Read Boycotts and Barflies for Free Online

said laughing.
    y
    22

    After successfully getting the girls to agree to go to the Seahawks game, Grace threw on one of her cozy cardigan sweaters and headed out to pick up the tickets from her friend, Amanda. She had completed her Master’s degree at the university with Grace and had been in most of her classes. Amanda was working this afternoon, so Grace headed over to meet her. Sure enough,  Amanda was sorting through the books in the return bin, making nice, neat piles from the terrible mess at her feet.
    “Grace! How are you today?” She gave a weary wave from behind the huge stacks of books in front of her.
    “Hey, Amanda! Wow, looks like the book return threw up over here. What’s up?” Grace started gathering books into her arms and placed them up on the counter, trying not to mess up the piles that Aman da had already organized. “It’s that time of the year when we send out our missing book notices. I guess a lot of people did some searching and found books under their beds this week.” She chuckled as she blew a stray piece of hair from her face and continued sorting.
    “How’s the PhD coming?”
    A half-hearted smile crossed her friend’s face. “It’s sucking the life out of me, but it’ll be worth it, right?”
    Grace laughed, once again happy with her decision to take a year off and teach before diving into her PhD  as well. “Yeah, it’ll be a piece of cake. So, I came to grab those tickets from you, if that’s still OK?” Grace asked eagerly, leaning against the counter.
    “You actually talked Bianca into going, huh? It was the hot guys in tight pants speech that sealed the deal, wasn’t it?” Amanda asked with a big smile as she tamed her brown curls back into a ponytail.
    “Yes, that and the promise of shopping. I just hope she likes Seahawks green!”  Both of them laughed as they imagined Bianca dressed from head to toe in
    Seahawks gear. Of course, if anyone could wear it and make it look hot, it would be Bianca.
    Amanda reached for her purse and dug around until she found the tickets. “Have a great time. I was hoping to be further along on my dissertation by now, but with things being so busy here, I’ve gotten behind. I’m just glad you’ll be

    able to use them,” Amanda said with a smile. She glanced around at all the
    books and sighed. “Well, I guess I better get back to sorting.”
    “You know what? I have some time before I’m meeting Meg. How about I help
    you get some of these back on the shelves before I leave?”
    23

    “You’re a lifesaver! I have a date with John tonight, and I don’t want to be stuck
    here too late.” She pushed the two biggest piles in Grace’s direction. Lucky for
    Amanda, Grace had spent so much time at this library, she was an honorary
    employee. She knew the Dewey decimal system as well as any librarian in
    town.
    Grace walked behind the desk, dragged a book cart over, and after checking
    each book back in with the bar code scanner, she began loading the cart. Reaching into her purse, Grace searched for her glasses and a rubber band. She  threw her hair up into a tight bun, hoping to keep it out of her face as she  sorted the massive pile. When  her cart was full, Grace headed off to the book  stacks.
    The cart was finally starting to look about halfway empty when Grace flopped into a nearby reading chair to take a short break. She tucked a piece of hair that had fallen out of her bun behind her ear.

    I must look lovely, Grace thought to herself as she stood up and stretched.
    She had started to head down the next aisle when she saw three heads bobbing behind the other side of the bookcase. Grace could tell by the deep voices that it was a few guys, and they were snickering for some reason.
    Idiots, she thought as she climbed up onto the stool and got back to work. The thick book about Sherman’s March to the Sea fell off the cart with a loud thud. “Crap,” Grace mumbled as she climbed down to pick it up.