An odd trip to the library

The rest of the class passed agonizingly slowly for Lucy. She wasn’t exactly the most confident girl at the best of times and to have the entire class commenting on her breasts like that, Professor Morris suggesting she take off her clothes…!

Every time she thought about it her cheeks grew another shade of crimson brighter. She knew she was probably overreacting, nothing had really happened, but still, something just felt… off somehow.

By the time the lecture was over Lucy was gathering her things hurriedly. She just wanted to get back to the privacy of the dorm and put the weirdness of the class behind her. She could swear Professor Morris was staring at her as she left, but did her best to ignore it. It was probably just in her head anyway.

Of course, that was easier said than done. The whole demonstration kept replaying itself in her head as she walked with Kim, who spoke to her seemingly non-stop about things Lucy barely cared about. It was only when Kim stopped abruptly in the middle of campus and took her wrist that the brunette focused on her properly, “You’re still worried about your parents?”

Lucy blushed, realizing she’d completely zoned out of anything Kim had said for several minutes, "Um, no not really. But thanks for making me even more nervous."

"Then what is it?" Kim asked with a tilt of her head.

"It's just... what the hell happened in there?" Lucy asked, "Professor Morris talking about my breasts for so long in front of everyone, and I swear she wanted to see me naked! It was so weird, and everyone was just acting like-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, easy girl, easy," Kim said, putting a hand on Lucy's shoulder, "Deep breaths. In and out, through the nose."

Lucy followed her friend's instructions and took a few deep breaths of air to calm herself down. As she did, Kim rubbed her shoulder and continued, "That's it... I think you're just overreacting. Morris was giving us a practical demonstration. Sure, maybe it was a little weird how she did it, but she wasn't trying to make you feel uncomfortable."

"But... but what about...?"

"Look," Kim interrupted, "I think the stress of Max meeting your parents combined with you studying all the time has put you on edge. How about we go to the library and check out a couple of books- regular books, not textbooks... then we can take them outside and read them in the grass for a while. Sound good?"

"Maybe?" Lucy said hesitantly, "But why can't we just read them in the library?"

"Hey, the fresh air will do you some good," Kim responded, "Trust me, you weren't meant to be cooped up inside studying all day."

Lucy looked around the campus at the patches of grass lining the path, then up at the blue sky overhead. It was a pretty nice day...

"Okay, sure," Lucy said with a small smile.

"Great!" Kim exclaimed, grabbing her friend's hand, "Let's get going!"

Kim lead Lucy up to the brick edifice of the university library, a place Lucy had been to many times before. Entering through the front doors was like stepping into another world, with how much quieter it seemed compared to the bustle of students outside. This early in the day the library was practically deserted, the only person visible upon entering being the dark haired librarian currently on the computer at her desk. As the girls walked by, Lucy thought she saw the woman look up at her in befuddlement. She probably wasn't expecting any students this early in the day.

"Don't worry, we'll be quick," Kim whispered to the woman, before turning to Lucy and whispering, "Okay, grab what you want to read. Remember, get something fun, not boring. Though I guess for you there isn't much difference, huh?"

Lucy rolled her eyes at the blonde girl's lame joke before heading off to browse the selection of books available. Eventually she picked out a book on folklore that intrigued her and made her way back to the front desk.

Surprisingly, Kim had grabbed not one book, but two. There was an old school mystery novel, but the other one really stood out to her as odd.

"'The Care and Training of Large Animals'?" Lucy asked, brow raised, "Why are you even getting that?"

Kim blinked in surprise and quickly said, "Oh, right, it's for a project I'm working on. Figured I might as well grab it while we're here."

Lucy shrugged and waited in line behind her. Kim handed her books to the librarian along with her student ID to have them checked out, then moved aside so that Lucy could do the same for her book. But when the librarian scanned Lucy's ID, there was a low beep that caused the older woman to frown.

"Um, I'm sorry miss, but it says here this ID is invalid," she said.

"What? That can't be right," Lucy said, "Scan it again."

The librarian did so, and the computer made the same error noise as before.

"Still says it's invalid," the woman said, "Are you sure you're a student here?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Lucy said, raising her voice a bit in frustration, "I was in here just last week! You saw me here!"

The librarian's frown deepens, and she says slowly, "Student or not, if you don't calm yourself, I'm kicking you out. Now, this could just be an error in the system, or with this card in particular. It happens sometimes."

Lucy took another deep breath, "Well, how can I get it fixed?"

"If you really are a student, the administrative office can sort this out for you," the librarian replied, "I can send them an email to let them know you're coming, if you want."

"Yes, that'd be great, thank you," Lucy said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You sure you want to go now?" Kim asked her, "I could always just check the book out for you."

"No, don't bother, I should get this sorted out," Lucy answered, "Better to fix it now than have to deal with it later."

"I suppose," Kim agreed hesitantly, "Well, I'll wait here for you to get back then. Might as well see if there's anything else here I should get. Text me when you're coming back, okay?"

"Yeah, I will," Lucy said with a nod, before heading out of the library and towards the administration office.

After she left, the librarian turned to Kim and asked incredulously, "Really? You thought it was a good idea to bring her into a library? We're not supposed to allow animals in here!"

"I know, I know," Kim said quietly, "But she needed to calm down, and I thought we could get some books to read outside."

"Well I don't think she'll be doing a lot of reading in her future," the older woman scoffed.

"All the more reason to let her enjoy it now while she can," Kim whispered.

At that moment, a slightly older boy with scruffy red hair approached the blonde girl, "Hey, you're Kim, right? Lucy Carpenter's roommate?"

"For now, anyway," she replied, "What's up?"

"I'm Tim," the boy introduced himself, "I want to talk with you a bit about her, if you've got a moment."

Kim looked out the glass door to make sure Lucy was gone, then turned back to Tim and said, "Okay sure, but make it quick. She's gonna be back in a few minutes. She's getting her new ID card."

He grinned upon hearing this, "Oh, already? Guess it's good timing then. Don't worry, this shouldn't take too long..."