Christina sighed as she pushed her glasses up her nose. It had been a long day, and a stressfull day. Three more days, she told herself. She was just finishing up her final paper for English, and the last few weeks had been pure hell. It was late May, and she was almost done for the year. Then she could go home, and there would no work, no school, and no reminders of the past.

She opened the doors to the campus library. Christina loved the library. It was so big, with four floors, and enless books that seemed to go on forever. She smiled as she inhaled the musky, old smell. She had spent many hours here, researching, reading, and just enjoying the atmosphere. The library was the only place she could go that no one would bother her, and she could feel at home.

It was nearly seven at night, but the library was open late on Sunday nights, so she had plenty of time. There were still a few people in there, she noticed. That was alright; she almost prefered to be there alone.

"Hi Margie." She said to the librarian.

"Hi there Christina. You're in here late today."

"Just finishing some stuff up on my term paper."

"Anything I can help you with?" She asked. Margie was in her late twenties, and she was always very nice to Christina. She seemed like the kind of person that had a lot of cats at home, Christina thought.

"No, I'll be alright." She said, walking past the desk.

'Okay."

"Thanks." She walked up the main steps to the third floor, where the research and reference books were kept. She put her bag down at one of the many tables, got out her papers, and then started looking. She walked over to one of the shelves, her eyes scanning for a title.

She had changed quite a bit in the past few months. She had cut her waist length brown hair up just above her shouldes, leaving it in a short, wavy, chocolate brown mass that was usually tucked behind her ears. She had kept her glasses, and begun wearing wonder bras that made her feel more confident, like Michelle would have liked. As sad as it was, Christina and Michelle had grown apart after Michelle and David got married two months ago. Michelle dropped out of school and lived a few miles from campus, but Christina never saw her much. She still lived in her apartment, but she lived alone.

She walked down the isle, unaware of the pair of blue eyes following her from the other side. She was completely oblivious as they followed her, and when she reached the end of the isle, a person stepped out in front of her. Their eyes met, and her heart stopped for the first time again in months.



"Taylor?"

"Christina?"

"Hi." She said, unsure of what to say.

"Hi."

"Gosh, this is so unexpected." She said.

"Yeah, well, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"Uh, it's the library." She said.

"Oh." Taylor said. He mentally kicked himself for sounding so stupid. This was the first time he had seen or even talked to Christina in months.

"Gosh, you look so....different." She said.

"Yeah....I guess I do." He said after a moment. It was true. Taylor had cut his shoulder length blonde hair into a short, shaggy cut, and Christina noticed a small tattoo around his ankle.

"Uh, you look good though." She said. Could this be more awkward? She hadn't spoken to Taylor since the night he moved out. Taylor had come home later that night to find his things in a box outside her door, and he had been locked out. She had arranged all of her classes so that they had none together, and she had avoided him the first three months all together. Now she felt downright childish.

They looked at each other for a few moments, neither one knowing what do say.

Taylor looked at her. He could tell she had things to say, but she wasn't quite ready.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Cut the crap, Taylor." She said shortly. She crossed her arms and stood in front of him. Taylor looked at her, obviously surprised at her outburst.

"Look, Chris-"

"Christina." She said quickly. She didn't know what triggered her sudden burst of emotion, but she needed to let it out. She had to let it out.

"Christina." He said with a sigh. "I never got to tell you....I'm sorry."

"For what?" She obviously wanted him to elaborate.

"Nothing happened. You never heard me out." He said.

Christina was outraged. "Heard you out? Taylor, I saw you go into that bedroom with Drew. You took advantage of me." She said.

"Chris, I was drunk and nothing happened."

"That was all I neede to see."

"Christina, nothing happened."

"Taylor, I don't care. I've tried and tried to put all that behind me, and i don't need this. I'm sorry too." She said. With that, she went back to her table and tried to do some work.

Taylor stood in the library, watching her walk away. Again. Something told him to run after her, to yell and tell her the truth, and make her believe. His mind was screaming at him to move, to speak, to so something, but his body was frozen. It was the most helpless feeling he had ever felt.



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