Buried in Books (OPEN)

[Cateline Rodriguez]

The desk Ashlyn had claimed was strewn with books, both for her personal reading and studies. The young girl had collected what most would assume to be half the library and stacked the books up around her, having spent much of her time that day reading, completely forgetting about her classes and getting lunch, the time being well past four in the afternoon. Her eyes scanned over the book in her hand, reading through it in what some would see as an impossible speed, though to her it was average. She read most of the time whenever she was alone or not in class so it was never uncommon for her to become absorbed into a book, or two... Or piles of books in this case.

She finished the book she was on, an English book by the name of Treasure Island and blinked at the rest of the piles. Why she had collected so many books she didn't even know, especially since she couldn't read everything before her. She thought carefully for a moment on what to read next, her eyes scanning the piles for a title that caught her interest, something new. Maybe something she hadn't read before, which was the majority of the books. She grew up reading mostly older Japanese novels, so the English ones were extremely interesting to her. She tilted her head at a larger novel, grabbing it and looking at the title and the cover of a blue dragon. Eregon, something about that caught her attention. Maybe it was the dragon, maybe it was the odd feeling of the paperback cover, or maybe it was simply the title itself, but it sounded interesting.

She opened the book tot he first page and started reading, pausing and looking up timidly when she heard footsteps approaching, her eyes glancing curiously in the direction they were coming from.

[Camila Reyes]

The library. A shrine of books that anyone could lose themselves in, given the chance. That is, if said person or persons liked or wanted to read. There was surely no lack of people who had to read, but ones who wanted were few and far in between. Whether it was just laziness or if reading was just a boring thing to do, no one would ever really know. Regardless, the library was not typically inhabited after school hours with the exception of students scrambling to finish papers or projects. Sure, there were a few that liked to hang around, but, for the most part, the student body had either gone back to their dorms to relax, to the gym to train, or outside to get some fresh air. Since the weather was nice, it seemed like most students were outside after the ringing of the school bell, thanks to the shining sun, even temperature, and low humidity.

Of course, there was one exception, as was to be expected. A young woman walked down the empty corridors, looking at the stone walls. She reached out her hand and placed it on the wall, instantly feeling the cold stone beneath her fingers. A shiver ran up her spine and she suddenly felt a radiating pain from her stomach. Her eye twitched a little bit, but she kept herself composed. You’ll be prone to random bouts of grief. Just take a deep breath and relax. Tch, relax my a**, she thought to herself, removing her hand from the wall and starting to walk slowly, suddenly feeling a burning sensation in her arm. Her sapphire eyes shifted to her left arm, where a starched, white cloth lay. A small, angry red patch of skin around the cloth was just a reminder of the horror that had occurred. She felt tears sting her eyes as she shook her head and walked faster, her footsteps becoming as audible as the pounding of her heart in her own ears. She had to get away. She just had to. There was no way in hell she was going to keep her sanity if she just dawdled around the school. She made a beeline for the nearest door, trying to repress the sadness welling in her throat. I’m sorry…

The wood of the door hurt when she first made impact, but, thankfully, it was light enough that she pushed it open when she nearly fell through. She managed to catch herself with her hands, chuckling sadly to herself. Even after all of that, I’m still Camila Reyes, klutz extraordinaire, she thought wryly, pushing herself up from the floor to stand, wincing at the searing pain signals that were being rapidly transported to her brain. She clutched the clothed area with her right hand and started toward the shelves, hoping to find a book to get her mind off of the grief and pain she was in at that moment. After perusing for some time, she decided on Twelfth Night, a Shakespearean comedy. The very thought of comedy was like taking a knife to her chest. She had to move on, though. She would be able to avenge her friends’ deaths one day, but, today was not that day. The best she could do was put ointment on her wounds and move on in life. After all, that was what they would have wanted, right? Her only comfort was that, despite the death and tragic loss, those who died fought for what they believed in and loved. With a heavy sigh, she started toward the tables, where she noticed something rather odd.

