2. Chloe

TWO

"No, we stopped charging late fees. Just bring your books on by. After a month, though, we'll charge you to replace them."

Chloe told the elderly woman on the other line to have a good day, then hung up the phone. She returned to typing frantically, trying to catalog the cart of new releases. The cart had been stacked with so many books that the metal was buckling under the weight.

She stared off into the void, fantasizing about a bigger world … one of the star-crossed lovers and fantastical creatures. Chloe yearned to be part of something more than this routine.

"Got another cart for you, Chloe."

Her boss, Wes, forced a large, squeaky cart through the office door behind her, waking her from her daydream. As he moved forward, grunting against the weight of the cart, he awkwardly fiddled with his black toupee, trying to keep it on top of his head. With every push, the wheels of the cart squeaked loudly, echoing through the room.

She smiled, resisting the urge to scream and tear her hair out.

This cart appeared to be full of nonfiction, including biographies that would be current for a week and then fade into obscurity and textbooks full of information that would be found obsolete in a matter of decades.

That's when Chloe caught sight of Kelcy's long golden hair approaching her from the digital media section. Kelcy was still wearing a pair of oversized disguise glasses, and Chloe had to resist laughing at the pink nose and black mustache.

"Hey, Wes, what's the deal?" Kelcy asked, weaving through the study tables and back past the counter.

Wes cocked an eyebrow, hesitating to ask for clarification. "What do you mean?"

Kelcy logged into a computer beside Chloe and then started moving books off the other cart, flipping from book covers to publication pages.

"We agreed you were going to let me punish her, and now you're dumping the whole library on her? Unacceptable."

Wes let out an exasperated sigh.

"I wouldn't ask her to do it if I didn't think we had time," Wes said with a distinctively stern tone. "We haven't had a library patron in three hours. Except for Merv …"

Wes craned his long neck, his deep gray eyes staring out at the media center. Merv sat nonchalantly, a scruffy, unkempt beard flowing over his large belly.

"I'm going to make sure Merv isn't looking at porn again," Wes whispered.

Merv looked up from his computer, locking eyes with Merv. Wes's gaze was fervent and unyielding.

Merv smiled and waved.

"Fucking menace," Wes cursed under his breath.

Chloe chuckled silently to herself, entering the latest installment of Wicked Wolves into the computer.

"Stacy Smucker. 2024. Pendulum Press."

Sometimes, she needed to read out loud to maintain her focus. She moved the book to the side, proceeding to the next entry.

That's when she felt a shadow growing closer. Looking up, she saw Kelcy staring at her expectantly, still wearing the disguise glasses.

"Okay," Chloe said, fighting the urge to laugh. "If you want me to take you seriously, take those off."

"But the kids love them."

Chloe looked around the library, noticing Wes looking apologetically down at Merv before patting his shoulder and walking back toward the desk.

Nobody else was here.

"What kids?"

She expected to be reprimanded for not working more diligently when Wes reached the desk, so she went back to her work, focusing intently on the task before her.

"So," Wes said. "Got any weekend plans?"

Chloe stared down at the pile of books, wondering why life couldn't be more like a novel. She had always immersed herself in the world of fiction as a form of escape. But slowly she was realizing that over the years in which she had her nose tucked away in books, she had neglected reality.

"I think he's talking to you, Chloe," Kelcy said.

Chloe looked up from the pile before surveying Wes. His posture had slackened since she last looked, and his elbows rested on the counter. Somehow, this felt like a trap.

"Actually," Chloe began.

"Nah, I'm just kidding," Wes said with a chuckle. "I know how your weekends are."

Kelcy chuckled uneasily.

"So I'm seeing this new guy," Kelcy replied, trying to move the conversation to a different topic while typing more books into the system.

"Oh, yeah?" Wes asked. "What's he like?"

"Oh, you know. No big deal," Kelcy said. "He's just Jeremy Crawford."

Wes's jaw dropped. "As in front man for the Wailing Pixies, Jeremy Crawford?"

"Excuse me," Chloe cut in. "It's kinda rude just to ask somebody a question, then cut in before she even gets a chance to answer."

Wes turned his head back to Chloe, clearly caught off guard. Kelcy hung her jaw in surprise.

"You mean you're not just reading Covenant Ghosts again?" Wes asked.

