[h3]Aiden Carren, Amy Snow, and Luca Agnelli
3:30 PM; Northwood Library[/h3]

Aiden walked carefully through the library, noticeably surprised by how crowded it was. Not just by the living, of course, but by the dead as well. Thank God all those pushy, weird spirits had returned, she was starting to feel some sort of withdrawal from not having anything to ignore, odd as it is. They were back now, and their numbers were growing with each step she took into the quiet library, most doing what they always seemed to do when she was around; try and get her attention. Already that lonely pit in her stomach was being filled with uncomfortable buzzing, and she could only thank those annoying ghosts who filled the void. Aiden felt a sigh escape her throat, and then she let her eyes raise to the ceiling, deep in thought. Why exactly did she return to this paranormal hot spot? Perhaps to check up on everything, to reassure her that everything was back to normal and everyone was fine, but she could have gone anywhere in this odd school to do that. Why here? Aiden mindlessly lowered her head, feet dragging her up the stairs to the second floor once more. 

“Might as well look for something to read, since I’m here…” She muttered to herself, and maybe Diana, hands toying with the cross around her neck.

“Looking for something in particular?” A voice asked. Aiden jumped at the sudden question, head twisting around curiously before her eyes settled on a mousy-looking girl in between the shelves. “Sorry didn’t mean to startle you.” The girl said apologetically, and Aiden lowered her head in a quick greeting, waving her hands quickly as if to say ‘it’s fine, it’s fine’. 

“No, no, it wasn’t you fault, really!” She exclaimed, blushing furiously, “I’m just a bit jumpy. Stressed, uh, fidgety. It’s my fault for not noticing you.” Aiden lowered her head again, as if to apologize for her daydreamy-ness. D stared at the stranger with wide eyes for a moment, head tilted in an almost unnatural way, and then she turned to hide behind Aiden, hands clenching the older girl’s arm with a cold, tight grip. Aiden made no show of the added weight to her left side, though, and instead she tilted her own head, eyebrows furrowed slightly, “but, uh, what did you say before?” 

“Oh, I was asking if you were looking for something in particular to read. I can help you find it maybe. I am Amy Snow by the way.” She held out her hand for Aiden to shake, and the red-haired girl quickly obliged, giving the hand a light shake. A faint, shy smile met her lips, but then she let curiosity claim her eyes. Amy was her name? That sounded a bit… Familiar. Though Aiden was certain she hadn’t met anyone named Amy until this very moment, there was a slight tug at her memory, and after a second of silently trying to recollect herself Aiden shrugged off the feeling and continued on.

“Nice to meet you, Amy. I’m Aiden, er, Aiden Carren.” 

“It’s a pleasure.” Amy gave her a genuine smile. She picked up a red book from the stack that was on the cart next to her. For a few seconds she looked at the book before replacing it to pick up another and shelve it. Aiden watched the action curiously, thumbs twiddling without her really realizing it, and then she took a step closer, hands lowering to rest on the book-covered cart.

“Uh, would you like some help? I’m sure four hands are better than two for this job.” She asked with an otherwise emotionless voice, the faint smile on her lips growing at the sight of Amy’s genuine grin.

“Sure, do you know any of the Dewey Decimal system? If not I can give you a few hints.”

“I like to think I’m well-versed in it, I do often find myself among shelves like these when I need some info for a research paper.”  Her hands shifted across the worn spine of a green book, and after she scanned the name and number situated on the binding she carefully placed it into the shelf, nodding once at her decision before setting forward to the next book, repeating the task over again. She let a rather stiff silence set in as the two worked, well, probably silent for Amy, seeing as Aiden was almost never gifted anytime for quiet. As she worked, Aiden could see the gray-scale spirits behind her, watching with terrified eyes. 

She only drew her attention away from the bookcase at the sight of a somewhat familiar shadow. Luca turned the corner, silent as usual, and stared at the working girls with a blank face.

“Oh, you’ve found each other already. Neato.” The bottom of her skirt and her knees are covered in mud. “Aiden, yeah? This is Amy – my Amy, the one I was talking about. There’s about five others in the school. Amy, this is a new transfer student I met.”

 “There’s three others counting the freshman.” Amy pauses to look at Aiden “I help set up the library check out records”  

“O-Oh?” Aiden blinked once as Luca appeared, obviously a bit confused, but she very quickly got the jist of things as the two started conversing in a friendly manner. This was the ‘girl club’ Luca had mentioned, it seemed. She quickly shoved another ragged book back into the shelf before turning to face the two fully, curling a strand of hair around her finger, “you seem to be very involved with this library, huh?” Aiden then glanced at Luca, green eyes darkening, “anyway, since we’re all here, did you have a plan set for us or something?”

 “Nope! Amy leads, I follow. That’s how it usually works.” A shrug.

“I just had these books to shelve and then I’m done here. You’re new here right? We can show you around a bit.” Amy suggests. Aiden perks up at the idea, a wider smile forming on her lips,

“That actually sounds like a great idea, if you don’t mind.” She shrugged sheepishly, reaching down to examine and put away another book. Diana gave the two a very hard stare, but then turned away, obviously somewhat content with the strangers dragging her clinging-buddy around. Aiden smirked slightly at the empty air beside her, then returned her gaze to the shelf, finishing up another few books. Amy, meanwhile, seemed to be having trouble with the red book again. Her eyes stared holes into the thick cover, and then scanned the shelves once or twice before replacing it on the cart. Aiden tilted her head at the mousy girl, then reached down to pick up the book, “what’s with this book? Can’t figure out where it goes?” She asked Amy.

“Huh, oh no I keep going to put it away out of habit, but I wanted to read it. It’s from another section actually.” Amy held out her hand for the book. *she seems perturbed by the book* “I just don’t want to forget to check it out, that’s why I haven’t put it in my bag.” She put the book on top of her bag in the bottom section of the cart. Aiden nodded slowly at her response, eyes connected with the cover of the book, and then quickly got to work on finishing up the remaining books. Once everything she squared away, Aiden took a step back, shaking her left shoulder slightly before turning towards the other two girls, eyes filled with excitement. 

“We should hurry along, before we end up completely alone in those creepy halls!” She sang, voice noticeably cheerier than before. Around her, spirits shook, eyes wide and hands still. They seemed to be focused on the two girls rather than Aiden, but eventually they returned to to their odd habits, moaning and reaching in complete silence. Aiden only let her eyes wander for a moment, lips quickly drawn into a blank line, and then she forced her smile to return, hoping the two girls would ignore her perturbed expression.