This takes place a while after Ami first meets Zane. By this time, the two have warmed to each other…

It's a long 'un, and I may split it up later, but I'll leave it for now.

Enjoy!

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#31: The Bookstore

She was struggling, albeit valiantly, to get the book. Her pearly white hand went first up, then down, now higher because she'd jumped, then low again. Even looking at her from behind, he could see her whole body sigh in defeat. It was about time she asked for help. By the time she'd pivoted around, he was only inches away from her.

"Need some help?" he asked in his low, rich voice.

She blinked up at him. Ami was still unused to his penchant for standing so close to a person that the only thing he needed was a flag to fully lay claim to her personal bubble.

She sputtered: "I--well, yes. Zane, would you mind getting the--"

Before she had time to spit the name out, he'd handed her Swann's Way.

"A little dull, but eh, no one's perfect," he airily said of her beloved Proust.

Normally, she would have taken offense, but now she seemed only to be immersed in thought. Her nose wrinkled in displeasure at something and he began to look concerned.

"Ami?"

"I hate being short," she sighed.

"Uh…"

She blushed, but remained serious about the issue. "Seriously. You can't imagine how helpless you feel."

"Oh, it's not that bad."

"Yes, because you would know," she said, pointedly craning her neck back to look up at him.

"I was your height once."

"Oh, and how did you like fifth grade?"

"Ami," he laughed, lightly smacking her arm. "I would rather be short than tall."

She inclined her head to the side this time, and looked rather adorable doing it.

He nodded, clinching the deal with the all-powerful reason behind this: "Yup, that way I would be the right height for any guy, since he'd always be...taller than me…just right for…" he trailed off, realizing that what he'd just said was puzzling gabble that could be taken a number of ways.

What she chose to dwell on was not however, the fact that he had just accidentally suggested that he was interested in men, but…"Any guy?" she said shyly.

He tensed up and looked her square in those crystal blue eyes. Who the devil did she have in mind? "Yes…" he said tentatively. "But, well, a better height for certain guys than others, you know, because if there's too much of a height difference…that is, I don't see basketball players in your future..." What was this nonsense he was babbling?

Her nod was vague to say the least. "Um...thank you. I guess I'll pay for this now." She swiveled around.

If she had decided to turn back around a few seconds later she would have witnessed the spectacle of Zane banging his head against the bookshelf. Multiple times.


She sat reading at a picnic table that sat on the skirt of the beach, within reach of the cresting and crashing waves. Normally, she would have sat on the beach itself, but Proust was too precious (and pristinely new) to read in the sand.

For a moment, her mind drifted back to Zane's confusing chatter earlier and wondered what exactly he'd meant. She'd heard from the ever-knowing Mina that boys thought girls were confusing—did they have it wrong or what?

"Hey."

Ami literally jumped out of her seat, the "Hey" having come from a familiar young man who had apparently just taken the seat next to her.

"My goodness, don't you knock?"

"Wha-?"

"Nothing," she said hurriedly. "And hi."

"Ami."

"Zane?"

"What I said earlier…"

"About Proust?"

"What? No, about height differences…"

"—oh—"

"Well, I meant it." Then he crossed his arms and smiled triumphantly.

Ami hadn't the foggiest idea what he'd just said, nor how she was meant to respond to it.

"I'm sorry, I'm not following. If you're agreeing that I'm short…"

"No, no!" he exclaimed. Then, upon a moment's contemplation, "…well, yes, you are."

"Hm."

"But even though that means that you could get any guy, you wanted, andtrustmeyoucouldanyway," he rushed out, "I, on the other hand, could not get any girl I wanted, based on height. I'm only of average height for a man, you see. Even below average," he added with a sigh.

Ami leaned her back against the edge of the picnic table, looking at him in utter confusion.

"I'm not making sense, am I?"

She silently shook her head. "Perhaps, you'd like to start over?" she suggested kindly.

"No, I'd only bungle this up more. Okay," he steeled himself, "I'm trying to say that I would only be able to date a girl who was shorter than me—"

"—naturally—"

"—and there are quite a few, though there aren't as many when they're all wearing preposterous heels. However, I would not be able to kiss just any girl who was shorter than me."

The girl near him flushed a rosy color, some semblance of understanding coming to her. She didn't dare ask what the right height was.

He rose from his seat and walked around to the adjacent edge of the picnic table, against which she was standing. "Shall I tell you what height such a girl would need to be?"

He didn't wait for her to answer, so exhilarated did he feel: "Five foot three!"

Zane swore he heard a cricket chirp.

Ami looked down. "Oh?"

Zane felt his mood fall ridiculously low, practically into his shoes. "Oh?" Oh? Oh? Oh? He had just ANNOUNCED, made it clear as crystal, that he wanted to kiss her and that was all she could say? Unless…

"Ami," he tried, "aren't you five foot three?"

She shook her head. "Five feet, even."

Oh. That must mean he had miscalculated the difference in their heights or maybe he was shorter than he'd thought he was…

Ahem.

Right, he had more important things to tend to. At the top of the list was the blue-eyed, pale-skinned, five-feet-even girl before him.

A grin split his face all of a sudden. "Would you care to gain three inches, Ami?"

The man was nuts. She adored him more than she could say, but perhaps it was best to suggest a nice, quiet insane asylu—

"Zane!" she squeaked, as he lifted her up unceremoniously, then sat her down on the edge of the picnic table she'd been resting against.

"Perfect," he sighed, before meeting the perfectly-positioned pair of lips that bemusedly, sweetly received his kiss.


This piece was inspired by events surrounding my own life. Well, not events, just the fact that I, like Ami, am vertically challenged and am daily reminded of the fact. Let's hope one day it turns to my advantage like it did for Ami :D

Please, please review!