Jae carried a large pile of books in her hands from the back storeroom. She held them in place by placing her chin on the top of the pile and navigated her way through the shelves of books of all subjects and sizes. Business in the store perked up a little with the upcoming holiday season, but it was a small town and business picking up meant a few more of the locals were looking around than usual.
The month, so far, had been somewhat uneventful, save for the tiff she had over the network with Gil about his brilliant deduction skills. A Pegasus student brought her the violin case the next day, saying he procured it from a couple of mischievous Kitsune students who had hoped to prank it. Being Vice President of the Student Council brought some unwanted attention in that regard. Thankfully Pegasus students were more about rule-following.
A lot of the tension she'd been feeling for longer than she cared to remember was gone. There came a release. A prisoner no longer. She'd bear the scars but she felt much happier than before. St. Margaret's afforded her friendships that lifted her spirits, and somehow this made them all the sweeter. Jae celebrated this victory with friends, some aware of what happened, and others blissfully unaware.
She came to the aisle of the books on self-help and then set her pile down. A small skip in her step as she busied herself with the mundane task. The self-help books were varied in subjects. There was an Online Couponing for Dummies along with 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Jae studied each of the books already on the shelves, keeping in mind the way Dustin had it organized. She found a place for the Dummies book on the bottom shelf, and went to go rearrange some books to make space for it. And that's when she felt it.
It was a small prick on the back of her neck. Barely noticeable but there. A slight sting. Just enough to catch her attention.
Jae's hand went to the back of her head and she immediately turned around to see if it was Davian or something. But no one was there. Jae inhaled deeply to see if someone had poked her or whatever was still nearby and just hiding.
She smelled paper—old and new pages in the books around her—Dustin's cologne, some cold coffee still from this morning, and the typical smells of the store in the afternoon.
Maybe she caught her hair on something. The necklace she wore today. That had to be it. With a shake of her head, Jae went back to work.