AN:/ Hey peeps and brothers alike!!!

The above meme confirms your theory about two elements describing a person, Jules. I found that off of Tumblr by the way.

Welcome to my companion and side story to my dear brother DaydreamShimmer's books: Stuck In the Lodge and Icicles. If you have not read those, that's okay!!!! Some inside jokes might go over your head but, as far as the plot goes, you're good. I would encourage you to read those as Selah is in one of those books and that's how she's come to have her own book. Selah is my OC/personality in this series/universe about Newsies. Speaking of OCs, there are going to be three in here that are not my own. Kerri Blackburn/Higgins belongs to DaydreamShimmer, Evelyn/EJ Hawthorne/Jacobs belongs to E_J_Hawthorne and Victoria belongs to FabulousDalek. Thank you all for letting me use your characters in this book and making this companion book a possibility. :) I appreciate it a bunch and I look forward to writing them in here. I am also going to be looking at Newsies memes and posting them here, mine are probably going to involve more pictures than Jules's will and I'll try to do different ones than Jules does. :) I don't own the Newsies or the random memes that I typically post. Enjoy, brothers and peeps!!!  Btw, I typically do an author's note at the end, but I think I'm gonna do a baby one at the beginning and a longer one at the end for this book just because of the memes.

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Salutations!!! 

That's how I greet my friends and people I like in general, so consider yourself a friend or someone I like. I don't care which one, you take your pick.

Currently, you're reading about a college student who is from Canada and who travels the world while getting experience for a Masters in Library and Information Studies. Here in Canada, we call them studies not science. Come on, US people (I don't call you people Americans, because Canadians are Americans too. Don't forget us!!), don't studies sound way cooler than sciences anyway?

Potato or Putato, guess it doesn't make that much of a difference now, does it? I'm going for the same degree just under a slightly different name. 

I'm going to start from the beginning. Well, about as much from the beginning as you can start. Technically there were other happenings before my birth but, you're not really here for those.

In some year on a certain day, I entered the world in Canada. I grew up in a little town in the country, our winters were frigid and as far as I know, they still are. My parents were itching to move to the city so, once I got a little bit older, we did just that. I was about eleven when we moved to one of Canada's larger cities. My world changed completely. I had been used to pretty mountain tops, snow, not much traffic, not many people...that changed really quickly. The city was full of tall buildings, bustling traffic, snow (that didn't change much), more people, and a whole new world of excitement. Maybe not in the best way.

The school I went to in the country had been very small and everyone knew everyone. If someone liked someone else, the whole school knew about it within the hour. Like I said, small school. In the city, my parents did not send me to a little school. I went to a humongous middle school. There were close to 300 people in my grade. Some of you might say that that's not as big as your school but, coming from a little country girl, this was a major change. There weren't many more than 300 people in the town that I had lived in.  As you can imagine, going to a different and much larger middle school and high school was difficult. High school was an absolute nightmare and I spent the time in high school reading books and catching up on my work. I had friends and they were nice and cool and all that but, a book was my best companion in life. 

Eventually, I graduated and went to college to pursue my major. I met some great people in college and am still attending the same college for my Masters degree. Traveling around the world helps me to meet different and new people everyday. My parents have been very supportive of my studying abroad and traveling the world all at the same time. They have funded a lot of it so that I can actually do it. I love them dearly and the moment I left Canada, I made a decision. Canada was a great place for my life to begin but, it was time to try something new and something different. That's how I started traveling the world. Even though I'm introverted, I make new friends from all kinds of countries in all kinds of situations.

For instance, there's this girl that rear-ended me while I was driving in Belgium and we became friends over the whole ordeal. She texted me last week to tell me that her and her boyfriend are finally deciding to get married. Apparently, they had been dating for the longest time. At least, that was how she said it.

Currently, I'm studying in Beijing and working in a gigantic library near the Olympic Village here. Everything is really quiet and it's actually pretty late at night here. I'm more of a night owl so, I tend to work the night shift. Engrossed in a book, I jump when the door to my section of the library flies open. Five boys about my age run through, each and every one of them talking at a million miles a minute. I lower my book from my face for a moment and stare at them.

"We lost em!!!" A tall toe-headed boy with an eye patch shouts and I shoot him a slight glare. He looks over and notices me curled up with a book.

