Chapter Twenty-Seven: Another Day at the Library:

Day two of my volunteer work. I would be here morning and afternoon. The good thing is that I can learn really quickly. Today should be easy, right? When I got to the library, my face dropped.

Oh…

Spoony was pacing around outside the library. What’s he doing here? I walked across the street with a confused look on my face. He looked up and saw me.

“Hey!” he shouted, waving at me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Just checking things out here,” Spoony said. I raised my eyebrow.

“Why? It’s just the library,” I said. “You have never been interested in libraries. You never were interested in reading.” He shrugged again.

“There’s nothing to do here,” he complained. “I’m bored.” Then why did you come back here? I didn’t say this out loud, of course.

“So you thought to come here?” I asked. I threw up my hands and rolled my eyes.

“Whatever,” I said. I walked into the library. Spoony followed behind.

Mrs. Washburn looked up and saw us from the desk.

“Nathan, so good to see you,” she said. She looked over my shoulder and wrinkled her nose.

“Spoony? What are you doing here?” Mrs. Washburn asked.

“Hey, Mrs. W!” he said. “Long time, no see.” She looked just as confused as me.

“I’ll go get everything set up,” I said. I walked towards the auditorium. I didn’t give either one a chance to speak. He’s not staying here. I have to get Spoony out of here before the kids show up. I took one more glance over my shoulder. He was still trying to talk to Mrs. Washburn. That poor woman looked so confused.

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Turns out, Spoony didn’t bother the children. He just hung out in main part of the library. I counted on him to wander in here at one point. He’ll get bored out there. I looked nervously at the door.

“Something wrong?” I heard behind me.

“Huh?” I asked, whirling around. Heather stood behind me, blinking. I stood for a moment.

“Oh,” I said. “It’s nothing.” I shook my head.

“Do you need to go sit down?” she asked.

“No, I’m fine,” I insisted. I walked over to the activity table where three little girls were coloring new pictures.

“Hey, that looks neat. What are you drawing there?” I asked. One of the little girls looked up. I don’t know what she said. I glanced over at the door. Spoony’s still not here.

“Nate!” someone yelled. I looked up and saw Roland flagging me down across the room.

“Need more glitter and feathers over here!” he shouted.

“On it!” I shouted. I jogged over to his side of the room.

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Spoony was still around by lunch. I was surprised to still see him in the main part of the library. In fact, he was sound asleep on the couch. I looked up to see Mrs. Washburn standing over him. She put her finger to her lips. I crept over to her as I put up my hands.

“How long has he been like this?” I whispered.

“He just now went to sleep,” Mrs. Washburn whispered back. Aw. He almost looks so cute sleeping like that. Almost.

“He wasn’t much trouble, was he?” I asked.

“No, not at all,” she said. “A little chatty, but it was too bad.”

“Ah,” I said.

“He really misses you; you know?” Mrs. Washburn asked. I whipped my head around.

“Huh?” I asked. She kind of shrugged.

“He wouldn’t talk about how he wanted to see you,” she said. “He came all the way to see you, you know?” I raised my eyebrow.

“Really?” I asked. Mrs. Washburn nodded. I looked down at my weird old friend. Spoony turned over on the couch. He really did look like a little kid sound asleep. I shook my head to myself. What was I going to do about this big oof, huh?

“Say, Mrs. Washburn?” I asked.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Have you had lunch yet?” I asked.

“No, why do you ask?” Mrs. Washburn asked. I finally smiled for real after a couple of stressful days.

“I just want someone to talk to,” I said. “I mean, really talk to. Do you have the time?” My gaze moved downwards as I asked that last part. Mrs. Washburn gave me a kind smile.

“I can spare you a few minutes,” she said. I looked up at her. It felt like a weight was pulled off of my shoulders. I bowed my head.

“Thank you,” I said.

“We can have lunch in my office,” she said.

“Sounds good,” I said. I took one more look over my shoulder at Spoony sound asleep on the couch as I followed Mrs. Washburn back to her office.