CHILTON LIBRARY.

I saw Rory heading inside her beloved asylum. I couldn´t help but follow her lead. My curiosity was getting the best out of me. I had to know who the guy was, make sure he wasn´t one of those jerks who had the terrible reputation of being a pervert and getting all touchy-feely with all the girls he went out with.

He better not get all hot and heavy with my Mary though. I´ll bury him alive if he dares to do so. Nobody touches her. Nobody will mess with her as long as I live. I won´t allow it.

Anyways, of course Rory is not my girlfriend, unfortunately. I´d give anything for her to be it, but no, she´s not, and that kills me slowly each and every day.

I don´t know why, but I feel like I need to protect her, be there for her, stand close to her presence in case something bad shows up and she needs to use someone as a shield.

She´s like this forbidden fruit that I want to taste and caress and which I can´t have at the same time. That ruthless prohibition only serves to make me desire her even more and more.

Life can be so cruel…

Rory: " I´ll be right back, ok? ".

Jess: " Sure ". Rory who had been talking with him near a table, turned and walked away. I hid behind one of the tall bookshelves, she went out through the main door, but luckily, she didn´t see me. Phew. Saved by the books.

Jess Mariano and I are great friends, I met him through Rory when I had showed up unexpectedly at Luke´s Diner to ask her for some English notes. I had been in major need for them in order to pass a rough test...

Hell, who am I kidding?, I came to see her. I know, I´m pathetic, spare me the dull speech, please I know what I am, but I also know that I can´t deny the truth.

I´ve joked about being in love with her, being infatuated hopelessly with her and yet, what she doesn´t know, is that I really am. I have strong feelings for Rory. Big, powerful ones.

Moving on the Mariano topic, yes, I was basically pretty much relieved to see that it was him that was her study date and not some stupid jock who had nothing better to do but masturbate every time he had a free period.

I walked over to the table, he seemed mighty interested in a book he was reading. His brow was furrowed slightly and his eyes were going over each line with profound concentration. I never thought of him to be the bookish type, he sure as Hell didn´t look like one and even if he tried to gain the appearance of one, he was most likely to fail.

Jess Mariano was the sullen kind of guy with a touch of rebellion and confidence mixed on him at the same time. He could easily be popular here if he wanted to. If only he were to enroll in this snobby school, we´d rule the Academy together. What fun we might have.

Tristan: " You know, way too much knowledge can drive a man insane, you don´t want to go all Einstein on me, trust me, I´m tough competition ". I teased him good-naturedly. He was too serious for his own good, he needed to cool down.

Jess: " DuGray!, what´s up, dude? ". His pensive mood lightened upon seeing me, I could tell. That was good.

Tristan: " Ah, the usual, you know, pesting Mary, making her life crap, nothing new ". Was I being sarcastic?, was I joking?, I really don´t know at this extent. I could be pretty immature at times. " Tick off the one you love " they say. God, what a stupid sentence.

I swiveled a chair around and sat across him with my crossed arms resting on top of it.

Jess: " She still denying her feelings for you? ".

Tristan: " Stubborn as a mule, there´s no hope ".

Jess: " We have to get that prick, Bean Bag out of the picture ". I had Mariano´s support. He looked at Rory as the little sister he never had and he truly abhorred Forester. So, in his point of view, better me than him, her boyfriend. Jess liked me for Rory, he had mentioned it several times.

Tristan: " Fast ". I added with a little drama in my voice to put more emphasis in my short statement.

Jess: " I mean, he´s too freakishly tall for her! ".

Tristan: " Not to mention his idiocy is much more outstanding than his height ".

Jess: " And that stupid floppy hair that keeps getting into his eyes annoys the shit out of me, I mean, for Christ´s sake, would it kill the guy to comb it backwards for once!? ".

Tristan: " Maybe he can´t afford a brush ". I offered sarcastically with humour in my voice.

Jess: " Yeah, that´s probably what you get when you stock too much dough on bean cans ". A LOUD, uncontainable laugh escaped from my lips.

Tristan: " Good one! ". I knocked fists with him. We both laughed our asses off and got hushed by the few annoying people studying near our table. We chuckled silently afterwards to ourselves while bending our backs a little in order to hide from the irritating glares.

I turn to look at my right and smile upon seeing Rory coming back. Apparently, she went to retrieve a Chemistry book, she was hugging it a bit loosely against her chest.

The thing that got me confused was that she didn´t head towards Mariano´s table, she went directly to another one where a guy was sitting and writing something on his notebook.

Oh no. Not Russel Brosnan…

The smile on my face fell immediately, I turned to look at Mariano who was looking at me with a puzzled countenance.

Tristan: " Please tell me that asshole over there is not her study date ". Jess looks over and chuckles in amusement.

Jess: " I´m afraid he is, man ". Sympathy was heard in his quiet tone.

Tristan: " I thought you were her study date ".

Jess: " Nope, I´m just here to wait until she´s finished and give her a ride home, I´m reading a book while I do that ".

Tristan: " Shit ". I muttered under my breath and looked back at Rory now laughing a little about something Russel said…

God, no…

Fuck!...

She´s beginning to fall…

This can´t be happening…