Book pick up

As one might imagine, the school's library is filled with, well, books. Tables and chairs are placed around the room in neat little groups, and everything always seems to be in its rightful place... perhaps because Mrs. Collins, the school's librarian, has horrible OCD.
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Ciel†
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#16

Post by Ciel† »

Jessica noticed right away that Nick liked to talk. ALOT. Not that this was annoying. It took alot to really annoy Jessica but it wasn't hard to realized this guy talked a mile a minute. And he almost broke his foot by getting up from a chair. Jessica didn't even know if that was even possible! And by what he said, he had broken his foot once before when he was getting up from a desk! How was that even possible? When he gets up, does he throw his foot as hard as he can against a pole? He-

Nick said that remarked about Jessica's freckles. She leaned back a bit, her face growing red. "W-W-What?" She said, almost shocked at Nick's comment. She pressed her hand to her cheek and looked down. "O-Oh, um, thanks?"

She puffed her chest out slightly. It wasn't like what Nick had said been a compliment to Jessica's good looks. Jessica was very average as far as looks were concerned, and no one ever complimented her. Not a single person. So the fact that Nick took the time to study her face, long enough to notice her freckles, was a compliment in and of itself. She snapped out of her daze quickly though. Nick was still talking.

"Hi! My name is Nick LeMonde. Glad you didn't get hurt. I was just sitting with Alex and Josie. We were going to help Josie with her poster. You wanna help?"

Why would Jessica do that? She didn't know these people. She didn't owe them anything. All Jessica had to do was shake her head and say no. Of course that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

She stammered again. "I-I-I, W-What? Oh! O-Okay! Sure!" She nodded.

Well it... looks like she wants to help...
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ZombiexCreame†
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#17

Post by ZombiexCreame† »

Josie's head snapped back to glare at Nick as he asked some strange girl if she wanted to help on her project. She was okay with Alex helping her, that girl seemed knowledgeable and level-headed, and she was even okay with Nick even though he seemed a little zany, but she wasn't really sure how she felt about some girl helping her out that just emptied a whole bookshelf of its contents! It just screamed bad idea, and Josie honestly wasn't sure if she could handle anymore social contact with strangers. But, not wanting to seem rude, she refrained from saying anything to the girl that Nick had just befriended. Now was a good time to start working on not coming off so harshly...

At the sound of Alex's voice, Josie listened with a great degree of interest and smiled as Alex explained a few symbols. "Right, right! I think I remember that!" she exclaimed, and scribbled off a few more details onto her poster board. "The weather was all stormy and shit when Macbeth murdered that King. Geez, you're a lot of help Alex, thanks." Josie didn't want to admit it, but if she hadn't met Alex at the library, she would probably be right on her way to buying poster board #4... "I recall something about the drunken porter being symbolic of something too... Geez.. Let me look." Josie opened her copy of the play and began scanning the various pages for the drunken porter scene.

Josie's head immediately snapped back in the direction of Nick and Jessica when she heard her agree to help. "Say something nice. She could be as helpful as Alex; you never know." "I'd, uh, appreciate it. But if you're busy or something, I don't want to force you."
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Ruggahissy
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#18

Post by Ruggahissy »

Nick nodded and smiled at Jessica. Without warning he grabbed her hand and ran back with her to the table. Without letting the momentum die he grabbed her by the shoulders and jammed her into a vacant chair at the table next to Alex. He walked back around and leaned over to look at how the poster was progressing.

He started stroking his chin as his eyes searched around the poster board while leaning with his other hand on the table.

"Yeah, yeah. That's really comin' along. You know what you could do? You could have this one drawing as the big center piece of your poster board. Then you can write up a little explanation under the picture of the symbol your drawing is depicting and what it means in the story. You could type up the explanation on the computer and print it out and glue it on under to make it nice and sharp looking. Or if you've got good penmanship you can just write it underneath and that'll take up more space. Then, underneath all of that you can do two smaller pictures and explanations. Then the whole poster board will be filled out. Also, if you've got everything written right on there, if you have to present it or something it won't be a problem."
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Arscapi†
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#19

Post by Arscapi† »

"...Geez, you're a lot of help Alex, thanks. I recall something about the drunken porter being symbolic of something too... Geez.. Let me look." Josie opened her copy of the play and began scanning the various pages for the drunken porter scene.

Alex smiled at Josie's thanks and then listened as she went on about a porter. She drew her eyebrows in confusion; the scene wasn't instantly coming to mind. Maybe she'd borrow the play from Josie the next time the girl started drawing.

Nick ran over to the table, dragging Jessica along with him. He's gonna so get us kicked out of the library, Alex thought. Shoving Jessica into the chair next to Alex, he then moved to survey their work like some teacher inspecting a project, Nick then launched into his solution to the problem. Geez, take it easy man.

