"We should probably start heading home as well." James told Libby, "You're probably pretty hungry as well."
Libby was silent for a few seconds waiting for the rest of James comment before realizing there was no second portion.
"You aren't going to comment on the fact I need a bath as well?" Libby asked James curiously, knowing she reeked of fear sweat and stale urine.
"No, that would be rude at this point. I'm sure you know that you do and since you don't have any real control over you smell right now, there is no point in mentioning it."
"You're not going to be mean about it like Andrea?"
"That girl seems like quite a…" James started, not able to come up with a word to finish his sentence.
"She is." Libby replied.
"Come on, let's go home."
"Where is home?" Libby asked innocently.
"You… don't remember?"
"I haven't met you before, have I? If so, I apologize for not remembering you…"
"No, we've never met before now. I'm James by the way."
"I'm Libby."
"Yeah, I think we've established that much."
"I assume I'm living with you now but I don't know where you live."
"Oh, I thought you understand that part…"
"I'm usually pretty smart and able to deduce things easily but today has been a very rough day so you might have to spell things out for me."
"Fair enough. My mom bought your family's store, Book Marks the Spot, at the city auction. We're going to live there." James explained.
"Oh, that's why you were able to look through my room and find my coat!" Libby proclaimed, realizing how she had been so excited to get some warm clothing that she had not questioned how James had acquired it.
"Yep, oh but when you meet me mom don't call it YOUR room. You can call it your former room, at least around her."
"Ok, I'll try to remember that. I take it then that it won't be my room anymore?"
"Well, not exactly. It's my room now though you might still get to stay there with me. I'm not sure what my mom is going to say about that. She says you are MY responsibility now and that I should keep you close, even at night but… I'm pretty sure she referred to you as a HE so she might not know that you are a girl so she may change her mind about you staying in my room when she finds that out."
"How did she not know I was a girl?"
"I don't think she really paid that much attention when she purchased you at the auction. I think she just realized that you were your mom's child and bought you primarily as an extra way to control and manipulate your mom."
"Wait, so your mom bought my mom as well? So, we'll be going home to the bookstore AND my mom will be there?" Libby asked, suddenly feeling a surge of joy.
"Yep, though don't get too excited. Things aren't just going to go back to the way they were. I'll do everything I can to protect you but my mom is now technically in control of both you and your mother's life and… my mom is not a kind hearted person. Seriously, your best chance at any happiness is being as respectful and obedient to her as possible and just trying to stay out of her way. She talked about how she wants me to take control of you so I can learn to be responsible and able to give orders and stuff so hopefully I can shield you from some of her… less pleasant traits."
"Thank you. I'm pretty used to people and the universe being cruel to me but I suppose things might be a lot worse than they were before now that people don't have to hide what horrible monsters they are deep down."
"Yeah. I'm guessing you weren't exactly on the best terms with that blue haired girl who was here a moment ago?"
"No, I accidently mispronounced her name is 1st grade and after that she ensured that I was socially isolated up until a few months ago."
"Jesus Christ? Are you serious? Over a mispronunciation?"
"Yeah. I mean, it wasn't all bad. I mean, I didn't have any friends at school and people picked on me and played pranks on me and stuffed me into my locker on several occasions but occasionally someone would say hi and be my friend for a little while… until they decided I wasn't worth it."
"But that other girl was your friend, right? The one with the ponytail?"
"Molly, yeah… she was the closest friend I've had in years. She is really kind and friendly and outgoing. You would like her. Everyone liked her. I'm really going to miss getting to see her." Libby said wistfully.
"Well, I can't promise anything but maybe after things settle down a bit maybe I can try to be friendly with that mean blue haired girl that way you might get a chance to see her again."
"I'd really like that… Why are you being so nice to me?" Libby asked, truly confused, "I mean, you have no need to be nice now that I belong to you. And historically people haven't gone out of their way to be pleasant to me."
"Look, you seem sweet and… I don't know, there is just something about you that makes me want to protect you. You have this aura about you… like, when I look at you I can imagine life being really cruel to you and slowly wearing you down. It just makes me want to… I don't know, hug you and tell you it will be okay or something like that. Plus… you're really pretty." James explained, blushing and looking away during his final sentence.
"No one has ever told me I was pretty before… besides my mom I mean." Libby replied sheepishly, taking James hand. When James looked at her and smiled, Libby suddenly felt a spurt of bravery that propelled her forward, closing her eyes and placing her cold chapped lips on James'. She could feel her heart racing and it almost felt as if she could feel his heart racing as well. After a lifetime, Libby settled back onto her feet and opened her eyes.
"Wow…. Ummm… I wasn't expecting that. You know I wasn't saying those things to make you do that, right? I was just being honest." James told Libby.
"I know, I just… I really wanted to do that. I know it was wrong and not what you wanted but I just felt I needed to… for my sake."
"No, it's okay… I liked it. I 100% wasn't expecting to get my first kiss today but it was good." James stammered.
"It was my first kiss too…"
"I don't really know what to say now." James admitted sheepishly.
"I don't either… but there is something else I think I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I want you to know that I'm not going to fight you or try to resist or try to escape or anything like that. Just please don't be cruel to me. I realize the universe hates me and wants me to be its punching bag; I just need one good thing in my life to hold on to."
"Let's go home." James suggested, not knowing how to respond to Libby's comment, "We'll have something to eat, you can get cleaned up and then maybe we'll watch some TV or a movie or something together…"
"Can we do that thing that they do in movies? Where people snuggle together under a blanket on the couch when they watch a movie together? I honestly can't imagine anything I want to do more than that right now. Molly and I did that once but… I think I'd like doing that with you a lot more." Libby said awkwardly.