&& these words are all I have to give, ---> 0PEN!

[zoe ann arquette]

the fragile keep secrets, gathered in pockets
the sad act like lepers, they stick to the shadows
the angry are animals, senseless and savage
so take my hand, this barren land is alive tonight

Zoe tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear as she moved along the bookshelves, hoping desperately for something to jump out at her and snag her attention. It didn't seem likely at this point. She'd been on the hunt for a good read for an hour and a half now, and yesterday she'd been searching, too. The problem wasn't a lack of resources, but just the opposite. There were too many choices here.

Read it, she thought as her finger ran across the spine of 1984. Not catchy enough, she thought next, her finger crossing Of Human Bondage. She was tempted to look for a used textbook or something at this rate. At least that way she guaranteed she'd walk away having learned something. These books didn't promise as much at all. They were a bit elementary compared to several of the books she was reading in class, which was exactly why she sought them out. Her brain wanted a break, but it didn't want to sleep its way through a book.

So a good medium had to be found, and that was where the problems arose. She didn't want this book if that one would do more for her, but she wouldn't know until she read them. The eternal conflict of reading, Zoe thought. Having to choose. Again, she passed a book she didn't like, and she began to move towards another section when one caught her eye.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, she read, and an eyebrow lifted. She'd heard of it, but the simplicity of the writing style she'd sampled hadn't intrigued her when she'd been on her Steinbeck kick a few years back. She had meant to get around to it, but a simple lack of time had held her back. She pulled it from the shelf now, and made her way towards a table nearby, wanting to get the first chapter read, at least, before checking the book out. If it really didn't interest her, she'd continue on in her quest.

Maybe she'd check out Macbeth. They were studying it in her Lit class. It'd be helpful to, oh, at least have a copy on hand. Having read it would have been even more spiffing, but Zoe's interest in Shakespeare had been tarnished a bit by an old enemy in high school. Now that she was several thousand miles away from home, though, maybe she could give Billy another go. Maybe.

She set her satchel down and took a seat quietly. She began to read, and, though the book was almost frighteningly interesting, she still felt a small bit of boredom blossoming in the back of her mind. Maybe she'd have to check out two books this week...

[rilyn isabella jamison]

Rilyn was bored. Out of her mind. And she wasn’t the type to call people, so she set out looking for them. She stopped by Connor’s and learned he wasn’t there. She’d dropped by the pet store to see Jake, who was on break and she couldn’t find Charlie. So it was all about Zoe. Rilyn didn’t search for people in order of preference, just wherever her journey took her. It wasn’t until she was searching for the quiet girl that she realized it had been awhile since the two had hung out. So off she went in search of Zoe.

Rilyn knew where to find her best friends. And she had a hunch that one Miss Zoe Ann would be found in the library. Okay okay, so that was after stopping by the soccer fields and her apartment. So she’d found her dark haired friend. Now the girls didn’t look a whole lot alike but they had similar interests and got along splendidly, which was why Rilyn had been watching Zoe now for about 10 minutes. It sounds creepy but Rilyn was up to something. It appeared to the blonde as she watched, that Zoe was looking for something to read. And when Zoe sat down, Rilyn decided to find her better, or at least more amusing reading material.

After Zoe had left the shelves, Rilyn took the back way too them, as to not cross Zoe’s path and grabbed two things. The first was the complete works of Shakespeare. Rilyn rather liked Billy on occasion. The second was The Agony and The Ecstasy. Not a bad drug book- a Michelangelo book. One of Rilyn’s personal favorites. She cracked open Shakespeare and started reading as she edged toward Zoe.

”Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.” She stopped at the end of the second witches line and sat down next to her friend. ”You know, Sir William isn’t all that terrible. Or you could go for this.” She held out the other book.

The blonde’s hair was down today and she wore a green sweater and a pair of holey jeans, rather counterproductive if you ask me, but whatever. She looked at her dark haired friend and smiled. The two seemed to be quiet the opposites. Rilyn was blonde, Zoe a brunette, Rilyn was loud, Zoe more quiet. But they got along wonderfully and had more in common than you might believe.

[zoe ann arquette]

Zoe had just gotten a chapter into her book- which she was already completely engrossed in- when she began to wonder if there was anything else she had to be doing. She read and planned starting then, putting things that she needed to do on one side of her mind and things that were going on in the book on the other. It was a bit of a challenge to many people, but for the bookworm-ish Zoe, it was no large task at all. In fact, it was one of the few things she honestly felt blessed with as far as natural talent went. Zoe Arquette was one hell of a multitasker.

The pages seemed to get harder and harder to follow with the more she got to thinking, though. Not that the book didn't require thought- actually, it demanded thought in a lovely sort of way that Zoe, for one, thoroughly enjoyed- but it was most certainly a book she needed to be in the right mindset to read and, as she continued to be distracted on one side of her brain, she continuously lost the mindset she'd been in when she'd started the book. With a sigh, she flipped the page and continued on.

It was just about then that she heard a terribly familiar voice reading a terribly familiar text. She wanted to roll her eyes, but, decidedly not being distracted anymore, she kept her eyes on The Curious Incident's words. There was, of course, no hope on any planet in any universe that the small book would be reclaiming the brunette's attention on this day, but she figured she could at least pretend like there was a chance. However, as Rilyn continued to read, Zoe found it harder and harder to act as if she cared about the book in front of her, and she eventually dissolved into little more than a peal of giggles and curls.

"Go figure you'd be reading for the witches," Zoe teased when she looked up, her bright blue eyes meeting those of her friend. "And, no thanks to the book. There's no way a book could hold my attention after that little reading of yours." It was true, but not. She'd given up on books a few moments before Ry had waltz in so dramatically, but, still, Zoe figured she'd give the credit for it to her friend. "What's up?"

Zoe looked her friend up and down for a moment as she leaned back a bit in her chair. She'd always loved Rilyn's hair- it was like a voluminous pile of stunning that Zoe could never make hers into. The brunette had opted to pull all of her hair back into a loose bun, but strands tended to slip out here and there that she was constantly tucking behind her small ears. Straight-legged darked jeans with a tiny bit of fade and a red-and-white striped sweater made up Zoe's outfit for today, along with a pair of green low top Chuck Taylors. It was an outfit designed more for comfort than for style, and Zoe appreciated it for that.