When she left

I leaned against my locker and pulled out one of my favorite books. Finally, finally I could spend a minute reading. Unfortunately, my hope was sadly far from reality. As soon as I had opened the book, I noticed Paige coming towards me. I buried myself in the story, hoping that she might just pass by. I could feel her pace slowing down. I groaned. She was annoying, loud and clingy. I knew she wanted to befriend me but frankly, I wasn’t interested. Why couldn’t Paige just let me read in this short break I have earned? A lot of people thought I was annoying, because they didn’t understand that books were better company for me. Paige’s smile was way too wide “Hi Addy”. Not bothering to respond, I turned my attention back to my story, wanting to finish a chapter before class started. “A-Addy?” Paige hesitantly asked, thinking, I couldn’t hear her annoyingly high-pitched voice. Frustrated, I said “Go away Paige I’m reading… and for the gazillionth time, its Addison not Addy. ” She fiddled with the thing in her hands. “I just wanted to give you this bookmark I made, you know, because you’re always reading and…well…” she trailed off. “Very nice, now go” I snapped, not even noticing the gift she was holding out. It fell to the floor. Not meeting my gaze, Paige stammered “Well… um… I’m moving after school so… Bye I guess”. I caught a glimpse of her as she slowly walked away. When she was finally gone, I delved back into my book thankfully. I hadn’t even reached the end of the page when the bell rang. “Snap” I muttered, reluctantly tearing my eyes from the engrossing story. I glanced down at the bookmark lying on the dirty tile floor. “Oh well” I thought, “I should probably just use it”. I gasped when I got a closer look at the gift. It was colorful yet soft, pretty yet classy. Why did Paige have to make it so perfect? How did she know exactly how to get to me? It even had a tiny felt book dangling from the string, painstakingly hand stitched. I crammed the bookmark into my page and tossed the book in my locker. Slamming the door, I tried to talk fervently to myself. “It doesn’t matter.I can read in peace now. Things are better this way”. I took one last glance at the bookmark string peeking out from the locker, simple, sweet and genuine work already ripping. I hesitated “Right?…” I almost convinced myself.