"Mildred!" I shouted to my best friend. "Hurry up!"

"Coming," she panted, hiking up her ridiculously puffy dress.

"Why do you even wear those?" I asked, pointing to the outfit.

She reached me, face red from exertion and wheezed, "They're EAS regulated!"

I snorted. "They don't enforce that! I run around in pants every day!" I elbowed her. "You should try them sometimes."

She was so scandalized, she couldn't even speak. After a couple of seconds of her goldfish impersonation, I laughed. "I'm just joking. It wouldn't kill you to break a rule once in awhile, though."

"I break rules!" she huffed indignantly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really, tell me the last time you broke one."

"Well, umm, let's see... Oh! At the Table of Never-ending Refills last week, I took three tarts instead of the two I was supposed to!" she exclaimed triumphantly. "Of course, I didn't see the sign and confessed to someone when I found out about it-they said it was okay-but it still counts!"

I sighed. "What am I going to do with you, Mil?!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're like a mini adult already! You need to loosen up!"

She sniffed. "Well excuse me if I respect authority."

"I do too, but you don't need to ALL the time! In fact, here's what I'm-" I broke off. "Seb!" I waved and he walked over.

"Whoa, what's wrong, Grubb?" he asked, looking at Mildred.

"Well, SOMEBODY thinks I'm too uptight," she said, purposely ignoring me.

"I didn't say that! I just think you should relax a bit. That's why Seb and I-"

She groaned. "Both of you? I don't have a choice do I because even if I resist you'll drag me into your cockamamie plan."

We both grinned at her.

"See you at six then, Millie," Sebastian called as he walked away.

"Don't call me that!"

I started laughing but quickly turned it into a coughing fit. She eyed me suspiciously.

"We'll meet at six outside the library, okay?"

She sighed. "Fine." Her tone made it very clear that she was not happy about this.

"Bye!" I said walking in the direction of the staff's quarters to pick up something I needed. Once she was out of earshot I added, "Millie."

Forty minutes later, we were all gathered outside of the library's doors.

"You showed up!" Seb exclaimed.

"Yes," Mildred replied stiffly. "I decided you two needed to see that I'm not some stuck up rule follower!"

As we waited for the clock to strike six, Seb and I sat against the wall. Mildred observed us critically.

"In the EAS handbook Section 5 Row 2 it says girls and boys should stay at least eight inches apart."

"You memorized the handbook?!" he asked, incredulous.

She sniffed. "You never know when it will come in handy." She stared pointedly at us and with a sigh I scooted over. For some reason, I felt a little disappointed. That couldn't be because of Seb right? He was just my friend, practically a brother, I tried to assure myself but a small part of me-never mind. I shook my head to clear it and turned my attention to Mildred.

"You know," I remarked, "I would not be surprised if you became the next Director."

"Humph. That would be the worst job ever, and you know why? Because I'd have to deal with people like you two."

"Aww, we're not that bad," Seb said then grinned. "Millie." I snickered and Mildred sighed exasperatedly.

"Honestly it's like taking care of little kids."

We both opened our mouths to reply but right then the clock struck six.

"Well, it's time to go!" Seb jumped up and offered me his hand. As he helped me up, my hand tingled. Shut up hand, I thought angrily, he's just a friend. "Sol?"

I jumped. "What?"

"Do you have the thing?"

"Wha-oh yeah, right here." I pulled a bottle out of my pocket and waved it.

"Let me see that!" Mildred grabbed the bottle and inspected it. "Super-stick magic glue,".she read then looked up at us. "No, we're not, right?"

We grinned. "Ah, c'mon, they have the unstick spell, it'll just be really funny to watch Rumpy try to open the tale book!"

"Oh, why did I ever agree to this!" she moaned.

In response, I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me as we entered the library. Quietly the three of us slipped through the bookshelves until we reached a large table where the current tale volume sat. I carefully opened the large book and pulled out the glue.

"Wait," Seb said suddenly. He started flipping through the book.

"What are you doing?" Mildred hissed, her eyes huge.

"Chances like this don't come every day!" he responded. "I just want to read some of the stories!"

"Yeah, Mildred, don't you want to see them?" I cajoled.

"Well, maybe," she admitted.

"Then, let's see what have!" Seb turned to the Table of Contents and started reading. "The Goose Girl, Jack and the Beanstalk, could you guys believe that kid got the Beanstalk?"

"Yeah, if he was annoying before, he's unbearable now!" Mildred exclaimed. We both stared at her and she shrugged. "He is!"

I started laughing and she clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Someone might hear you! Sebastian just keep reading please."

He nodded. "Yes ma'am. Aladdin, Pinocchio, and-" He paused, staring at the book as if he couldn't believe what he was reading.

"What is it?" I questioned.

He swallowed. "The Tale of Solange de Chateies."

"What?! Let me see that!" He scooted over and I leaned over the book. He wasn't lying, there was my name in script, proclaiming my tale. I quickly flipped through the pages until I reached where it started. There in full color was a picture of me as an ten year old, standing under the Tree of Hope. "That's-that's the first day I went to EAS! They've known about this for three years and they didn't tell me!" I was suddenly very angry at a whole bunch of people: the Canon, the Director, Rumpy, etc.

Seb peered at the page. "Huh, so it is. Mind if I look through this?"

I shook my head and walked over to the far wall I sat against it, trying to digest all of this.

A few minutes later Mildred joined me. "So you got your Tale," she said, sitting next to me.

"Uh huh."

She sighed. "Well I'm glad we did this even though I'll have a spot on my record." That was a lot coming from her. To Mildred, the record was everything.

I tried to comfort her. "They might not find out it's us, you know."

She shook her head. "That book records everything. Thoughts, actions, all of it."

"All of-" A thought had just occurred to me, about certain "interesting" thoughts I'd had earlier. Thoughts about the very same person who was looking through the book right now. "Hey, Mildred, we should probably go. I'm going to grab Seb, okay?"

She wholeheartedly agreed with that plan and headed for the door while I cautiously approached the table with the book. Thankfully he looked to be in the middle of our adventures, not recent. "Seb, let's go. We don't want to be caught."

He nodded and looked up. "After one thing, okay?" I waited as he closed the book and walked over to me.

"Ready?" He nodded and then did something completely unexpected. I pride myself on being prepared for almost anything, but nothing can really prepare you for your best friend kissing you. He pulled away from me. "I had to do that," he said, smiled at me, then walked away. Seb, he just... kissed me. What? I would think it hadn't happened, was just a figment of my imagination, but my buzzing head said otherwise. Really what were you supposed to do in these types of situations?

While I was mulling this over, Mildred called, "Solange! Hurry up!"

"C-coming!" I shouted back and shuffled to the door. Seb grinned at me and I felt my face grow hot. On the way back, I could barely say a sentence to him without stumbling over my words. Seriously, when did I become like one of THOSE girls?

We said our goodbyes and parted ways. As I walked to my apartment, I couldn't stop thinking about what happened at the library, especially one happening. So what does one do when your best friend wants to be more than that? Well, I reasoned, isn't that what everyone always wants? To be with their best friend? Taking off my shoes, I climbed into bed. As I drifted off, I thought to myself that perhaps it wasn't the worst thing in the world. About, well, you already know.