On one table in particular, there were high stacks of books upon books. She could not see every cover, but she was almost certain that there was a book from almost every genre in each pile. Or, at least, it looked like it. Her curiosity was piqued and, despite the fact that she wanted to read, she approached the table with caution. She looked at the spines of the books, reading some of the titles. Many were typical classics, others young adult novels, and even some science-fiction and fantasy. She puzzled over who had such an odd taste in reading when she remembered that she herself had a liking for those same genres and scratched the back of her neck, feeling embarrassed in spite of herself. It was only when she heard the gentle ‘swish’ of long hair when she tilted her head to see a girl who seemed to be hidden behind the wall of books she had been examining. The brown-haired girl blinked, shifting to the right a little to see the girl better. Long, dark hair fell over one part of her face and down her back. The one eye that the blue-eyed young woman could see has a purple iris with a ring of grey around the pupil. From her stance, the brown-haired girl could tell that this girl was a little skittish or nervous, though she could not be sure until she said hello. She managed to let a small, gentle smile cross her lips before she spoke in a soft and reassuring tone. She did not want to scare the poor girl, after all.

“Um, hello there. You… uh, must like reading, huh? You have a lot of books here. A lot of good choices.”

[Cateline Rodriguez]

Ashlyn ducked behind the book the moment she saw a girl approaching her little fortress. Her eyes closed as she started to pray that the girl would just look at her stacks of books then leave. She didn't want to talk to the girl, she didn't want tot talk to anyone. She just wanted to read her books and be alone like she always was. Being alone with her books was always nice, though now that she actually had looked up she had noticed that she completely forgot about her classes and had, instead, spent the whole day reading. She looked back to her book, trying to ignore the approaching girl, despite Faith silently tugging at the back of her mind, informing her that the other girl was still getting closer.

She jumped slightly at the voice once it happened, Ashlyn taking a deep breath after a moment, trying to calm herself back down. She was being spoken to, what was she supposed to do? She was supposed to respond right? But how was she supposed to respond? She felt a slight tugging, before the slight drain happened that always did when Faith decided to materialize herself, feeling a slight weight on her shoulder, turning in surprise at the little angel.

"We both like books thank you very much, though maybe a little too much... Now that I see the time I should have sent Ashlyn here off to class about.......six hours ago." The little angel smiled up at the stranger, acting as friendly as always before she was suddenly grabbed by Ashlyn with a squeak and hugged against her chest, blinking a few times in confusion before realizing the mistake. Ashlyn hadn't wanted to talk and she just initiated conversation between the three. "Sorry bout that..."

[Camila Reyes]

The brown-haired young woman looked confused as the girl seemed to hide behind the stacks of books. Her black eyelashes fluttered over her sapphire eyes as she thought to herself. Do I really look that threatening…? She shook her head a little, continuing to examine the books. It seemed as though the other young woman wanted to hide. She figured that the girl was either paranoid, skittish, or an odd combination of the two. Sure, she had seen people read stacks of books, but had never known anyone to hide behind them like a shield. Guess you learn something new everyday, hm? she thought to herself, looking around for a chair or something to sit in. She could feel the dull yet painful throbbing in her right leg. She was grateful that they had removed the bullet, but the stitches hurt like nothing else in the world. She finally decided on a chair at a separate table; clearly, whoever this was had some kind of social issue and wanted to be left alone. The Latina young woman, though quite confused, was willing to keep to herself. After all, she had not come to the library for social interaction, necessarily. She had merely come to get away, but socialization always seemed to be a byproduct of any activity she tried to do at the school. What a novel idea! Being social at school… she thought to herself, opening Twelfth Night and beginning to read.

She had not noticed that the petite angel had materialized on the other young woman’s shoulder until a voice spoke to her. She looked around, raising an eyebrow when she saw no one around. Her sapphire eyes fell upon the girl, who was looking at her shoulder. The brown-haired young woman let out a loud yelp and launched the book she was holding behind her back accident. A loud ‘thunk’ and slight rattling indicated that the book had hit one of the metal bookshelves and she felt the heat of her embarrassment rush to her face. She stared at the little angel, looking all levels of confused. The little creature spoke to her in a kind way, so she could not yell at it. However, she was quite terrified that it was speaking to her; after all, angels were pure spirit, right? Did that mean she was dead? Was she really just living in some kind of backwards world, where she was actually dead and all of her friends were alive? Honestly, she was not sure anymore. She just stared at the angel, stammering to try and find the words to respond.

“W-who the hell are you? Or, maybe I should be asking what the hell you are…?”

