"There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense."

Elizabeth Bennet has said that in Pride and Prejudice a long time ago, yet it's like time had not passed because I'm sure a lot of people think those same thoughts, including me.

It's just unbelievable how little can someone trust appearances. How is it possible that a person whom I believed was so sweet and nice turned out to be so... mysterious? I shake my head.

Just stop thinking about her.

While I keep walking aimlessly down the streets of this little town, more quotes from Elizabeth Bennet come to my mind, which makes me wish I had Pride and Prejudice between my hands.

The love I feel for words written on paper is so inexplicable that I wouldn't really know how to describe it. Although, I could call it "an obsession", since the effect that books produce in me goes beyond a simple love. I don't know how this obsession developed and I couldn't put it into words either, but it is my obsession, and I love it and I don't plan to do anything about it.

Already bored of wandering around pointlessly in the same streets, I decide to go to a bookstore I saw downtown a few days ago—well, I guess it was downtown since I don't really know the town. Sure it doesn't have a huge variety of books, though maybe I could find something interesting there.

I amble down the street without remembering the way to that bookstore I saw, but trusting my "good" sense of direction. After a few minutes, when I'm starting to feel lost, I see a familiar shop sign: Boulevard books. That's it.

I open the door and enter the small bookstore. I glance around the shop and see nothing but messy piles of books covering the shelves on the wall and the long counter in front of me. All the books seem to be old, but who cares? A book is a book and I'm surrounded by them and I really couldn't be happier; this is just what I needed after everything that happened.

"Hello?" I half say half ask in order to know if there is someone who works here and can help me. I'm not looking for anything in particular, honestly, but I would like to know what juvenile romance novels are available in this shop.

A lady appears from behind the counter among the piles of stacked books. She moves them to one side and when there are no more books covering the counter, I stare at her curiously. I bet she's a woman in her fifties or sixties. She's blonde and has just a few gray hairs peeking out of her scalp. The length of her hair reaches about halfway down her chest. She has beautiful green eyes and very nice features... I could say she even reminds me of someone, but who exactly? I mull over the question, while I keep looking at her, my eyes and all my attention focused on her.

Who the fuck does she remind me of, who... I know, well, it's a possibility, but she bears a strong resemblance to Casy. Her eyes are so alike it's even scary and the features are very similar, not to mention the hair color. Could she be Casy's aunt? It's possible, I don't know anything about this woman, so chances are she is.

Casy. It's impossible to get her out of my head; no matter what I do, always something or someone reminds me of her. I was trying to get her out of my mind... and I was succeeding, but then I failed. What's happening to me?

"Hello?" The lady in front of me says, and I can tell from her tone of voice that it's not the first time she does it.

"Oh, hello. I was looking for young romance novels, do you have any?" I ask amiably.

Without even answering me she walks out of the room with a cold look on her face. Undoubtedly, Casy didn't get her kindness from her... Although she might not even be Casy's aunt. I mean, there are millions of green-eyed blonde people who aren't related, of course. But those features...those damn features don't lie; I'm sure she's her aunt.

"Here," the woman says, almost shouting, which makes me startle.

I nod and force a smile as I look at the books she is putting on the counter for me to see them. There aren't many, I'm not going to lie. It seems that there are only four books in this category. Either that, or she didn't want to show me any more books.

I run my hand over the cover of each book as I read the names of each one. Alex, approximately; Songs for Paula; Love Rosie; and a very old edition of Pride and Prejudice. Hmm...which one should I take? Pride and Prejudice clearly not, since I have two editions of this story and my mom will kill me if she finds out I used the money she gave me for school to buy a book I've already reread about two hundred times; so it's not an option. The others... well, I'm sure I have these same titles on the shelf in my room, so that's a no.

As I am about to ask the lady whether she has other books in this same category to show me or not, my phone starts vibrating in my pocket, which is weird because I always have it on silent.

The vibration reverberates in the silence of this store so much that it makes the woman from before, who now is busy reading the newspaper, startle and give me an irritated look. I smile at her apologetically and leave the bookstore so I can answer my phone more quietly outside.

I take the phone out of the front pocket of my backpack and see that the number that is calling me is not added in my contact list, so it could be anyone.

"Hello?" I say. My voice is a little shaky.

"Hannah! Hi, where are you? Why did you leave school? And why the fuck did you give your phone number to Leonardo?" says a sweet voice that sounds familiar, although it's tinted with an angry tone.