"Sorry!" he cries out and quickly starts to push the rest of the boys toward the door.

"Are you guys okay? Are you in some kind of trouble?" I ask as I uncurl myself from my position on my comfy swivel chair behind my desk. A tall boy with dark brown hair looks up at me and shakes his head.

"No. We just run into random Chinese libraries for fun," he grumbles sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. Is there any way I can help?" I ask kindly. The tall boy shrugs.

"Skittery! At least show the poor girl some respect!" the kid with the eye patch says quickly and the boy named Skittery groans.

"The name's Skittery. Nice to meet you. You seem nice," Skittery says tiredly. I hold back a chuckle. This poor kid seems like he's having a really rough day.

"I try to be. You seem a little worn out, can I get you a cup of coffee or something?" I ask softly. Skittery shakes his head.

"I really shouldn't have that stuff. It's bad for my system and I gotta stay on top of my game for the big game tomorrow," he says. The other three boys stand quietly and I smile at them, trying to make them feel at ease.

"Can I get you boys anything?" I ask them and one of the boys brightens up significantly.

"Do you have any hot chocolate?" he asks innocently. I shake my head.

"I can make some Junshan Silver Needle tea. Have any of you guys had that before?" I ask and all three of the boys shake their heads.

"You don't have to do that if it's too much trouble," A different one of the three boys says kindly. I shake my head.

"It's not too much trouble. Trust me. It's kind of cool to watch anyways," I say as I move back to the break room to start working on making some.

"No. Really! Don't worry about it. We really don't mean to cause any trouble in here. We were just trying to find a safe place to hide off the streets," The same boy says again. I start to work on it anyways.

"I'm making tea and that's that," I say as I start to get out the various ingredients. The boy shyly follows me to the doorway of the break room and leans against the frame. He's very attractive and I can see large muscles stretching the fabric of his athletic shirt.

"I'm Mush by the way. You already met Skittery. The blonde boy who's as loud as can be sometimes is Kid Blink. The boy who asked for hot chocolate is Elmer and the other boy is Jojo. We're kind of lost," the boy says and I hide a small grin that threatens to spread across my face. 

These boys are all really cute and just a couple minutes into meeting them... they are totally the kind of boys who just run into trouble. 

"Nice to meet all of you," I say shyly....really shyly. How are you supposed to feel when five really attractive guys show up at your workplace? I guess some girls would lay on the charm and start flirting but, I'm not that kind of girl. Not by a long shot. Some girls wouldn't shut up if their lives depended on it.   

"It's nice to meet you too. I hope we're not causing too much of a scene," Mush says sympathetically and I shake my head. 

"You're not. I would have craved some hot beverage soon anyways. It was bound to happen," I say before starting to prep the ingredients to be steeped. I get the hot water going and then add the tea leaves into it. 

"So, you don't have any hot chocolate?" Jojo asks. 

"I have five spice hot chocolate but I'm not sure it's the kind of hot chocolate you're thinking of. It's kind of an acquired taste," I say. 

"Anything works," Kid Blink says, "We're just tired from running." 

I check the tea and start to make the hot chocolate. 

"What were you running from? It's the Olympics! Nobody should be out to hurt you. People from other countries are considered guests here," I say with a smile as I pour some more water into a tea kettle. 

"Unless you accidentally anger a Chinese gangster," Skittery says, "They don't respect the whole 'we have guests in our country so be nice' ordeal." 

"How in the world did you do that?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. 

"We asked him where you could get Ramen Noodles. He seemed like a Ramen Noodles kind of guy," Elmer says like it's something everyone asks someone who they know for certain lives in Beijing. 

"There's better stuff to get here than Ramen Noodles. You can take it from someone who has experienced authentic Chinese food. Orange chicken and the like are sort of at the bottom of the food chain. You won't find your General Tso's here, boys," I say with a slight chuckle. 

"You're one to talk. You look like you hardly get out of here," Skittery responds. 

"I have friends. I get out of here plenty. I just work more night shifts because things are more fun that way. I like working at night more than during the day," I answer as I pull the tea off and start to pour it into cups for the boys. Mush and Blink each take a cup and I leave the rest of the cups for the hot chocolate. 