[Cateline Rodriguez]

Ashlyn blinked in surprise at the girl's reaction, having never expected someone to throw a book in the way she just had. She tilted her head to the side ever so slightly, curious as to why the reaction was that way. She looked at her curiously, Faith doing the same thing, the two blinking in unison at the girl. What had spooked her so much? Was it Faith? Did she think that Faith was some kind of angel and that she was dead? Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone thought that after seeing her, but it was the first time a book was thrown over the matter. She didn't know how to react to be honestly, though Faith fixed that issue as she suddenly hopped off of her shoulder onto her little cloud, hovering over to the brown haired, girl, practically glomping her.

"I didn't mean to startle you! I was just making a statement! I'msorryi'msorri'msorry! Did you think you were dead or something? I didn't mean to freak you out! I just wanted to say hi!" Ashlyn's eyes went wide at the small girl's reactions. She didn't expect Faith to suddenly charge forward and practically try to glomp the blue eyed girl before them. She held out her hand timidly, silently trying to draw Faith back before opening her own mouth, talking at a volume that was barely audible to most, the girl's one visible eye seeming to show how apologetic she was feeling about the situation.

"G-gomenasai..." She diverted her eyes back to the ground, absentmindedly wondering what to do in the situation. She rarely had to deal with Faith suddenly becoming a complete spaz and apologizing she way she did. She looked back up ever so slightly, subconsciously trying to hide the scaring that normally peaked out from her sleeve, honestly wanting to just fade away at that moment. Everything that was going on was just so embarrassing to her. Faith obviously startling the girl causing her to throw the book an then the rushed spazzy angel deciding to glomp the brown haired girl in apology. What was Ashlyn supposed to do now? Was she supposed to apologize or wait for Faith to calm down? Was the girl before her going to get angry about the whole situation or laugh? Would she get teased if the scarring was notice or would she simply ignore it in favor of trying to communicate?

What was a girl to do in this kind of situation?

[Camila Reyes]

Camila would have been surprised at her own reaction, that is, if she was not terrified at that particular moment. The clattering of the books against the metal shelves seemed to shake her out of her stupor and she shook her head rapidly, hoping that she had just breathed something funny in chemistry class, which would make the little angel perched on the quiet young woman’s shoulder just a hallucination. She felt someone staring at her and looked over to see the girl and the tiny angel blinking in unison, as if they were somehow connected. She had not heard of anything that said guardian angels could take on physical form, but she supposed the idea was kind of neat. Maybe, if they could, my friends wouldn’t be dead, she thought forlornly, letting out a soft sigh. The terror that had overtook her upon seeing the little angel had seemed to fade and was replaced by sadness, though she turned her eyes to the table to avoid showing such emotions. It was hard enough having to deal with them internally; no one else needed to be burdened with her troubles. She was going to stand up and retrieve her book when she noticed a puff of white near her face and let out a yelp of surprise when the little angel tried to hug her and started to apologize profusely. The little creature’s actions surprised Camila so much that her chair tipped backward and a loud ‘thud’ sound indicated that both she and the chair had fallen backward onto the floor. She winced, trying to rub the back of her head, though she could not because the damn floor was in the way. She simply laid on her back, letting out a loud sigh as she stared at the ceiling.

“I-it’s okay, I guess. I just got freaked out because angels are pure spirit and live in heaven and I thought I was dead. You know, I wonder if I’m better off dead sometimes. Life just seems to hate me and wants to make me suffer…”

She struggled to sit herself up, wincing as she felt the stitches on her legs pull at the skin on her left calf. She heard a soft voice, but it did not sound like the angel. She turned her sapphire eyes to the dark-haired girl who was looking at the ground. She looked sympathetic for a moment before pushing herself off the floor with an internal wince and picked up her chair, pushing it to an upright position and sitting down to face the girl. She thought she recognized the Japanese word for ‘sorry’ come out of the girl’s mouth. She would never admit it, but Camila had watched anime more than a few times, so she knew some common words and phrases, like ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘but’. She reached over and lightly tapped the table near the girl’s elbow, trying not to get too close in case she was afraid of touch as well as social interaction. She pulled her hand away after a moment, looking apologetic before standing to retrieve the book she had thrown over her shoulder. She noticed a book that must have fallen when her book hit the bookshelf and decided to put it back in the shelf. After trying to jam it in as it was for several moments, she decided it was a good idea to jam it into the shelf will all of her might. Big mistake. She managed to get the book in, but the force had caused the unstable bookshelf to tip over and crash to the floor, causing her to let out a scream of terror and run out of the shelf’s path. Books and tiny particles of grey flew everywhere and she banged her head against the wall before rubbing it and letting out a frustrated huff.