Alex hadn't spoken to Jessica much since last summer. They didn't have any classes together this year and with Alex's schedule she hadn't found time to seek out the shy girl. That needs to change, she promised herself. She turned half an ear to Nick's involved solution and leaned over to Jessica. "You okay," she asked quietly.

When Nick was finished Alex turned and offered her two cents to the conversation. "He has a point. There isn't that many people here. You could probably type something up real fast. Besides clip art and big text is great for covering up little mistakes."
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Ciel†
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#20

Post by Ciel† »

Jessica wanted to really tell Nick to let go of her but she couldn't bring herself to do it. So here was Jessica, being pushed into an empty chair right next of two other kids that she didn't know the names of. She felt extremely awkward, her eyes shifting from one girl to the other with her hands buried in-between her legs. She looked back at Alex, realization hitting her. Oh, this was Alex. She hadn't spoken to her in awhile. Wow, when did she get the purple streaks? She didn't even recognize her.

"Oh... Hi Alex..." Jessica blinked, slumping. "Sorry, I didn't realize it was you. It's nice to see you again..."

Jessica looked back at Josie. She had dyed hair too. Jessica suddenly felt very... plain. She shrunk in her seat. She looked back at Nick, and listening to him jabber on. She was still blushing, for what reason she couldn't really stop it. He seemed very... excited and yet he didn't really come off as annoying at all. Normally she would be rolling her eyes so much that they would start to hurt. Funny.

"Maybe you could find some stuff on the internet?" Jessica suggested suddenly, not really understanding what the project was about. She looked back at Alex, then over at Nick. She was out of the loop. "I-I don't know, maybe you could draw something? I-I'm not exactly that great but I-I could draw something if you can't find enough clip art."

She tried to smile hopefully. Jessica only wanted to help.
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#21

Post by ZombiexCreame† »

Josie stared at Nick as if he were a freak as he forced Jessica to sit down with them. "Pushy, pushy.." she mumbled, glancing up at the boy. She carefully listened to his idea and nodded slowly as it all came together. "Yeah.. Yeah, that would be a good idea! My handwriting kind of sucks, so I think printing it out would be a better idea. Thanks for the idea," she said with a brief smile.

She nodded at Alex as she too suggested that typing something up on the computer would be a good idea. She was beginning to think that they were right... It would take a little bit of time, but Josie was fairly computer savvy from all the time that she spent on Facebook. She could figure out how Microsoft Word worked, although she rarely used it... The printer at her house was always on the fritz, so she rarely used the computer to type out papers or anything. Hence why she was here in the library to complete her project.

At Jessica's offer to draw something if she couldn't find enough clip art, Josie smiled politely and nodded. "Oh okay! Are you good at drawing? It would be great if you could draw something... As you can see by my Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, I'm not exactly Picasso.. Well, let me try out this computer business."

Josie placed her play on the table and stood up, wandering to a nearby computer. After typing in her username and password, she started to hunt the net for some clip art, and after that, she opened Word and began to type out some symbols that Alex had suggested. She seemed to be concentrating a lot more on her project than she usually did when it came to school work.

After about twenty minutes, Josie returned with a few typed up pages and a few printed pictures. She seemed a little sheepish as she placed down the pages and asked, "Uh... Yeah, anyone have fifty cents? Apparently it costs money to print, and the librarian probably isn't going to let me leave alive without paying."
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Ruggahissy
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#22

Post by Ruggahissy »

Nick was smiling at the girls and watching their progress with his chin resting in his hands. When Josie returned with her paper he perked up and pulled his athletics duffle to the table with a "clunk." He rummaged around until he pulled out a coin purse shaped like a fish and a blue pencil case.

"Now that you've got that done...."

He pulled out a purple glue stick and a blue pair of child safe scissors for her. After putting away the pencil case, he opened up the fish purse and took out two quarters.

"Here ya go," he said dropping the change in her hand. "Looks like it's really shaping up. And it didn't even take that long. See, I knew if we pooled our efforts you could get it done."

"Oh hey!" he exclaimed, earning another exasperated look from the librarian. "Why don't I take you girls out for pie after Josie's all done? I'm really in the mood for pie and it'd be a good way to wind down. Pie for everyone, my treat," he said.

Suddenly he brought his palms down on the table and looked sternly at the others. "But no a la mode. It weakens the legs."

Just as quickly as he had shifted moods he shifted back once again into a smile.

"So what da ya say?"
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Arscapi†
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#23

Post by Arscapi† »

"Oh... Hi Alex..." Jessica blinked, slumping. "Sorry, I didn't realize it was you. It's nice to see you again..."

Alex smiled at Jessica. "Hey Jessica haven't seen you in a while. We should totally hang out some time. Maybe I can finally convince you of the wonders of hair dye." She said motioning to her own purple and blue highlights. "Come to think of it, it may just be time for another change. What do you think of pink, maybe just around the bottom?"

