[1] The new librarian

Staring at the email on his phone screen, a warm smile crept upon his radiant face, as he had been called upon to become a librarian just a few days after quitting his previous job.

Tristan was a young man in his early twenties currently studying computer science at one of the state universities, a school his parents could afford, but even at that, Tristan was forced to survive on his own.

When it came to financial support, his parents did their best, but their best was not enough to sustain a young man of his age, and this caused Tristan to seek part-time jobs at every establishment near the campus.

He had done several jobs, like working as a salesman at a local store just outside the campus, but he lost that job due to how difficult it was to balance both work and learning, his boss required him to be there almost all evening, but due to the school system, some of his classes were scheduled for the evening.

He got another job as a janitor at a nearby hospital, it was easy as all he had to was clean in the morning and return to clean up at night, but he quit the job himself after his pay was reduced by thirty percent because his boss believed he didn't work enough hours to receive such payments.

Aside from these two, he did a few more part-time jobs but he either got fired or he quit, owing to academic or personal reasons, but that didn't stop him from striving to survive, because at a point, all his parents did was pay his fees, which sometimes they couldn't complete and he had to raise the rest of the money himself.

This had a tremendous effect on Tristan's social life, he barely made friends and even his roommate at the dorm barely saw him, he was either working or studying because the last thing he wanted to do was to quit school.

Losing his job three days ago didn't sit well with him, and yet again, he was looking for something new to do, and in the process, he saw the information on the notice board that new librarians were needed for the school library with little pay as a reward.

He applied for the job through the administrative officer and waited patiently with the hope to get the job. However, while waiting, he didn't stop seeking a new job until he woke up to the notification on his phone, on the beautiful summer morning.

The joy in his heart caused him to exclaim loudly,

"Yes!" And this awoke one of his roommates.

"Got a new job eh?" Harry asked, yawning and stretching on his bed with squinted eyes.

"Got the job at the library," he happily announced. What made this job different from the rest was the convenience.

For starters, the school library was within the academic premises so he didn't have to go far, also he had the privilege of attending his classes and making up for his absence by working an extra hour which he believed wasn't a bad deal.

"Well congratulations, now you can go back to your life of invisibility, and let me go back to sleep, I've got no lectures till 12:30," saying this, Harry threw his head back on the pillow.

The information required him to be at the library by 10:00 a.m., and he had less than an hour left, although walking to the library would only take five minutes depending on your pace, his excitement pushed him to freshen up immediately.

He brushed his teeth and took a shower, dressed in one of his best outfits.

"Dang! Just twenty minutes have passed!" He exclaimed with a hint of frustration in his voice.

It appeared as though time had slowed down, or the universe kept him in suspense. The clock on the wall ticked slowly to him and his impatience got a hold of him, indeed he needed something to do to pass the time.

"I've gotten the job anyways," he scoffed, whilst taking his seat on his bed and scrolling through his phone for something to keep him busy, but he received a phone call which he picked up without hesitation.

"Good morning dear, how was your night,"

"My night was fine too,"

"Oh, you've got a test,"

" No problem, love you, bye, "

His conversation with his girlfriend was rather brief, she had called to tell him that she would be headed for the library to read in preparation for a test.

Tristan felt the urge to tell her that he would be working there, but he chose to keep it a secret to surprise her instead. His girlfriend Laura,meant a lot to him, he loved her like his mother, and to date, he remains shocked at how she agreed to be with him.

As soon as he got off the phone, he scrolled through the numerous applications that filled his device and settled with a mobile racing game that he hadn't played in a while only to pass the time.

For a game he hadn't played in a long time, Tristan was immersed in it long enough to forget that he had to be at the library, and at the time he realized, it was five minutes to ten o'clock.

Without bothering the rest of his roommates, Tristan quietly left the dorm, closing the door behind him. The hallway was empty and quiet unlike it used to be, but Tristan didn't care, he had something important to catch up with.

For some reason his heart was racing, it could be due to his pace and his heart requesting oxygen or it could be that he was nervous about his new job as always but whatever it was, Tristan didn't stop on his track for any reason, being an invisible man in school, no one knew him, so he didn't receive any greetings from other students along the way and he wasn't in a mood for such impediment either.

