Strangers in the Library
The First time Obsidian had met Talia, the former had been searching through the dictionary. Obsidian, much to her mother’s dismay if she had been there, had been reading on the carpeted floor of the university library, she had been waiting for her admissions appointment and had stopped by, the smell of old books was slightly undermined by a slight mildew smell, but not of that really deterred her from the small print of her page. Though Obsidian had been to the library a few times, both her parents and her older sister being graduates, however today something felt off--- the lights seemed too bright, the books too heavy, and the usual quiet, seemed overbearing. Well, that was until a rhythmic sound interrupted it.
Thud, thud, thud. Heavy boots echo slightly against the bookcases, and soon Obsidian watched them step pass her and into the reference section in the next row. Before she fully comprehended it she was standing, slowly trailing after the owner of the shoes. Soon she slipped behind the last shelf, and peered through the books just to get a look at the girl in the boots. She grew further intrigued when she caught sight of the girl, her head tilted down and eyes skimming through an Oxford English Dictionary. This caused Obsidian to pause, most people would have picked Merriam Webster’s, or even just some random dictionary to look for the word on the tip of their tongue, however the strange girl had specifically gone for the specific book she now held in her hands.
The girl seemed to find the page she was looking for her face settling into a look more of concentration, her short blonde hair falling over her ears, and her finger sliding down the page, then a pause before putting the book back. Then she ran her finger along the spines of the dictionaries, before settling on another flipping it open and starting her search again.
Obsidian didn’t know what to think of the girl’s actions, of the little characteristics the girl had unknowingly displayed, but it enraptured in feelings she didn’t quite understand. She couldn’t name this feeling.
The girl sighed, closing the dictionary, and looked up. Obsidian ducked, lowering her head quickly, hoping she had not just been caught staring, but it was in that movement that brought the girl’s attention onto her. She stared at the books in front of her, she could feel her face burning in embarrassment, she hoped that the girl would just assume it as some sort of coincidence, or that Obsidian was simply searching the non-fiction titles in the Z’s now. That she would think that Obsidian totally hadn’t followed her because that would be so incredibly odd, and Obsidian was not odd, she was many things, but no, never odd, right.
But before she could truly pretend to be interested in zebras or zeros or even god forbid zymurgy, there was the girl, inescapable, right in front of her. She was tall, not overbearingly but she stood a good five inches over Obsidian, she was pale, not sickly so, but it caught Obsidian's thoughts. It only seemed to add to the girl’s looks as her eyes were a strange mix of blue green, not really one or the other, and her hair looked almost fluffy looking up close, a mix of waves and curls that bounced around her shoulders.
She wore a dark leather jacket, it looked worn, but loved and well taken care of, over a loose gray shirt, and kinda messy looking jeans, paint and grease stains gave off a feeling of well use, and of course she had her boots which caught Obsidians attention in the first place. Later Obsidian would come to take comfort in Talia’s consistent and “cost-efficient” style as Talia called, but at this moment Obsidian could only remark that it seemed to suit her, it felt just perfectly fitting to the strange woman. It was all just overwhelming.
“Hey, do you think you can help me, I can't seem to find what timorous means. I tried to search it up in the dictionary but…”
“Timorous. Adjective. ‘showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence.’” Obsidian interrupted, her gaze focused on the third button of Talia’s jacket. She couldn’t look up, she couldn’t meet the mix of blue green again, she could not face Talia, or feel that the other girl could see through her, see all her thoughts. Obsidian would often look to people’s noses, a way to simulate eye contact, her mother’s nagging of manners often taking over. However, Talia's eyes held too much, too much emotion, too much knowing, so Obsidian just stared at the button desperately.
“Woah. Did you have that all memorized?” Her voice was full of admiration, and it was obvious that she was impressed with Obsidian. But Obsidian didn’t want to impress her, she wanted out, it was all becoming a little too much.
“Indeed,” she replied awkwardly. She attempted to elaborate but her mother’s nagging made her pause, finally she settled on “I have most of the dictionary memorized.” And instantly she wished to take it back, her explanation only succeeding as boasting.
The girl’s eyes narrowed, and Obsidian’s heart jump into her throat and her face felt hot all over again, she was overwhelmed and she didn’t know why. ”Really? Hmm… What does the word scruple mean?”
