Ramona and I walked down the steps of the apartment complex, each carrying a stack of books to be returned to the library.
“I can’t believe you’re already done with these,” Ramona commented.
“None of them had what I was interested in,” I replied. “Besides, they get surprisingly repetitive.”
Celeste, leaning against the wall, waited for us at the bottom of the steps.
“Um, hello?” Ramona said once we reached the ground. She peered at Celeste cautiously, as if trying to determine if Celeste was a threat.
“Do you not recognize her?” I asked at Ramona’s look. “This is Celeste, my friend from recruit training. I hope you don’t mind her coming along. She’s interested in understanding magic better, too.”
“Oh, right,” Ramona replied, her suspicious gaze turning into a glare. Celeste seemed undisturbed by Ramona’s reaction.
“I remember you,” Ramona continued. “You’re the owioerheiwjdfmwed Dax to a party with all your inconsiderate friends. Do you have any idea hewoirjkewmlfdhweijrfser hurt her?”
“Like you’ve never been inconsiderate?” I snapped before Celeste could respond.
Ramona glanced at me, wide-eyed. Then her face turned bright red as she stared down at the stack of books in her arms. I passed my stack to Celeste and placed a hand on each woman’s shoulder.
“I’ve already forgiven both you for what’s happened,” I said. Then, with a pointed look at Ramona, I said, “Just don’t do it again.”
Ramona nodded.
“I did talk to them,” Celeste said.
“You’ve mentioned,” I replied.
Celeste glanced at the books in her arms. She seemed surprised they were there. “Why am I holding these?”
“Because you’re checking them out as soon as I return them?” I replied with a smile.
Celeste rolled her eyes in response.
When the three of us arrived at the library, Olivia greeted us at the checkout counter with a bright smile.
“We’re herhewijtern Dax’s books,” Ramona announced.
“And I’m here to check them out after her, apparently,” Celeste told Olivia.
“Of course,” Olivia replied. “I jeiruewoirjfekwdsoore no one’s ahead of you.”
As Olivia pulled out a thick folder, Ramona stepped away from the counter, saying something about work as she left.
“None of the texts really mentioned this,” I said, leaning against the counter, “but do you know of books on unraveling and reraveling.”
Olivia froze in turning a page. Both she and Celeste stared at me as if I’d grown a third arm. Even Ramona had stopped in her tracks to stare back at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Reraveling?” Olivia replied. “I’ve never heard of that.”
“It might be called something different.”
Olivia shook her head. “Look, texts specifically on unraveling are very rare and we don’t have any in this library. I could pweoirewjfuwiojest for you, but your reading would have to be supervised.”
“Never mind,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll figure it out on my own.”
“You can keep the books,” Celeste said to Olivia. Then she turned to me, her dark blue eyes practically sparkling. “Tell me more about this ‘reraveling’ thing.”
To be continued…