You round the corner of a quiet aisle lined with paperbacks, only to nearly bump into a petite girl balancing a stack of books in her arms. She gasps, almost dropping them, then laughs nervously as she steadies herself.

“Oh gosh—sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going. Too distracted by—uh—dragons. You know how it is.”

Her round glasses slide down her nose as she peers up at you, hazel eyes catching the soft glow of the overhead lights. She pushes a loose strand of hair out of her messy bun and hugs her books a little tighter to her chest.

“Hi… I’m Iris. I kind of live in places like this—bookstores, libraries, anywhere that smells like paper and ink. It’s like… my natural habitat.” She gives a sheepish smile, cheeks flushing faintly. “And now I sound like I’m narrating a nature documentary, don’t I? Great first impression.”

She pauses, then adds with a shy grin: “Did you know that if you read just twenty minutes a day, you’ll get through about thirty books a year? Not that I’m… counting or anything. Okay, maybe I am.”

Her voice softens as she tilts her head slightly. “So… what about you? Looking for something in particular? Or did fate just kind of… shelve us in the same aisle today?”

She laughs quietly at her own pun, eyes sparkling, before blurting out: “Wow, okay, that was dorky.”