Oops (Zach)

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

Damm, this whole "job search" shit got old fast. How many places had she applied to by now? She hadn't gotten responses from any of them, and she feared what would happen once it came time for the background check. It was exhausting to fill out form after form while feeling like none of the forms would yield anything, and she just needed a goddamn break from it all. Hence: the library.

The inside smelled of dry paper, and as Alista entered she hit a wall of cool air. It was a welcome respite from the heat of midday. She wore torn black skinny jeans with a chain from pocket to belt loop, the same color tank top (which was unusually low-cut for her, but hey, it was hot outside), and a tattered jacket stuffed into her backpack. Yeah, she felt pretty monochrome that day, job searches do that to you. Still, she had regretted her choice of color as soon as she spent 15 minutes out in the sunlight.

Alista made a beeline for the science section. She had had her eyes on the same goddamn book for months now. It had always been checked out by students at the University of Vermont computer science program - the same she had dropped out of - but she held out hope that it would be available one day. A few other books caught her eyes as she entered the tech section, and she picked out a few at her leisure as she wandered through the aisle. Finally, she excitedly turned the corner to the next aisle, eager to see if her book was actually in the goddamn library this time.

[Deleted]

Yeeesssss, the library.

This was just the place for Zachary to get some peace and quiet so he could finally get his daily "alone time" over and done with. Though granted, that got old after a while, it was still something he made sure he had time to do.

And Zachary had quickly realized that one of the best places to get this alone time was in the non-fiction section at the public library. Because nobody went to the public library for reference materials. Or at least it was uncommon enough for Zach to hide out in one of the comfy chairs lined up at the end of every other aisle.

He had spend a good two hours there doing practically nothing. Well, no, that wasn't entirely true. He was reading a Terry Pratchett novel, Guards Guards. And of course, like a kid, he had a stupid grin on his face the whole time.

Cue his time to depart and Zachary promptly stood and stuffed the book into his backpack(the book was his, not the library's), before heading around the corner….and right into someone else.

Being the bigger of the two, Zachary had no problems staying on his feet. He was, however, disoriented to the point where his only cognitive thought was, so this really does happen in real life.

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

"What the-"

Alista bumped into the taller stranger in an spectacular explosion of books. She threw her hands up to keep her balance and catch herself, dropping the volumes she had pulled off the shelves and letting them tumble to the ground with loud thumps. Her loss of balance led her straight into the nearest shelf, banging her side loudly and painfully on the heavy wood. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..." She grasped her side as pain shot out from the point of impact.

Jesus fuckin' Christ, who the hell... Alista glanced up in irritation to see some scrawny emo kid who mainly looked confused. He had managed to stay standing and not ram himself into the nearest shelf. Goddammit. "The hell are you going in such a hurry?" she muttered irritably, almost inaudibly. Perhaps her anger was a tad misplaced, seeing as it was no more his fault than it was hers, but she hadn't been in a good mood to begin with.

[Deleted]

Wow...just....wow.

This girl had a mouth on her, Zachary thought as he stood there blankly and uselessly standing over the girl who had obviously not managed to remain standing...or at least not standing up straight. Actually, if Zach actually processed things fast enough, he would have realized that she probably had hurt herself when she slammed into the shelf.

Processing.....OH!

"Sorry!" he said, with the sudden realization. "I wasn't...I mean..." He wasn't really in a hurry, but he wasn't really watching where he was going, but was it really his fault? "Are you ok?" he asked, debating on whether he should offer a hand to help her up, but she seemed pretty volatile, she might just smack it away, Oh Zachary grow a set and just help her up already!! "Here." He held out his hand, stepping over the books that had fallen.

"Do you need...well, obviously, but...the books...." What the hell was he trying to say anyway? "Do you need help carrying these?" he uttered once he had finally decided on the word order.

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

What the hell was he doing now, standing there gawking at her? He had that same confused expression on his face. You rammed me into a fucking shelf, what is there to be confused about?

Alista opened her mouth to say something else pissy, but he spoke first. "Sorry! I wasn't... I mean..." Well, okay then... She raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to get his wits about him. "Are you OK?" he asked after a moment. He stepped over the books and offered a hand to help her up, looking slightly freaked out.

