"Are we there yet?"

"Almost."

I decide to leave my windows open. It's not every day when we go on a road trip. The last time was when I was probably eight or nine? When we went to the beach with the other kids.

There are times when I think about the Orphanage. What if I visit there one day? Would they recognize me? Do they even remember me?

"Annalise?" Caleb says, glancing at me sideways. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I answer. "Why?"

"You have a faraway look in your eyes."

"I'm not daydreaming!" I say defensively.

He chuckles. "Don't worry, I won't kiss you without your permission."

"As if I'll give you my permission!" I scoff.

A smile starts to play on the side of his mouth. "Why are you staring at my lips, then?"

"I'm not!"

I didn't even notice that I was watching him purse his lips.

"Wonder what they taste like?"

"Ew, Caleb!"

He bursts on to a full blown laughter, he almost loses control of the steering wheel. Fortunately, there are only few cars on the highway. I don't want to die yet.

"Sorry," he says amusedly. "I was just kidding."

I roll my eyes. "I know you are. But please, stop it with your lame jokes."

"Want to make it real?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

I punch his arm and he acts as if it hurts. "Be careful," he says. "I'm holding the wheel."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I decide to ignore him and watch the buildings we pass by instead.

Like Caleb said a while ago, it took us more than an hour to the place where he wanted to go.

He parks his car in a supervised parking lot. I don't even know where we are.

"Hugry?" he asks.

I shake my head. I'm actually still kind of full.

"I am," he says, scratching the back of his head. "Do you mind if we eat first?"

"Sure," I say with a shrug.

We go to a nearby pizza store just a couple of blocks away from where we parked his car.

Caleb orders an eight slice supreme meat pizza, and two sodas.

While we wait for the food, he tells me that he happened to come by this place a few weeks ago. He said he was bored at home, so he decided to drive around. He found something that reminded him of me; he was actually waiting for an opportunity to bring me here.

I'm about to ask what it was when the pizza arrives.

I know I said that I wasn't hungry, but the moment my eyes see the juiciness of the meat and the cheese that I know will melt in my mouth, I suddenly dig in.

I'm not embarrassed to say that I ate three slices. Caleb's kind of impressed. He gives me a thumb up when I take my last bite.

This is what full feels like.

After resting for a few minutes, we continue on our way.

There's something about going to an unfamiliar place, where no one knows who you are. Whatever you do, it will be forgotten the moment you leave. Maybe that's why people in their mid-twenties opt to travel a lot. Perhaps, to escape the reality.

I do it— travelling and escaping, by reading.

We stop in front of an ordinary looking building, nothing fancy about it. Its exterior is brown stone, with three steps to the door. There's no signage of what it could be.

Caleb takes my hand as we ascend the stairs. With his other hand, he opens the door.

My jaw almost drops to the floor the moment I enter the bookstore. It's the biggest I've seen yet, in my own eyes. This place only exists on videos I watch on the internet. And my imagination. Now, I'm here. It's real. And even better than my imagination.

Thousands of books line up the entry way. Books are piled up on high, they're decorated like a Christmas tree.

This actually feels like an early Christmas present.

Behind the tree of books are dozens of shelves that house hundreds of books. My feet automatically walk to them. The genres range from fiction to biography to romance and young-adult.

There's a spiral staircase that leads to more books on the second floor.

I don't believe in heaven, but now, I do.

This is my place.

This is my home.

My fingers trace the spines of old and new books. I take a deep breath and breathe in my favorite scent: books. My eyes scan everything, memorizing titles and covers and all the little things.

I don't know how much time have passed when I remember that I wasn't alone.

Looking back, I see Caleb behind me. There's no hint of annoyance in his face as he watches me move around like a little kid. There's actually a look of wonder on his face. If I say so, he looks in awe. Maybe he's surprised at the amount of books in the bookstore like me.

"Are you happy?" he asks.

"This is my favorite day, ever!" I exclaim. "Thank you for bringing me here!"

I can live in this place forever. I will never get bored here. I can spend all my waking hours until the day I die, and wouldn't be able to finish even a quarter of the books here.