"Thanks. This is really good," Mush says after he takes a sip. 

"Your welcome. What brings you to Beijing? You watching the Olympics?" I ask as I fold my petite hands around the edge of the tea cup. 

"No, um, actually, we're in them," Mush says and I raise my eyebrows. 

"Really? What do you do?" I ask, a smile beginning to grow on my face. These boys keep getting cooler by the minute. This is besides the point but, I've always loved the Olympics and Mush, the one standing in front of me is sticking out to me more than the other boys are. I really don't know why but, something is special about him. Really special. 

"Don't you know? We're Manhattan Fire!" Skittery exclaims and I raise my eyebrows at them. 

"What's that?" I ask and Skittery looks at the ground.

"You haven't heard of Manhattan Fire. Do you live under a rock? A rock in the shape of a book?" Blink asks what I assume Skittery is thinking. 

"Don't mind them. It's really okay if you don't know us. We're a hockey team out of the US," Mush says kindly. I flash him a small smile. 

"Thanks. That's why I haven't heard of you. I'm Canadian," I say with a small smile. 

"You're Canadian???" Jojo asks excitedly, "I've never met one before." 

"Can't say that now, can you? You've never played a Canadian hockey team. It's kind of a big deal," I say with a small chuckle. 

"I figure skate and play guitar. I don't hockey," Jojo says very matter of factly. 

"Oh. Well...that explains that then," I say quietly. I turn back to Mush, "You know, I absolutely love the Olympics, would you mind if I came to a game or snooped in on a practice?" 

Mush starts to answer but Skittery cuts him off, 

"You know...we only allow Americans in our practices. We don't want Canadians in on them just so we don't have strategy leaks or something like that." 

"I am an American thank you very much," I say, "I also know next to nothing about hockey and would rather come just to support all of you. I am a fan of figure skating so, Jojo, I would love to come see you compete at some point. I don't know anyone in Canada who is currently on the Olympic team so you won't have to worry too much about me telling the Canadians what you are doing. I really have more friends around the globe than I do Canadian friends." 

"Really?" Jojo asks with a huge grin. 

"Yeah! A good friend of mine lives in Belgium," I say with a smile. 

"Oh yeah. My uncle's the King of England but we never talk," Skittery says sarcastically and I cast him a look. 

"She really does. I'm a part of a program that trains me in the field that I am currently working to pursue," I answer firmly. 

"He didn't mean anything by it. Really. You'll get used to it once you get to know him a little bit. He's just a little rough when you first meet him," Elmer says to me. I smile at Skittery as I reply to Elmer, 

"I'm sure I'll enjoy it more once I actually know him better. Please, I'm not really offended by your questioning. It does sound kind of ridiculous that I have a friend in Belgium. I'm also making friends here despite the language barrier. Lots of people here have learned enough English to be able to communicate. The only languages I'm good at are English and French since there are some parts of Canada that speak French. I had to learn it in school and occasionally I have to use it in my everyday life." 

"That sounds challenging," Mush says with a smile, "How do you know when to speak what?" 

"When you walk up to someone on the street and you say hello and they don't respond, then you say 'bonjour' and they'll actually start talking to you. Same for when you say 'bonjour' to someone who speaks English in Canada," I say, "And the signs sometimes tell you too." 

"Are you fluent in French?" Mush asks and I shrug. 

"Pretty close. I had to learn both and my parents would make me use both around the house just during life so, I got pretty good at both," I respond. 

"I'm on my second semester of Spanish!" Elmer says excitedly. Jojo shakes his head, 

"I've been speaking Spanish since I could talk." 

"Spanish is fun. I wish I had gotten to learn it more but my parents really wanted me to learn French," I say as I move towards getting the hot chocolate ready. I finish preparing it and then I serve it to the Jojo and Elmer. "Skittery, do you need anything to drink?" 

"Something that's not going to do anything weird to me," Skittery says, suspiciously eyeing the tea and the hot chocolate. "Plants standing up in the bottom of my tea doesn't sound very appealing and I'm not a huge fan of spices." 

Jojo takes a sip of the hot chocolate and grins, "This is really good. Skittery, you should get over your pride and try some." 

"Yes, she is a cute girl but I doubt this is the last time you're going to see her," Blink urges, making Mush and Skittery both turn a little pink. 

