[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XwYJo48.png?1[/img][/center]
[center][sub] a [@horangi] + [@smarty0114] collab
 ʜᴀsᴛɪɴɢs ʟɪʙʀᴀʀʏ | 𝟿:𝟺𝟻 ᴀᴍ [/sub][/center][hr]



The words in front of Katie were already beginning to swim as her mind refused to stay nicely situated within the confines she’d so thoughtfully laid out. She couldn’t help but think about Ms. Fortune and all the pictures she’d seen this morning. She wasn’t just worried for herself. She was worried for her friends, who probably had way more to get hurt by.

[b][color=722F37] “Not losing sleep over Political Ideology, are we Ms. Callaghan? You know there are much more exciting things to trade for your beauty sleep.”[/color][/b]

Katie’s head swung around at the sound of the familiar voice, and a grin broke out across her face once her suspicions were confirmed, followed by an ever so subtle flushing in her cheeks. [color=ba314f][b]“And how much beauty sleep do you think I need, exactly?”[/b][/color] Katie asked, cocking her head as a playful smile danced it’s way across her face. She turned away from her laptop, and gestured at the empty seat next to her. When Zach was around, homework was suddenly far less of a priority.

[b][color=722F37] “Not a lot. Mmm…”[/color][/b]  Zach’s voice trailed off as he took the invitation to sit beside her. Settled sideways into the chair with his knees pointed towards her and his torso supported by the table, Zach returned to his previous thought. 

[b][color=722F37] “Just enough for a round two or world domination,”[/color][/b] he issued a quick wink leaning in towards her a bit, [b][color=722F37] “your choice, of course..”[/color][/b] The warm southern twang of his was not without the tone of suggestion as he held Katie’s gaze with ease.

Katie let out a gasp of faux offense and smacked his arm [color=ba314f][b]“Zachary Bishop, what would Jesus say?”[/b][/color] She leaned in towards him, ever so slightly, while a slender finger twirled a lock of her hair around. Zach was the kind of boy who latched onto her synapses, and set her whole nervous system alight. The kind of boy she loved to dance these little waltzes with, so long as she got to lead.

Zach’s hearty chuckle at Katie’s teasing earned him a withering glare from the passing librarian, but he was enjoying himself far too much to care. What would a college library be without an obnoxious jock making too much noise in one of its corners?

[b][color=722F37] “The lord did say to love your neighbors, but he never specified how to love them.”[/color][/b] Zach offered in a light-hearted manner as he leaned back slowly, letting the building tension fade away,[b][color=722F37] “plus, I  reckon I’d have been smited already if  Jesus was watching out for the shit I get up to on the day to day. Unless Ms.Fortune is the new messiah, and she’s gearing up to send the sinners of OIC to the slaughter.”[/color][/b] Zach shifted topics easily but kept his eyes on Katie’s face; it was easier to measure the furrow of a brow or the downturn of her lips than it was to flat out ask her how she was. Politician’s kids were always doing “great.”

[color=ba314f][b]“Ugh, don’t remind me,”[/b][/color] Katie said, an exasperated sigh tearing past her lips. [color=ba314f][b]“Are we really that interesting? I mean, obviously [i]we[/i] are,”[/b][/color] Katie gestured between the two of them, [color=ba314f][b]“but it’s not like Jamie has anything going on. And all the new kids? Who cares what some scholarshit kid gets up to in their spare time. I guess it’s asking too much to have a normal year, god forbid our tuition pay for that instead of Kat Vaupel’s fucking scholarship.”[/b][/color] Katie shook her head, blonde waves bouncing around her as she did, and forced a smile back on. 

