Chapter Text
It was a Tuesday, or perhaps a Wednesday when Max absentmindedly wrote “I'M BORED" on one of the library desks during a particularly tedious studying session. He knew that he probably shouldn't do that, and that Sylvia wouldn't be pleased, but it's not like he did it out of malice. Besides, all the desk were scribbled over anyway. It wasn't until next Monday that he noticed that someone had replied to him. "You're in a library. Read a book." it said in blue ink. The handwriting was neat, evenly spaced and nothing like his chicken-scratched doodle. He laughed to himself.
"What's up, bro?" he heard Bobby ask, quickly bringing him back to reality.
"Oh, uhh, nothing. Someone replied to me on the desk, that's all" he shrugged. PJ blinked at him, confused.
"Someone… what?"
Max realized how weird what he'd just said must've sounded.
"Last time we were here, I scribbled on the desk and now someone's replied to it" he explained, a little embarrassed, but his friend didn't seem to pay him any mind.
"Oh," PJ simply said as he shrugged before going back to his textbook. Bobby had already shifted his focus to something else entirely - an annoying fly, or something, — so Max didn't even think he heard him. Oh, well.
"ANY RECOMMENDATIONS?" he scribbled under the stranger's message, then promptly forgot about the whole ordeal again.
That is, forgot about it until Thursday, when after sitting down at the same desk, he noticed another message from the stranger.
"'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen" it simply said. Max frowned. He was pretty sure he'd heard that title before, and he was also pretty sure it was one of those fancy, classical literature pieces. Not the kind he'd usually read, he never really had the time to pick up something more complex. And so he thought, what the heck, maybe this completely random recommendation from a complete stranger was some kind of sign?
He shrugged and went to search for the section of the library where he'd most likely find the book in question. It took a while, but he got there eventually.
Once he finally had the book in his hands, he examined the cover.
Yep, this is as fancy as it gets.
But he knew better than to judge a book by its cover, so he headed for the checkout desk.
Sylvia gave him a bewildered look when she noticed what he was borrowing, and he just smiled at her awkwardly. Thankfully, she didn't comment on anything.
It turned out to be a surprisingly easy read. Truthfully, it wasn't something that Max would ever pick up for himself — he wasn't much of a reader to begin with, but all those old, hard to understand books with fancy words seemed especially unappealing. Plus, he'd always thought Austen's books were targeted towards a more... feminine audience. Not that he particularly cared, he wasn't going to undermine something just because it catered to girls, but he just never fancied himself much of a romantic, is all. Yet here he was, strangely invested in Elizabeth Bennett's and Mr. Darcy's relationship.
He didn't get it, at first. In the beginning, Darcy seemed like an insufferable asshole with no redeeming qualities, and Max seriously thought everyone who's ever read this book must've entered some sort of mass delusion regarding the man's allure, but by the end he was equally charmed as any other girl swooning over Mr. Darcy. A well-crafted development, he had to admit. Of course, he'd never, ever admit to reading it. He wasn't embarrassed exactly, but he knew that if PJ, or, god forbid, Bobby found out, he'd never hear the end of it. He'd be done for. So, as a result, he had to keep his thoughts about the book to himself.
And did have some thoughts. Particularly about Darcy. While it was true that, on paper, Mr. Darcy was a great, compelling character, Max found him terribly unrealistic. It was easy to get lost in the story, but he just couldn't suspend his disbelief, he supposed. Because, in real life, as much as he'd wish things were different, Darcy could never exist. Rich assholes don't just change their minds and start being nice after being humbled. Instead, they keep being assholes and make it everyone else's problem. Was he thinking of someone in particular? Of course, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it.
