If there was a man in the world who loved books more than Gus, he had yet to meet one. Ever since he'd decided to stop going to school, he'd been feeding his mind by reading whatever it was that caught his eye. Just because he hated the ideas of schooling and teachers didn't mean he didn't love to learn. Gus just wanted to be his own teacher and learn on his own terms.
Lately, his obsession had been the South Pole. Antarctica. He'd watched March of the Penguins, had read tales of expeditions and watched documentaries filmed with some of the scientists who worked there, taking core samples and such while performing experiments. He wanted to go there. It sounded silly, yes, but he wanted to. The more he thought of it, the more plausible it sounded. But he would need a lot more money than he had currently to make that happen.
And so spending money on books was just what he needed... to be saving money, of course. Browsing the nonfiction books at Barnes & Noble, he selected one that looked interesting. The thought of the ice and snow made him cold, however, silly as it was. He opted for a cup of coffee for his walk home, long one that it was. Gus joined the back of the line, eyeballing the menu with the book tucked under his arm. It was there, in line, that he noticed Tonia sitting at a table nearby. She didn't have a drink in front of her, and she wasn't even reading a magazine or such. Still, he raised a grubby hand to wave to her and called out. "Tonia? Hey there. How's it going?"