??????????.

Sometimes the elevator refused to work and it forced them to take the stairs, but Sebastian didn't want to risk dropping the stacks of books he was holding onto for his dear life.

"You need some help nigga? You look like you boutta drop allem on the floor."

"No, I-I got it Whoopty."

The air was humid, and it was surprisingly sunny today despite it being cloudy and rainy the previous day. Cars honked and rolled by busily in the street beside them as they began to make their way down the block in comfortable silence,  the dark-skinned boy trailing behind by a foot or two.

Kross peeked back over his shoulder and sucked his teeth, "Nigga just give me some of the books until we get to the library. You boutta drop them shits on the floor."

"B-," Sebastian began to protest about how he had it, but Kross dismissed it by grabbing a couple of the colorful paperbacks to take the load off of his friend. "Thank you W-Whoopty."

"You know I gotchu Nas. Stop tryna do everything yaself, if you need help, you need help."

"But your wrist I-is hurt, and I-I coulda c-carried them," He admitted with a shrug as they made their way across the busy street, Nas squinting his eyes when the sun directly shone in his face.

"My wrist is good, Kaze just gotta take me back to the doctors when I see him today."

"You want me to walk wit' you? Or you good by yaself for a minute?" Kross spoke up to Nas as they both stopped at the entrance of the humongous building 15 minutes later.

"I c-can go b-by myself. I k-know you d-don't like anything e-educational so I don't w-wanna make y-you bored. P-Plus your brother is w-waiting for you, r-right?" Nas asked Kross, cautiously adjusting the pile of books his small arms held so none of them toppled over onto the filthy concrete sidewalk below him.

"Aight. I'll come back for you in like twenty minutes, and maybe we can go to the store if I have some money, aight?"

"Okay, K-Kross." Sebastian smiled brightly, and Kross rested the sand-colored palm of his hand on top of his head once more before spinning around and walking in the other direction— most likely to find his brother.

As always, the library smelled like rainwater and a hint of lavender Ferbreeze— smells that were all too familiar yet comforting to the adolescent. His sneakers hitting the ground could barely be heard due to the rough mahogany carpet that covered the entirety of the floor.

"Hey sweetie, how are you? Coming back for some new books?" The sweet, soft voice belonging to Ms. Holmes— the librarian— filled Sebastian's ears, and he immediately peered over his shoulder with a small grin, happy to see the older woman.

She usually helped him pick out new books and take as many books home as he wanted even though it wasn't allowed at his age.

"Y-Yes ma'am," Sebastian said with a firm nod of his head.

Ms. Holmes grabbed the tall stack of books from the arms of the small boy struggling to hold them, "Here, let me take those for you, honey."

"Thank you Ms. H-Holmes."

"You're welcome, baby. Have fun, let me know if you need any help okay?"