This part onwards this book will contain, mention of other books and some story elements as well as characters, I've chosen fairly common and well known books, but it doesn't have any spoilers, so rest assured if you haven't read these books and are planning to read them, this is just an attempt to create intrigue. On the other hand, if you haven't read the books that will be mentioned in this and the following chapters you should definitely check them out, I highly recommend them.

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Chapter 8: Well brewed coffee and old books

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"A little head's up next time Ayden!" I said as soon as I saw him waiting for me near the entrance of the library. 

"Sorry..." He said looking sheepishly adorable, "I didn't think you'd actually wanna come." Urgh, I can't even be mad at him for long. He was standing on top of this ledge like platform and looked down at me.

"What are you doing up there?" I asked.

"It's easier to look far from higher places." He said and then jumped down that six feet- something tall ledge and landed right next to me. It startled me.

"The hell Ayden you could hurt yourself!" I scolded.

"Relax, it's nothing I haven't done before." He assured. But I still frowned and decided to change the subject.

"What did you tell them about me?" I asked, remembering our phone conversation earlier. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and answered.

"It was last week and I said, 'I have to hang out with this girl that likes me, so I can't attend the book meeting this time." He quoted himself, and I flushed as soon as I heard his words.

"Did you have to say it quite like that?" I frowned while blushing up at him.

He smiled, "What's wrong with what I said?"

Seriously?

"Nothing, forget it!" I grumbled and marched ahead grumpily.

"Skyler..." He called, I turned back around with a cranky look on my face.

"What?!"

"It's this way." He pointed in a different direction than I was currently heading towards.

My annoyance dissolved into embarrassment as I turned around and followed him.

He smiled like he found my annoyance amusing.

Damn him!

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I followed Ayden and we entered a quaint room, it wasn't too bright but well lit with subdued yellow light that looked golden.

I could see people of all age groups gathered in the middle of the room happily chatting away with books in their hands and laps.

My eyes roamed all over the place curiously, I could hardly see any walls since all of them were lined with bookshelves.

A few eyes turned to look at me as Ayden and I entered, conversations grew fainter as people realised a new face was in the crowd.

"Come on, have a seat..." An elder woman said, smiling at me sweetly.

I hesitated but walked ahead and stood near the chair she was offering.

Ayden came up next to me and introduced us, "Everyone, this is Skyler." Suddenly whispers started and again quieted down as he continued to speak, "And this is Amelia," He said gesturing at the elder woman who spoke to me, I smiled awkwardly in greeting

"That's Oliver, Violet, Hazel, Blake, Robert is making coffee over there, and this is our youngest member of the club Nathan," Ayden said and my head swirled for a moment as I tried remembering all their names but I'm sure I failed.

"Sorry, I'm late..." I said, with a sheepish look.

Some smiled at me, and Amelia said, "It's alright, we haven't started yet..."

I could only remember that Blake was the blonde guy who looked like he was in his early twenties, Robert was a middle-aged man with a kind face near the coffee machine and Violet was the beautiful, young, bubbly girl, (probably in her mid-teens) with a really friendly smile and of course Amelia was the elder woman. Then there was this really good looking guy with dark hair and dark eyes, Oliver was it?

"Why did you say my name last Ayden? That's not fair!" Nathan complained as the tiny boy looked unimpressed with Ayden.

"Sorry Nathan, won't happen again," Ayden said and smiled with amusement at the little boy with brown curly hair and big innocent brown eyes.

"I'll make sure of it next time. I know how to introduce myself now, I was taught in my school." He announced.

"That's great Nate, now come and sit down here." a teenage girl said as Ayden went to grab the tray Robert was carrying with cups of hot coffee.

A few people were chatting among themselves, they were probably discussing a book.

Nathan of course didn't listen to the girl and spoke to me. "I'm Nathan cruise, I'm five years old. Nice to meet you." He held out his tiny hand.

I smiled down at him and bent down a bit to come closer to his height and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Nathan I'm Skyler." I reintroduced.

"Come on now let's start this meeting," Blake said, pulling everyone's attention.

"They are going to talk about a really boring book... it's very thick too." Nathan told me in a whisper as if he was warning me.

"That doesn't sound fun." I humoured him.

"It's not..." He shook his head in disappointment looking rather glum, but he brightened up in a minute. "but it's okay... they're gonna read my favorite book soon!" He told me.

"Which one's that?" I could tell he was happy I asked that question, and it seemed he was gonna tell me either way.

"A series of unfortunate events, all thirteen of them!" He said excitedly, as he held up one finger in one hand and three fingers on the other hand. "I know it looks like four but it's actually thirteen." He said explaining his hand gestures as he assumed I would be confused.

"Got it," I said, as I couldn't stop the smile on my face.

"Nathan, are you annoying Skyler with your 'Series Of Unfortunate Events' obsession?" Came Ayden's voice.

"No, I'm not. Let's go..." Nathan said and quickly hopped away to occupy his designated seat.

"Don't call it a meeting Blake, you always make it sound so formal." A woman who's name I forgot said. She seemed like she was in her late twenties. She was beautiful with her sharp grey eyes and curly brown hair.

"But it is technically a meeting." He argued.