Caleb lets me enjoy myself. I was kind of hesitant at first to leave him and roam around on my own, but I find that it's okay with him.

We spend about three hours walking around. This is where I find the book I am dying to read: The Sea of Tranquility. I've been waiting for our local bookstore to have a copy of this book. It's an old book, not a new release, that's why all the bookstores at home don't have an available copy. Here, they have several.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring any money with me. I didn't know that we'll go to a bookstore.

I remind myself it's okay. I can come back again next time. Please, let there be a next time.

Anyway, just being surrounded by books is enough to make me happy. I don't mind not buying. I know I'm trying to convince myself. But I really want to spend all my savings here.

When it starts to get dark outside, Caleb tells me it's time to go home. I look around one last time at what has become my favorite place, and bid my good bye for the mean time.

"What's your favorite book?" Caleb asks as soon as he starts the engine of his car.

Like I told Daniel before, I don't have a favorite book. I love all my books the same. There are some that are much precious than the others, but not just one particular book.

"How about you, Caleb?" I ask. "What's your favorite book?"

"I'm not much of a reader," he admits.

"You'd rather play games on the screen?"

He grins. "I play on the field, too," he says. "I'm good at badminton."

"I didn't know that," I say. "How come I've never seen you play?"

"I'd rather spend my time with you."

I roll my eyes. I'm used to his antics by now. He won't be able to tease me anymore.

We stop by a burger shack on the way home to eat dinner.

I feel kind of bad because Caleb pays for everything. He assures me over and over again that it's okay because he's the one who invited me.

If it really works that way, I will never mind being invited. As long as we go back to that bookstore again, so that I can finally buy the books on my to be read list.

I don't know how it happen, but I fell asleep during the ride home. When I open my eyes, we're already in front of Margarett's house.

"Are you tired?" Caleb asks.

A yawn escapes from my mouth before I can respond. "Sorry," I say sheepishly.

He ruffles my hair. "Let's go," he says, "So you can rest at home."

He gets out of the car and opens the passenger door for me. "You didn't have to," I say.

"I wanted to."

Chivalry isn't dead.

"So...."

"I had fun," he says. "Did you?"

"Of course!" I say. "Thank you for taking me with you."

When Caleb smiles, it reaches his eyes. Like tonight. It feels like I'm drowning in them.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I open the door and tell him, "Good night."

"For you," Caleb says, before I can close the door.

It takes me a moment before I realize that he's handing me something. I take the paper bag from him and asks, "What is it?"

"Just a little gift."

"For what? It's not my birthday."

He shrugs. "Can't I give you a gift?"

I smile. "Thank you," I say. I open the bag and am surprised when I see a book inside. "The Sea of Tranquility!" I think I scream. And jump. I don't know. My hands are shaking. I am happy. My heart is glowing. Am I getting teary eyed?

"Do you like it?"

"Caleb! I've been wanting to read this book for a long time now!"

"I saw you picking that book earlier," he says, smiling. "The only time you let it go was when we left the bookstore."

I didn't even know he was observing me, much less knowing that he bought a book. Why didn't I notice any of this?

"Thank you so much!" I say, pulling him for a hug.

Caleb almost gets out of balance because of my sudden action. I am surprised with myself as well. Fortunately, he regains his footing before we fall on the floor. He wraps his arms around me and lean into me. Have I mentioned before that he smells nice? I think I've found my second favorite smell.

I know I initiated the hug, but I didn't want it to be awkward for us. I don't want it to be too long and too short. Why am I a novice at this kind of things?

"Thank you," I repeat, my mouth pressing on his shoulders.

"Anything for you," he says, ruffling my hair.

I quickly let go of him and say a sudden "Good night," before I close the door on his face.

I know, it's not a good move considering everything he's done today. But I don't want him to see my blushing face.

My knees buckle down under me the moment I lock the door. I clutch the book to my chest and remind myself that I have a boyfriend.

***

I am back! :) Hi! Sorry, I know it's been too long. If you're still here, thank you so much! I appreciate you for sticking around!