"It's really coming down," Cass murmured as she looked out the window at the snow-covered streets. "I'm sorry. This is my fault." She'd been the one to ask for company, after all.

Reading and writing were still difficult for her, even after a lot of practice. She could follow the words along individually, but she still struggled with skimming and with comprehension when reading too quickly. Lately she'd decided to put more work into it and had been coming to the library regularly. Today of all days she'd asked her roommate to come with, and of course, a surprise snowstorm had hit and now they were both stuck here along with one very old, very grumpy librarian who gave them dirty looks every time they spoke louder than .2 decibels. It'd been hours of this.

Cass walked back to the table and sat down, looking at the book she'd been reading—a collection of fables for children. It was easier for her to understand because she already knew the stories, but she wondered how helpful it really was for comprehension. Frustrated, she rested her chin on her hand. "Are you hungry? I'm hungry."

The old librarian glared at her one final time for her volume sins before disappearing into the back wordlessly. "Oh, what a relief," Cass said. "That old lady has the meanest stare I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of really mean stares."