"The library," he whispered, like a little child who had just visited an amusement park for the first time. Surprisingly, it was his first time at the school library, he did most of his reading at night, in his dorm when all was quiet, and he was too busy at work during the day to even visit the library.

He stood at the entrance and took a deep breath, before proceeding to open the glass door.

Tristan felt like he was in a new world, a book world to be precise, shelves that surpassed his height, books, both old and new, cobwebs from hardworking spiders on a few sections, and a lady standing not so far away staring at him.

"Good morning Miss Olivia," Tristan composed himself. As soon as he noticed her presence, he greeted her with a smile and walked briskly toward her.

"Good morning Tristan," Miss Olivia greeted him in return, she was a teacher at the university and also one of the school's administrative staff, and Tristan was about to learn that she was also the manager.

"You made it quite early, the other two students seem to lack knowledge about punctuality on your first day at work. Follow me," she instructed him with a rather straightforward demeanor. She had no welcoming expression on her face as she took everything very seriously.

While walking behind her, Tristan listened to all she had to say and the things that she wanted him to do.

"You must realize that this is an opportunity, Tristan, I don't expect you to take this as a joke, I have been watching you for a while and I see how hardworking you are, and it came as a shock to me when I saw that you applied to be a librarian and out of sentiment if I should say, I gave you this post,"

Tristan was bored to death, listening to her for over ten minutes, giving out explanations in detail, and constantly repeating what she had said before.

While walking around the place, he kept his eyes out for his girlfriend but didn't get a glimpse of her, until Miss Olivia's voice called back his attention.

"So is that understood?" She asked.

"Yes," he retorted briskly with a smile on his face, and his hands behind his back.

"Good, your shifts will be given to you after the other two get here, for now, keep the shelves clean and in order, this place looks like it has been abandoned for years," she instructed him before leaving to return to whatever it is that she was doing.

"Well, I guess it's time to start," he said to himself.

While waiting for the others to arrive, he took a rag and wiped a few shelves, making sure that they were spotless.

Once that was done, he arranged the books in different categories according to the label on the shelf. It surprised him how science books were mixed with other subjects and he did his best to arrange as much as he could.

" Well I would not be the only one to do this job today," he told himself. While arranging, he kept an eye out for his girlfriend but no one was in the library, so he guessed his girlfriend might come later.

Miss Olivia came in later with the others, she gave them certain instructions and times that they would work, and how long their shifts were, and she also mentioned that they would work an extra hour if they missed their shift for academic reasons.

Their shifts took effect immediately, with Tristan being the first one, he had to stay at the library for the next five hours, watching people who came in and making sure they didn't leave with any books, and also assisting students who couldn't find the book they wanted. He was disappointed that his girlfriend never showed up but there was nothing he could do, he was not allowed to make use of his phone at the library either.

"Your shift is over man, haven't you realized," one of his colleagues said as he walked into the library.

"Yes I was waiting for you," saying this, Tristan got ready to leave.

"Miss Olivia said you should get these books to her," he handed a paper over to Tristan and it contained a list of textbooks.

Tristan searched for them immediately and exited the library, he had never been to Miss Olivia's office before but he knew that it wasn't so far away from there.

On his way, he came across a few students who were shocked to see him.

"Dude, it's new to see you around here," one of them said to him but he ignored them.

"So this is the famous hot zone," he uttered.

The "hot zone" as it was called, was located near the uncompleted dormitory not so far away from the library.

This place was lonely and secluded and only a few people went there. It was known as the hot zone because of the immoral practices that have been known to occur at this place.

He was about to walk past the vicinity, but due to how quiet the arena was, an unusual sound caught his attention.

His curiosity caused him to change his direction and headed for the place where he heard the sound instead.

His pace was like that of a snail, as he slowly made his way towards the sounds. The closer he got there, the more audible the sound got and he could tell that it was students making out inside one of the buildings.

He wanted to walk away but yet again, his curiosity got a hold of him, and he decided to peek through the window to get a glimpse of who it was. Slowly, he took his head near the window until he caught a glimpse of someone's back.

He quickly took his head off the window with an expression of surprise, the figure he saw looked familiar and this lured him to taking another look.

And doing saw was not the very best idea, the sight before him caused his heart to sink, his jaws dropped and his eyes widened in disbelief.