AatC Summer Story Part 16

--Eleanor--
As soon as we arrived at the house, Brittany packed up her things and left without saying a word to anyone. She walked over to our house, opened the door, went in, and locked it behind her. Jeantte tried to go after her, but I stopped her. When Brit gets in one of these moods, it's not even worth it.
We sat in the living room, watched "Glee" (only because me, Jeanette, and Theo insisted upon it), and played a couple rounds of Phase 10, and Theodore won several times. Alvin punched me in the arm because he knew I was feeding Theodore the cards he needed, helping him to kick Alvin's butt for once.
I denied it, of course.
The night ended when, during a game of Spoons gone wrong, Alvin knocked over a bookcase and got us all sent to bed.
I laid on the couch and stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. I looked over a Jeanette, who was reading "Sense and Sensibility" by the light of her phone.
"Haven't you read that book already?" I whispered.
She looked up, jumping. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Shhh," I hushed her. "You'll wake up Dave. And I said, haven't you read that book already?"
She nodded. "Yeah, but this is my copy. Simon gave it to me last Christmas, along with the complete Jane Austen collection," she said, her cheeks flushing a bit at the mention of Simon's name.
I smiled, and looked over at her as she marked her place and hugged the book to her chest fondly. After a minute, I asked, "You really like him, don't you?"
She nodded again, smiling. "Yes. Yes I do. Goodnight, Eleanor."
With that, she turned over, still holding the book as she pulled her quilt up over her shoulders and slowly drifted off to sleep.

--Jeanette--
I woke up the next morning to Simon ruffling my hair. I opened my eyes, and watched as he walked to the door and left, presumably for work. I smiled to myself and sat up, stretching.
"Well look who's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!" Eleanor commented as she walked into the room and leaned on the doorway, holding a cup of steaming coffee and a peice of bacon.
I smiled. "Good morning, El."
Theodore walked in, pinching Eleanor's butt as he walked by her. He sat on the couch, saying to me, "You missed breakfast. Sorry. I can make you, like, an omelet or something really quick if you want me to."
"No, that's okay," I replied, shaking my head. "I'll just have coffee."
I was on my way to the door when Alvin ran in, skidding on the hardwood floor in his socks, and shouted, "Everybody freeze!"
Obeying, Theodore and I froze immediately. Eleanor lazily sipped her coffee and took a bite of the piece of bacon in her hand. She sighed and asked, "What do you want, Alvin?"
Alvin grinned. "I know what we're going to do today."

--Theodore--
Eleanor rolled her eyes and muttered, "Oh god. This is not good."
Alvin bristled and said, "I'm going to ignore that, Eleanor." he paused for a moment, as if for effect, then continued, "Let's all walk to the pool. Tonight is Midsummer Night's Swim, did you know that?"
I frowned. "Really? The pool people always put out the news the day of. It's so annoying."
"I... don't know," Jeanette said, leaning on the side o fhte door frame opposite of Eleanor. "I was actually thinking about going down to the library to visit Simon and..."
Eleanor snorted. "Really? Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, I love Simon, but not enough to go to the library and have to deal with the library girls."

--Jeanette--
I had never visited Simon while he was at  work. The prospect of talking to Simon while Michelle was around and not being sure what she was going to say was nerve-wracking and moire than enough to scare me away. But I had never thought about the other library girls.
I was about to ask what she meant when Theodore nodded, and added, "Yeah. Michelle and company, not exactly the friendliest people in the world."
Alvin nodded. "I mean, why would you even bother, Jen? Every girl in the place has a crush on him... Well, with the exception of Eileen..."
"And Eileen's his ex, and we know he's still not really over her, so..." Theodore trailed off.
Eleanor suddenly asked, "Okay, I never knew with those two: Who broke up with who?"
At the exact same time, Alvin said, "She broke up with him" and Theodore said, "He broke up with her".
Eleanor turned to me and looked at me expectantly.
I shrugged. "I don't know."
She sighed. "Whatever. The point is, we think it would be better for your mental health if you didn't go to the library."
I frowned, and thought for a minute, then finally gave in and said, "... fine. I'll come with you guys then."

--Simon--
I walked into the library, and spotted Eileen right off the bat. She was standing behind her desk, looking through a pile of papers. She looked as great as ever. I walked over, humming "Come On Eileen" quietly as I walked behind her desk to get to mine.
"Simon Seville," she said, without looking away from her papers. "If you hum one more note of that song, I will disassemble Michelle's laptop, rebuild it as a machine gun, and shoot you in the skull."
I chuckled. "I bet you will. Nice skirt."
She smiled, but still didn't look away from the papers she was rifling through. "Thanks, Si."
I walked over to my desk, still looking at Eileen over my shoulder. My attention was drawn elsewhere when I heard Michelle knock over a pile of books on a cart nearby. i turned around, and saw that Seth, her older brother, was sitting at her desk, eating a muffin and saying loudly:
"Oh gosh, look at how this crumbly muffin is getting all over Michelle's half of the desk... oh... oh gosh... These goshdarn crumbs are just everywhere!"
Michelle ran over to her desk, looking like she might explode. "Seth! Quit it! Move. Now."
He got up, laughing, and walked off.
She glared after him, and pulled  out the wet-wipes she kept in her purse at all times. She started scrubbing furiously at her desk, muttering under her breath.
I walked over and sat in my seat, which is next to hers. We share a desk. I sighed. "I'm sorry, Michelle."
She looked up, suprised, then shook her head. "Oh, it's okay. I was just about to wipe it down anyway."
Michelle has OCD. If you don't know, that stands for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. In her case, it means that she cleans everything and has a fear of messes, dirt and germs. She also is extremely organized, almost to a scary degree. She labels everything. EVERYTHING.
"Do you want me to pick up those books for you?" I asked after a long pause, grinning.
She nodded, without looking up from the one spot she had been scrubbing for six minutes.
I walked over to the books she had knocked over when she had seen her brother making the mess, and kneeled, starting to put them up. When I thought I was done, I noticed one that had slid underneath the cart. I picked it up, and saw that it was "Sense and Sensibility", the sole copy in the library, the one Jeanette had read so many times before I had gotten her her own. I smiled fondly, and put it up.