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Destiny City Library- the best place on Earth. At least second best, Cassie felt, because malls were just huge plazas of awesome.

Shelves and shelves of books lined the evenly heated building, and the decent selection of DVDs to borrow was a nice perk. Cassie loved visiting on the weekends when there was little else to do, and spent long stretches of hours loafing around reading. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a snack bar, but the vending machine outside sufficed.

It was, actually, where Cassie was sitting. Her library card was tucked into the front pocket of her pants, along with with several quarters and dimes. A bitten chocolate bar was clenched firmly in a gloved hand as she read her borrowed novel.

"Oh Edward," Cassie sighed aloud, flipping the pages. "So charming." She shifted a little, the cool concrete not the most comfortable place to rest. Cassie had no other choice, really; the librarians had booted her out after her loud comments on the novel began distracting other patrons.

Well. C'est la vie. She was not walking home until she finished the book.

A few passing people gave her odd looks; what was a high school student doing sitting out in the cold when there was a warm library to be resting in?

Outside, alone, and in the cold, there were very few people to talk to. Most just shuffled past, trying desperately to ignore the girl who may or may not have been homeless. A homeless girl with a library card.

The first girl to pass by Cassie who did not look like a middle aged creeper found herself immediately being harassed. "HEY," Cassie said over the noise of the wind. "Are you going to the library?"

Kallista was in front of the library doors, a rectangular lump poking out of her pocket that was probably a library card. Cassie stared, clearly intent on wanting something.

"Great! I was actually going to say something about that. Those crazy librarian-harpies kicked me out. For enjoying myself. Reading." Out loud, Cassie didn't say. She had a wild eyed look to her, nose a bright red from the cold. It didn't occur to her to get up and move; curled up against the wall was a bit warmer than standing up.

She turned around and all but pushed her face to the building. "I need you. To sneak me in. I forgot to get some stuff." Peering into a window, Cassie eyed an archive of magazines and tabloids. It would certainly show the librarians who was boss, not to mention a more satisfying idea than just asking Kallista to get them for her.

"It'll be super quick! Are you in?" Cassie was already getting up off the floor, dusting off her jacket. It didn't seem like much of a choice.

"That," she said, but what exactly she was pointing to was unclear. It was more of a general direction, maybe. Cassie's finger was bound by a thick glove; she could have been pointing to the restroom and the children's section simultaneously. "Those papers." The details were unsurprisingly vague.

"I don't want to have to walk back later, plus if I'm going to sit out here until I finish reading I need some other stuff to do," Cassie explained, nibbling on her chocolate and setting her book down on the least slushy area available.

She assumed a bizarre half crab-walk position, gloves pushing against the concrete. "I'll blend in with your shadow! They won't see a thing. Come on, it'll be real easy!"

Cassie beamed in delight. "Great!" It was so heart-warming to meet people so generous.

She proceeded to half crawl-hobble her way into the library, making futile attempts to follow Kallista's shadow. "This is going awesome," she stage-whispered, gathering several incredulous stares. "Okay, turn left here."

A left turn was made. "This is just what I needed," Cassie informed her, giving up all pretense of sneaking in. She began to leisurely gather papers. Several poorly photoshopped pictures flashed as Cassie formed a small collection of tabloids.

After the rather noisy entrance, a librarian made her way over. Cassie began to literally pull the papers off the shelf in her haste.

"God," she said, sounding a bit peeved. "I can see that! I can. Totally handle this." Cassie cleared her throat, and sat up good and proper. "Miss Librarian! What can I do for you, uh, today?

"Excuse me, I have already asked you to leave for making a disturbance once. If you can't behave yourself-" The speech seemed practiced; Cassie apparently did this frequently.

"I am behaving myself, Miss! Look, I'm just reading, I'll return these in like a d- RUN FOR IT, LIBRARY GIRL!" Cassie scrambled up to her feet, newspapers clutched desperately to her chest. She bolted to the doors of the library, attempting to drag Kallista by the wrist. The door was bumped open by a shoulder and Cassie stumbled out.

Ducking under a window against the wall, Cassie exhaled. A bitten bar of chocolate was picked up, then tucked neatly into her mouth. She dropped the pile of tabloids and looked around cautiously.