She hesitated for a moment, then took the offered hand and lifted herself to her feet. Her hip still hurt like a motherfucker, but slightly less than before. "I'll have a big-ass bruise when I get home, does that count as not-okay?" she asked flatly. She really should be more gracious, but she really didn't feel like it.

Alista waited through his stuttering, wondering vaguely if he had a speech impediment of some kind. "Do you need help carrying these?" he finally managed to ask. God, he seemed so freaked out it would be unfair to ask him to do anything. "Whatever, I got it, but help if you want." She bent down to collect the fallen books, her hip protesting.

[Deleted]

Yup. Zachary was making a hell of a first impression on this girl who looked(and sounded) like she could rip him limb from limb with words alone. But at least she was amiable enough to accept offered help. Which still didn't make him sound any less like a special needs student.

"Um....sorry." He didn't know what else to say, it wasn't like he had the ability to fix a bruised hip. Though he had hoped that his offered help to carry the books would help to alleviate the grudge she seemed to have acquired. Zach knelt down and started gathering up the fallen books scattered about the floor, being just a little anal in making sure they were stacked according to size with the largest on the bottom and smallest on the top of the stack.

It was at this point that a normal, more socially comfortable person might actually initiate casual conversation such as "what's your name?" or "Oh, you're reading this book!" or something else of that nature. And while these question did pass through Zachary's mind, and he did see a few books in her collection that he might have commented on, the boy kept his stuttering mouth shut. He did however, open one of the books and smile with nostalgia. Otherwise, he just stood around, waiting for her to lead the way to wherever she was going.

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

"Um....sorry." Okay, she was being a bit unfair to the guy who probably had no idea that he was going to ram her into a bookcase. "Whatever, it's fine. It's just a bruise." She had been through worse, right?

Huh, dude is ridiculously neat, she noted to herself, slightly amused, as he organized the books carefully from largest to smallest. Okay then, do your thing. Alista noticed out of the corner of her eye as he opened the book on the top of the stack, hoping he wasn't a comp sci student who wanted one of her books for a class. "You read that one?" she asked, marginally curious.

Okay, time to see if The Book was here. She almost ran down the aisle where the book was supposed to be, a little anticipation bubbling in her sternum as she checked the shelf to find... "Fuck yes!" Alista pulled the book from the shelf and spun in a happy circle. It was finally here! There was no freaking way she was letting some random college kid check it out in her place this time.

[Deleted]

Just a bruise? Well, ok, if she said so, then he wasn't going to say anything more about it. He still felt bad about it but wasn't going to dwell if she wasn't.

Zach snapped the book shut and erased the smile from his face, looking at the girl with wide eyes as if he were a little boy who just got caught sticking his hand into the cookie jar. "Sorry!" He didn't mean to intrude, he was just reminiscing a bit, wait, didn't she ask a question and didn't he just ignore it? "Sorry..." he repeated.

Zach had followed behind her, carrying the books in his arms like a good little lackey, and merely stared in silence as she pulled down a book she seemed particularly excited for. He caught a glance of the title and slipped out, "Oh, I remember that one. Good read." He chuckled innocently. "I ended up keeping it for like, the past 2 months..."

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

Dude looked up with saucer-eyes and sputtered out an apology in response to her question. Dude, is that how you respond to every question you're asked? Alista wondered, more amused than anything. He seemed mildly terrified. She didn't know she had that effect on men... heh, she could get used to this. "Dude, I'm not gonna bite your head off," she assured him, eyebrows raised in mild amusement.

Apparently scaring men meant getting a free servant for a few minutes. Score! Seriously, though, this was... interesting. Unusual. A little strange. Needless to say, she wasn't used to having anything close to a personal servant, ever. I should have people ram me into nearby objects more often, she wryly thought. Conjure mental image of a very bruised Alista surrounded by personal servants.

"Oh, I remember that one. Good read. I ended up keeping it for like, the past 2 months..." Oh shit. If her mood was starting to improve, it fell flat at that little comment.

Oh, so this is the little shit who had that fucking book for the past 2 months?? Alista shot a glare at the scruffy little emo kid. "Right, 'cause it's not like this is a public library or anything. The fuck?" She was seriously considering recanting her previous statement.

[Deleted]

Zach managed a smile. "You sure?" Because she definitely looked like the type to bite someone's head off. And Zachary kind of wanted to keep his head, there was a lot of important stuff in there.

