Emily Weird

On his way out of Adelaide's office, Brett ran pretty much literally into Emily.

"At least have the common decency to say sorry when you knock someone over," she said angrily, chasing papers and books across the floor. Brett, cheeks burning, bent to help her.

"You could watch where you're going too, you know," Brett said gruffly. One of the fallen books lay open to a page of a wolf, a serpent, and a robed woman standing around a little bearded man with a pointy chin. "What's this, Aesop's Fables?" he asked, waving the book in his hand. Glancing around, he noticed several of the books with similar themes. One picture in particular caught his eye, like a twisted Celtic circle thing made out of a tree. For some reason it seemed vaguely familiar.

"It's the Librarian's private collection," Emily huffed, adjusting her glasses. "I should have known it was you."

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice. See?" Brett handed her the books back in a neat pile. "I can be nice every once in awhile."

"Right, right." Emily seemed preoccupied. She took a deep breath, eyes closed, and when she opened them again she was her normal, stiff, acerbic self. "I apologize, Brett, for my unfortunate and misdirected outburst of vitriolic sentiment. I should not have maligned your chivalrous attempts to offer assistance."

Brett glowered. She always had to use huge words, when regular sized-ones would do. Brett always got the vague feeling that Emily had a personal distaste for him, though he wasn't sure why. Or maybe it was the knowing way she was staring at his bandages, like she knew exactly what was under them, and didn't like it. Either way, he always felt a bit uneasy around her.

"Are you okay? You look pretty banged up?" Emily said. She nodded to herself, "Just went to see Adelaide? That girl is amazing."

"Um, sure." Brett said awkwardly. "Do you, I don't know, want help with this stuff?" Why did I say that? Brett thought in disgust. Now I'm going to have to help her carry all this crap.

"No thank you, I'll be fine for the moment." Emily seemed to hesitate for a moment. "You could do something else for me though." She held one book out from the stack, a small, leather-bound thing. It had faded, soft yellow pages and creaked slightly in his hand. "You don't mind breaking a few rules, do you?"

Brett bristled. "Come on, Emily, give me a break."

Emily glanced at his bandages and snorted. "Obviously." She lowered her voice, glancing around to make sure they weren't overheard. A couple of seniors were laughing about something just down the hall, but otherwise they seemed to be alone. Looking straight into Brett's eyes, Emily said slowly, "I guess I forgot that one when the books fell. Clumsy of me." She dropped the book with a little plot between them. "I'm sure if somebody found it in the hall, they could take it back to the library in a couple days, saying where they picked it up."

Brett stared at her. "Are you asking me to steal this book for you?" He whispered, "Isn't this a bit too cloak and dagger."

Annoyance flashed across her face. "Brett, just pick it up."

Rolling his eyes, Brett grabbed the book, and gestured to hand it back to Emily.

"No, don't try to hand it back! Oh, you are hopeless at this," she grimaced. "Brett, have you ever tried lying to the Librarian? Have you ever met anybody who could get away with lying to her?"

"Not really." Brett shrugged. "But I'm not in the library too much."

"Well, take it from me, it doesn't work. You know; you might understand better than most that sometimes things aren't always what they seem, am I right?" Emily said almost casually.

Brett shrugged, giving nothing away, a cocky grin on his face. "Sure," he agreed without agreeing. He looked into Emily's eyes steadily, and she turned away, seeming a little confused.

"Anyways, just talk to Levi. He'll understand."

"Yeah, whatever." Brett shifted his feet, indicating his desire to go. "You should probably get going or the Librarian will start where you're at."

As she hurried away, Brett glanced down at the book in his hand. On the leather cover was another tree, and the title Prophecies of the Volva. He nearly started snorting, his face quickly turned from red to white, and he tucked it quickly under his arm. He didn't want anybody seeing what she'd given him.