#library girl
Fictober Day 19 - Turning Over a New Leaf (Final Fantasy VIII fanfiction)
(prompt: “Oh please, like this is the worst I have done.”)
(See the rest of the stories so far)
(Long post ahead)
One of the library committee members looked up at the girl trudging through the door, arms full of small, colorful bags.
“All right! The snacks are here! This meeting of the Library Committee can officially start.”
The other girl dumped the bags of snacks onto the table with a sigh. “The snacks are here,” she repeated. “Not Emmy. The snacks.”
“Aw, Em, I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I guess. But you sounded an awful lot like … him.”
“Still no luck, huh?”
“Oh, Rosalie, I don’t know what to do! I’ve specially selected and set aside books that I think he’ll like, and just yesterday, I stood in line all morning to buy him those hot dogs he loves.” Another sigh. “I thought that after I spoke to him at the hotel last year, he’d finally understand how I feel.”
“Does he at least thank you for what you do?”
“Yes. He’s very appreciative, he just doesn’t seem to understand why I do those things for him.”
Rosalie reached across the table and patted Emmy’s hand. “Well, Zell has always been a little dense.”
“Dense as a sack full of steel orbs,” the third committee member piped up. Rosalie glared at her and she shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
“Maybe to him, you’re just another schoolmate,” Rosalie suggested. “A very friendly one, but not particularly outstanding.”
“Gee, thanks a lot,” Emmy groused. “I thought friends were supposed to boost a person’s ego, not tear it down.”
“That’s not what I meant. Again. I just meant that you don’t do anything that makes him sit up and take notice.”
“You could always hike up your skirt,” the third committee member proposed, flipping her long ponytail.
“You’re not helping, Tessa.”
Emmy looked down and tugged at the hem of her skirt. “I don’t think these things can get much shorter,” she muttered.
“You don’t have to do anything like that,” Rosalie said. “That’ll just get every boy’s attention, and you only want Zell’s. So, you need to do something specifically designed to catch his eye.”
“Like what?”
“Let’s see, what does Zell like?”
“Food. And fighting.”
“Food fight!” Tessa shouted, lobbing a potato chip toward Emmy.
Emmy brushed it aside. “He’s also very responsible with library materials. He always returns them on time and he never creases the spines.”
“The guy’s a regular boy scout.”
“He is, isn’t he?” Rosalie said. “He’s really serious about following the rules.”
“Except for T-Boards.”
“Everyone has their weak spot.” Rosalie brought her hand to her chin. “You know, Emmy, maybe if you were a bit more vocal about enforcing the library rules when he’s around –”
“And more visible.”
“ – then he’d have no choice but to notice you.”
“Vocal? Visible?” Emmy looked from one friend to the other. “What do you two expect me to do? I can’t just yell at patrons for overdue books.”
“No, but you can lecture them,” Rosalie said.
“Sternly and loudly,” Tessa added, reaching for another bag of chips.
“I’m not sure about this,” said Emmy, shifting in her seat.
“Try it.” Tessa munched a handful of chips. “Give it a week. If it doesn’t get results, then you can go back to being a doormat.”
