Rhett:1

It was in the middle of the desert. A huge building three stories with round turrents and few windows. It would've been impressive if it didn't look like it was about to fall down. Even the sign "Fern County Library" was tilted and sun bleached to the point that it was difficult to read.

Why did they have to send me here of all places? 

A tall grizzled man was standing on the middle step of three that led to the wrap around porch and entrance to the building. He wore a brown tweed  jacket and a red vest. His long blonde hair hung just above his shoulders and I wasn't sure if it looked scholarly or stupid. He had a smirk on his face that dared me to challenge him.

The driver pulled the car to a stop. I got out and let my hand linger for just a minute against the last thing that was familiar to me. Grasping the window, I shut the door with such ferocity you would've thought that the door had done something to me. The three of us knew it wasn't the one who had. 

I met the driver at the trunk and pulled my backpack out. One bag for a summer. I packed light.

I slung it over my shoulder and walked up to the house. The car pulled away with a rev of the engine like he just couldn't get away from me fast enough.

"Hello, my name is Myles. I am the assistant librarian. You must be Rhett." He spoke with scholarly authority as if he had a college education going to waste here.

I nodded my head. He paused for a few seconds like he expected me to say something. I didn't.

 

"Ok, well now that you've seen the outside of the place, I'll show you around." He turned around and walked up to a green door with the paint peeling off in some places. He had to pull hard to separate the door from the door jam. He smiled back at me shyly. Entirely unimpresssed by the state of what I had seen so far I followed him inside.

As soon as I stepped inside I saw books. They were everywhere, including in the hallway where there was barely enough room to walk straight. The books weren't stacked straight and neat, they seemed to be randomly placed with corners sticking out everywhere. Myles stepped this way and that avoiding every corner and stepping in a pattern that made it seem like he had done this on a daily basis. He walked through the piles and stopped at the end of the hallway where there was a slightly larger space. He turned around and clasped his hands behind his back waiting for me.


Myles made it look a lot easier than it was. I tried my hardest to place my feet in the small spaces he had stepped in. After a particularly difficult step I heard a loud thump. I looked behind me to find that I had knocked over a pile of books. I looked up at Myles to see if he was mad.

His face was calm. "Just walk over them. We will fix them tomorrow."

After what seemed like forever, I finally made it to the small space without books. I hadn't been standing there for more than a second before Myles turned to the left and walked into another room. 

I followed him from room to room encountering books in every spare corner of the place exceot n bookshelves. therer were spaces for them but they weren't there. When i asked him aboout it, Myles mumbled something that sounded like spring cleaning. 

Wwe walked hrough thre large rooms with books everywhere. the other three rooms on the first floor was a bathroom, a large whitekitchen and a room without any mess of books in it at all. it looked like a living room of sme sort witha comfortable couch to loveseats, and a fireplace. Upstairs there was another bathroom, and three doors. He led me to the one that was open.

"This is your room." It was a small room with a double bed. The bed was made with dusty brown sheets that looked like it hadn't been used in years. There was a large window that looked down on the front drive. White walls again. Color was majorly lacking here. I put my bag next to the bed and sat down on the bed. 

"You can unpack later but right now we have to go into town." 

He drove a red pickup truck. A 1987 chevrolet pickup truck. How much more hick could he get? Apparently town was not just around the corner or a few miles away. It was a 30 miunte ride on the free way. We sat in silence for most of the way. He didn't tell me anything about himself or the library and I didn't tell him anything about me. The only sound I heard was the wind from the other cars. 

When we pulled into town things got slightly more busy. A few people were walking around and the restaurant of the town had people sitting down eating a hamburger. We parked in the parking lot and walked inside. An average sized red head in her late 30's met us at the door.

"Well hai there Myyles, so good to see you." HEr southern accent made her words sound drawn out. "You knoww I haven't seen you here for awhile. Are you watching the books or are they watching you?" She smiled and gave him a nice welcoming hug. He smiled at her embrace.

"It's nice to see you too Bea. I can't stay for long, I just wanted to make sure that there is stiĺl a position available for my friend." 

She laughed charmingly. "Why yes a course I still have that job. This isn't the she you were talkin about now was it?" She indicated, pointing to me. 

"Oh no. This is Rhett, he's working with me during the summer at the library." 

"Well it is so nice to meet you, honey. Now you come here anytime you hear? Even if stuffy ol Myles doesn't wanna come inta town, you just take that nice truck uh his and you drive yourself down here if you ever want some food. You have your licesnse don't ya?"

"Yeah, I've had it for a year now"

"Oh good. Then you must be near seventeen or so." I nodded. "Ooooh them town girls are gonna love you. A summer boy is always an attraction. You're such a cutie, and you look like you could break a few hearts. I just hope those girls are ready for you." She laughed. 

"Fanny, don't get the boys hopes up, he'll be spending a lot of time at the library with me. Besides, some of the town girls are good at breaking hearts too." 

She looked up at him with kind eyes and a sympathetic smile. "Well anyway, just let me know when you're friend can start, and we will get her acquainted with the place soon enough." A customer called her and she waved us goodbye.

We stopped at a hardware store where Myles bought a roll of chain and a padlock, and then we headed back out to the middle of nowhere in the middle of nowhere. 

"How often do you go into town?" I asked him once we got on the highway.

"Oh about every month or so, not that often."  A few minutes of silence followed.

"Fanny seemed nice."

"Yup. She's a gem. Nicer than most of the people in Sandy and more accepting than the rest of them." More minutes of silence.

"So what am I going to be doing at the library?"

"Well mostly handiwork. You'll be fixing the house up, making it look good, building some of the bookshelves, painting."

"What about the books?"

"I have another person coming soon, and she'll focus on organizing the books." Our conversation ended there. He wasn't much of a talker.