Casy. My God, the last thing I needed. I don't feel like talking to her, and I certainly don't feel like listening to her berating me like that. Why is she calling me, anyway? I thought we weren't going to talk again, at least not today. Anyway, even though I don't want to admit it, I'm happy to hear her voice, happier than I should be.

"Hannah? Are you still there? Please answer me," she pleads and I can hear the desperation in her voice to hear from me.

"Here I am, what do you want?" I say curtly.

"I was worried when I didn't see you when we left; I just wanted to know if you were okay. After our talk this morning... you went away and I didn't hear from you again and... Well, I just wanted to talk to you."

I smile. This must be one of the few times someone actually cared about me and it feels wonderful. It makes me feel something in my chest that I can only describe as happiness and, truth be told, it's a feeling I want to feel more often. Things like this sometimes make me believe that Casy is not as bad as I think she is, she just has secrets... well, as far as I know. It's very soon to judge her, but I'm sure of something now, and that's that she really isn't bad; something I somehow already knew, but that the last situations made me doubt. Maybe after all we can clear things up and start being friends, even best friends; as I always wish.

"I'm fine, don't worry, I just wanted to get the hell out of the school; I needed to spend some time outdoors," I say, waiting for her to answer something, but she doesn't.

We both stay quiet for a few seconds, thinking about what to say. And it reminds me of yesterday when we were at the bar, eating lunch, both of us uncomfortable in our seats, not knowing what to say. Wow, it was yesterday... but why does it feel like that lunch happened a year ago? My sense of time is getting worse.

"Hey... do you... want to... get together... and talk? I have a few more things to tell you," she asks me, very doubtful.

I ponder the answer for a few seconds. Is it really a good idea for us to meet again today? I mean, I think we've both had enough of all this, although, at the same time, I want to see her and hear what she has to tell me. Besides, now that I think about it, maybe my reaction to what she told me this morning was a bit... over the top. Yeah, well, pretty over the top. I mean, who am I to react like that? She was just telling me that... well, that she did that thing she told me about. Yes, it was shocking and yes, I was surprised, but I'm not her partner to react like I'd been cheated on. Besides, if I hadn't left, sure we could have talked and she would have explained to me why she did what she did and everything would have been different. But instead of doing that—which is surely what any normal person would have done—I left. I ran away from the situation and got angry with her. I judged her and then skipped classes to wander the streets of this town.

Seriously, what is wrong with me?

"Hannah?" Casy calls my name as I don't give her an answer.

Her voice interrupts my thoughts, which are increasingly weighing on me and making me think about what I did. I don't need an apology; she does. Casy apologized to me several times and I forgave her; now it's my turn to do the same.

"I'm sorry. Yeah, let's get together. Maybe when you get out of class? I'm on the boulevard, in a bookstore. We can meet at an ice cream shop if you want."

She agrees with me. Then we choose the ice cream shop where we'll meet and hang up. I put my phone back in my backpack and go into the bookstore, with the intention of thanking the woman for her attention and telling her that I'm not going to buy any books.

When I enter I see that the woman is not behind the counter and neither are the books she showed me. Confused, I close the door and walk out of the store. What a strange woman...

I walk a few feet away from the bookstore and head downtown, mulling over a bit about everything—as I always do lately—, but glad that I was able to talk to Casy and that we're going to clear everything up once and for all, at least I hope so; you never know with her.

The last few hours of my life replay in my mind as I walk through the streets of San Pedro. Casy—of course—and everything that happened with her; the issues I still have to resolve with my mom; Leonardo and... whatever that was that happened in class; and as if that wasn't enough, now there's the issue of the party, for which I have to resolve several things; and them there's the thing about Casy's supposed aunt. Although the latter is irrelevant compared to everything else, I'm still curious.

In between thoughts, I arrive at the ice cream shop. I look at the time on my phone screen; it's still an hour before Casy gets out of class, so I'll have to wait. However, I don't feel much like waiting without doing anything, bored and alone... I definitely need a book, but I didn't bring any with me. Maybe I can go home and grab one... Yeah, an hour is plenty of time to go home, grab a book off my shelf and come back to the ice cream shop to wait for Casy. So I turn away from the building in front of me and head home, praying my mom isn't there; I certainly don't wanna see her.