A Place to Get Away (open)

[elijah samuel allen]

The library, probably Eli's favorite place in the entire world, due to the fact it was the one place he felt safest when outside of his home. Not even he could be inside his house all the time, he would probably die of boredom before the end of the month if he was ever forced to do that. His only problem with leaving though was all these people that seemed to like to bully him and for really no reason either, other than that he was really smart and loved reading and writing. That was what made him love the library so much, he could just sit there all day and read, no one really paid much attention to him at the library, and no one bothered him which was even better.

He could just sorta sit there and read, he didn't have to worry about anything or anyone trying to tell him otherwise. The people there wouldn't allow it, as a regular the people there normally knew him by name; it was just the way Elijah was. He got along with most adults, since he acted much like one himself sometimes. It wasn't that he tried to either, it just seemed to turn out that way, he had that air to him that just made only certain people like him. The book he was reading lately was something by Shakespeare, having just finished the last of the Harry Potter books for the fifth time now just a few days before.

He found himself actually slowly running out of things to read as he continued picking up new books and as a pretty fast reader he tended to finish them pretty fast, in fact after the book he was reading now he was about ready to even pick up Nicholas Sparks books. He just needed something to read, he was really getting desperate. Sitting at one of the table he turned the page in his book sighing, he was honestly a little bored now.

[penelope jane arkwright]

Penelope walked lightly into the library, her gaze down at her feet instead of looking ahead. She had so little confidence in herself that even the idea of making eye contact with someone by accident made her uneasy. Most of the time she didn't really know what to do with people anyway, she was socially awkward to almost an extreme. Penelope barely knew how to walk without tripping herself, let alone hold conversation with someone that she didn't know very well. She bit her lip, looking around at the shelves. She was thinking of picking up another Stephen King book. He was one of her favourite writers, and his books tended to be long.

The longer the book she was reading the longer she could keep herself occupied. It was really only then that Penelope realized how sad her social life really was, and without her parents nagging her to get a life (they were far too involved in both their work and the activities Elinor and Charlotte got up to) she had never been given the motivation. Penelope usually spent her time roughly divided equally between school, home, and the library. But she liked the peace of this place, how quiet was expected, how people usually left her alone.

Penelope anxiously tugged down the sleeves of her sweater. Yes, it was a bit hot for it, but the library had fierce air conditioning, and she had somewhat fresh cuts on her forearms she wanted to keep covered. Her bright blue gaze scanned the shelves as she made her way back to where the "K" authors were, and as luck would have it, there was a boy sitting right in front of the section of shelf she needed- his chair out just a bit too far for her to get past. "Um, excuse me?" said Penelope very quietly, her tone making it sound more like a question than a statement.

Outfit

[elijah samuel allen]

Turning another page in his book his eyes scanned the page reading the words printed upon it, there was almost an edge of boredom on his face. He had no idea how boring this book would actually be in the very beginning, and he was really hoping that like most books he read that it would just turn out to be one of those books that only started out boring to become more interesting with each page. So far it only seemed that he was out of luck in that notion, because the book seemed to be at a stand still. Nothing interesting seemed to be happening, and Eli was cursing his self because of it. He wasn't one to not finish books, even when they turned out to have very boring parts.

It almost made him feel bad when he went and did such a thing like that, picking it up to read it but never truly finishing it in the end. It seemed like a waste of time to start the book as well, wasting all that time to read what you have already read to just put the book down in the very middle. He never wanted to turn into that kind of person, marking the page he was on he closed his book for a minute to merely just fix the sleeve of his shirt running his finger over faint scars on his arms he sighed glad that they were only a memory now. His scars were something he hoped would only be a memory, something he never had to come back to but he knew that they proved that he wasn't the strongest person around. He could even still always go back to the things he did in his past, things he truly wasn't proud of.

Looking back at his book he continued reading until he heard a girl's voice asking him a question, clearly he was in the way of the books she was trying to get too. "Oh sorry" he said quickly moving his chair closer into the table he was sitting at so she could get by him and to the books. "I can never notice if my chair's out to far, I'm always a little to into my reading" Eli added in a very awkward mumble. Always one for awkward conversation he is, he needed to learn to just get right to the point. It just made his life a lot easier that way, then again he was also not one for anything easy.

[penelope jane arkwright]

Penelope lightly chewed on her tongue, wondering why she was feeling so darn anxious about something as simple as politely asking someone to move a little bit so she could get by. But she wasn't the type of person who would ever request something of someone unless absolutely necessary, especially if that someone was a total stranger. Of course, such things were a rarity for the average person in Lipton- though Penelope certainly wasn't average. She put herself at "less than average," though she wasn't exactly sure what that would make her. She just knew that while most people in the town had spoken with everyone, she had barely exchanged words with half.

Sure, faces here and there were familiar, like that of the boy sitting in the chair blocking her way, though she only knew a handful of them by name. Really, only her friends and the ones that spent the most time making her miserable were the ones she could put a name to. Penelope tugged anxiously at her sleeves again, it had become an absent habit of late, one that she did with an almost astonishing regularity. She didn't want anyone to see what she had hidden under her sleeves, everyone would just see her as more of a freak.

