"Fuck! We've been walking forever." Ryder complains again for the 6th time from behind me.

"We've been walking for six minutes, and you didn't have to come."

He speeds up beside me. "Well, if you would've told me where you were going and how long it was going to take, maybe I wouldn't have come."

I notice the sign ahead.

Crimson Bookstore.

I walk up to it and open the door. "I walked all this way for a fucking bookstore," Ryder shouts.

I turn around, still holding onto the door. "Shhhhh." I try to quiet him. Hopefully, no one heard him. He grabs the door from out of my hands. I turn around and walk-in. I look around the store. It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. The rows of books go back. There must be thousands of them. My stomach gets fluttery at the sight.

A Muslim girl appears out of one of the aisles she has on a black headwrap, covering her hair. As she gets close, I notice how the black headwrap complements her brown eyes, "Hi, I'm Adeela," she says.

"Jayda." I reach out to shake her hand. "You have a beautiful name," I tell her.

"Thank you, It means equal," she tells me.

I nod my head, "Cool."

"So, what are you guys looking for?" She asks.

"He's not looking for anything, and I'm just going to look around."

"Ok." she smiles and says, "Just let me know if you need anything."

"I will thank you."

...

It's been about thirty minutes; I have picked up two books, one mystery and one science fiction. Ryder hasn't said anything, surprisingly. He's just been following behind me, watching me, it's creepy, but it's better than him nagging.

"Why do you like books so much?" Ryder askes me, breaking his silence.

"Umm, there's a lot of reasons," I tell him.

"Like?" he presses more.

"I never really liked my life, so when I read books, it took me out of my reality and put me there, into the lives of different characters."

He doesn't respond; he just watches me as I move down the aisle. "How many books do you think you've read?" He asks and leans his back against the shelf.

I stop walking and examine the books on the middle shelf beside him. "I don't know. A lot, too many to keep up with."

He turns around and grabs a book on the shelf. "Have you read this?" I look at the book he is holding.

"Jane Eyre. Who hasn't ." I walk down the aisle some more.

"How about this?" He pulls another book off the shelf; I look back at him to see what book he's holding.

"Twilight. Of course."

He smacks his teeth. He pulls out another book. "This one?" He raises his eyebrow.

"Emma by Jane Austen. I heard of it, but I've never read it." I stop looking on the shelves. I walk to him and take the book out of his hand. I have been meaning to read this. Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors. There's not a book of hers I do not like, so I know I will like this one.

"Your welcome." He says. I roll my eyes.

"Well, now that you've found me something, I'll find you something," I say to him.

He laughs. "No, thanks."

"Ryder."

"I don't read. I'll rather wait for the movie." He says.

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

He continues to look at me, not saying yes or no. "Fine, whatever."

"Great, I know just the book for you." I smile at him. I search down the rows looking for the book I have in mind. I know it's here, someone it has to be. Ah found it. I grab it off the shelf and hand it to him. "Pride and Prejudice"

"What's it about?" he asks.

"Well, it's from a woman's perspective, so I can only tell you about the woman. But if it were from a man's perspective, then I would say it's about a man who is stuck up, rude, and mean, and conceded, he thinks he's entitled to everything, but then he meets a woman who pays him no attention, which he isn't used to and then the rest is history."

He narrows his eyes at me. "And why is this book just for me?"

I roll my eyes. "Just read it, and you'll see."

"Well, whenever I get the time, I'll read it. Can we go now?"

"Mhm."

...

"You didn't have to pay for them!" I yell at Ryder as we walk out of the store.

"I heard you the first time." He groans. I continue walking down the crowded street with him behind me.

"I had the money."

He turns around and looks down at me, "And so did I."

"I'm going to give you the money back," I say and then walk past him.

The walk back seems longer; I'm happy I can see the hotel's sign from where we are, now I know for sure we are close. I don't know what I will do when I get in. Maybe I'll go see my mother and Evelyn before I head upstairs back to my room. I'm kind of hungry; I'll probably order room service when I get back to my room and rent a few movies. Or maybe I'll call Caleb; I don't want to wait until Tonight.

I've been thinking a lot about him and me; I've been thinking that perhaps since I am doing better. I could give us a chance, a real chance; I ended things with him because I wanted to be mentally right first before I jumped into a relationship, especially my first relationship. And now I feel like I'm ready, like really ready. I want to tell him. But I don't want to wait till Tonight; I want to tell him now.

"Wait, wait, wait," Ryder says just before I walk into the hotel. He grabs my wrist. I turn around to him.

"Oh, your book." I reach into the brown paper bag and pull out Pride and Prejudice. I hand it to him. He slowly takes it out of my hand.

"That's not really what I..." He shakes his head. "About yesterday I--"

"Don't worry about it. It's ok."

"No, I have to say this, just listen...You asked me why this time would be different."

"You don't have to-"

" Fuck can you just listen," He says abruptly, and I get quiet. "Don't say anything until I am done."

"Ok." I press my lips together.

"You asked me why this time would be different. It'll be different because--

"OH MY GOD," A familiar voice says. I turn my head in the direction it came from. My eyes widen with excitement when I see who it is.

"Blair!"

"Jayda!" She squeals and rushes over to me, embracing me in a big hug.

"What are you doing here? She asks me.

"Uhh, I'm here with my parents for this art gallery opening. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Russia?"

"I live here now." She smiles. "Me and Emily, actually, our agency signed a six-year contract with vogue, so we have to stay out here."

"That's amazing." I forgot Ryder was standing beside me; she looks up and glances at him. "This is Ryder; he's my parent's friend's son."

She lets out a laugh. "Hey." She greets him. He doesn't greet her back; he gives her a quick smile. "Quiet one, huh? You don't look like it," she says to him. He rolls his eyes at her; she looks back at me.

"How long will you be here?" she asks me.

"Till tomorrow," I tell her.

"Well, that doesn't give us much time to hang out."

"You can come up to my room with me." I suggest, "That event isn't till later."

A huge smile grows on her face. "Sounds good."

We both start to walk into the hotel. I notice the empty feeling behind me; Ryder isn't following. I turn back around. "Are you coming?" I ask him.

"No." He sternly says. He turns around and walks down the street, disappearing into the crowd.