"You and your corporate words... " She brushed him off.

"It's hardly corporate!" He argued. After some more interactions, I realised her name was Hazel. It suited her.

Some of the people were really quiet and they hardly spoke. I was sort of like someone from outside looking in, observing.

It was clearly a tight-knit circle with lots of friendly banter and inner jokes. Ayden for once wasn't quiet, he spoke quite freely, laughed without reservation, teased and made playful conversation with most people. He was so in his element, he looked genuinely happy and seeing him like this made me feel good.

I liked his laugh a lot, he had started to be more open around me lately, but there were still some things being held back, but here he was absolutely lively and I liked this side of him.

We all sat down in a huge circle with the coffee table in the centre, and steaming coffee mugs were passed around as we settled. Ayden was sitting on my right and Amelia on my left. Violet sat right across from me.

"Everyone's here right?" Blake asked.

"Caleb texted me, he said he's running late, as usual..." Ayden said.

"Sure... okay so shall we begin?" He asked, and everyone settled down.

I looked at Ayden and he gave me a reassuring smile that actually helped to calm me.

The place smelled like a mixture of well-brewed coffee and old books, I thought there was no better combination as I took a sip of my coffee. It was heavenly.

"So, today we are discussing the book 1984 by George Orwell" Robert started, "who's recommend was it again?"

"It was mine." Blake Answered. I recalled that I've heard about that book, it was a classic.

"No wonder you were so eager for the discussion," Violet remarked and everybody laughed.

"Hey come on now, don't be rude," Hazel said, but she was fighting a smile herself.

"I didn't really read it, it was a thick book with really big words, I coloured in my dragon coloring book instead," Nathan explained. I chuckled, he was really adorable.

"I'd like to see them," I said and his big brown eyes lit up with happiness.

"I'll bring them next time?" He said cheerily.

"But today we have Skyler with us, I'm sure she hasn't read the book... so no spoilers alright," Ayden said.

"No it's alright you don't have to change any rules for me..." I immediately shook my head. "I'll listen to what you guys have to say."

"Nonsense. This book is really good, it's not without flaws of course, but it's really a good story you have to read it." Blake insisted.

"Stop forcing your opinions on others, you idiot." Hazel scolded him, smiling at me with apologetic eyes.

"I'm not forcing... I just strongly recommend it. " He argued.

"There's a thin line between forcing and strong recommendation and you have crossed it long ago." She told him flatly.

"No, I didn't, I just thought, this book-.... " And so it went on.

Was it just me or do I see some chemistry between these two?

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Eventually, we did get to talking about the book and halfway through the reviewing and discussion process, someone appeared on the door panting and apologizing for being late.

"Sorry guys." He was still breathing hard as he pulled a chair for himself and sat down, not before thumping Ayden on the back and ruffling Nathan's hair that the boy then tried to fix with a very cute I'm-mad-at-you face.

"What took you so long Caleb, we're almost done?" Robert asked him.

"Did you save me some coffee, Rob?" He asked cheekily.

Robert just poured him a cup and handed it to him and he smiled widely.

He accidentally looked at me then, did a double-take almost spilling his coffee on himself and then he looked at Ayden, "Is that Skyler?" Ayden rolled his eyes and nodded.

"It is her, hy!" He said, and I smiled back a little awkwardly and said a quick 'hey. Why does he know me? Also, how could he tell it was me? "My condolences Skyler for having to go out with this loser." He said referring to Ayden of course.

"Shut up Caleb!" and I laughed when Ayden tried to attack him and he dodged, all in good-natured teasing.

"You always come late and ruin the discussion. I was talking about why I liked and hated O'Brien!" Violent whined.

"Sorry sorry, please do continue..." He finally said and settled down to listen to her, the discussion then continued further and then flowed seamlessly.

Ayden was very verbose and I realised he wasn't actually quiet or anti-social or anything else that people at school seem to think, he just wasn't interested in conversations since those were not his people or his crowd and didn't understand him like everyone here seemed to.

Here he looked like he was part of the family and I could clearly see the bond he shared with Caleb, they both seemed like best friends.

After the intense discussion ended everyone talked about their favourite quotes from the book. They basically read them out of the book, some had taken notes so they were talking and referring to their notes. It was amazing how serious they were and how deeply they all seemed to enjoy it.

I wouldn't do homework with such seriousness or interest, not even close.

Blake said "One of my favourites is...'I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane.' I think, but It's so hard to choose, there are so many good ones in this book."

"I liked that one too..." Amelia said, and Hazel and Robert agreed.

"The creepiest definitely was 'Big Brother is Watching You'." Caleb said in a deep low voice and everyone agreed unanimously.

When it was Ayden's turn he said that he likes the quote "Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood."

It was a very simple notion and it made me smile.

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So, what do you think of this little bit of Insight into Ayden's life?

And what of all the new characters?  Did anyone stand out? I'm sorry for introducing so many characters at once, but this scene asked for it, and I tried to make it as easily understandable as possible, but I'm sure it'd hard to remember everyone... It's okay, you'll get to know them more, they'll be recurring now.

Please do press the start icon to vote and share your thoughts in the comments.

Thank you so much for reading.

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