[color=ba314c][b]“Enough about things that piss me off though. I can’t go nuclear yet, it’s only week three,”[/b][/color] Katie said. She did her best to refrain from having any meltdowns until at least week five. [color=ba314f][b]“How was your weekend? Last time I saw you I think I was carrying Jamie back to his room.”[/b][/color]

Zach’s smile was a knowing one. His eyes never wandered away from the golden beauty in front of him as she shared her unfiltered thoughts. Perhaps that’s what Zach enjoyed so much about Katie Callaghan,  [b][color=722F37]” Ah, you know, the life of a star college football player is [i]riveting[/i]. Early mornings in the gym and late nights on the field, it’s like a 24/7 sausage fest, fun, right?”[/color][/b] Zach issued a dramatic roll of his eyes, just as his phone dinged thrice in his pockets, [b][color=722F37] “If it’s Alessio- oh it’s Birdie, one sec.”[/color][/b]

Zach readjusted in his seat, pressing his feet into the ground as he tilted backward, just enough for the chair’s front legs to hover off the ground. Zach nibbled at his bottom lip in irritation as he responded to Birdie’s distress, it wasn’t her fault the guys that interested her were idiots,[b][color=722F37] “How do you tell your friend they have shit taste in guys without being rude?”[/color][/b] Zach asked, turning his face to Katie, [b][color=722F37]” If Birdie had your taste, we’d all be living the good life.”[/color][/b]

Katie let her eyes traverse Zach’s jaw as he looked down at his phone, felt her stomach clench as he chewed his lip, and then, as if it had been only a passing moment of insanity, turned her eyes away as he came to meet them. [color=ba314f][b]“Oof, uh, gently, and with a whole lot of foreplay,”[/b][/color] Katie said. [color=ba314f][b]“Birdie definitely doesn’t want to hear that though, so better to err on the side of ‘Fuck him, he’s an asshole.’ Who’s on the shitlist now?”[/b][/color]

[b][color=722F37] “Arthur, but it’s nothing too serious… unless sending pics and getting no response is a herald for the end of the world, and I am but an ignorant fool.”[/color][/b] Zach chuckled and lowered the seat back to all fours as he took note of the time, [b][color=722F37] “I think I’ve distracted you enough, wanna help me look for a book real quick before I have to go meet the boys down in the quad?”[/color][/b] he asked with a smirk growing on his face as he stood to his full height.

[color=ba314f][b]“I guess I better add librarian to my resume.”[/b][/color] The playful smile on her face gave away her good intentions. She shut her laptop and stood to meet Zach, seeming like something out of Oz standing next to him. [color=ba314f][b]“Allow me to be the first to introduce you to the wonderful world of books,”[/b][/color] she said over her shoulder, sashaying towards the shelves, a subtle, but noticeable, sway in her hips.

Zach gave an amazed “Woah” as he looked past Katie to the aisles of books, but his eyes were quick to snap to the dawg of her hips, [b][color=722F37] “Thought it was time to put my hooked on phonics to work, got flex more than my arm muscles, you know?”[/color][/b] 

Katie laughed, not the practiced chuckle of the future mayor’s daughter, but the loud and boisterous roar of laughter that only those close to her ever heard. [color=ba314f][b]“Don’t let Isa find out. She’ll start thinking you’re competition. What exactly am I finding for you anyway?”[/b][/color]

[b][color=722F37] “Or add me to her hitlist underneath her brother’s name.”[/color][/b] Zach’s eyes twinkled with joy at the sound of Katie’s  laughter. When they stopped in the middle of an aisle somewhere near the back of the library, where the sunlight filtered in through the gaps on the bookshelf, and it was just the two of them Zach leaned in. With his palms resting against the bookshelf on either side of Katie,	q he drew closer to her at an agonizing pace. Finally, at the last minute, his lips grazed the side of her cheek to stop at her ear and whisper, [b][color=722F37]   “ ‘Our Love Story’, or something, bring it to  Nadia’s on  Valentine Drive, Thursday at 8?”[/color][/b] Zach pulled away slowly his right hand tucking her hair behind her ear before he gave a wink and ducked out of the aisle.

There were certain moments in her life that Katie had attributed the feeling of breathlessness to, but she realized as Zach disappeared  around the corner, that she hadn’t truly felt it until right now, amongst the books. Finally, air returned to her lungs, in gasping breaths intermingled with a nervous laughter. One hand came up to touch her ear as her lip found its way between her teeth. [color=ba314f][b]“Fucking Zacharias Bishop,”[/b][/color] she said to herself, basking in the euphoric haze of the moment for just seconds more, before pulling out her phone and checking her reflection. She gently smoothed her hair, more out of habit than necessity, and stepped out from the aisle, a grin stuck on her face, and a new bounce in her step.