“OH GOD DAMMIT!”

[Cateline Rodriguez]

Ashlyn winced as the other girl fell tot he floor, warranting even another reason for her to apologize to her. She hadn't expected her angel to actually be able to catch the brown haired girl so off guard that she'd fall back, or for her to hit her head so hard on the ground. Ashlyn stayed silent, not knowing what to say before she noticed the light tap on the table next to her elbow, blinking a few times at it in confusion. What was she supposed to do now? She had caused the girl to freak out and then fall back in her chair all in one meeting, all because Faith had decided to try to interact with her. She winced at the thoughts, not really knowing what else to do before looking up just in time to see the other girl trying to place a book back into the shelf.

Ashlyn watched as the shelf wobbled with every attempt, each one seeming to cause it to rock more and more. Ashlyn realized a moment too late that it was one of the more worn bookcases that she was trying to shove the book into, calling out suddenly to her, trying to get her to stop. "Wait!" The sudden loudness of her own voice made her jump a little in surprise, only to follow with a slight wince as the bookcase fell over. The books were now resting in random heaps around the wreckage, stray particles of dust floating around randomly form the sudden fall. She looked around the library for a moment, wondering if anyone had noticed before looking to Faith, who was now fluttering around in near panic over what had happened. She stopped after a moment, looking to Ashlyn and took a deep breath, calming herself and slowly floating down and landing on her shoulder, her eyes closed as she calmed herself.

Ashlyn stood up slowly, grasping an old, worn and tattered book to her chest before walking over to the other girl slowly, looking up at her with her one visible, and fully functional, eye. She avoided direct eye contact though, not being comfortable enough to really make such contact ever with anyone recently. She shifted a little, trying to find the words to say before speaking softly. "A-are you o-okay...?" She looked back down at the ground after she asked the question, feeling uncomfortable but having felt she needed to ask the question. Faith, still on Ashlyn's shoulder, opened and closed her mouth multiple times, trying to find something to say in apology to the girl before her. She looked down for a moment, trying to find her words before looking back up at the blue eyed girl, confident in what she was going to say next. "I'm sorry!"

[Camila Reyes]

Staring up at the ceiling was not a new occasion for Camila. She had been knocked on her a** many times, especially by the Battle Front trainers. Of course, it had been her own, damn fault, because she was cocky. She thought she could take them on with no problem, but boy, had she been wrong when she went up against Jin. Ash had taken it easy on her, she could tell. A picture flashed briefly in her mind and she pushed herself up, closing her eyes and shaking her head to make the image of an extended hand and gentle smirk go away. She had already cried enough on the day of the funeral; there was no need for her to get so upset at that moment. Nevertheless, she curled her fists against the stone floor as tears burned in her eyes at the memory. How could she not be over it yet? She still had two of her best friends, did that not matter? Of course it does, but four is better than two, she thought woefully to herself, uncurling a fist to swipe just below her eyes to make sure no tears had actually fallen. A long, white line across the palm of her uncurled hand made her sigh sadly. So stupid… I was so shallow back then. I guess this made me realize what’s important… she mused to herself, pushing herself off the floor to wander over to the bookshelf to see what all the clattering was all about.

The brunette had not heard the dark haired girl’s quiet warning. Her emotions were running too high and strong for her logical side to kick in and, before she knew it there were books everywhere and she had nearly escaped the path of a tottering bookshelf. The loud clatter had irritated her enough to send her over the emotional edge and made her smack her head against a wall. Everything seemed to be getting to her at once and barbecue was nowhere to be found. She was almost grateful for it, so he did not have to see her in the current state she was in. It was also disadvantageous, however, because, dare she say it, she missed him. It would have also been nice to talk to someone about the battle so that she did not have to keep her emotions, frustrations, and sadness pent up until the metaphorically unstable dam inside her burst. From the way the young woman acted, the blue-eyed girl was sure that she had not seen much, if any, of the battle. She did not want to scare the small girl with the horror stories of war; it was probably better if she remained blissfully ignorant. I guess this is somewhat how soldiers feel, huh? she thought, stepping back from the wall and rubbing her head. Of course, it was absurd trying to compare caged, superpowered teenagers to the survivors of a horrible atrocity committed by countries, but she supposed it was a mildly decent comparison. They had lost some of their own in battle, like soldiers and, like soldiers, many of the survivors had scars and still-healing battle wounds. She looked down at the black x’s trailing down her leg and let out a soft sigh. She could have sustained worse injuries, mainly a bullet to the chest, but her friend had taken it instead. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes, forcing the sadness welling in her throat back down again. She was not going to cry again! It was not like she had many tears left anyway, right? Honestly, she was not sure about anything anymore. All she knew was that people died and the living had to move on without being disrespectful to the memory of the dead.

