Odyssey Fiction

Periwinkle Blue

ForeverDreamer30 & Forever Warrior

Summary:

It is just a normal day like any other at the library for Eugene and Katrina with him going to check out some books and her carrying out her usual duties as a library assistant. However, little do they know how much their lives will change.

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Rays of sunlight shone down warming the afternoon air as Eugene rode his bike along the sidewalk from Whit’s End. The trees were in full bloom and the sound of birds chirping filled the air — reminders that it was springtime.

Eugene and Connie had just agreed to become contestants on a new game show — a trivia contest called Truth and Trivia which was to be hosted by Bart Rathbone. Though he felt extremely confident in his ability to win, as his knowledge of science, technology, history, and mathematics was in a class of its own, he did have to admit that his knowledge of creative arts, particularly popular culture, was not as extensive as it could be. For that very reason, he was going to the Campbell County Community College library to check out various books which dealt with this subject.

It was a very familiar route as he had visited the library countless times during his time at the college to do such things as borrow books or use it as a place to study. After a few minutes, Eugene arrived at the building, locked his bike to a bike rack, and made his way inside through the automatic doors.

He walked over to the circulation desk to speak to the library assistant. “Umm…ah…pardon me miss.”

At the sound of Eugene’s voice the young woman looked up from the computer she was working on. “Yes, may I help you?” she asked politely.

“Yes, I’m in search of reference books related to fields within the creative arts.”

“All creative arts or do you want something specific like classical Greek theater? Or great painters from the Expressionist Era? Or—”

“Ah…I-I see. Well, for this particular event probably popular culture in this century.”

“Oh, we have a few books on that. Follow me, please.”

“Certainly.” Eugene then began to follow the young woman to the area of the library where the books based on the subject he was looking for were located.

“This is a small college library so we’re limited with what we have,” She said, turning her head toward Eugene as they walked.

“I know. I come here often. You know I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before. Are you new to the college?” Eugene asked as he fully took in the sight of the woman walking ahead of him. Even though he was not one to take note of a person’s looks, he couldn’t help but acknowledge that she was truly beautiful with her lovely blonde hair and captivating gray eyes.

“Yes, I just transferred in this semester. I’m Katrina Shanks by the way.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Shanks. I-I am Eugene Meltsner.”

“I’ve heard of you. You’re assistant to Professor Wilcott in the computer science department.”

“I am indeed. Are you studying computer science?” he asked, interested in learning more about her.

“Not as my major but I am interested in it. I’m getting my degree in English.”

“Is that why you’re working here in the library?”

“No, I only work here because I need the money for tuition.”

“Mmm.”

“Well, here we are,” Katrina began as they stopped in front of a bookcase. “This is our reference section on popular culture. I’m a little embarrassed that we don’t have more.”

“No need to be embarrassed Ms. Shanks,” he said in an effort to make her feel better by relieving her embarrassment.

“Katrina. My friends call me ‘Trina. You see, I transferred here from Chicago and I’m used to a better selection of books. For example, Halison’s Guide to Popular Culture is excellent but we don’t have it.”

“You’re familiar with Halison? He’s one of my favorite authors” Eugene said excitedly, even more intrigued by her.

“Really?” Katrina asked, equally as thrilled as Eugene as she also had yet to meet anyone who was a fellow fan of Halison.

“Really.”

“He was a guest lecturer in one of my classes in Chicago. He autographed one of my books.”

“He must have been fascinating to hear.”

“Yes, indeed.”

“Yes…indeed.”

For a brief moment, they looked into each other’s eyes with beaming smiles on their faces. Katrina happily sighed in a breathless way while Eugene lightly chuckled and then exhaled.

“Well…” Katrina trailed off before exhaling, not knowing what to say after that moment of connection between them.

“Well.” Eugene exhaled again and cleared his throat. “You know ah…I don’t wish to be presumptuous but ahem…ahem…I would enjoy seeing your autographed book one day.” Though he tried to make it seem to her — as well as convince himself — that he only wished to meet again to see the autographed book and discuss it, deep down he knew it was because he wanted to see her again.

“Oh, well I could bring it here or…”

“Or ah…we could ah…have a meal together and…discuss it further.”

“Yeah, per-perhaps we could” Katrina agreed.

“Perhaps.” Eugene collected himself before speaking again. He was quite nervous as he had never asked a woman to meet with him like this before. “We could meet tomorrow in the cafeteria around four in the afternoon. That is of course if that time works for you.”

“Yes, it does.”

“Very well. I’ll see you then.”

“Okay, see you then. Have a good day Eugene.”

