someone like you ]open[

[Onzy]

Zoe sat on one of the couches, her legs tucked in underneath her and earphones blocking out sounds from the outside world. A book was open in her lap, To Kill A Mockingbird, and it was a rare moment for someone like Zoe. She usually had other past times to keep her busy, but on her winter break, she decided that she hadn't read a good book in a while. She had taken her contacts out for the day, so her glasses balanced on her nose. She was wearing her usual clothing, except it had a touch of winter with it. Pale blue leggings, short shorts, medium length boots and a tunic with a long sleeve, form fitting shirt underneath. A scarf finished off the outfit, and her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail. Her make up was also more neutral today, the usually thick eyeliner gone and she only had a light shade of lip gloss on instead of her usual dark lipstick. Anyone would think that there were two different people walking around, but Zoe had decided that it was too much effort to do the usual look, and had just done something different.

When she had gone to see Kris in the hospital earlier that day, she had almost given a few people a heart attack, but her own sister-in-law, the person she wanted to her like this the most was still in a coma. She couldn't sit around at the hospital any more. Shane, Kris's brother, was the only one that ever really accepted her, but she hated the looks she got sometimes from the rest of the gang. So instead she took to the common room and her room as much as possible. She was seeking her own comfort, hence the book and the music. Zoe missed her home, but as her parents would remind her, it was because of her own actions that she had ended up at Park. What her parents didn't know is that she had dropped some behaviours, making Kris's report to them very positive, and others she had kept. Like the sleeping around, but what she wouldn't admit easily is that she was growing rather jealous of certain females. The ones sleeping around with a certain Caleb that was. It had scared the daylights out of her that she might be developing feelings that went past the physical for him.

Tired of listening to the same artist, she put her iPod on shuffle and then became more relaxed as various genres accosted her every few minutes. Classic rock to contemporary to jazz, this was how Zoe enjoyed relaxing, after all, she didn't have much of a Christmas to look forward to with her guardian in a hospital bed. Sighing again, she carried on reading, preferring not dwell in her thoughts. Her thoughts held too much pain for her at that moment in time. Everybody thought she was the cold hearted bitch, intent on destroying things in her path, but she really wasn't. If anything, she was just protective over her brother's memory and his legacy. She saw that Dafydd really did love Kris, and she appreciated that. She just didn't know how to show it. Every few minutes she checked her phone to make sure that there was going to be some news, and every time, the terror of losing a person she had come see as a sister ate her up from the inside.

It was too much like losing Jax, except then she had to watch him die. That jump had been the one thing that had haunted her dreams every night since then, seeing the grey get his legs tangled in the jump, her brother going down and the commotion after wards. The worse had been when the silence had fallen over the crowd, everybody too shocked to say anything, and a distraught Kris holding Jax's lifeless body in her arms. That was what she saw every night for years already. Zoe refused to see a therapist, knowing that she would break down completely if she had to replay that image over and over again. Sometimes, the sex would take it away because she would be too tired to sleep and other times it wouldn't. She would never know until it happened.

At the thought of the accident, Zoe felt tears form in her eyes, and she wiped them away hastily. There would be no way that she was going to show weakness here. If she was going to, then it would be in the comfort and privacy of her own room. That would be it. No one had even known her feelings before, not Shane and not Kris, and she wasn't about to start either.

[Sync]

Caleb stretched deliciously as he woke up, reaching up to scratch the top of his head sleepily. Yawning, he pulled himself out of bed much to annoyance to its other occupant. "C'mon Caleb, stay just ten more minutes." Brooke Robinson whined, causing Caleb to wince. He hated it when girls whined like that. "Sorry, no can do Brooke. You know I don't do that cuddling shit. You're lucky I stayed as long as I did." he told her in a bored tone, already pulling his jeans back on. Hunting down his t-shirt, he gave a grin of triumph when he found it draped over the chest of drawers. Straightening up, Caleb caught sight of himself in the mirror. He growled in annoyance as he saw the ugly, purple love bite on his neck. "I told you to stop doing that." he snarled at Brooke, causing the brunette female to laugh. "You weren't complaining when I did it." It was her turn to use the bored tone. Caleb grumbled, slipping his feet into his sneakers and then grabbing his glasses. Putting them on, he shot an annoyed glare at Brooke once again before leaving the room silently. He ignored her plea's for him to come back for round 2.

With a brief stop to his room to collect Jake, he made his way down to the common room. With the run up to Christmas, the college was a lot emptier than usual. Caleb wasn’t going home, his mother had been told she had to work over Christmas so there was no point. His grandparents had wanted him to go to Russia, and his older siblings to America. But Caleb had refused. He just couldn’t be bothered to face his family. It sounded horrible, but he was still kind of settling into the college. Plus, he had someone who made him want to stay. A certain Zoe. The girl was getting to him, and he didn’t know whether to freak out or be happy about it. So far, he’d decided to ignore it. It had been working so far, but he found himself comparing the other girls to her. He couldn’t help himself. At nobody lived up to Zoe. He’d never tell her that though, she’d have a field day.

Pushing open the door to the common room, he allowed Jake to bound in before he followed the large canine. Whereas Jake immediately zeroed in on the familiar face, Caleb seemed to completely miss her until Jake gave a deep woof of excitement. Glancing in the direction of where the mutt was looking, Caleb's expression lit up at who fell into his line of sight. Noticing that she hat her headphones in, he moved silently over to her. Dropping down suddenly next to her, he reached over and pulled one of the headphones from her ear. "Hello beautiful." he grinned at her happily, allowing his eyes to drift over her appreciatively. He couldn't deny that he preferred her with less clothes on, but she undoubtedly looked good. She always did. Only then did he seem to notice the book in her lap, his brow raising curiously. Caleb, himself, was an avid reader. Whether Zoe knew that, he didn't know. But he often found himself passing up on the offer to go out and would rather stay in. "Whatcha reading?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

[Onzy]

Zoe yelped as the voice whispered in her ear and jumping in response. She didn't even notice that her earphones had been removed, so hearing Caleb next to her had forced her to nearly have a heart attack. Turning around, she frowned at him before grinning. Great, the saying of 'speak of the Devil and he shall appear' really did work. Except she had been thinking about him and not speaking, but it was more or less the same thing wasn't it? Shifting up on the couch, she made space for Caleb, and watched him curiously. Hey handsome, she said, grinning at him. There was a mischievous glint to her eyes as she watched him, calling over Jake and fussing over the dog. To Kill A Mockingbird. Have you read it before? she answered him. She didn't even know if Caleb liked reading. There seemed to be a lot about him, but there were a few things that she did know.

You've been having fun, she said, looking at him with a smirk on her face. Zoe was referring to the very obvious hickey on his neck. She knew that he really hated the hickey thing, but she also more specific placements for her. Places where people couldn't exactly see them. It also irked Zoe to know that he had been with someone else, and the looks she got from Brooke and Savvy were more than ones of achievement. For Zoe, it seemed that she was really willing to commit to Caleb, but she was pushing those emotions away as much as possible. That meant that she snappier than usual around Kris and Shane. It had also meant that they were watching her more than usual and the constant watching her was getting to her. Actually, the winter break would have been ideal to start on catching up on some subjects that she had been neglecting.