Meanwhile, back at the Cambridge home, Kristyn had just left the house. She walked down the driveway, and headed down the sidewalk. She was going to the library to find some books to read for leisure. Kristyn enjoyed reading good books, and was an avid reader and writer.
Kristyn shivered a little, as a breeze flew by, causing a few strands of her hair to fly wildly in the wind. She folded her arms, trying to keep warm.
It's actually kind of chilly today, Kristyn thought. Maybe I should have dressed more warmly. She looked down at what she was wearing. She only wore a blue sweater and blue jeans, with Nike running sneakers.
She turned the corner, and headed downtown toward the busy area of the town. She continued to make her way down closer to town, as she shivered again.
Kristyn looked up at the sky, as she folded her arms more tightly, feeling cold. She began to wish she had brought an extra jacket with her. As she began to debate whether or not she should go back home and get a jacket, a voice interrupted her trail of thoughts.
"Well, well, well; look who's here. It's none other than Kristyn Cambridge, the ice princess herself," a voice said in an obnoxious tone.
Kristyn turned around to look in the direction where the voice had came from. Instantly, her eyes narrowed, as her gaze fell on the person whom the voice belonged to.
Standing in front of the local drug store was Matt Larson, along with his friends, Sean Ford, Mike Hayler, Josh Ledger, Gavin Riley, and Luke Nelson. Matt was friends with Kristyn's older brother, Christian, and he was extremely conceited. He had a tendency to act like a jerk, and liked to bother Kristyn whenever he got the chance. He wasn't exactly Kristyn's favorite person to come across, since she found his company extremely annoying and a waste of time.
Kristyn glared at Matt, before turning her head and continuing her way down the street past them. I'm not going to waste my time dealing with a jerk like him, she thought.
Matt gave her a haughty smirk. "Well, aren't you gonna say hi to me, Kristyn?"
Kristyn stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned around, and glowered at Matt.
"Actually, I have much better things to do than greet you," Kristyn replied coldly.
Matt pretended to look hurt. "Oh, you have more important things to do than say hi to me?? Oh, well, I'm sorry; I didn't realize you were too preoccupied with your busy life to take one second of your time to say hi to me." He shook his head, and held his hands up. "My bad, it's my fault. I should have known. Why didn't I see it earlier; it was so obvious. Geez, it was right in front of me the whole time. I'm sorry. Forgive me, ice princess." He gave her a sly grin. Sean and Gavin snickered loudly.
Kristyn shot Matt a dirty look. "Do yourself a favor and shut that sarcastic mouth of yours. No one cares to hear nor put up with your stupidity, so just save it," she snapped.
Matt raised an eyebrow. "Oh, feisty now, are we? Take it easy, Krissy; don't get all hissy with me." He shot her another smirk.
Kristyn scowled. "Don't call me Krissy!" she snapped sharply. She glared at Matt, then at his friends. With that, she turned on her heel, and stalked away.
Matt turned to his friends. "Come on," he said. "Let's follow her." He started heading after Kristyn, but Josh quickly grabbed Matt's shoulders, and pulled him to a stop.
"No, don't. Stop," Josh said firmly.
Matt turned around, and gave Josh a surprised look. "What? Let's go see where she goes."
"No," Josh said sternly. "Just cut it out, okay? Leave her alone."
Matt frowned. "Why? What's wrong with you? What's your problem?"
"Nothing," Josh said. "It's just that.....well, I mean, come on; you bugged her enough. Just......leave her alone, okay? Really, she's had enough. Just give her a break."
"Yeah, just quit it, man," Luke agreed. "You already got on her case; what more do you wanna do."
Matt gave him a weird look. "Why stop here? She's an easy target, her being an ice princess and all."
Josh frowned. "Don't call her that."
Matt gave Josh an inquisitive look. "What's up with you? Why are you defending her so much?"
"Well, I mean, you've done more than enough, so......just leave her alone now, okay? Seriously, just stop it," Josh said.