"Even if I was, what would it matter? It's a wonderful series."

Chloe suppressed the urge to drone on about the literary consistency and character development of the series.

"Now this I gotta hear," Kelcy said, putting aside the book she was scanning into the system.

Chloe gulped, not ready for the sudden shift of attention.

"As it happens, one of my friends is having a birthday, and we're celebrating. And we're gonna get together and hit up a bar."

"Are these the same friends …"

Chloe nodded, smiling proudly. "The very same."

"Oh my God," Kelcy said.

Wes looked curious, but a few college students walked in, and he returned to his usual stiff demeanor. As she scanned a new copy of The Sorcerer's Broomstick into the library database, Chloe was just glad he wasn't pressing them to work harder.

Her three friends, Fiona, Alexis, and Lillian, had always been much more adventurous than she was.

Compared to Chloe, they were like tornadoes, always whisking her away, kicking and screaming, into a much more interesting world. But their lives and careers had taken them metaphorical lightyears away from her to places and predicaments she could barely comprehend, and they sometimes seemed to have grown too busy to see her.

"I don't think they're just taking you to a bar," Kelcy said after a momentary pause.

Chloe shrugged. "Who knows? Alexis's the birthday girl, so our rule has always been that the birthday girl calls the shots."

Kelcy smirked. "Well, I hate to remind you to keep your wits about you, given everything I've heard …"

"I'll be fine," Chloe interrupted.

"But try to have a good time," Kelcy said. "And you'd better come back with stories. I don't want to hear about Covenant Ghosts for the millionth time."

Before the end of Chloe's shift, a huge influx of people came into the library, trying to squeeze in some last-minute research. She was relieved to be leaving, looking forward to seeing her friends, but overwhelmed at the same time.

The bus was a few minutes late. As she waited, she reminisced. Then, the bus came to a screeching stop in front of the library, and as she walked onto the bottom step, her mind was still reeling in nostalgia. She didn't even look out the window at all the pedestrians, pondering what kinds of lives they led.

She was much too preoccupied to people-watch. As she thought back on one particular incident involving an art gallery, a statue, and a series of hats, she couldn't help remembering all the trouble she got into.

It's going to be okay, though, she thought. We're going to have a blast this time.

If they proposed anything too outlandish, she'd veto it. She was getting too old to be entirely at their whims. They were all busy professional women now, anyway. She had a feeling their days of mischief were behind them.

The bus stopped a few blocks short of her apartments, as usual. She looked down at the time, realizing she was cutting it close. She would have time to pick out a nice outfit, but she couldn't be too particular.

As she climbed the stairs to her apartment, passing several of her neighbors getting their mail, she ignored them, not wanting a negative interaction to temper her excitement. Paul, the elderly man upstairs, smiled kindly at her as he threw away credit card offers, but she said nothing.

She entered her apartment and pushed the door shut behind her, heaving a sigh of relief before flipping the light on.

"Ew," she said, rubbing her hands along the counter and finding a small bit of dust. "Guess it's a good thing they're just coming here to pick me up and not staying."

She remembered the spaghetti stains on Fiona's carpet and shuddered.

Walking into her closet, she rifled through clothing, trying to find the perfect outfit for the occasion. She still had winter outfits in her closet rather than in storage where they belonged. Her closet was a cluttered mess, and if she had any time, she would have spent the evening organizing it.

Her phone buzzed, shaking on the end table beside her bed.

We're on our way,the text from Fiona read. Gonna be a few minutes late. Try to relax in the meantime.

But she couldn't relax. She eventually settled on a green sling top and a pink skirt … something more seasonal … and walked outside, bringing a jacket just in case.

They were more than a few minutes late, and she realized at the third catcall that she had left her apartment far too early. She huddled close to the building, already wondering if this evening was going to be another mistake.

Then, a familiar Lexus pulled up. As a window rolled down, Alexis's blonde hair whipped in the wind, her arm resting carelessly against the outer door.

"Get in, loser," Fiona said, wiping her brown hair out of her eyes. "We've got a mystery to solve."

"We're actually just going to a bar, probably," Alexis said. "For some reason, Fiona keeps insisting we're Mystery, Inc. or something."

Lillian smiled at her from the back, and as Chloe looked around, she shuffled quickly into the back of the car.

Chloe wondered how boring the night would be.