- 7 -

"Impress Me Darling."

The library, is a big square, white-stone building, with a glass dome for a roof. Above the door in big metal letters, a sign reads "THE LEONSKI FAMILY LIBRARY."

It's a sweltring, June day. Sweat is already dripping down my forehead by the time we reach the library.

Maggie is sitting on the front steps of the building, her laptop open on her lap and a book in her hands. As we get closer, I notice that it's her copy of Insurgent. I hope that doesn't freak them out.

"Hey Mags," I say waving at her.

"Hey guys," she says, closing her laptop and placing it in the black knapsack strapped to her back. "Ready to research?"

"God, no," Uriah groans.

We laugh. "I for one am ready to get out of this heat," I say. Everyone mumbles in agreement and Maggie stands and leads the way inside the building.

As we step inside, we are hit full in the face with a burst of fresh air. Ah, air conditioning.

The library is practically empty except for two blond twin boys playing in the children's section, their mother, who's watching them out of the corner of her eye as she reads a magazine, and an elderly librarian sitting at the front desk, eyeing us suspiciously over her makeup caked, cat-eye glasses as we walk in. I guess libraries are not the most popular hangouts in the summer.

"Okay, let's go over the game plan," Maggie says, assembling us in a huddle like football players. "We're trying to find a way to get you guys back home. Of course, book travel is kind of, you know, unheard of, so information will be limited, or at least hard to find, but I know we can do it. Look for any books involving the supernatural, any kind of mythology or lore. I'll hit the computers and see what I can find online, although so far the Internet hasn't been very helpful. We should probably split up so we can cover as much ground as possible before we meet back up in, say, two hours?"

"Aye, aye captain," I say with a laugh.

Maggie rolls her eyes at me. "Okay. You guys know what you're doing right?" she asks, Uriah, Four, and Christina.

"Yes, we know how a library works. We might be fictional, but we're not idiots," Four snaps.

It looks like any trace of the kindness he showed me last night has evaporated with the heat. He's back to being an obnoxious jerk. Great.

"Let's get started." Maggie has always been the strong, organized leader type, the kind of person you'd want around in a crisis.

We split up. Maggie heads towards the cluster of computers and the rest of us head towards the rows of bookshelves. I'm praying that we find something. If we don't where else can we look? I reach the mythology section and grab the first book on the first shelf. Might as well start from the beginning right? I have a feeling that these are going to be the longest two hours of my life.

"Nothing. I've found nothing!" I say to no one in particular, throwing my hands up in exasperation.

An hour and a half has gone by since we began to research and still we haven't found any useful information. I knew this was going to be difficult, but secretly I'd hoped we'd stroll into the library, pick up a book and BOOM, we'd have our answer. Instead, we have nothing but a pile of useless, dusty books. I close the book I was reading and place it in the pile with the others that I've deemed useless.

I stand up and make my way back over to the bookshelf, in search of another book. I scan the rows of books until I spot one with a useful title. "Real tales of the Supernatural."

It's twelve rows up. Ugh, I'm too short to reach it. I hate being short. I'll have to climb up.

I grab the edge of the shelf and pull myself up. I continue to use it as a ladder until I reach the twelfth row. I let go with one hand and lean over to grab the book. My finger tips brush the spine when my foot slips.

"Ah!" I gasp, scrambling to grab the edge of the shelf with my other hand.

Suddenly, I feel a cool hand against my lower back, holding me up.

"Careful," Four says from behind me, his warm breath tickling my ear.

"T-thanks," I say, a swarm of butterflies fluttering around inside my stomach.

"No problem. What are you doing up there?" he asks.

"Just looking for a book," I say.

"And you couldn't find a safer way to look for it? You're going to fall climbing like that," he says.

I let out a bark of laughter. "Are you? A member of Dauntless, asking me to find a safer way to do something?" I ask, with mock shock.

He chuckles. "Maybe I am. Is that such a bad thing?"

"No, not a bad thing," I assure him. "So how's your research going?"

"Depends on how yours is going and whether or not I have to lie to impress you," he says with a smirk.

