summer meant good books

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky hated to think this way, but she was kind of glad to meet someone else that had been the victim of Dirty Laundry. She didn't want the blog to pick on anyone else, of course, but she also kind of liked the solidarity. Everyone hated the blog, not just her. And Parker and her and Parker's friend weren't the only targets. Being angry alone wasn't any fun but there was something unifying about being angry with someone else. And Zoe was definitely angry, in a shy-girl kind of way. The same way Becky usually got angry.

"They should get someone to take it down," she agreed. She didn't understand why anyone would let it go on. But she supposed that people who weren't featured in the blog probably found it amusing. She didn't know anyone could possibly take joy in what must be causing other people pain, but that's just how the world worked. Hopefully people would get fed up and Dirty Laundry would be driven out. "No on deserves that kind of thing being put on display. And some of it isn't even true. Or, if it is true, Dirty Laundry just frames it the entirely wrong way. It's cruel to make people's private lives public."

Becky took the phone back from Zoe happily, giving her a smile. She tucked it into her pocket and looked back. A photographer and a poet? Wow. Zoe was very artistic. "Really? That'd be cool!" she agreed, giving her an encouraging smile. She didn't know if Parker would want to do it, though, and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. "I'd love to see some of your work sometime. And getting a picture would be really cool. With Parker or without him, I really like seeing how people capture different moments in time." She hoped that she wasn't being too eager about this. "I mean, if you'd really like to. And I would pay you for your professional work."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"I don't think they can," said Zoe, referring to removing the blog. "nobody knows who writes it, after all. Plenty of people with more, um, pull then us have tried. There is apparently a blog that's supposed to be against it? I don't know that much about it though,' mostly because Zoe opted to stay away from the internet. she'd only found out about the Lesbian Pikachu thing because, well, it hadn't exactly been subtle or quiet. At least she'd gotten to the point where she owned it now, what with the little stuffed Pikachu and all.

It didn't surprise Zoe to hear that Becky found the photography thing cool too. The only surprising bit there was that Zoe hadn't mentioned the photography before now. She nodded along with Becky's enthusiasm, wanting desperately to focus on that as opposed to thinking about the blog and all the damage it did so willingly.

"You don't, um, have to pay me or anything, really. I enjoy it, especially for friends. Um, if you really want you could, uh, pay for the film or something," mostly because Zoe could barely afford film as it was, given that she lived pretty much off the good will of the school. She fidgeted again. "I just, um, well, I'm not a professional or anything, well, not quite, anyway. I've done a few shows and all, just, not here, and, um,' she again averted her eyes, this time looking at the shelves. Her hand went to nervously run along their spines. It was just her photography; she should be proud of that. she usually was...

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky was glad to leave the troubling topic of the blog alone for a while. It had hurt both of them and it was frustrating that even people who had power couldn't do anything about it. The internet was awesome, but he could also do really mean things and that blog was definitely one of them. She didn't really keep up with it too much, but she'd read enough to know how awful it was and how cruel it was to the students here.

But photography was a brighter subject and obviously one that Zoe was passionate about. Becky was glad to listen to her little speech about her experiences with photography. She still sounded nervous and shy, but Becky knew the feeling, so it was a bit easier to put some confident into her own voice, hoping to dispel Zoe's worries. "I'd love to pay for the film," she promised. "You're an artist. You deserve something in return for your art, right? And film is pretty expensive, I think, if you have to buy it for every person you take a photo of?" Becky didn't actually know. She'd never really messed around with photography before. She was happy to support an artist that was just starting out. 

"Wow, shows?" she said with a small, awed smile. That was basically being a professional, if her work had been in real shows. That was amazing. She thought that Zoe should be proud of her accomplishments and that she probably was. It was just that she was also shy and humble. "That's really cool. I'd love to, um, see some of your work sometime. Do you want to be a professional?" she asked, then backed off a little bit. "Sorry, that's probably an invasive question. I just get too curious sometimes."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe smiled as Becky insisted on at least reimbursing her for the money she'd spent. She shrugged at the mention of the price of film, mumbling something about how the school helps cover that now. The school had actually gotten a lot more cooperative of late, considering that Zoe had technically been shot while under their care. They'd struck the deal regarding film before that had happened though, for which Zoe was quite thankful.

