Maplewood High, start of the fall semester

  Lia Reyes had been the school librarian for three years, she knew every shelf, every hidden nook where students snuck to nap, and exactly how to quiet a rowdy study hall with just a raised eyebrow. But on her first morning back, she found a stranger perched on the floor by the poetry section, surrounded by a tower of books.

  “ Uh.. we don’t open for another twenty minutes,” she said gently, setting down her coffee.

  The woman scrambled to her feet, knocking over a collection of Neruda. “ Ah! Sorry, I’m Marlin Vilnueva, new English teacher. I was told the library had copies of Things Fall Apart for my senior css, and I wanted to get a head start on lesson pns.” she gnce at the source of the voice then she expined while collecting the scattered books

  Lia smiled, helping her stack the books back. “ I'm Lia Reyes, the school librarian. First year teaching here?”

  “ Yes,” she admitted, running a hand through her messy dark hair. “ I spent five years in publishing before, but.. I missed talking about stories with people who actually care.”

  Lia nodded then led her to the African literature section, pulling out the copies he needed. “ I get that, there’s a different kind of magic when a student suddenly ‘gets’ a poem, you know?”

  Marlin nodded. “I hope I can bring that out in them.” she smiles as she gnces one more time at Lia, she has a good impression of her.

  Over the weeks that followed, their paths crossed often. Marlin would drop by the library to borrow books, stay te to pn units at one of the quiet tables, and sometimes help Lia rearrange shelves for the upcoming book fair. She learned she loved vintage typewriters and collected pressed flowers, she discovered she wrote her own poetry and always kept extra snacks in her bag for hungry students.

  One rainy Thursday, Marlin found Lia huddled over a box of old yearbooks, sneezing from dust.

  “Let me help you with those,” she said, grabbing a tissue box. “What are you looking for?”

  “Trying to find photos for our ‘Maplewood Through the Years’ dispy,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “But most of these are from the 80s, before my time here.”

  Marlin sat beside her, flipping through a 1987 yearbook. “Hey, look, Mr. Santos, the history teacher now? He had a mullet.”

  Lia ughed as soon as she saw the photo, she snorted. “Oh my god, I’m showing this to his css tomorrow.”

  As they worked, rain drummed against the windows. When the st book was shelved, Marlon hesitated. “Lia.. would you want to grab dinner after this? There’s a little café down the street that makes amazing pasta. And they have a poetry open mic on Thursdays.”

  Lia paused, then smiled. “ Okay, though fair warning, I’m terrible at reciting out loud.”

  “Good,” Marlin said, “ I’ll do the talking, you can just listen.”

  That night, tucked into a corner booth, they talked until the café closed, about books, about teaching, about the way rain smelled on warm pavement. When Marlin walked her to her car, she brushed a stray petal from her hair (from a pressed rose she’d shown her earlier)

  Marlin asked, “Can I invite you again?”

  Lia look at her, seeing that she seems to really enjoy their time together, she smile “ Yes,”

  It was already 7 in the evening when Lia got home. The smile on her face never faded until she saw herself in the mirror. She was stunned for a moment, pursing her lips, but the thought of seeing Marlin again made her excited.

  She didn't know when it started, but somehow she’d begun looking forward to every encounter. Even though she wasn’t good with poetry, listening to Marlin’s voice left her mesmerized. Her heart would race whenever their eyes met.

  From excitement came realization as she reflected on herself. “This is.. unexpected,” she whispered.

  Lia wondered if this was good or bad ‘ I hope she feels the same way ‘

  1 month ter, Marlin can feel that there's something wrong with Lia. She invited Lia again after that time in a cafe but somehow the other party will say she's busy and has to rush back home or will avoid being too close to her. This avoidance makes her feel sad, empty and confused, they were getting along well and she already considers Lia as her friend.

  Marlin sighs for the nth time

  “ You've been sighing many times, what's wrong?” A math teacher asked,” Having trouble with students?”

  Marlin shake her head,” No.. it's just a friend suddenly avoided me,”

  “ Hmm? Did you have a fight?”

  “ No, we're actually having a good time together and as far as I remember I haven't say anything that may offend her,”

  The math teacher pondered for a moment,” You said she's avoiding you, how's her reaction everytime you two cross paths?”

  “ She would faintly smile at me and greet me then she would quickly excuse herself, if there's only two of us in a pce she would avoid eye contact with me, sometimes she would put a distance and if I suddenly stood beside she would stiffen and flustered. I asked her once if I did something wrong but she said no and it's her problem. But.. it really makes me uncomfortable as we used to be really close,” Marlin recounted the events that's happening within a month

  The math teacher who was listening with interest at first thought it's just some misunderstanding but upon hearing more and more she comes to realization. People involved won't notice anything wrong at first and might think it's just a matter of miscommunication, however from the perspective of an outsider it's obvious that there's more than that.

  Looking at the person involved who obviously was not aware of her situation couldn't help but shake her head, thankfully she asked and can help to enlighten her.

  “ Marlin, have you ever been in a retionship?”

  Marlin was confused by the sudden jump of topic,” No,”

  “ I see, then it's understandable that you're confused, in fact that friend of yours may not be angry or hates you or mad at you, like she said it's her problem and I can tell it's really her problem based on what you said,”

  Marlin frowned as she tried harder to understand,” What do you mean?”

  The math teacher patted her shoulder,” What I mean is that friend of yours might like you, the moment she realized her feelings she tried to avoid so you won't know or that she doesn't know how to face you,”

  Marlin widened her eyes from what she heard, she wanted to say they're both girls but then she thought that it's not impossible for both women to be together.

  “ So, what you're saying is that.. it might be possible that she's avoiding me because she likes me?” she asked somewhat unsure

  “ Yes,” The math teacher looked at her reaction, and it seems that she really don't have any ideas when it comes emotional retionship, she continued,” Now, just to be sure, observe her first and give her some space also time for yourself. Do you want to be just friends or something more, think carefully so you won't have any regret in the future,”

  The math teacher left after seeing that Marlin is in deep thought. Marlin on the other hand takes the math teacher's advice.

  From then on, Marlin calmly observes Lia from a far. She knew from the start that Lia is gentle, kind, and patient, even if she talks too much Lia would still listen to her. She would try to accompany her or help her. In fact Lia is like that to everyone that's why she felt unbelievable with the idea of Lia liking her she felt that she's not good enough and more like a boring person, she can't think of anything good about her that worth Lia's liking.

  But still, despite her being just like herself it's rare for her to meet someone like Lia that's why she feels down when Lia avoided her until now, she's hoping that Lia won't avoid her anymore ‘ If you like someone aren't you supposed to be active on approaching that person? Then what about me? Do I like her? ‘

  Marlin close her eyes and take a deep breath. Lia is good in everything, everytime her attention is on me I feel happy, when she sits beside me I feel secure, I feel that content just being with her. Now seeing her happy talking to someone I feel a little uncomfortable. ‘ Do I like her? Obviously, yes ‘

  Realizing your feeling is good but having no confidence is another thing. ‘ I don't know if I'm good enough for her, whether she likes me or not is not the question anymore. It's whether I dare to express my feelings or not ‘

  Marlin feeling conflicted frown. She look one st time to Lia then went out of Library.