chapter 8

JACQUELINE

I frowned when I saw the third person today stare at me blankly for a few seconds and then turn away. What the fuck was going on? I had my first shift at the local library by 8am this morning, and ever since we opened up, people who came in kept staring at me like they'd seen a ghost. And it wasn't just the unfamiliar or new faces, even my coworkers kept giving me weird stares, and I just could not fathom why. At some point I began to wonder if I had something stuck in my hair or on my face.

To keep myself at ease, I rushed to the bathroom the first chance I got. I shut the door behind me and faced the mirror. My hair was in perfect place, nothing was stuck in my teeth, I looked great. So why was everyone being so weird? I hated attention, anything at all that made me feel seen. The only time I liked attention was when I wanted to get it. So this staring contest bullshit was definitely not sitting right with me.

Sighing, I decided I would just ignore it. I washed my hands an