Becky's question about shows had Zoe flushing, but she nodded anyway. "Just a few," she mumbled, reaching up to rub at one arm with another. "I, um, I've been working at it for a while, and, um, some of them are pretty good, I guess, and, well, my parents, they, um, arranged for me to do a show once, and then people were interested and I had a few, but then, um, I ended up here and I haven't, um, quite managed to do one so far and--no, no, it's not, I'm fine. Really."

As if that wasn't obvious by Zoe's long, if stuttered and stammered, response to the question. She swallowed again, looking down at the books once more. She took a deep breath, steeling herself before looking up at other girl, smiling shyly.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky didn't really get what she said at first. Something about the school paying for the film now? That was really considerate of them. She thought a lot of schools should be paying more attention to their artistically inclined students. Art was such an important thing to encourage. Even if it wasn't a profession, it was a healthy outlet. Becky would love to see more young people become authors, for instance. But photography was cool too.

She really hadn't meant to make Zoe feel that uncomfortable and stutter and everything. She felt pretty guilty about it and tried to rectify the situation as best she could. She guessed that she could have asked Zoe anything and she might have still been a stuttering mess, but she still felt bad about it. She knew what it was like to be flustered and nervous. Not a fun feeling.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sorry, you don't have to talk about anything you don't want to," she assured her. She didn't know about the shows, they could have been something that made Zoe feel uncomfortable to remember. But they sounded pretty nice to Zoe. "That's really cool, though, that you, um. Got so much interest in your work and everything. It would be cool if you could do a show here in Kalispell."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Obviously Zoe would've stuttered her way through a conversation if she was in one of the safest, most comforting places she knew while talking to someone obviously kindhearted and understanding, given that, yeah that was exactly what was happening now. It didn't help that Zoe always felt flushed and nervous whenever she talked about her photography and stuff, at least, not when she wasn't solely in her environment. She could remember being at a showroom, surrounded by her own work. Then she felt a lot more confident, sure that people wanted her work and respected her.

"It's okay!" she said quickly, extending a hand. She nearly knocked some books out of Becky's hand and had to lunged forward to grab them, helping to steady them in the other girl's hands. "Sorry," she nearly squeaked, releasing them, and backing up. Which had her bumping into the shelf, which in turn nearly caused books to fall down around her, which in turns made her squeak yet again. She took a few deep breaths before smiling at Becky again.

"See?" she managed, looking over her shoulder. "I'm just... jumpy, I guess, but, um, I have thought about maybe doing a show, in Kalispell. I've had quite a few photographs of mutants, since the school wants me to do them, and, well, I don't think anyone's really taken the time to photograph us being ourselves. I'd love to put on a show that's just mutant's daily life," Zoe paused then, taking a deep breath. She forced a smile, one that only curved a little around the edges.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

"Sorry!" Becky said as well when Zoe accidentally knocked some of the books from her hand. She should have been watching, should have had a better grip on them. She felt badly when Zoe had to catch them for her and thanked her quietly before she was startled again when the girl bumped a shelf. A few books feel down off of it and Becky was quickly caught up in bending down so that she could pick them up and help put them away. She gave Zoe a reassuring smile. She knew what it was like to be a little jumpy, although it seemed to be Zoe's constant state of being. Becky thought that she was shy, but Zoe was a different level of shy.

As she put the books back onto their proper places, she listened to Zoe as she talked. "Wow, that sounds really cool," she said as she replaced the last of the books and was now just holding her selections. "I mean, taking pictures of mutants as people who have everyday lives instead of as people who are different and strange." It was a cool idea and far truer to life than pictures that just captured what was extraordinary about the people at this school. Powers weren't someone's whole person. Telling someone that Becky could manipulate gravity would tell them very little about Becky herself. And capturing that through photography would be really beautiful.

