“Where to?”
“I thought you knew everything about me. So you should know where I live.”
“Uh, not really. My father’s friend had problems pinpointing the exact address. He only knew the area. Why is that?” he asked. “Are you hiding from the mob or something?”
“Or something,” she answered. “Can you take me to the library?”
“The library! My, aren’t we studious.” Mina rolled her eyes and went for the door, but Brody stopped her again. “Hey, I’m kidding around. The library it is.” He turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, putting on their local pop music station for their drive. The silence seemed to draw a wedge between them, but Mina wasn’t going to be the first one to speak. A few exits later, they pulled into the parking lot of the town’s small white library.
Mina jumped out as soon as the car pulled to a stop. “Thanks for the ride. And sorry. You know, about earlier. I’m sure you’re a nice person.” She gave Brody a fake smile and grabbed her backpack and shut the car door. Brody’s door opened and he shut his door after her. “You don’t have to stay,” she told him. “I’m going to be here for a while.”
“I’ll wait for you. You’re even farther away from home than before, and I’m definitely not letting you walk home alone.”
“I can call for a ride. My mom will be home soon,” Mina said, speaking quickly. This was definitely not a research trip she wanted to share.
Brody looked at her. “Mina, you are not getting rid of me that easily. I’m already here. Let me help you.”
“I don’t need help.”
“Alright. Then let me come and do my own thing. I need to study too, you know.” Brody swung his own bag over his shoulder and walked up the steps through the glass doors. Once again, Mina had no choice but to follow behind.
Mina loved the smell of libraries, loved the smell of old books and the soft hum of the lights. It was probably why she was so out of tune with kids her age. She didn’t watch a lot of TV, and she spent more time reading than socializing, except for hanging out with Nan.
Once she’d shooed away Brody, Mina walked past Mrs. Toole, the head librarian, stopping only long enough to wave, and headed straight for the reference section. Scanning the numbers and stopping at 398.2, Mina began pulling out various collections of tales and individual stories.
“What’s with the fairy tales?” she heard suddenly, and again there was Brody, taking the books from Mina to stack them against his chest.
“Homework,” Mina replied distractedly. “I thought you had some of your own.”
“What classes are you taking that you get to read kids' books?” he said, reading the spines. “Maybe I should take it.”
Mina grinned. “It’s for a project at home, not school. And I can carry them myself.” She grabbed the stack from Brody and made her way to an empty table in the back of the library.
Sitting down, Mina grabbed a book and began searching for clues, while keeping a corner of eye alert for Brody and his habit of sneaking up on her. Within a few minutes she saw him stretching out at a table nearby, reading a small paperback. Mina found it difficult to do any reliable searching with Brody sitting a few feet from her, and he didn’t look uncomfortable at all. She would have thought that he would be antsy and dying to get out of the library.
She found herself unable to stop sneaking glances, enthralled with his lanky posture, the way his blonde hair fell over his eyes as he turned the pages. He seemed content, at peace. Once his eyes met hers and she blushed in embarrassment, hoping he didn’t think she’d been staring at him. After two hours of trying to concentrate, reading as many fairy tale histories as she could, she slammed the latest book closed, feeling fatigued. Brody had barely moved, but looked up at her with a worried expression.
“Come on, let’s get you something to eat.” He took the book from her hand and laid it on the table.
“No, I’m fine…really.” Mina’s heart started to beat faster with worry. If she went to get food with Brody, that would be too close to a real date.
“I’m hungry; I didn’t eat much at lunch today.” Heat rose up the back of her neck when she recalled that he dumped his lunch in the garbage. This time, she didn’t argue.
They left the library and Brody drove toward a small 60’s drive-in, where he ordered hamburgers and fries for them both at the speaker box.
“I didn’t know they still had these,” she said in awe.
“Yup. Isn’t it great? My parents took me here all of the time when I was a kid. I was obsessed with the speaker box, so my parents always let me order for everyone. One time I ordered eight milkshakes, so we drove them back and gave them to our staff.” Brody smirked, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
Mina was stunned by his good looks and completely lost her train of thought. When the food came, they ate and talked about funny stories from their childhood. At one point, she realized Brody was watching her out of the corner of his eye, and secretly smiling.
“What’s wrong? Do I have food on my face?” Mina asked, suddenly nervous.