"Hopefully this won't be. I've enjoyed getting to know you," I say hopefully. I turn my head and notice Mush looking at me. 

"I hope I get to see you again too. You know, there is a hockey game tomorrow night. I could maybe swipe a ticket for you," Mush says to me, "Are you free?" I check the calendar on my phone and see that I have a dinner with my cultural book club planned. 

"I actually am going out to dinner tomorrow night. What time does the game start?" I ask. 

"Around 7," Mush answers. 

"My dinner starts at 6:30. I'm so sorry. Is there another one happening the day after? I'm not doing anything the next day," I say. Mush thinks for a second. I hope there is. I feel terrible for not being able to support these boys, despite the fact that they are not from my own country. Who cares? They seem like great people and I really want to see more of them. 

"I'm not sure. Maybe. I honestly don't know right now. Can I leave you a note here if there is?" Mush asks me. He's too nervous to ask for my phone number which I don't mind. It's not something I just hand out freely, especially to boys. 

"Sure. I don't know if I'll see it or not but where you found when you came in is where I normally work," I say with a smile. I look at the time and smile at the boys, "I should be closing up soon. It's been a pleasure meeting you all and good luck if I don't run into you again here in China." 

"Thank you. And thanks for everything. You've really been a big help," Mush says with a grin. The other boys echo similar things. I move the tea kettles off of the hot burners and start to clean up the breakroom. I turn off the light and walk back out into the open library. 

"Of course. Do you know how to get back to the Olympic Village from here?" I ask. 

"We know what subway stop it's on!!" Elmer calls out cheerfully as the boys start to walk out the door. 

"Be safe!" I call out as they leave, "And good luck!!" 

Choruses of goodbye and thank you echo throughout the library as they leave. I quickly start knocking on the restroom doors to make sure no one is in there and shutting off the lights. I head for the doors and lock them behind me as I walk out into the cold Chinese winter with flakes fluttering down from the sky. Beijing is so beautiful when it snows. The tall towers seem to hide under the snow that graces their tops. I hurry down to the subway pulling my coat tight around me. I swipe my card and weave my way through the busy station to my line. The train comes in roaring a few moments later and I quickly hurry on with a throng of people. I manage to find a seat isolated in the corner. The train starts to move and I close my eyes from an exhausting, but successful day of work. I made some headway in my book and I met some potential friends. It's going to take a minute to get used to them and their different personalities but they all seem like they're nice people at the end of the day. I hope I get to see them more. Especially Mush...he just seems different than the rest of them and he's cute. My mind flicks back to the muscles that could be seen shaping his athletic blue shirt. A girl could get used to being held in those arms all the time. I hope I get to see Mush especially. Somehow, I really don't think that that's going to be the last time I'm going to see those boys. In fact, this feels like the beginning of something great. 

AN:/ Hey all! Welcome to this long awaited book!!! What do you think?? Sound mostly like me except with the addition and subtractions of a few things?? That sounded way too mathy, not saying that again. Lol. I hope you all have enjoyed this book!! This book is the side story/companion story to some of DaydreamShimmer's books!! Some people that you'll recognize from those books will also be appearing in this book too!! I hope I'm not making a mistake by publishing another book but I have been wanting to get this one out for a long time. I feel like this one I can just sort of go with and it doesn't REALLY have to follow a storyline like some of my other books too. This book is way more about relationships and character development and sort of spur of the moment events. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this one. It will get more entertaining and hilarious antics will start to happen and you'll get to see Selah and her reactions and that's always great. Wow. That was a lot of the word and in one sentence. Sorry about that. Feel free to drop comments as you go. Your reactions are so fun to read and I just appreciate checking out what you guys have to say about different parts of the story. Thanks for everything that you guys do. I love my readers on here. You all are so supportive and really push me to keep writing no matter how long it takes me to get a draft out so, thank you!! And without a further ado, welcome to My Life In A Bookshell. See you around!

-Aisling

aka Selah Dixon in this book, I guess. :) 

Selah and I aren't exactly the same person though but we are pretty similar. I also don't have any friends (besides maybe one of my followers, Idk) who live in Belgium and I don't know of any programs that have you do library work all over the world but I'm sure there is one. :)