"Well, I wanna go see where she's headed," Matt insisted.
"You can see from here," Mike pointed out. "You don't have to follow her to do that."
Matt peered down the street as he watched in the distance Kristyn entering the library. He rolled his eyes. "Pshh....figures. Her being a bookworm and all." He shook his head. "Whatever, man." He looked at his watch. "Aww, shoot. I gotta meet Robin at the coffee shop, I'm late. Come on, guys; let's go." Robin was Matt's girlfriend.
Matt turned and started heading toward the coffee shop. Sean, Mike, Gavin, and Luke followed, but Josh hung back.
Mike turned around. "Josh, you coming?"
Josh shook his head. "Nah. I'm just going to hang around here for a while. I'll catch you guys later."
Mike shrugged. "Okay."
Matt rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man." He turned around, and headed off with the other boys.
Josh watched them go. He waited until they disappeared out of sight before he turned around, and started heading in the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, Kristyn was walking up and down the aisles of books in the library, roaming through the aisles, peering at different books. Finally, after searching for a few minutes, she had three books in her hands, and went to the check-out counter to checkout the books. As she handed the librarian her library card, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted someone standing outside of the library. She moved her head, trying to get a better look, but the person moved aside, out of her view.
Kristyn frowned a little. Umm, okay. That was kind of weird, she thought. She shrugged, and pushed the thought out of her mind. All of a sudden, a thought struck her mind as she remembered something.
"Oh, wait. I just remembered there's one other book I'd like to borrow. May I go get it quickly?" Kristyn asked the librarian.
"Of course. Hurry back," the librarian answered.
Kristyn quickly hurried away, in the direction of the aisle with the book she wanted to borrow. She didn't notice the person who had been standing outside, slip inside the library.
Kristyn hurried over to the fantasy section, and crouched down in front of some books on the bottom shelf. Her eyes scanned the spines of the books, until her eyes rested on the right one.
Ah, here's the one I want to read, she thought, as she pulled the book out of the shelf. Yes, this is it. This is the one.
Kristyn stood up, admiring the cover of the book. She turned the book over, and glanced at the back. Then she looked up, raising her eyes only to meet another pair of eyes staring back at her through the bookshelf in front of her, in the next aisle.
Kristyn let out a startled shriek. She dropped the book she was holding, and backed away from the bookshelf.
"What are you doing?!" Kristyn cried out in a mix of shock and anger. "Why are you spying on me??" But when she looked back through the bookshelf, the other person was gone.
"What...." Kristyn whispered, feeling perturbed. She slowly glanced around uneasily.
At the same time, the person had walked down the aisle, around the corner, and entered the aisle Kristyn was in, and approached her from behind. Two hands reached forward and grasped Kristyn's arms from behind her.
Kristyn let out a startled cry. "Get off of me! Let me go!"
To Kristyn's astonishment, the hands complied and released her.
Kristyn whirled around, and found herself face to face with Josh. "You," she said slowly, staring at him in disbelief. Then, her face twisted into an angry scowl. "What did you think you were doing??!" she snapped so curtly that Josh jumped.
Josh looked taken aback. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to frighten you." He took a step closer to her, but Kristyn took a step away.
Kristyn frowned. "You didn't frighten me," she said. "You just.......surprised me, that's all." Her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here, anyway? Why are you here?" She looked at him curiously.
Josh hesitated a little. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then closed it.
"Well??" Kristyn demanded. "Why did you come here?"
Josh was quiet for a moment. "I followed you," he said finally.
Kristyn looked at him in shock. "Followed me??" she repeated in disbelief. She gave him a weird look. "Why??"
Josh looked down at the ground, then raised his eyes back up to her. "I wanted to talk to you," he said softly.
Kristyn frowned. "Well, be that as it may, you could have just came up and asked to talk. You certainly didn't have to go about spying on me." She narrowed her eyes again. "Not to mention sneaking up on me like that."