“You as well ‘Trina.” Katrina then began to walk away, leaving Eugene to select his books while she returned to her work at the circulation desk.

As Eugene watched her leave he felt like his heart had been set aflame. He was not a sentimental person. Never one to give much thought to things like romance. He had been a loner most of his life — completely consumed with his studies, research, and experiments. For the longest time that had been enough for him. He had just only in recent years begun to open himself up and forge friendships with those around him. Platonic feelings were one thing, anything slightly romantic was another thing entirely. Surely this was not that, right? This was an elementary crush — nothing more, nothing less.

Yet he could not deny that she was unlike anyone he had ever met or that she had ignited something inside him he didn’t know was possible. Never before had he met a woman as interesting, kind, and academically minded as her. A woman who also was a fan of Halison and had an interest in computer science like him. A woman who was as intelligent as she was gorgeous. Whether he denied it to himself or others, there was no doubt that he was starting to fall for Katrina Shanks.

…..

It was now evening and Katrina was in her dorm room that she shared with her roommate Melanie completing school assignments. Or at least trying to as her mind was focused on just one event that had happened that day.

It was just supposed to be like any other day at her job at the college library. Just her answering general phone questions, checking materials in and out, and providing basic search and reference services, along with her many other tasks. Yet, that all had changed when she had met him — Eugene Meltsner.

Their meeting and talk with one another had been so stimulating. It wasn’t just like meeting any other person. There was just something different about him. He made her feel something that she had never felt before.

“Focus Katrina,” she said firmly to herself as she once again set about writing her essay.

This wasn’t like her. Through most of her preteen and teenage years while other girls her age had been boy-crazy she had remained focused on her studies. She had done so well that she had started high school at age twelve and went on to be the valedictorian of her graduating class. From there she had gone on to attend community college in an effort to satisfy her general education requirements and obtain an associate’s degree before transferring to the University of Chicago. It was only after her graduation from community college that she had allowed herself to date.

His name was William Russell — the quarterback and captain of the football team and one of the most popular guys at the University of Chicago. Practically every girl on campus, including her, had a major crush on him so when he asked her out she happily said yes. However, things quickly went sour as early on in their relationship he began to make fun of her in front of his friends, invalidated her feelings, dismissed her opinions, and suffered from intense jealousy. To make things worse he also body-shamed her and repeatedly told her that she should lose some pounds despite her being at a healthy weight.

The emotional abuse only worsened as time went on but she was determined to make the relationship work. She thought the situation was not as bad as it seemed or could be since he was at least dating her and they did have good moments together — though those times were becoming more and more rare. Katrina also believed that staying with him was the loving thing to do. Furthermore, she had genuine feelings for him and didn’t want to acknowledge how toxic the relationship was, let alone leave him — believing that somehow he would stop his behavior and their relationship would once again be as magical as it had been at the beginning.

Looking back she could see how wrong she had been. However, this realization did not protect her from the severe harm the relationship caused as while dating William she had begun suffering from anorexia, anxiety, and depression. By the time he finally broke up with her, her heart had been completely shattered and her self-esteem was at an all-time low. It was so bad that it had taken her a while to recover with therapy and the support of her family.

In an effort to give herself a fresh start, she had transferred from the University of Chicago to Campbell County Community College where she planned to fulfill the remaining requirements for her bachelor’s degree — a move which had been enormously beneficial. Still, the idea of opening up — of allowing herself to be vulnerable — to give her heart to someone again made her feel apprehensive and nervous. She had been completely broken because of William and she had resolved that she would not be left brokenhearted by a guy that way again. She would not make the same mistake twice.

And besides, there was no need to think of whether or not they would date right now. Her relationship with Eugene wasn’t that serious. So what if they had agreed on a time to meet again? So what if he had seemed interested in her? It was probably due to their mutual liking of Halison and his work as well as other subjects. Her feelings were probably just a passing fancy. They would probably have a meal, discuss the book, and never see each other again. That would be the end of it. Her feelings and their relationship would soon be long forgotten.

Yet despite her downplaying her feelings and rationally determining the probable future of their relationship, she couldn’t keep her thoughts from going back to him. She could see him visibly in her mind. While his look might not have been what others considered conventionally attractive, she couldn’t help but think of him as anything but handsome with his coke bottle glasses, black vest, and reddish brown hair which all but covered his eyes. His beautiful eyes — her favorite feature of his — which were warm and conveyed so much sincerity, sensitivity, and kindness. Eyes that made her heart beat faster every time she looked into them and that were even more enchanting and magnetic with that stunning color of theirs — periwinkle blue.