“Scruple? Noun. ‘a small quantity of a particular thing, especially something considered desirable or valuable.’”
“What about verbosity? Word from word from the oxford dictionary.”
Obsidian flushed her mental processes, stuttering as she desperately tried to fight the urge to flee paired with the growing feelings she couldn’t explain, it was like a drive to stay, to talk to the strange girl even more. In all her mixed thoughts she barely managed to utter, “Well, um, I only own the Merriam Webster dictionary.”
Unfazed the girl only smiled and continued on as if Obsidian hadn’t had any issue, “Then straight from Merriam himself then. What about Disestablishmentarianism?”
Obsidian took a breath and desperately untangled all her thoughts, “Disestablishmentarianism isn’t defined well, but noun, ‘a person who favors the separation of church and state, especially the withdrawal of special rights, status, and support granted an established church by a state; an advocate of disestablishing a state church.’ or ‘of, relating to, or er… ‘favoring the disestablishment of a state church.’”
“That’s insane.” The girl laughed, and Obsidian found herself unexplainably laughing along, all her confusion melting relieving laughter. Not that she really knew why it was so insane about memorizing words each day, but the girl's laugh was contagious, and it felt so right to laugh along the mix of giggles, huffs, and snorts.
Catching her breath, Obsidian curiously asked how the girl knew all these words anyway, the girl smiled brightly and answered with a slight laugh still in her voice. “I used to compete in spelling bees and such, not because I memorized the dictionary or thesaurus, unlike your impressive self.”
Interested Obsidian dug deeper, “Oh, really. Now I wonder if you can actually spell disestablishmentarianism.”
Confidently and with a slight teasing smile, she straightened her spine and without a single pause she began, “D. I. S. E. S. T. A. B. L. I. S. H. M. E. N. T. A. R. I. A. N. I. S. M.” The Librarian raised her head a frown on her face, and shushed her. Like a scolded child the girl looked back shyly at slightly embarrassed blush across her cheeks she promptly apologized, and then let out an embarrassed chuckle.
Obsidian found herself smiling, even over all her mixing feelings she couldn’t just explain it. The girl's face fell into a look of concentration before brightening up again, “Oh, I have a word for you.” she reached into the pocket of her leather jacket pulling out a small pencil and a slip of paper, she quickly scribbled a word across it before handing it to Obsidian.
Obsidian looked down at the slip, her brows furrowing, “Gest---What?”
“Gestalt.” The girl said “G. E. S. T. A. L. T.”, have you heard of it.
Obsidian frowned a little deeper “No, It’s not in my vocabulary.”
“Maybe it’s not in your dictionary then, guess you’ll have to look it up then. And next time we see each other the first thing i'll ask is if you know it, so be sure to memorize it, ok, for me.”
Obsidian looked at the girl pensively, “Do you go here?”
The girl smiled in response, “Yes I had my admissions appointment today.”
This caused Obsidian to brighten up, “Oh, I have mine in a little bit, so you're a freshman like me?”
“Yes, I am, name’s Talia Belah, that’s T. A. L. I. A. B. E. L. A. H.” Talia said with a slight chuckle reaching out her hand which Obsidian shyly took in response.
“Obsidian Collis, It’s a pleasure to meet you Talia.”
“Well, I have to be heading off Obsidian, but I hope to see you again very soon.” And with a final wave Talia thudded off again, leaving Obsidian with her flushed face and fluttering stomach.
That night while taking a break from packing Obsidian typed gestalt into the search bar of google. Her heart skipped as she thought of Talia and her boots, she didn’t know why she felt like this, so high but also uncomfortable and weighted, like she was flying and falling all at once. She was often uncomfortable around people, they worried her, but Talia was different. She was so interested in the strange girl, she had never in her entire life had she met someone she was so drawn to, and it intrigued her, but at the same time she still felt petrified.
Interest. Intrigue. Was that all it was she thought unable to pull her thoughts away from the event at the library, why could she not keep her thoughts from Talia, from the way she had walked, the sound of her voice, the soft growl that had flowed along her words, god even the way her chest had moved so slightly with each breath had been on her mind.
“Gestalt,” She muttered, focusing on the results on the screen, “Noun. ‘A configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts.’” She didn’t know it then but she would remember this word for possibly her whole life.