Inspired by a True Story

[Richard Stone]

Richard walked into the large Library, breathing in the smells of books and enjoying the peacefulness that the cavernous building always offered. He hadn't come here for any reason other than to get out of his apartment and classroom for a while so that he could work out what his English Literature class was going to do next. After all, it seemed that The Scarlet Letter had gone down like a lead balloon and rather than prolonging their suffering, he wouldn't carry on with the book and when they handed in their assignments, that would be it.

He sat down at one of the many work tables and pulled a notebook out of his briefcase and opened it to the next blank page and began jotting down ideas. He knew that book reports always earned the same reaction; a groan of pained complaint, and the students would just end up watching the movie adaption of said book anyway (or purchase the cliff notes), and work their report out that way. So this time he was going to encourage them to watch a movie, though it would have a twist. He knew that there were numerous movies out there that had been adapted from real-life events, and this was what he planned to work through for the rest of the semester. 

[Deleted]

Having arrived at Blue Ridge after classes had already started, Willow was welcomed to what would be her home for the next three years with a hefty pile of school books and a folder full of assignments to help her play catch-up. She was reluctant to come here to begin with – starting a new school as a sophomore instead of a freshman was hard enough, not to mention the fact that she arrived late. If she knew Blue Ridge was so serious about academics that she had to do extra assignments just because she missed a class or two, she would never have gotten into the car to come here.

But now that she’s here, she’s pretty much stuck in her situation. Apart from anything surrounding her horse, grades are the only thing Willow seems to care about anymore. They’re the only thing her parents have ever recognized as achievements in her life; they’re the only thing her parents have ever seemed to care about. Her life could be spiraling out of control, which it has on more than one occasion, but so long as she kept her grades up, her parents never would notice anything was wrong.

”May as well get this work done,” Willow said to herself while walking into the library, lugging a heavy backpack and carrying an extra textbook or two in her hands. The library was relatively empty, though Willow couldn’t imagine a library that big ever looking full. Willow’s long, slender legs quickly took her to one of the areas with tables to work at.

About to settle down at a table, Willow spotted the familiar face of who she remembered to be her English Lit teacher. She quickly turned on her heel and settled down two tables away instead, wanting to avoid any and all people, no matter how nice they seemed. Willow was the opposite of a people person, and if you asked someone to describe her, the top answers would be: cold, sarcastic, and just plain mean. Turning to the task at hand, Willow dropped the textbooks she had in hand onto the table with a loud crash, noisily unzippered her stuffed backpack, plopped the folder with the assignments next to the books, and dropped a few pencils and pens onto the table with the annoying noise of wood hitting wood that echoed throughout the vast library. Not seeming to notice – or if she did notice, not seeming to care – Willow sat down, noisily opened one of the textbooks to the page she was searching for, and got to work.