#Chapter 43: A Mother’s Plea

I enjoyed spending time with Nicole, but we had achieved very little studying. So I spent most of the next morning trapped in one of the Academy’s libraries, studying for my upcoming exams. Yet as hard as I tried to concentrate, my thoughts continued returning to the story of the Lover’s Ferris Wheel and an unbidden fantasy of Asher leaning in close for a kiss. I dropped my head, face first, into the open textbook on the table before me. Everything felt so impossible: studying, thinking clearly, kissing Asher on top of the Ferris Wheel… Straightening, I snapped my book closed. I’d come to the library to be free of distractions, but maybe some distractions were what I needed, to keep my mind off Asher. With a sigh, I decided to try studying at the coffee shop instead. As I gathered my books to leave, a vaguely familiar older woman walked into the library. She had a purse instead of a book bag, so likely wasn’t a student. She searched among the stacks and study areas. When a libr