"Oh hey!" Nick exclaimed, earning another exasperated look from the librarian. "Why don't I take you girls out for pie after Josie's all done? I'm really in the mood for pie and it'd be a good way to wind down. Pie for everyone, my treat," he said.

"So what da ya say?"


Alex put her copy of Hamlet down, while Josie was quickly finishing her assignment Alex had read little more than stanza about the woes of Hamlet and Ophelia. She considered Nick's offer. She had another scene to read before tomorrow, but there wasn't an actually assignment. She flipped through the play counting the number of pages. Alex made a quick decision.

"I'd need to call my brother and tell him the change of plans, but I'm up for pie," Alex said looking at the other girls expectantly.
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Ciel†
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#24

Post by Ciel† »

Jessica nodded slightly, her cheek on fire. She had only suggested the idea randomly but apparently it was a good idea. She felt proud. She brushed her cheek, giving Josie a slight nod.

"Uhh, sure," She told Josie with an embarrassed smile. "Sure. I can do that for you, no problem."

As Josie wandered off to go print pictures out, Alex turned and responded to her. Alex had always wanted to get Jessica's hair dyed, though she was never really sure why. Alex had told her that she would look good, though Jessica never quite believed that. Jessica shrugged at Alex's suggestion. How would she look with dyed hair? Her favorite color was orange, but how would she look with that kind of hair. She hoped it didn't make her look strange. Jessica ran a hand through her hair reflexively. Maybe blond? That would be nice. She always pictured herself with blond hair. Blond and brown stripes? That was when she remembered. Her parents wouldn't let her do that. But... she would love to regardless. It would be perfect. Would make her stand out though, something that she didn't like.

Nick suggested that they go out for pie. Jessica liked pie. She really liked pie. For some reason, since Nick suggested it, she liked the idea extremely. Her parents would want her home but... the pie. Yes, she wanted to go for pie with Alex and Josie and Nick.

"S-Sure," she smiled, her hands in her lap. "Uhhmm... I'm Jessica by the way. And I'd love to go..."
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ZombiexCreame†
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#25

Post by ZombiexCreame† »

Josie watched Nick carefully as he pulled out money and supplies for her to use. He really was kind, there was no doubt about that. A bit too helpful? Maybe, but at this moment, that definitely wasn't a bad thing. The red-head took the money from Nick and closed her fingers around the two coins. She gave him a thankful smile and said, "Wow, thanks a lot! And uh, of course, thank you everyone for actually pooling your efforts. I would be here working until the librarian kicked me out if it wasn't for you guys..."

Josie was about to turn around and go pay the librarian her dues until Nick suggested that they should all go out to pie after her project was complete. "Pie?" she asked, a rare smile tugging at her lips. She thought about it for a moment but didn't see why not. She loved sweet things like pies and cakes. In fact, she had many fond memories of visiting the cafe at the mall with Sierra and buying slice after slice of whatever pie they had for sale. And if he was paying for it, then that was even better reason to go! It would be a little celebration for completing her first English project in years!

"Yeah... Yeah, I think I'll go. That would be a lot of fun." She didn't bother to ask what a la mode was... Some questions were better left unanswered. Besides, the definition would probably be too complicated for her to understand... or easy enough to embarrass her. When she saw that the other girls had agreed to go, Josie felt a flicker of excitement. At least it wouldn't be just her and Nick. That would be a little awkward. It should prove to be fairly entertaining with these other people that she befriended. ..If she could consider this a friendship, seeing as they had just met.

"Alright, let me pay for the printing, and I'll get to work." Josie walked away and paid the librarian, returning a few moments later. Settling back into her seat, she started to paste the printed pages onto her poster and adjusted everything so that it looked fairly nice. After she finished pasting all the printed pages and clip art to her poster, Josie looked at Jessica hopefully and pointed to an empty area at the top of her poster. "Do you think you could draw something cool there? It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but I'd really appreciate it. After that, we can go get pie!"
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Ruggahissy
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#26

Post by Ruggahissy »

Nick smiled and clapped his hands together.

"Great! I knew I could get you all to come for pie. I mean, who doesn't love pie? Communists, that's who...."

Nick appeared to space out for a split second before returning back to the group.

"Go ahead and call your brother to make sure he knows where you're going, Alex. The last thing we want is someone worrying about you."

Nick leaned over to look at the advancement of the poster board now that everything was glued down. All that was left was for Jessica to draw something.

"If any of you need a ride home after pie, I'd be happy to take you. If you've got to be home at a certain time, tell me that too. I don't want anyone getting home too late."

Nick surveyed the group that he had collected in the past half hour. He liked them. He was really happy to have these new friends.