"I think you should do it," Becky told her with a smile in return. "It would be, um. Really neat. And I bet a lot of people would come. Especially people from the school. It's a truer side of what we're like, I guess, for people who don't know."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe smiled, visibly brightening as Becky got more excited and supportive of the whole venture. Just knowing that someone, especially someone she'd just met, would be so willing to help lifted her spirits in that short of a time. Becky even thought that the project was a good idea, and it always felt good to have someone think your ideas were worthwhile.

"I guess I could try," said Zoe, still sounding shy. She fidgeted, looking away and taking a deep breath. "I just... so many people around here just hate me, because of the stupid blog thing," she bit her lip, looking down for a moment. "I just don't know... maybe," the way Zoe said it, the maybe might as well have been a "no." She took another deep breath, turning to look at Becky.

"It's okay though, there's plenty of other stuff to do, right?" she nodded, aiming slightly toward the books. "Like reading and such," yes, because nobody would care if you read. That couldn't hurt anybody; sounded almost... wonderful, especially right now.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky was glad to see Zoe so excited about the prospect of doing that photography project. It would be really cool to see come together. She didn't know about the logistics of it, but she thought it was a great idea. And anyone who didn't like this shy girl because of what a stupid blog said about her... well they were very dumb and very mean and not worth any of Zoe's time. But Becky knew how hard it could be to deal with bullies. She knew what it was like to have low self-confidence. So the least she could do was bolster Zoe's self-esteem.

"I would help in anyway I can. if you want my help," she said, because she didn't know if maybe Zoe would want to do most of it on her own. Photography could be a kind of personal thing. She didn't want to force her company on the girl but she also wanted her to know that she definitely had friends. Maybe they weren't friends yet, but Becky definitely thought she was a nice girl and that it would be cool to talk to her again. So that sort of counted, right? "And if you ever need a book recommendation, maybe I could help too. I don't know. It's just so stupid that people would be mean to you because of a blog post."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"I would love help!' said Zoe, turning a smile on Becky. "I'm sure that having someone else look it all over would be most splendid indeed," she nodded, only pausing for a moment to smile nervously, realizing that she'd just sounded quite British in the last few words. that happened from time to time, despite all Zoe's years in the states.

She looked back at the books, shifting, before speaking again: "I think--I think people might like me more than I think they do," she admitted, looking back at Becky. "You don't hate me, right? So, maybe, well, maybe people just---I don't know," she shook her head, sighing. Zoe reached a hand out, caressing the book shelf as if it could provide answers. She tapped the books for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"What book would you suggest?" she said, looking back to Becky. "If I was looking for one, that is." Which she was, after all, and reading a book recommended by a new friend struck Zoe as an excellent way to help lift her out of her funk.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky returned Zoe's smile. She would really be happy to help in anyway that Zoe wanted her to. It was a worthy project and Zoe was a really nice girl. It was rare that Becky felt like the more confident person, after all. But Zoe seemed so insecure that Becky couldn't help but relate and try to make her feel better. She knew what bullying could do to people and how hard it could be to recover from that feeling. "Great! Consider me at your disposal," she promised, hearing the British lilt in Zoe's voice. She wondered how long she'd been in England.

"I don't hate you," she confirmed earnestly. Because who could hate such a nice and talented girl? "But I get what you mean. Once all of that stuff is out there for people to see, it's hard to see everyone as being against you. But I think people definitely like you. I like you." She said and stopped herself when she realized she was perhaps talking a bit too much.

She had to think long and hard about what book she would recommend for the summer. "Oh, I don't know. There are always good summer classics that I like to read every year. The ones that just put me in a summery mood. Like Tuck Everlasting. But I also really like to read Watership Down in the summer and some fluffier teenage-geared novels. All the John Greens."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Great! Zoe had another friend, or at least, another person willing to engage in activities with her. She practically beamed at that, thrilled to hear that Becky would help. The smile only deepened as the other girl continued, affirming that no, she certainly did not hate Zoe in the slightest. Even better: she seemed to understand. Zoe almost wanted to hug the other girl, so uplifted were her spirits in just those few words. She treated Becky to the widest, truest smile she'd had in quite a while, her brown eyes looking quite warm and affectionate.

