??????????.

"Do you like horror books?"

"I haven't r-read any honestly." It wasn't because he was scared of them— he survived shootouts between gangs in parks— he just didn't know if he would enjoy them.

"Well, I'll put some Goosebumps books for you. They're not that scary, but they're really interesting," Harlem responded handing him a couple of books carefully while leaning up to pluck a few more down from the shelf.

They began to chat away while traveling the library, Nas eager to tell the pretty teenager about the different books he had read over the last few weeks, causing time to pass quicker than Nas realized, and before he knew it those twenty minutes gracefully flew out of the window.

It's almost time for Kross to come back and get me, I think I should check my books out now.

"Oh! It's a-almost time for my f-friend to g-get me," Nas uttered, his orbs flickering up to the large rectangular clock on the plain wall.

"I can help you take your books up." She meticulously took some of them from him, her silver charm bracelets making a rattling sound in the process."

"You d-don't have to, you already h-helped me Lotti."

"I want to, it's not a big deal. After all, I did kinda go overboard with the books."

"Thank you," He whispered gratefully to the girl as they walked in sync back towards the front, knowing she couldn't hear his words of gratitude.

"I see you made a new friend Nas. Hey Lotti, how are you, babydoll?" Ms. Holmes greeted them both with a warm smile near the entrance, adjusting the vibrant African print headscarf she wore which matched her oversized cardigan while Nas put the stack of books on the wooden counter. "No books today?"

"I'm good, and I only came to return Ni'San's books."

"Ahhh, gotcha. Tell my babies and your mom I said hello okay? And tell Tribute's big-headed self to come down here and see me sometime, I haven't seen him in a while."

She giggled, "Okay, I will."

"You have your library card, Sebastian? I just need to scan it and you'll be good to go." She shifted her focus from the computer screen, and Sebastian reached into his pocket to fumble for the white card he carried with him everywhere, pulling it out so she scanned it. "Alright, you're all set sweetie. Your books are due May 5th. See you two later, okay?"

"See you later," They told her in unison, and they were gone out of the large glass doors.

"Y-You're so nice. N-No one but Ms. H-Holmes ever helped me pick out books before," Nas blurted out, and the caramel girl peered over at him and focused her doe-like brown eyes on his canvas. "Thank y-you."

"You're welcome, Nas. I didn't mind it, honestly-," Harlem began to say something else, but another set of footsteps at their rear made her stop talking and look back, and Nas did the same— coming face-to-face with his only friend.

"Oh, H-hi Kross!" Nas greeted his best friend in a cheerful tone, a large grin on his face from how happy he was.

"Come on Nas. Stay the fuck away from him," Kross practically barked at Harlem while motioning for Nas to follow after him, taking some of the books from him.