Chandler frowns even deeper, and then she scoots her chair in closer to the table and digs her laptop out of her bag. I watch as she types in the university website, fingers clicking away a lot faster than I can type.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping,” she says easily.
“You don’t have to do that. It’s Friday, I’m sure—”
“I’ve got nothing to do,” she says with a look that tells me she’s not too happy about that fact. “Besides, you helped me once. Remember?”
Her eyes find mine, and the smile we share is one I imagine only kids caught between being in college and being an adult could really understand.
“You can leave at any time,” I say as I turn back to the books.
“Shut up and keep digging.”
Silence envelops the library again, other than the soft sounds of students whispering, typing, and flipping pages. Every now and then, Chandler will pause me to show me something, or I’ll show her something, but we never quite find what we’re looking for.
Until…
“Aha!” she says — loud enough that the new librarian on shift gives her a look. She apologizes before moving her laptop over closer to me and whispering, “Look at this.”
I follow her cursor, reading to myself. When I finish, I sigh, pushing back in my chair again.
“So it is a real rule.” I shake my head. “I mean, not that I doubted it, but I hoped there would be a way. Stones around the fire or… or… a number of fire extinguishers on hand, buckets of water, something.”
“Adam, you didn’t read it all.”
I frown, looking at a smiling Chandler before I lean forward again. She lets me take the laptop from her, and I scroll down until I see the starred amendment at the bottom.
The amendment that says bonfire events may be approved by the Student Union so long as the following requirements are met and sufficient paperwork is provided.
The article goes on to list out the requirements — and just like I thought, it’s all things we can manage.
“I fucking knew it!”
“Shhh!”
Chandler and I bite back our laughs as we apologize, yet again, to the librarian. Then, we huddle closer as we look through the website.
“Okay, so we just need to make sure the fire is contained within a permanently structured area — easy enough, we could have it be a new addition to the house — and have a hose hooked up to the house for emergency.” I shake my head, and when I turn to Chandler, we’re nearly nose to nose. “Holy shit, you figured it out.”
“We figured it out,” she says, and as if she realizes how close we are, she clears her throat and sits back in her chair. Her hand sweeps out over the screen. “So, once you get those things taken care of and provide the paperwork and proof? You’ll be good to go.”
“Thank God,” I say, pushing her laptop back toward her. “Can you email that to me? I’ll get started in the morning.” I pause. “After a round of very stiff drinks tonight.”
She chuckles. “You got it.”
“Thank you,” I say earnestly.
“No problem,” she insists, her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink.
“Is there any way I can repay you?”
“Well, I kind of owed you, anyway,” she reminds me. “But… if you insist, how about not letting me hang out alone on a Friday night?” Her eyes meet mine then. “I’m so sick and tired of being the old girl on campus with no real friends.”
I bark out a laugh at that. “You are far from old.”
“Tell that to these eighteen-year-old bitches.”
Another laugh from me before I look at my phone, frowning at the time. “I’m supposed to have a video chat date night with Cassie in about an hour.”
When I look up at Chandler again, it’s just in time to see her playful smile slip, her eyes going back to her laptop as she sends off the email before closing the lid. “Oh,” she says, forcing a smile again and waving me off. “Well, consider us even, then. I’ve got some shows to catch up on, anyway.”
She’s already packing her things away, but I sigh, because I know exactly how she’s feeling. It does feel weird, to be too old to party and be a student, but too young to be an adult. It’s the strangest in-between, and being in a new place with no friends…
Well, it’s lonely.
“Wait,” I tell her, stopping her before she can stand. “Let me just step out and call Cassie. We can reschedule.”
Chandler shakes her head. “No, no, don’t do that, I’m sure she’s looking forward to it.”
“We talk all the time,” I assure her. “And I’m going to see her in just a couple weeks. She’ll understand.”
Chandler bites her lip. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. Give me a sec.”
We walk out of the library together after putting away all the books I’d strewn out, and then I excuse myself to the corner of the building, cursing against the biting cold as I find Cassie’s contact and let my thumb drop on the screen.