Josh blushed. "Sorry......I didn't mean to spy on you or sneak up on you. And I wasn't exactly spying on you, either. I was just waiting until you were done, but when you went back to get another book, I thought I might miss you, so I just came in after you, that's all." He looked at her apologetically. "I didn't mean to startle you."
Kristyn paused. "So, it was you who was standing outside of the library," she said slowly.
Josh blushed slightly again, and turned his gaze to the ground. "Well.....yeah."
Kristyn felt surprised and shocked; she was speechless. She lowered her eyes to the ground, and remembered her book was still lying on the ground. She started to reach down to pick it up, but Josh quickly retrieved it for her.
Josh stood back up, and gently handed Kristyn the book. He was looking at her in a funny way.
"Umm.....thanks," Kristyn said awkwardly, as she accepted the book from him. As she took the book from his grasp, her hand accidentally brushed against his slightly. She avoided looking at him, reluctant to meet his eyes.
"You're welcome," Josh said softly, still gazing at her.
They stood there for a moment, in an awkward and somewhat uncomfortable silence. Finally, clutching her book, Kristyn slowly walked past Josh, and started making her way back over to the check-out counter. Josh quickly turned and followed her.
Kristyn slowly looked behind her over at Josh. "Uhh, why are you following me?" she asked uncertainly.
"Oh, well, I, uh, still want to talk to you, if that's okay with you," Josh said, turning slightly red again.
"Oh. That." Kristyn sighed. "Okay, well, why don't you wait outside? I'll, umm, meet you out there as soon as I finish getting my books checked out."
Josh nodded. "Okay." He headed out the entrance of the library.
Kristyn felt confused and surprised at the same time. Why does he want to talk to me? she wondered, as she handed the librarian her book. I don't understand this. But oh well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. She picked up her books and her library card, thanked the librarian, and walked outside.
Josh was leaning against the wall outside of the library, waiting for her. He quickly stood up when he saw her.
"Okay, so.....what is it that you want to talk to me about?" Kristyn asked uncertainly, as she and Josh started walking away from the library.
Josh cleared his throat. "I wanted to apologize to you for the way Matt and the other guys treated you earlier." He looked down at the ground. "It was really stupid of them to do that, and I feel really awful about it. I'm sorry."
Kristyn's eyes narrowed. "Oh, is that it? You wanted to apologize on behalf of them??" She shook her head in disbelief. "Well, I don't want your apology; it doesn't mean anything. I know they're not really sorry, so it's pretty much meaningless, coming from you."
"No -- please. I know they might not think what they did was wrong, but really -- I feel bad about it, and I wanted you to know that I'm sorry about that. Please know that," Josh begged.
Kristyn stopped walking, and turned around to face him. "It doesn't matter. You don't understand. You can't just apologize for them, and then think that things are okay now. It doesn't work that way," she said crossly. She turned and started walking away, but Josh grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop.
"But I want you to know that I'm sorry," Josh insisted. He looked desperately into her eyes, his brown eyes locking onto her blue-gray eyes in an intent stare. "Please."
Kristyn gave him a queer look. "Okay," she said slowly. "Fine." She looked down briefly at Josh's grip on her, before pulling away from his grasp. She turned away, and quickly started walking away again.
Josh quickly hurried after her. "I told them to leave you alone," he continued. "I told them to stop bothering you."
Kristyn stopped walking again, and turned around to look at Josh. "You did?" she asked slowly. She felt surprised.
Josh nodded. "Yeah.....they were just being obnoxious. Don't let them get to you. But, I don't want them to bother you anymore, so I told them not to." He sounded sincere.
Kristyn looked at Josh. Her blue-gray eyes studied him questioningly. "Why are you doing this?" she asked suspiciously.
Josh hesitated. He looked down at the ground, before glancing back up at her. "Because I think you're a really nice girl," he answered finally. And I really like you a lot, he added silently to himself, but didn't say it out loud to Kristyn.
.:[{({[ Chapter 14 ]})}]:.
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