One Shot
Sam pulled a book off the library shelf and thumbed through it. She put it back and pulled down the one next to it. Nope. She tried the next book. Yes, this was sort of what she looking for. She turned and went back to her table.
Austin was already sitting there, three books open all around him and a legal pad full of notes in front of him. "Hey, did you find anything?"
"I found this book," Sam whispered, taking a seat across from her boyfriend. "I don't think it's exactly what we're looking for."
Austin glanced at the cover and shook his head. "No. There's just nothing here! How are we supposed to write a whole research paper when we can't use anything but books?"
Sam sighed. "Books have their place, Austin."
"So does the internet."
They were silent for a while, reading through the dusty tomes in the Princeton Library.
Sam and Austin weren't the only ones who'd been upset with Professor Klink's assignment. An entire research paper from nothing but books, magazines, and newspapers? No internet? Crazy!
It didn't help that the paper was to be about current events. It was almost impossible to find current events in books, because by the time a book was published, the events were no longer current. The assignment was frustrating, to say the least.
"You can't always trust the internet," Sam said, turning a page. "I think that's the point of the assignment."
"Still," Austin continued. "It's impossible. I know several people who are looking up books online and getting the information they need and then passing it off as a real book. Charles Darnette said Professor Klink has let that slide in the past."
Sam shook her head. "If you want to be a writer, sometimes you have to follow the rules, Austin. Cheating will get you nowhere."
Austin smiled, his beautiful straight teeth glinting. "Yeah. I guess you're right."
He leaned over the table, smiling seductively. Sam blushed and leaned forward to meet him. Their lips met over the piles of books.
"Excuse me." A young woman with a nametag on approached their table. "Could you please refrain from kissing in the library? There are security cameras in here."
Austin and Sam laughed quietly. "Sure."
As soon as the library employee had walked away to shelve some books, Austin leaned back over and kissed Sam again.
"So, how about breaking this rule?"
"Let's get out of here. It's much more romantic in the gazebo."
Austin's eyebrows rose.
"Who knew you were such an exhibitionist?"
The End.
See, people? It is possible to write stories that are actually about A Cinderella Story.