Impress me? Why would he feel the need to impress me? My stomach flips, sending the butterflies spinning out of control. "W-why would you need to impress me?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Well I can't have you thinking I'm fictional and useless. So, how much research have you done?"

Oh right. Of course he wouldn't actually want to impress me. He has Christina. I'm such an idiot. "Oh, um, well I haven't found anything yet, but see that big pile of books beside you?"

"Yeah?" We both glance over at the table where I was sitting. The pile of books is about eight books high. In truth I have only skimmed them but he doesn't need to know that. Something inside me wants to impress him as well.

"I've read all of those," I say, smugly.

"No, you haven't." I relish the way his eyes widen in amazement.

"Yep. Not to brag but I'm a pretty fast reader. I mean, I better be, considering it's all I do."

"Well, you know, my research is going pretty well too." I can't help but laugh at the mock machismo tickling his voice, making the words slip off his tongue like thick honey. He's had quite the attitude change since yesterday evening. Maybe he's finally adjusting and becoming more comfortable around me. I hope so. I like this softer, funnier version of Four better, he seems easier to work with and more interesting to be around.

"Oh yeah?" I ask, twisting around to face him, one arm stretched out along either side of the shelf to keep myself balanced. "Found anything useful yet?"

"Not yet, but we still have," he checks his watch, "ten minutes until we have to meet everyone, that gives me plenty of time to find a ground breaking piece of information."

"Sure it does," I say raising my eyebrows skeptically. A thrill runs through my stomach as I wait for his retort. Calm down, I remind myself, he is just joking around. Don't forget about Christina. Still, I can't help but enjoy our back and forth and the mischievous way he is looking at me, a playful flash dancing through his deep blue gaze. I never want our conversation to end.

"Of course it does," he says stamping his foot dramatically, grinning.

"You think you're so impressive don't you?" I ask.

"I am so impressive. Besides you're not so impressive yourself. I mean all of these books are really small. Can't you do any better?"

"Hey, I'd like to see you try reading all of those books in two hours." I say, crossing my arms.

"Careful you're going to fall," he says, his voice suddenly changing shape, its rougher, closed-off quality returning. He reaches out a hand to steady me again but I ignore it, shifting slightly on the shelf to avoid him.

I know it is unnecessarily stubborn of me but I don't need his help. Logically, I know he s trying to be kind but I can't stop myself from interpreting his gesture as condescension. A non-dauntless, non-fictional girl like me couldn't possibly climb up here safely without the help of the fearless Four. Well, I got up here by myself and I can get down by myself. "I am not going to fall," I snap.

And then I fall.

It happens in slow motion, like a sequence in an action movie. I scream and put my hands up to protect myself.

"God, you idiot," Four growls from beneath me.

We're lying on top of each other on the floor of the library, underneath the table, surrounded by a pile of books. My forehead is pressed against his chin and his hands are holding my waist. I can feel his heart beating against my collarbone. I hope he can't feel how fast mine is going...

Wait. Did he just call me an idiot?

"Idiot?" I ask, incredulously. "You were the one distracting me. If it weren't for you I wouldn't have fallen."

"You're kidding me right? You're so clumsy and uncoordinated I'm surprised you didn't fall sooner."

"Didn't fall sooner? You ass-"

"I hope I'm not interrupting something," Uriah says, poking his head over the side of the table.

"No," we shout in unison.

All of a sudden two pairs of legs appear beside us.

"Ahem," Christina clears her throat.

"Oh, um, hi Chris," Four says, turning his head to face her, so that my forehead is now pressed against his cheek, and gives her an uncomfortable smile.

"Hi," she says, curtly, frowning down at us. "If you guys are finished feeling each other up, Maggie has something she wants to show us."

"We weren't... Never mind," he mumbles. We quickly duck out from under the table and scramble to our feet.

Maggie gives me a questioning look as I move to stand beside her, blushing profusely.

I give her an "I'll explain later" look. "U-um, so you have something to show us?" I ask, my voice tight and squeaky. Both Four and Christina are glowering at me from across the circle.

"Yeah, look at this."

She pulls a piece of paper out from behind her back and we lean in to take a look.