Stuck in the middle of my own party, I desperately looked around the room, trying to figure out how to escape. I found a big black couch right next to the room’s Door. Perfect. I thought to myself as I pushed through the crowd and stopped in front of the couch. Making sure that nobody saw me, I got on all fours and crawled from the little space behind the couch and reached the room’s exit. 

I got up, dusted my clothes and just as I was about to turn towards the corridor that led me towards my room, I caught a pair of eyes, staring at me amongst the crowd, from the far corner of the room—my mom. I could feel the anger radiating from her gaze, and I knew that she was probably planning my murder, but I wasn’t going to let that hold me back. Not today. If I gave in today, I would regret it for the rest of my life. I looked away first, and instead of returning back to the crowded room, I sprinted towards my room. 

The oak door to my room scraped as I pushed it open. The do not disturb sign swung gently from the board that was hooked on the door as I tumbled inside my room. I shut the door behind me and exhaled a breath that I didn’t even realise I was holding in. That party was too much to take in. 

I quickly changed into my favourite hoodie, took off the scratchy clothes that my mom had forced me to wear, and tied my hair up into a bun. I closed my eyes and sighed with contentment. To be honest, I hated any clothes that were not hoodies.

I grabbed the back door key that I had snuck into my room last night and quickly pocketed it. I left my room and walked towards the back door, trying my best not to make any noise, which was a bit stupid judging by the fact that the music was on full blast from the party. Still, I couldn’t take the risk of being caught leaving the house by my mother.

I took a deep breath, closing the door behind me. As I walked further from my house, I realized the rest of the street was quiet. Just the way I liked it. The only light source was the street lamps and a pair of yellow eyes staring at me from a nearby brick wall. I paused, my heart pounding painfully against my ribs until the realisation hit me. The eyes belonged to my neighbour’s cat. I wiped off the cold sweat that had formed on my forehead and continued walking. Slowly, all the unease and tension disappeared as the cool midnight breeze brushed my face. 

My safe haven was just a few blocks down from our house, which made it easy for me to sneak out whenever I wanted, which was quite often. It also made it easy for my parents to find me the few times they realized I was not at home.

I stopped in front of a red brick building that was just barely visible with the street lamps. On either side of the entrance were two white pillars, the height of the two-story building,  and two long windows, on each floor. At the top, painted in slightly faded brown paint were the words “Oakbrook Library”. 

I smiled, this place felt more like a home than my actual house with my family.

Not wasting any more time, I pushed through the glass doors, smiling even wider when I noticed a familiar face sitting before me.

Alice Walker, the librarian who usually had the night shift, which was the only time I actually came to the library. I was the only few who did so my visits were usually quiet, comfortable and most importantly human-free. 

Alice looked up as I approached the desk and a mischievous grin spread across her face. “Happy sixteen Smith”, she said, knowing how much I’d been dreading the party I had just barely escaped. 

Alice was the closest thing to a best friend that I had. 

I frowned and hit her shoulder, showing how low my tolerance was for her jokes tonight. She knew not to mess with the cranky side of me so she let it slide with a shrug. 

“So, what Book are you going to try today?” she casually asked, looking back into her monitor and aggressively typing something. I noticed how whenever she was focused on her work, her eyebrows scrunched into a v and she got those wrinkles on her forehead.

“Actually, I don’t know yet,” I said, casually picking up a book stacked on her messy desk, and reading the title. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” I read, slowly placing it back and focusing my gaze back upon Alice.

“Where are the new books kept?” I asked, admiring the rows, upon rows of books that awaited me. She glanced at me and pointed towards her right. “It’s on the third and fourth shelves there.” I quickly mumbled thanks and started walking towards the direction she had pointed. 

As I walked down the book-packed shelves, the scent of old parchment and wood hit my nose, which instantly faded all my worries. Touching the smooth bindings of brand-new, and ancient books gave me a whole new perspective on books. The feeling of the thin and overused papers gave the books a strange new look, even though it was old. The weight of the books differed from each other, there are thick and heavy ones which are harder to carry around compared to the thin, light books that are easier to walk around with. Looking at the shelves upon shelves of unread books, made me wonder about the endless adventures I was yet to go on. 

This is exactly how I wanted to spend my sweet sixteen.

I reached the shelf I was looking for after ten minutes, due to my habit of pulling out any book that caught my attention and storing its name in my memory, as a mental reminder to myself to read the book in the future. 

I walked around the shelf, noticing some interesting books, a bunch of cheesy romance novels, a row of history books, and even a few horror comics. I looked around a bit more, still not having found the perfect book, and then, my eyes fell on a particular book that seemed like it had been misplaced among the bright and lively books. 

This book had a faded brown leather cover, with what seemed like gold embedded into the sides. The peculiar thing about it was that it had no name printed on its spine. Strange, I thought to myself, as I reached out my hand to take out the book I was left grunting with effort. The book seemed stuck. 

Suddenly, the book went out through the other side, and in the gap where the book lay before, were a pair of bright blue eyes, more beautiful than any eyes I’d ever seen before.