Today's been a good day. No such thing as too many friends
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Arscapi†
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#27

Post by Arscapi† »

Nick smiled and clapped his hands together and Alex had to smile at his enthusiasm over pie. She put her finger over her lips to remind him that they were still in the library. She was surprised the librarian hadn't kicked them out already.

"Go ahead and call your brother to make sure he knows where you're going, Alex. The last thing we want is someone worrying about you."

Alex nodded and gathered the few things she'd pulled out and shoved them into her backpack. She pulled out her cell phone and turned it on before slipping into the stacks of books to call home.

"If any of you need a ride home after pie, I'd be happy to take you. If you've got to be home at a certain time, tell me that too. I don't want anyone getting home to late," she heard Nick say as she moved away.

She returned to the group a few minutes later having let Roman know he didn't need to come and get her. "A ride home would be great," she said rejoining the conversation.

She then turned to Jessica and asked, "So any ideas about what you should be drawing?"
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Ciel†
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#28

Post by Ciel† »

Everyone wanted a piece of pie it seemed. Jessica felt a little happy, actually. She had avoided people for so long that she had forgotten how good it felt to actually do something with other people. Her mind began to return back to the day at the lake... then she stopped and tried not to think about it. Really. She looked back over at Alex, who asked her if she had any ideas of what to draw. Jessica really didn't but that wasn't going to stop her. It wasn't like her mind wasn't running.

Jessica smiled wildly, tapping the brim of her finger against her chin. It had been so long since she read MacBeth. It was a play, of course. A play without any descriptions of what the characters look like. Jessica was the kind of girl who enjoyed English with all of her soul, but the idea of drawing one of the characters was entirely out of the question. So what could she do? Jessica was never a talented drawer, but she figured she could come up with a pretty good idea. She grabbed the pencil she had from her pocket and slowly began to make an outline of what she had in mind. She drew it in an empty space near the edge of the poster, close to where the title ought to be, but she kept it small and compact.

In the end she drew a crown with a sword stuck through the middle. She made a little outline along the brim of the sword, where she would add in a little blood. Just an added touch if only to be fancy. Jessica never really liked working with markers, always preferring to use colored pencils instead, but it really didn't seem like she had a choice. She looked over at Nick, her smile growing more nervous the longer she looked at him.

"H-Hey..." she motioned to grab Nick's attention. "D-Do you have any color stuff I could use? Like Markers, colored pencils?"
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#29

Post by ZombiexCreame† »

Josie shook her head at Nick and leaned back in the stiff plastic chair that she was currently seated in. "Nope, I drive myself. And... my parents aren't really sticklers for curfew or anything, so I'm good." She watched as Alex wandered off to go call her brother and then turned her attention to Jessica, who had begun to sketch a crown with a sword stuck in it. That was a good idea! It felt very Macbeth-ish. The whole play was basically about some crown, right?

"No, maybe I'm thinking of the Macbeth film we watched the other day... That dude at the end totally tore that crown off Macbeth's corpse and shoved it right on his head! Didn't he think about disinfecting it or anything? Just plain out nasty."

"Oooh, good idea, Jessica! Thanks a bunch. It blows my scribbles out of the water," she mumbled sourly, but there was a strangely friendly smile on her face. Josie couldn't believe the good luck that she was having today! "I have some markers, but they're all a little dry. Maybe I could ask the librarian... Unless Nick has some, of course." She looked over at the only male in their group with an expectant gaze.
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Ruggahissy
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#30

Post by Ruggahissy »

"Sure thing, no problem. I'm a good driver. I promise. I've never gotten a ticket or anything and my Jetta is solid. I'll get you home on time, I guarantee."

Nick looked off into the distance at nothing in particular and started thinking about pie. What sort would he get? Dutch Apple was always good, though nothing beats classic American apple pie. Though, if the shop happened to have peach cobbler he would have to reconsider getting pie. Nick loved peach cobbler; his mother made it from an old family recipe that originated in the South. No one made cobbler like his mom. No one really made any comfort foods quite like his mom. She was a great cook and everything she made for her family was made with love. Like her yams covered in marshmallows...


Nick was staring miles away when Jessica tried motioning to him and asking about the coloring supplies. Initially it didn't appear he even noticed other people existed. Once Josie tried a second time Nick snapped out of his thoughts.

"Hu?" asked, snapping back into the present. "What? Oh, markers."

He dug around inside his bag for a moment before pulling out a bundle of colored pencil's held together with a double looped rubber band. He placed the bundle in front of the girls, then pulled out a sharpener and placed it alongside.

"Some of them are worn down." Nick opened his pencil case and produced a few colored jell pens. "Here. I don't have markers but you can use these if you want. If not, we can always ask the librarian like you said."

He leaned over slowly and hovered over Jessica's drawing. "That's really cool. Josie's poster looks great! If she doesn't get an A on this thing I'll go talk to the teacher myself! You wanna be an artist when you get out of Bayview?" he asked.
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