Sleepy Insomniac

Catch Up

Chapter 3

Tyler hated the sun. It was big, bright, muggy, and it followed him everywhere. He especially hated it when he carried a backpack full of books across campus for literally miles. He especially, really hated it when it made him sweat. Just like now, as he trekked across campus to the massive library where he intended to study in his hidden secret fortress of solitary seclusion where no other students or people went ever.

Tyler hated people. Students gawked at him as he bumbled across the courtyard. Professors assessed him with their eyes as he slid past the various school buildings. Visiting parents quietly escorted themselves in the opposite direction as he passed the student center.

Finally, only a handful of yards separated him from the large, admittedly impressive campus library. Tyler grasped the old, historic looking handle, pulled the door as wide as it would go, and stepped inside. As Tyler navigated through the vast, open space that made up the library's entrance, one final thought of hate scurried through his mind, and it was this thought that angered him the most.

Tyler hated his friends. Ever since that day he revealed to them that Callie, his frankly obsession-worthy hot-as-balls sex-kitten of a female was his cousin, they never let it go. All three of them - Bill, Gust and Eury, all three of them made it their personal mission to investigate every intimate aspect of Callie's life...and forward Tyler their discoveries via email. Tyler didn't want to know anything about her. He wouldn't tell them why, of course, but underneath, it was pretty obvious. Tyler wanted his cousin more than anyone.

Tyler smashed the metal bar inward with his palm as he swept through the inconspicuous door into the dark corner of the large library entrance. Behind this door were shelves and shelves of musty old books tucked away in the forgotten corridors of the building. He immediately turned left and lumbered up the concrete stairs divided into four small flights per floor. He trudged upward until he reached his personal secret floor, number 6, and glided between two bookshelves arranged just a little too close together. No one was here and there was no sound to speak of. For Tyler, this was paradise.

Eventually, he reached his destination. Tucked away in this tiny corner of the vast sea of dusty books, concrete floors and vacant fluorescent lighting, there was a small table with a small chair on each side next to a window too blurry to see through. Tyler collapsed into one of the chairs and dropped his backpack to the ground. Exhausted, he sat there in thought, recalling the many things his friends told him regarding Callie. Though he attempted to file away everything to a part of his brain his psyche would never return, none of it would remain hidden for long. Tyler couldn't long forget details about someone he adored, even if he hadn't physically seen her for over a decade.

Uncovered by his friends' sketchy investigations, Tyler learned a lot of things about Callie. She was smart...but not the typical kind of smart. 4.0 high school, valedictorian, 36 ACT score...Tyler felt lazy just thinking about how far ahead she must be in life at this point than him.

He also learned she was generous. She volunteered at a nonprofit that aided medical treatment for children in poor countries and later was hired as a contractor for their marketing department. At the rate she was going, it wouldn't be long before she ran her own company. At this point in his life, Tyler was lucky if he didn't shrink his underwear in the dryer because he still hadn't solved the mysteries of laundry day.

The latest thing Tyler learned about her bothered him the most. He could handle that someone in his family, much less one he adored above all else, was essentially an angel sent directly from heaven; what bothered him was the fact that SHE WAS CURRENTLY ATTENDING THE SAME FUCKING SCHOOL.

He couldn't believe it. Of all the places she could've gone, she chose here; the middle of a Podunk state with a Podunk mascot surrounded by a Podunk town. It wasn't a bad school, but it wasn't the best one, either. Not for someone like her, anyway. Why, of all places, would she want to go here?

Didn't matter. Tyler would continue doing what he was doing before and would continue to do what he was already doing now. Or something. His existence was a little confusing to say the least. His plan: to only go straight to class, then straight to the library, hide in his secret spot to study, then go straight to his room. Even though HE knew she was at the same school, maybe SHE didn't and that whole awkward conversation would never have to-

SUDDENLY CALLIE SAT IN THE EMPTY CHAIR DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM TYLER.

"Hey stranger...you're a tough guy to track down," she said in a surprisingly mature voice given her figure. She wasn't dressed in the sexy outfits that have so far made-up most of Tyler's recent memories of her, but it didn't matter. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her arms folded up on the table, and her eyes stared at him in a confident pose. With a simple t-shirt and white short-shorts, her skin was smoother than silk and her breasts created tiny cleavage folds in the cotton. In a lot of ways, she looks even hotter than anything Tyler ever saw her wear on the Internet. The main difference being that right here, right now, she was staring directly at him with her deep, dark eyes and waiting for him to say something. Tyler could barely force himself to say anything at all. Then-

"No hablo inglés," he squeaked.

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