September Rain — Draft

One by one the students ran outside, eager to reclaim their freedom as the school day finally ended. What would start as en empty courtyard slowly turned into a busy intersect, full of kids readying themselves to go home. Loyal to their friends, the kids gathered in their appropriate groups. The walkers all huddled around the flag pole until their group grew large enough. The kids that got picked up all hung around the bleachers, talking or listening to music. From afar they seemed to talk a lot and always looked to be having fun. If my bus was late I’d sometimes hang out with them, either talking about sports or where they were going for the weekend. I never had much to say but they were nice and let me sit with them until my bus came. I’ve always liked riding the bus. Especially on days like today when it was raining. Plus, every morning Mrs Aldridge happily says “Good Morning!” and on Fridays she’d say “Have a safe weekend!” She was a fat lady, who wore pastel colored blouses and smelled of cedar and tea. At first I though she tried to smell like this, but after riding the bus for so long I think that might just be her natural smell.

Our numbers dwindled as the bus neared the end of the route. There were a few of us left, maybe four, and as the bus reached my stop I noticed Cara wasn’t on the bus today. Cara is a girl who gets off at my bus stop, only she doesn’t always ride the busy. She was in my english class last year and she told me that her dad picks her up, but sometimes he can’t because of work.

I waved to Mrs. Aldridge as I got off the bus and turned to walk towards the Library. I waited for the walking signal and waved to the car that stopped before me so I could go. Mom says I should be always wave to people, even at cross walks, to make sure they see me.

I went to the library after class because Mom didn’t get off work until six. She says she didn’t want me at the house all alone but I always though she worried too much. I was eleven and could make food for myself; microwaves were easy to use. The library wasn’t a bad place anyway. They had lots of movies and even computers you could use. Plus Chloe worked there and she always said hi to me when I walked in. She worked in the Teen section of the library so I saw her almost every day. Chloe was my favorite person at the library. She used to wear really colorful skirts with flowers on them and TOMs shoes that always matched her shirt. Once I wanted to check out a book about werewolves but I couldn’t find it in the bookshelves but the computer said that it was available. I asked Chloe if maybe it was somewhere in the back and she told me that it was in another library. The library was on the other side of town so I told myself I would never get to read it. I had completely forgotten about the book but three days later she called my name as I walked in and said she had something for me. She handed me the werewolves book, on it was bright yellow sticky note with my name neatly printed on it. I didn’t know how she had gotten it but I immediately hugged her, thanking her for getting the book. I realize now it wasn’t a personal gesture but an Inter-Library Loan.

Still, Chloe was cooler than the other librarians. She would makes jokes about the old folks that would come in and get mad when they couldn’t remember their passwords. I though it was mean but she would talk like them and even walk like them so it was really funny. All the other librarians wore name tags but Chloe never wore hers, sometimes she would even wear other people’s name tag. That way if someone complained she wound’t be the one to get in trouble. I used to love hanging out with her, but ever since this summer she would miss work a lot. When she was at work she just stayed in the back, coming out only when someone knocked on the door long enough. It was her job to check the books back in but because she missed so much work the books would just stay on the cart, disorganized and out of place. There was no one else to shelve the books so eventually the cart was full and the pile overflowed onto the counter. I offered to check them in once, insisting that I knew what I was doing. I knew how to shelve the books because Chloe would let me help her when the supervisor wasn’t around. I got pretty good at it, eventually I was able to shelve them myself, but with Chloe gone they wouldn’t let me help.

She now wore either a thick red sweater that bunched up at the sleeves or an old brown cardigan with wooden buttons. She wore a sweater even when it wasn’t cold. I thought they were going to fire her for missing so many days but once I overheard them and they said “It wouldn’t be good for her.”

I walked in and made my way to the Teens section, setting my backpack down at the long table next to the window. My mom always packed a snack in my backpack in case she ever got off work late. I ate what she had packed for me; grapes, peanut butter and crackers. She usually also packed a juice box, either apple or grape. She must have forgotten today so I just drank water instead.

After finishing my lunch I went to browse the New Releases shelf. Nothing on the shelf caught my eye but I did notice the stack of books had been moved off the front counter. I looked around for Chloe, perhaps she was back to her normal self. Next to the front desk sat the cart with its books now neatly aligned with the spines facing out. The front desk had a sheen waxy coat and the library brochures had finally been restocked. Happy that Chloe had finally come back to work I walked past the Employees Only sign and opened the door to the back room.

“Hello?”

“Excuse me but you’re not suppose to be back here.” Replied a stern woman I didn’t recognize.

“Oh Sorry, I was just looking for Chloe?” I asked. Just then the Library Director walked in carrying a clipboard.

“Good afternoon Donald. How are you?” She asked as she continued writing.

“I’m very well, thanks for asking M’am”

“Good to hear. And your mother?” Asked the director, looking up at me from her clipboard.

“She’s good.”

“Great! Please give her my regards — oh and can you do me a favor and step outside, you’re not suppose to be back here.”

I walked out without saying another word. If Chloe wasn’t here then I wondered who had put away the stack of books. I heard to door open and turned to see the woman from before.

“Hi again, Jessica” I said, reading the name off her name tag.

“Hi, what can I help you with?” She said looking up from her computer

“I was just wondering if you know when Chloe would be back?”

Looking back to her computer she responded, “Chloe must be the girl who used worked the front desk, she moved away.” She said while typing at the keyboard, looking at me only to make sure I was still there.

“Ohh ok”

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” She asked, looking straight at me.

I later found out by asking the director that Chloe had moved away to Texas. To a place named Katy, only a few hours away from Austin. I had family in Austin but they were my dad’s family so we hadn’t visited them since I was seven.

I couldn’t picture Chloe in Texas. It was hot there. Her baggy sweater and knit cardigan would keep her sweating every day. Maybe she would go work for a library there. Maybe she would go back to wearing colorful skirts with flowers and matching TOMs.