I lost track of them after a while and hoped it meant that they’d gone home, but kept my guard up. For such a small library, there were plenty of places to hide if you really wanted to. I would know. Back when I was their age, Kash and I ran circles around this very library. If we didn’t want to be found, there wasn’t a soul who was going to find us.
Eventually I forgot about the boys entirely—that is, until the head librarian, Mary, hustled over to me with a steely glint in her eye.
“Daisy, we have a problem outside. Go chase them off. Call the cops if you must. I will not have that filth on library property.”
Here we go again.
I huffed a sigh and hurried outside, where I found those same kids huddled together around a grown ass man with a sunburned scalp and a creepy smile. I vaguely recognized him, the way you recognize everybody in a one-school town.
“Excuse me,” I said firmly as I approached.
The kids all whipped their heads around guiltily, but the man just casually shoved his hands into his pockets, his grin firmly in place.
“Well, well miss Daisy, how has your garden grown.” He slid his sunglasses down his nose to look me up and down.
“Do I know you?” I asked, bristling.
He winked at me and clicked his tongue. Suppressing a shudder, I met the leader-kid’s eyes. “You and your friends better get out of here before I call the cops. My boss does not like drug deals on library property.”
The kid started to scoff, but I interrupted him.
“Don’t start with me, kid. You’re not afraid of the cops, fine. I’ll call your mama. I bet she’ll have some choice words for what you’re doing out here. Bet she wouldn’t be opposed to grounding your ass either.”
He paled slightly and took a step back. “All right, all right, chill out, girl. We’re goin’. Dayle, you wanna meet up at—”
Dayle, the adult, cleared his throat pointedly. “You heard the lady, boy. Get goin’.”
The frustrated kid hunched his shoulders and slouched off with all his cronies in tow. I glared at the man and shook my head.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” I hissed.
Dayle’s grin widened. “Don’t be a hypocrite, cupcake. It’ll give you wrinkles.” He winked at me again and strolled away, leaving me to indulge in a full-body shudder.
Hypocrite? Really? I never sold drugs to high school kids. Hell, I never sold drugs at all. To anyone. Ever!
If he was referring to Hunter and Kash, they both had had hard and fast rules about selling to kids. As in, never gonna happen.
I glared at nothing in particular as I realized that I was defending the same shitty behavior I’d fought with Kash about. Even after all these years, he still knew very well how to get under my skin.
“Damn him. Him and his dubious ethics,” I said under my breath as I went back inside. I tried to leave my annoyance outside before stepping through the door. Mary nodded at me as I stepped inside. She wasn’t much of a talker. On days like today, I was grateful for that because I wasn’t exactly in a talking mood either.
I found myself back in the rows of shelves and continued restocking books. My mood darkened steadily over the next hour or so. The good kids had all settled in with their books and computers so I could get back to my regular tasks, which I was woefully behind on. But I worked quickly and as long as nothing else happened I would be able to get through it all before closing. But of course, things kept happening. One after the other. Mild annoyance after mild annoyance. I just couldn’t catch a break.
“Computer four needs help,” Mary said as she bustled past with an armful of ruined books. “I have to get these out of the system. Maybe see if some of them can be restored. You don’t mind handling the customer at the computer, do you?” It was worded like a question, but was anything but.
I pasted a customer service smile on my face as I set my own work aside once again and hurried over to the computer.
“How can I help you?” I asked before I’d even looked at the patron.
“I can’t get the guest login to work,” Kash said.
His voice rippled down my spine, stiffening it. Obviously, this was how my day was going to go. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he smiled sheepishly up at me. He handed me the little slip of paper with the guest printout on it and I snatched it out of his hand.
“Still angry, I see,” he said neutrally. His eyes were plastered to my face, searching it for only God knows what.
I huffed a breath. “Yes, I’m angry, Kash,” I hissed. “Mind telling me what the hell you’re doing here?”
Kash shrugged and gestured at the computer. “Looking for work. They’re laying a bunch of people off of the roadkill crew.”
I made a face. “I wish you wouldn’t call it that.”
“Why? That’s what they call it.”
I shook my head and tried the login. A popup blocked my progress, and I gave Kash a sideways look. “This one’s been used already.”
He sighed. “I was afraid of that. Trash bin logins have never given me anything but disappointment.”
I blinked at him. “Really, Kash?”
“Trust me, I’m just as baffled as you are. You’d think at least one person would have left time on their guest pass.”
I pressed my fingers to my temples and rubbed hard.
“I—just—sit there,” I said, exasperated. Storming over to the big, obvious basket on the check-out counter, I grabbed a fresh code and went back to where he sat with a goofy grin on his dumb, gorgeous face. I handed him the new slip.
“Try that. Why are you looking for work, anyway? I thought you were just gonna do