Bradley Uppercrust III was still, very unfortunately, present in his life. He'd “accidentally” bump into him on campus, cut him in line, or place his skateboard exactly in Max's path so he'd trip. He'd always say "sorry, man," and carry on, but Max knew it all had to be intentional. The man was still fucking with him, months later, and Max was sick of it. It was a mystery to him, how he was even still allowed on campus after endangering so many lives during the X games, but it probably had something to do with his dad being loaded. Whatever. It didn't matter. He just wished Brad would leave him alone, once and for all. Really, he had nothing on Mr. Darcy.
"Max? Are you listening?" PJ's voice interrupted his train of thought. He shook his head and was met with PJ and Bobby looking at him expectantly.
"Sorry! I was zoning. Say that again?"
PJ sighed.
"I said we were going to the library and asked if you're coming with us?"
"The library?" Max repeated, worried. "Why?"
They looked at him as if he were crazy.
"To study...?" Bobby offered. Of course, Max thought. Why else would they go there?
"Oh. Right. Obviously," he chuckled. His copy of "Pride and Prejudice" was in his bag, he could almost feel its presence. He had meant to return it for the last three days, but somehow couldn't force himself to. Maybe this is his chance? "Yeah, I'll go. Just let me put on some shoes" he shot them a smile.
Less than two minutes later they were out the door. The bag felt heavier than it was because of the book. It was weird, but Max wished he could keep it for some reason. It wasn't like he wanted to re-read it, but it felt like by returning the paperback, he'd somehow be breaking his connection with the library stranger. And he didn't want that. Obviously, they knew nothing about each other, but Max would love to learn more about the other person on his campus that also liked having conversations via library desks.
Safe to say, he was already in a odd mood, and it would only get worse.
Lost in his thoughts, he tripped over something, which would already be bad enough on its own. But then he saw that said "something" was a skateboard which belonged to none other than Bradley Uppercrust III. He'd done it AGAIN.
"Dude, would you stop it?" Max snapped. Bradley turned to face him, seemingly surprised, but he had to have been just pretending to throw him off even more. This was deliberate, Max was sure.
"Pardon?" Bradley asked, standing up.
"Don't play dumb, you know what I'm talking about! Are you still so bitter about the X Games that you just cannot stop bothering me? That was months ago!" Max shouted. People were looking at him, but he couldn't care less.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about? Maybe the fact that you're being childish!"
"What did you just call me?" Bradley retorted. Dang, Max had to admit, the man was a very good actor.
"You heard me."
"Hey! Come on, just let it go" Max felt PJ's hand on his shoulder, attempting to drag him away.
"Yeah man, he's not worth it."
He stared ahead for a few seconds before sighing in defeat.
"...Fine. See you around, Brad." Max spat out as he began to walk away, kicking Bradley's stupid skateboard. He heard the man mutter something like "unbelievable" under his breath, and Max rolled his eyes.
"God, what wouldn't I give to never have to talk to him again" he said once they were at a far enough distance so that Brad couldn't hear him. He didn't have the energy to deal with any more of Uppercrust's BS. He just wished they'd get to the library as soon as possible.
As soon as they entered the library, Max's eyes drifted to that one desk. He couldn't help but feel giddy at the thought of possibly finding another message. For the past few days he'd been telling himself not to get his hopes up. After all, what else was there to say? He'd read the book, it was... fine. He'd enjoyed it more than he had initially thought he would. But that was it.
This library stranger had probably forgotten about the whole ordeal already. Still, he couldn't quell this feeling, and before he could even fully register it, he was walking in that direction.
"Hey, man?" he heard Bobby say "We were actually going to sit over there?" he pointed his thumb in the opposite corner of the library.
Max blinked "...Why can't we sit where we did last time?"
"Does it matter? All of those desks are the same?" PJ pointed out.
No, they're not.
"Well, I... I was able to focus a lot more sitting at that one. And if they're all the same, it shouldn't be a problem to you, right?" Max retorted.
Bobby and PJ exchanged confused glances, but thankfully followed Max without further prying as he sighed in relief.