The soft and slow rhythm of footsteps made her eyelashes flutter, though her eyes never opened. Her strained smile before before seemed to be twisted into an expression of pain. Her face was turned to the ground, though, so the other young woman could not see it. She did not want to show weakness to anyone at the moment; she needed to be strong. The soft voice that reached her ears made her pale fists shake and she felt a tremble seize her body. She forced a sob back and breathed out slowly, finally opening her eyes and forcing her face into a grimace. Her sapphire eyes held a wealth of emotions, which were surely hard to read for another person. She simply sat on the floor, staring at the young woman before blinking and letting out a soft snort. Okay? As if! Oh, f*** it; I might as well answer her…

“Okay? Sorry to say, but no. I haven’t been okay for a long time. And I’m not sure if I will be anytime soon… And don’t be sorry; unless you can change what happened, but I doubt you can. Heh, s-sorry, I’m just talking nonsense now…”

[Cateline Rodriguez]

Ashlyn listened to the answer, her eyes drifting back tot he floor, her head following soon after as she took a small step back. Was anyone truly okay on the island? She had met very few but some of the people seemed constantly troubled. She had heard the combat from her room, so maybe this girl had been involved in it or lost someone close to her in it? If so then didn't she have anyone to talk to? Ashlyn wasn't sure if that could help as it was, she had only ever had therapists to talk to, then again that never helped her much. She was still her little, scared self who hated any contact with people.

She shuffled back a few more feet, her hands going up nervously to her chest, Faith fading out of existence, wanting to be there within Ashlyn in case she needed the support from within. Ashlyn kept her eyes downcast, not sure what to make of the situation now. She felt helpless, she wanted to help the girl feel better, but how could she help someone when she couldn't even help herself? She cast a glance back at the piles of books she had accumulated, an idea flashing into her mind. She had managed to find an English translation of her favorite book of all time before coming to the school, it was one of the few positions she had taken with her to the school. She quickly walked over, shifting through the books, grabbing the old tattered book that was the only survivor other than herself of the fire before grabbing the translation of the book she had found. She looked at the title, mouthing the word "Kokoro" as she nodded to herself, a small smile lacing across her delicate face as she turned around, keeping her book pulled against her chest, the translation sitting on top of it as she made her way over.

She held the translation of the book out to the other girl, her eyes still downcast as she avoided direct eye contact. "H-here... Th-this is a t-translation of my f-favorite book... I-it's an old one b-but I-I think you could use it more then me... I-I have an original copy here an-anyways..." she stammered out, her hand tightening on the book against her chest as she spoke. She honestly hoped that the girl would take the book, wanting her to enjoy it as much as she did and see the hidden meanings in it. She had the book in it's original language so she had no need for a translation that she really had only picked up to help her learn how to read English better. She loved the meaning behind the book in her hand though, she wanted to share it with others and she figured someone as distressed as the girl before her could possibly pull the meaning out of the book to help better the situation.

Maybe it could help her find a positive, or if anything help her learn something new. "I-it's the book I-I read whenever I'm f-feeling down..."

[Camila Reyes]

Camila admitting she was not okay was like the Pope admitting he was Catholic; it was kind of obvious that she was not “okay” by any stretch of the imagination. The gruesome demise of her parents and the loss of her best friend and Battle Front comrades had shaken her to her core. She was starting to believe that there was no such thing as “good” in the world unless someone created it. She was convinced that people were nothing but selfish creatures who only looked out for themselves and never thought of the consequences or how their decisions would affect other people or the environment they were in. Despite all of her negative thoughts, though, she still could not bring herself to hate people entirely. Honestly, there was no way she ever could, because, despite her cynicism, deep down, she believed there was good in everyone, even if it was just a “blip on the radar”, so to speak. Her sapphire eyes drifted over to the shy girl, whose long, dark locks seemed to shield her from the outside world. She wondered if they girl lived a lonely existence behind the curtain of black, though she dared not ask. After all, she did not want to be rude or impolite, especially after her emotional outbursts from earlier.

