15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Winnie

Finally, I've finished every single lesson with the kids for the day.

I take a sip of water and sit back on my chair behind the counter inside the library. Sitting is good after spending the previous hours standing in front of classes. Even though the official lesson hours are over, I still have to stay here for the after-school hours.

A few students are on their tablets, watching a movie or a book. Some are wandering between shelves, which reminds me of the time when I was a kid.

I've loved the library since I was a kid. I would stay there all the time, both the school library and the public one. Maybe some of the kids here are doing the same. The library has always been my place to hide from other problems I had to deal with. Now that I'm no longer a kid, I don't have to hide in a library, but I still enjoy spending my time here. It feels like I can be myself when I'm alone.

Where's Telke?

I look around the library, turning my chair around. The librarian's chair can spin, so it makes it easier. I can't see behind the shelves at the area of beanbags, but it is clear enough that he isn't around.

He always finds his way here, even though he has no official reason to.

This probably means that he is with the floatball team. I haven't run into him since the morning; our schedule doesn't match up at all. I had to meet with representatives from the publisher during lunch hour, which would have been the time I could meet Telke.

He has to be fine if he can get to work, so I don't have to worry about him. Nothing's going to happen if I don't see him for a bit, but somehow, I want to make sure he is still alive and not doing something dumb again.

It's not like I can leave here before all the kids are gone anyway.

A few kids put their backpacks on the shelves next to the entrance and pull out a few books from their backpacks. I stand to get ready to help them with returning the books.

They come over to the counter and put the books on it. "We want to return the books."

"Sure." I lift the scanner and take the information of the books. "We are having new books soon, remember to check back tomorrow."

"We will."

One of them comes closer. He has a small horn on his forehead. Maybe the horn will grow larger when he gets older. "Is Mr. Stek fine?"

"He is back in the school now." My heart skips a beat. Telke should be fine, unless he has done something dumb again. "Why's the question?"

"I miss him. He wasn't around last week."

I let out a soft breath as I put away the stack of books they returned. "He wasn't doing well last week. Got into an accident, like that."

"Yeah..." He frowns with a sad face that pains me. "I hope he is fine by now."

"He is. Don't worry about him. The doctors took good care of him."

The kid to the side squeaks. "He's a hero!"

I nod with a wry smile. He sure saved a life, but he could have lost his own. Would it be selfish if he did nothing? "He is. But be sure to watch the road. It can be dangerous with spaceships out there."

Usually, spaceships are in the sky, but when they are ready to land, they'll descend and be on the street. There are traffic lights, but... Maybe that kid is a bit too used to streets with no spaceships that she didn't pay attention.

Poor Telke...

The kids nod. Maybe they aren't fans of the principal's speech either. Other than spending most of the assembly time talking about being mindful of traffic, he also told everyone about Telke. I'm not sure whether Telke likes the attention, he'd probably prefer that to be about his achievement instead of getting injured.

But like the kids said, it's quite an achievement to save a life.

But.. He could have died... that would be more of a sad and gut-wrenching story instead of a heroic one.

I force a smile. "Stay safe."

The kids disperse to the shelves, busy looking for their next read, which is what I love to see.

For me, it's depressing to think about what happened. It's not an accident happening to me, but I can't stop seeing an injured Telke in my mind and my sleep. It must suck for him...

I head to the window, where I should be able to see him and the floatball team.

He drives me crazy even though I don't have to care that much about him. He makes my heart race... He also haunts me like a ghost...

The floatball team is smacking the ball with the bats in the field. The floatball is a weird transparent ball with a red core, almost like a seed of a fruit with transparent flesh. I think the core can be turned on and it will shine in darkness. The transparent part of the ball is not completely hard like the surface of a baseball, which... I don't understand.

The players aren't on the sports spaceships for now, maybe they are warming up. I followed the plan Telke wrote out for the team. All I knew to look for was whether the ball scored a goal or not.

Telke just loves to bring me trouble. Because he tasked me with training the team for a session or two, I watched a few floatball matches with Ossa through the night. I think the sport is growing on me.

It doesn't take long before the team stops and Telke lifts his bat, probably talking about something to them.

One of the kids gives him a ball. He tosses it with a hand, smacking the ball with the bat. My eyes follow where the ball should be flying toward, but... There's no ball.

Turns out, the net on the top of the bat held the ball. The nets seem to be made of wire, which should be hard, and the ball will bounce off easily even though it isn't hard. Maybe this is what they will be practicing. I saw a similar technique on the television, but never figured it out. Those players can catch a flying floatball with the net, change its direction, and pass to their teammates. It was fascinating to watch.

I think there was one who was fighting the other team for the ball, their ships crashed, and...

Well, with how the ships are like a floatball themselves and covered with rubber that's meant to sustain crashes, it is just one of the ways beings play floatball.

I shiver when the air-conditioning seems to get stronger. Maybe I should focus on my work instead. The after-school hour is a slow and relaxing time. I'm pretty much free to do whatever...

Fuck...

Students are lining up at the counter with me staring out the window like an idiot...

I hurry over, hoping the students won't give a second thought to my stare at the floatball team.

The cart for the books waiting to be put back up on the shelf starts piling up. I silently sigh while keeping up a smile for the kids. I like to let the kids read more, but re-shelving the books is quite a thing. I enjoy putting them back into the slot, but staring at a big pile makes it tempting to throw my hands in the air. Figuring out where to start is the hardest.

Not to mention, after meeting the beings from a publishing house, there's another box of books to be shelved. I haven't even created the labels and filed those books.

Ossa is going to miss me. Maybe... If his cat bowl gets too empty to his liking.

It would be great if I get another pair of hands to help, but for now, I'd better finish borrowing and returning books for the kids.

The books can wait to get to their respective shelves anyway.

Focus...