As they sat down, Max found himself unable to focus. His eyes drifted to the note left by the stranger, then to the bag with the book inside. He then looked at the scribbles yet again and clicked his pen. In black ink, he wrote down "4/5 :)", and, seconds later, added "ANY MORE RECS?". Once he looked up, he noticed PJ and Bobby staring at him with puzzled expressions.
"What?" he asked, unbothered.
"Um. What are you doing?" PJ baffled. Max placed his hand over the written message, covering it up.
"Nothing," he answered. Bobby and PJ seemed unconvinced, but ultimately they just shrugged and went back to their textbooks.
After a while, and a futile attempt at actually studying, Max slowly rose up from his seat, intending to return the book whose metaphorical weight has been steadily growing unbearable in his bag.
When he approached the checkout desk, Sylvia looked up at him and smiled "So, how did you like it?"
Max was slightly taken aback by her question, he was hoping he could just be done with this as quickly as possible. Still, he replied "It was... interesting."
Thankfully, she didn't say anything more, and only nodded in response. Max still found it awkward to talk to her, given that she was, well, dating his dad. Their relationship wasn't anything too serious, it's only been a few months since they've started dating after all, but still. He gave her a strained smile and returned to his seat. As he sat down, he noticed his friends observing him.
"Dude, you're acting reeeealy weird" Bobby remarked.
"Yeah, man. What's going on?" PJ added.
"Nothing! Seriously, guys, nothing is going on. I just had a book to return, that's all! Promise." Max retorted. They didn't buy it.
"Right," PJ began, as he narrowed his eyes. "Then what did you write on that desk, Max?"
He gulped. "I don't know what you're talking about," Max lied. Unconvinced, his friends shared a look, letting him know they weren't buying it
"Alright then, keep your secrets" Bobby replied as they all went back to silently studying their textbooks.
Except Max stayed distracted. He couldn't focus for the entire time they were at the library, then for the rest of the day. And then another. And then, a couple more, as if he needed more distractions in his life. All he could think about was that note he'd left on the desk. Quite honestly, he was driving himself crazy. It felt like he couldn't think about anything other than going to the library again. Was this healthy? It couldn't be. It'd been a little over a week, why was he feeling like this? He must've been the first person to ever experience withdrawals from going to the library.
Max sighed. There was only one way to get out of this situation.
"Hey, I'm gonna head out to the library for a bit," he proclaimed. Bobby and PJ stopped talking and turned towards him.
"Uh. Why?" Bobby asked.
"I... uh... I've got a bit of a headache and I need a little quiet" Max lied. PJ and Bobby shared a confused look, but then Bobby shrugged and waved his hand.
"Whatever, man"
"Call if you need anything" PJ added and that was that. no further questions. Max sighed with relief and left for the library immediately.
He nearly sprinted towards that desk, which was, luckily, unoccupied. He sat down, and then... froze. What if there's no message? Or, what if his stranger doesn't want to recommend him any books? To the average person, it was a silly thing to worry about, but to Max, it meant the world. He took a deep breath and forced himself to look at the desktop.
"Only 4??" was written under his last message in that familiar handwriting, the same exact shade of blue ink. Then, a little to the left, it said "Anne of Green Gables. One of my childhood favorites" and Max hadn't felt this relieved in a while. His library stranger gave him another book to read. He felt the corners of his mouth move up all by themselves as if they had a mind of their own.
Never in a million years would he think that having some book recommended to him would make him feel so happy. He felt a little silly, but not enough to squash his giddiness. His stranger still wanted to talk to him, to have him read books that were important to them, that's the only thing that mattered. That mysterious person, whoever they were, made his boring life ten times more interesting, and sure, in the grand scheme of things this probably wasn't the most extraordinary thing that could happen to a person, but it was still the most fascinating thing Max had going for himself. A little counterweight to the shiftiness added to his life by Brad's presence.
Yeah, he thought. As long as he had his mysterious library stranger, Bradley couldn't get him down.