Annabeth scanned the shelves for the text she was looking for; not quite the quick-and-done job you would think, as she was dyslexic.
Csol…colsi…colossi
"Colossi of Memnon."
Annabeth spared the interrupter an annoyed glance. Maybe as old as she, with dark skin and a slight smile, he looked the type to strike up conversation with strangers out of pure nicety. Annabeth was not in the mood for conversation or niceties.
"Yeah," she said and turned back to the shelf, hoping he would get the hint. When he didn't move, she resigned herself to a swift exchange of words, adding. "You've heard of it?"
She'd only been asking to be polite, but he replied in earnest. "Oh, yes. I've been there, actually."
Her interest sparked, Annabeth gave him a second look and took in all the details she'd dismissed before. Clean shirt, crisp kakis, and a correctly knotted tie (which was more than she could say for most of the boys she knew.)
"No kidding."
"I'm being serious," he assured her with an easy grin.
"I believe you," and for the first time since seeing him, gave a genuine smile. "So, how was it?"
"Amazing. I mean, they tell you the columns are big, they give you the measurements, but you don't really get it until you're standing right next to one." The boy gave pause. "Here I was, thinking I was the only one who cared about this musty old stuff."
Annabeth peered out onto the rest of the library through a gap in the books.
Computers? Taken. YA section? A reasonable number of visitors. Audio books? Checked out. History…? They were the only ones.
Annabeth shrugged. "Old musty stuff is more important than most people realize. Besides, I'm crazy about monuments." She plucked the book out of its place and added it to her stack.
"Taj Mahal, Potala Palace, Acropolis of Athens," The boy read up the stack. "Wow. You are crazy about monuments."
Annabeth nodded.
"Carter," the boy introduced himself, holding out a hand.
"Annabeth," she reached around her ever-growing tower of library books to shake it.
Hey there! Sorry it took so long, I was conflicted as to where I should take the story. Multi-chapter? Couple of onexshots? So many choices! But, in the end, I decided to make a series of connected onexshots.
Thank you for being so patient, and (if you even still care about this story) thank you for sticking with it while I wallowed in indecision. :D
