Everyone Has a Different Meaning of Sanctuary
This conversation had lasted long, and Sophia had already returned with two keycards and book lists in hand.
"Ladies, here's your keycards for your dorm rooms, and here's your specific book lists for the courses and lessons you'll be taking, your class schedules, and I've included a map of ZALE as well," she said as she handed the two girls what she was previously holding.
Lily linked her arm in Emma's.
"Well, off we go then. Let's get our books, and then we can get checked in our dorm rooms," she said while admiring the key to their accommodation for the next few months. It had an intricate design of the ZALE coat of arms; an intricate design with a crown at its top, and a lion as its mascot, it being the symbol of royalty and power. On the bottom of the keycard, was ZALE's motto, 'Esse Aut Non Esse Gratum Ad Societatem'; which was to be or not to be acceptable for society in Latin.
Emma on the other hand was looking at the lengthy list Sophia had just given her. There were at least twenty books they needed to pick up, and if she wanted to fit in a study session before the first day of school, she had to pick them up, pronto.
She had set a goal to be top of the class, and she was committing to it.
As she and Lily left the administration office, Emma scanned the map, finding the quickest shortcut to the on-campus bookstore. She guided Lily across ZALE's gardens, and in a matter of a few minutes, they entered the ZALE bookstore.
ZALE's bookstore was massive for something used to sell and store books and materials.
Fortunately, the girls had arrived around the time most students were already checked in and already in their dorm rooms, so they were the only two people there, other than the two exceptions of the librarian, and the bookstore owner.
Cubicles and racks of wrapped books were neatly arranged on the first-floor bookstore, and the two girls noticed the bookstore seemed to double as a library, having two floors, the two being connected with two grand staircases that led to the top of the building, which was the school library.
The library had wooden tables and chairs placed everywhere, with ZALE branded stationery arranged neatly on top, a perfect place for students wanting to study in peace, and not having to worry about getting disturbed.
While most other girls that attended ZALE were more obsessed about how they looked, who they hung out with and gossiping about the latest drama, Emma found the library and bookstore as her sanctuary. Ever since she was a child, she had always loved reading books, despite the fact she could barely afford any. She read whatever she could find. Ratty books that used to be in the palace library, cookbooks, any book in general. Never in her life had she seen a place with this many books, novels, and every other thing she desired to read.
She knew that she'd soon get accustomed to the library, as study sessions were already forming in her head. But that wasn't why she was here now. She had to get her books before she could dive into studying. Now was not the time to get distracted by the tempting call of the books surrounding her.
"Where is the lady in charge of giving us our books?" Lily asked, looking around.
Emma pointed towards a lady drowned in books. The top of her head was barely visible as books were piled all around her.
"There, that desk with the books, there's someone there," Emma stated.
The two girls walked towards the desk, stopping a few centimetres away from the desk, almost scared the mountains of books would suddenly topple all over them.
Lily cleared her throat.
"Ma'am?" She asked.
A head shot up from the books. A lady with brown eyes, tan skin and curly black hair stared at the two girls.
Her name tag had the name Evelyn embedded into it, as well as her last name, Faust. She looked to be in her mid-thirties.
"Are you here for your books?" She asked, closing the book she was previously focused on.
Lily nodded.
"Do you have your book lists?" Evelyn asked impatiently.
Lily spoke up, "Yes, we do."
She stood up, and the girls noticed what she was wearing. She was wearing a white sweater, grey culottes, and a red shawl. The red shawl she wore didn't seem to match with whatever she wore, but it seemed to be a staple of her outfit and stood out the most.
"Alright, hand it over, I'll make sure your books are brought to your room by sundown," she said, taking the book lists Emma and Lily had handed to her.
Emma raised her eyebrow.
"Brought to our rooms?" She asked curiously. She wanted to get her books as soon as possible, knowing that she wouldn't have time to study if she got her books by sundown.
The lady nodded, her expression speaking for her. There was no negotiating out of this one. They could do nothing about this slight problem.
While Lily didn't seem to mind, Emma was indignant.
"Bringing too much books would strain your muscles, and we wouldn't want out students getting injuries, especially not before their first day," she explained, seeming like she had expected the two girls to know that already.
"Oh, right. I knew that," Emma muttered, particularly displeased that she wasn't allowed to take a sneak peek of her books.
Lily shot her an encouraging look, knowing how she was feeling about this all.
How spoilt could the students here be? Straining a muscle? That seemed unreasonable, and was unlikely, Emma thought.
Was ZALE always this restrictive?
She fought back the urge to glare at Evelyn.
If the students in ZALE weren't allowed to carry that much books because it would simply higher the probability of 'straining a muscle', what else were they not allowed to do?