Unfortunately, Zach had no idea that what he so innocently said was like lighting the fuse to a nearby time-bomb. "Huh?" he replied, honestly confused. "Buuut….It wasn't due back until next week." He usually returned them right away as soon as he finished reading them, but he particularly enjoyed this one. Plus it was good reference material for his writing.

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

No, she wasn't sure. Her bad mood was compounding on itself, and apparently she was going to take it out on him. Emo Kid looked confused while she glared at him. "Buuut… It wasn't due back until next week," he responded, sounding baffled. What? The checkout time is, like, three weeks... Oh, wait. This wasn't the nonfiction section, was it? It was the reference section, which meant mega-huge checkout times. Oh.

Well, um. This was awkward.

Alista blinked and glanced at the ground, cheeks becoming slightly red. Damn, she was just determined to fuck with some innocent kid's mood today, wasn't she? It would be self-centered beyond belief to insist that he return it early just so she could read it when she wanted to. She had created her own damn problems. As fucking usual, you damn idiot, and you had to drag someone else with you. Smooth, bitch.

"...right. Reference section," Alista mumbled. Um... what now? Offer to take her books back so he could run screaming if he wanted to? "Um, sorry."

[Deleted]

Zach had no idea what her problem was, but he suspected it might have something to do with the fact that he had kept the book for so long. Well…he needed it, and it wasn't like it was just collecting dust in the corner of his bedroom or anything. But then again, Zachary supposed he might be a little miffed too if the book he wanted to read was never available…but then in that instance, Zach would probably just buy it outright instead of waiting.

But then again, not everyone had that kind of money, not even Zach.

He kind of zoned out as his mind swirled between all these "then again"s and wasn't quite aware that he was just staring at her. It wasn't until she spoke and offered an apology that Zach realized how red she was. "Sorry…" he echoed. "They…." They what? Think what the hell are you trying to say?! "They really should have some sort of….I dunno, notification….to let people know there a queue for a book…or something I don't know what I'm talking about." Pause. "I mean…with today's technology, it's totally plausible, right?" He offered a smile, hoping that his "ingenious idea" worked.

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

Wait, what was he apologizing for? He wasn't the one who chewed her out just for checking out a book. Sure, the kid was awkward as hell, but so was she, and he wasn't actually annoying or mean. He was clearly trying to smooth over the situation and spare her feelings with his idea for a notification system. "Yeah, that could work," she half-mumbled in response. "And don't be sorry, it's fine." Alista still wasn't sure what it was that he had apologized for, but whatever.

Well, um... She felt like she should offer to do something for him, or at least make him feel certain that she wasn't going to bite his head off, since she had clearly terrified him. Damn, he was still holding her books, wasn't he? "Do- do you want me to take those?" she asked, motioning towards the books, still feeling rather red.

[Deleted]

Zach had to stifle yet another "sorry" once she reassured him that it was "fine". He wasn't sure it was, apparently his cluelessness had riled her up quite a bit, and he felt really bad for it. But at least she didn't seem like she was going to tear his head off anymore.

Or was she?

"Oh, um…I'm- I'm still Ok with carrying them, if you're going…still shopping," or something. Man why was he being so damn stubborn, insisting on being the errand boy. Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do at the moment except go home and be by himself for the rest of the night with his new book. "I-I'm really fine, really, and they're really heavy anyway, so it might be best…it's Ok, really."

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

Jeez, just how much had she scared the poor kid? Alista rubbed the back of her neck and glanced around. Okay, if you're so determined to hold the books, I guess you can, dude, she thought, uncertain how to proceed without intensifying his apparent fear. She was still mentally punching herself for chewing him out so much in the first place. "Uh.... thanks then," she responded. "Do... do you want to sit down somewhere?" She was done 'shopping' anyways, and she wasn't going to make the boy stand up for a moment longer with the heavy stack of books.

Seriously, what was she supposed to do with a personal servant?

Alista set off towards the tables and chairs, scouting out a spot for her and him to sit down, since apparently he was determined to stay? She ended up at a table with two cushy chairs positioned across from each other, plopping down into the soft cushion and waiting for the kid to sit in the other one. Shit, she didn't even know his name, did she? Should she introduce herself? Dammit, what did normal people do in this kind of situation? "I'm Alista, by the way," she said, inviting him to introduce himself as well.