It was exactly what I needed. A walk alone in the library.
I looked on all the levels, in all the sections, finding a few groves of books here and there with topics that really interested me. I especially liked the main floor; it was the largest with rows and rows of shelves crammed with books that smelled funny and had ripped plastic coverings. You could make yourself feel lost in those rows, as if everything you knew was miles away. I liked that feeling. There were books on EVERYTHING. Books on phsycology, history, understanding your teenager, cooking, interpretting your dreams, biographies, medieval music, and Islam. My brain was bubbling - it sounds dorky but I found it thrilling that there was so much information at my finger tips. For an hour I could teach myself about anything - anything that I wanted to know about.
No one knew me. It was great! No one was wondering what I was doing there for an hour by myself. There was no one screaming "YOU'RE TWO MODULES BEHIND IN EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF LAST WEEK!", well, there was one in my head, but I could ignore that. No one else heard it. And no one else could hear the little voice of insecurity in my head either. For all they knew I could have been studying for some big important project. Or from out of town. Or...all sorts of other interesting things you imagine about strangers you see.
In the end I settled down in a corner with a book about mythology of the British Isles. the cover is ugly and stained but everything inside it is bright. I checked it out of the library.