By the time the other young woman had left, Camila had managed to kneel, wincing at the pain of her skin being forcibly pulled by the stitches. She was starting to get a headache. All of her bad memories were starting to assault her at once and she felt overwhelmed. She leaned back, sitting down before hugging her knees to her chest. The visual images would stop; she knew they would. The spots of crimson had faded by the time the quiet young woman had wandered back over, with two books in her hand. She could not understand the writing on the bottom book she could see from where she was sitting. She supposed it was in Japanese, due to the smooth curves of the letters. She had seen both Chinese and Japanese writing, so she could /sort of/ tell the difference between the two, though she could not read or understand either to save her life. She wondered what the young woman was going to do with the two books; after all, she was approaching Camila instead of walking away toward the doors. The brunette tilted her head slightly, blinking. I wonder if she’s going to give me a book… Nah, that’s not it. She seems to love them too much.

Camila blinked as the book was offered to her. She tried to look at the other young woman, but her gaze seemed to be elsewhere. The Latina nodded slowly, gently taking the book from the other young woman’s hand. She squinted a little to read the title of the book. Kokoro? I guess she was raised in Japan, then. The title of the book is the Japanese word for heart and she avoids making eye contact. That’s respectful there, right? she thought to herself, still baffled by the sudden offer. Despite the dark haired girl’s gaze being angled at the floor, the brunette was able to muster a small smile of thanks. She opened the book and started to scan the first page, though she remembered the other girl was still there when she spoke again. Camila looked up, smiling at the girl before pushing herself to a standing position while grunting with the effort. Why is my threshold for pain so low? she thought to herself, glancing at her leg before awkwardly bowing to the girl in thanks. She was going to feel immensely awkward later if she found out she was wrong.

“T-thanks. I do like reading, so maybe this will help. It’s probably better than anything that’s assigned, heh.”

Camila let out a soft sigh, glancing at the clock. It was nowhere near sunset, but she was more than exhausted. She nodded to the young woman before her out of respect. She wanted to excuse herself so she could try to nap, but she did not quite know how. The young woman before her was clearly not used to social interaction and she did not want the girl to think that she was rejecting her attempt to be friendly. She cleared her throat, using her other arm to tighten her grip on the book she was holding to her chest. She smiled weakly at the other young woman, letting out a soft yawn.

“Hey, listen… I’m really tired. I haven’t had much sleep and I’d like to try and catch up. I-it was nice to meet you, and thanks for the book. I’ll try to get it back to you after I finish.”

[Cateline Rodriguez]

Ashlyn blinked a few times as she was thanked for the book. She honestly hadn't expected to be thanked for giving the girl a single book, though she sounded sincere. This made the young girl feel a little happier then usual, having not expected someone to actually sincerely accept her gift so readily. She smiled a little and glanced up, absentmindedly playing with the hair hanging over the right side of her face, her innocent eyes looking at the girl fro a moment before shaking her head, not even really wanting the book back. She wanted someone else to enjoy it, to pass it on to someone in need. She felt that a book had the potential to be just that, a comfort item. Something to help a person learn about life and experience things in ways they never expected.

Books were wonderful things in her eyes, a way to learn about both history and the ways people viewed the world. Sure, not all books were truly historical, but those who looked at the past often times had unique views on the events and often times insights that you would never think of on your own. "I-I don't n-need it back... I-I have my copy right here..." she stated, gripping the book against her chest a little tighter. Ashlyn glanced at the ground, shifting a little before noting the tiredness in her voice and the yawn that proceeded her words. She sounded and looked exhausted, almost as if she had very little sleep, much like Ashlyn always did when it approached her birthday. She tilted her head up at the girl as she spoke, a slight nod of understanding following suit.

"N-now go sleep... you s-sound like you could use it a lot..." she said softly, glancing back at her pile of books before turning back towards the girl, making a short bow. "M-my name i-is Ashlyn by the way... I-I hope the book helps..." she stammered out before turning and returning to the desk full of books, collecting a few that she wanted to take to her room. She glanced back at the girl, giving a curt nod before quickly making her way out of the library to head back to her room.