Becky even picked up the detour in the conversation that Zoe had started. Zoe turned and looked at the various shelves, thinking about the various titles that Becky had suggested. She'd read Watership Down as a child and had nearly been traumatized. It had been one of her father's favorite books. Tuck Everlasting sounded familiar but...

"I'm not sure I've ever read the first one, Tuck Everlasting," said Zoe, speaking slowly. She looked about for a moment, as if the answer lay in the shelves, before settling her gaze upon Becky. "You wouldn't happen to know where it is? It's only fair that I read one of your suggestions too, after all. Then we could discuss them," she smiled, the expression slightly nervous, as though she half expected Becky to claim that talking about books was something that losers did and she wasn't interested in the slightest.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky was so pleased to see Zoe looking so happy. She was glad that she'd succeeded in making the girl feel a bit more comfortable around her. She would really like to spend more time around Zoe. She had fun with anyone who could discuss literature with her and really, around anyone who thought that the library was a good place to hang out. And she could definitely relate to Zoe's awkwardness. And she hoped that when she had some nervous or self-conscious moments that Zoe would be able to relate as well. They were pretty similar.

"Oh gosh, Tuck Everlasting is very good," Becky promised. At least, it was one of her favorite summer reads. It had an August feel about it that was good for this time of year. "But it's very short. It's a one-sitting kind of novel. But I enjoy it each time I read it. I have my own copy, if you want to borrow it?" she offered. She hoped that Zoe would say yes. It was easier than borrowing it from the library and Becky's copy was pretty marked up with highlights and underlines and notes in the margins. But maybe Zoe would rather have a pristine copy. "Although my copy is pretty loved on. I'm sure they have a clear one here."

And having a book club sort of deal with Zoe? That would be amazing! She looked nervous, but there was no doubt in Becky's mind that she'd like to do that kind of thing. "That would be wonderful! I love talking to people about books. As, um. I guess you can already tell."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

If Becky thought the book was that good, gushing about it and everything, then Zoe was fairly convinced that it must be quite an appealing read. She got excited just thinking about it. Soon her eyes went wide as Becky offered to lend her a personal copy. "Really? Are you quite sure? I am very careful with books, I promise," she nearly put her hand on her chest and raised the other one, but stopped just short. She shook her head soon: "It doesn't bother me, really. It's sometimes nice to see someone else's thoughts on a book."

Zoe paused again, soon finding Becky getting even more excited about the thought of sharing thoughts on a book. Zoe practically beamed, practically started hopping up and down for joy. "I'm so glad to hear that! I do know there's a book club and all, but it's... different," because there were a lot of people there and Zoe still didn't feel comfortable in groups, even when they were all bookish types (and a few others who were just there for some random reason).

"So, um, we should probably go check out these," she pointed toward the books they had between them, "and go get it? Unless you don't want to, that is..."

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky was flattered to hear that Zoe might actually want to borrow her personal copy. She hoped that the notes she'd made and the phrases and quotes that she'd underlined wouldn't seem dumb to her. "Oh, I'm sure you are!" she assured her. Zoe struck her as an individual who would be very careful with everything she borrowed. She just seemed so kind and good-natured and careful that Becky would already be fine with lending her anything. "You can borrow mine, then. It's a bit worn and loved on, but it's still in okay shape."

Becky had also thought about joining the book club, but the amount of people in the club was a little intimidating. She was better one-on-one with people and not so good in groups. Even if the group was talking about a book she had a lot of thoughts about, she wouldn't be likely to bring it up in front of such a crowd. She'd be far more likely to voice her opinion with one or two other friends around. So that was what she liked to do. Just exchange reads with people she knew she would be comfortable around.

"Yes, let's go!" she agreed, heading towards the table where the librarian sat, ready to check them out. She wanted to start reading these right away and it sounded like Zoe was just as eager to read Tuck. "We can go get my book, if you like. I understand if you have something else to do, but um, I do have your number. But I'm free now if you want to start right away."