Penelope offered a strained sort of smile when he took notice, knowing that it showed the discomfort she felt at interacting with a stranger. Though she took a small amount of comfort when the boy started talking, sounding just as awkward as she was. 'Twas the fate of the native library-dweller she supposed. At least she was in good company here. "Oh, no, um, it's all right," Penelope offered in her own confidence-lacking voice. She turned her gaze to the bit of shelf she now had access to, scanning the impressive collection of Stephen King titles, looking for one she hadn't read yet.

[elijah samuel allen]

Eli seemed to be fairly unnoticed by people he didn't already know and in a way he was quite alright with that really because he was never sure just what people would say to him and because of that he was even slightly wary. You always had to be wary of people though because there truly was some nasty people out there in the world and one could never be to certain who was nice and who was not. Eli his self had met some really nasty people in the past, really just the kind of people that could only seem to be a damper on a person's mood really. He guessed that was really just what they were made to do though, bring other people down.

That was really just part of the reason that he came here all the time, because here no one seemed to judge you for being different or smart. Here everyone seemed about the same and people hardly ever bugged him about anything, he could just read and forget about his past and the people that remained in it. Of course he would love to forget it completely but he knew that was something that could simply never happen. The things in his past were truly just there to remind him of the things he had done that he truly wasn't proud of either, why would someone be proud of something like that anyways. It was a very pointless thing to ever be proud of, scars were never something to be proud of. If anything he despised them, and wished they weren't there. He didn't want to remember what happened in his past, only a few months ago really. If anything he wanted to forget, but he couldn't seem to. He was forced to always remember, his scars in his arms he kept mostly hidden were his only true reminder of that.

Hearing the girl speak to him Eli was almost reminded of his self and the very way he seemed act once upon a time, it seemed so long ago to him now even though it was only a fair few months now. Though his voice was still very awkward and lacked confidence it was more firm, and he didn't look down as much as he use too. "Well alright" he said glancing at the books she was now looking at, Stephan King he noted. He was a classic author, and though he was yet to read any of his books yet he heard they were all really good. "Stephen King, I haven't read any of his books yet. I hear they are good though" he said quietly. "I'm Elijah by the way, Elijah Allen" he said. Mostly people knew of his sister or any one of his brothers, not many people knew of Eli the youngest of the four siblings and a really smart kid as well. He never really did mind it though, he was actually fine with not really being noticed. In his mind it was really just a lot better than actually being noticed really.

[penelope jane arkwright]

Penelope dug her teeth into her lip, normally at this time she might have started looking down at her feet, and the slowly chipping reddish pink polish that was on her toenails, though it was hard to look down whilst one was searching a shelf for a book that looked interesting. Of course, Penelope had yet to come across a Stephen King book that she didn't like. She was a fan of the horror genre, a bit unexpected for someone like her who presented herself in a fairly feminine way. Most didn't expect a girl who would wear a pink skirt to like scary things.

But she did. Films, books, even haunted houses. There was something about being scared intentionally that she liked, she supposed she was weird that way. Penelope slid her fingers atop a book she had yet to read, Bag of Bones, and in deciding that she could do with having a back-up if she finished as quickly as she usually did, also selected a shorter one by Stephen King standards- Cell. Penelope was surprised when the boy spoke to her again, not many people went out of their way to talk to her. Really, not many people knew that there was a third Arkwright daughter.

Everyone loved her big sister, Elinor, who to Penelope seemed nearly flawless, and her younger sister Charlotte was the star athlete. And then there was her. Unremarkable. She was an average student at best, wasn't good at any sports, didn't have many friends. Penelope in most regards was invisible. "They are," said Penelope, brightening a little, this boy seemed nice as well as interested in reading. She tucked her selections into the crook of her arm, anxiously tugging at her sleeve. "Penelope Arkwright," said she, "it's, um, nice to meet you."

[elijah samuel allen]

People who knew Elijah well enough knew that he wasn’t really much of a talker and was one who tended to keep to his self a lot of the time, he was sort of what you could call a listener rather than a talker. He was always more of a listener, even as a little kid he was always sort of the quiet kid. He was okay with being quiet though, because he was smart and rather than partying all the time he would just go and read or do his homework and succeed in his studies. His good grades were really all he had to be proud of since he didn’t have much else; he was focused on his studies all the time. He tended to take higher level courses in school; he liked a challenge really because easy things just seemed to bore him.

Elijah liked a lot of things, but what he liked the most was fantasy, mystery, and science fiction books because those were the kinds of books that seemed to interest him the most. He wasn’t one for boring books, like most people but he would read them if he had to being that type and looking at the girl he tried to notice things about her. Mostly the way that she seemed to tug on her sleeve once in a while, it reminded him a lot about his self and when he use to cut. Glancing at his sleeve he shook his head; he couldn’t just go and assume though. Assuming something would only really lead to problem and he wished to avoid those, so sighing he just seemed to wonder.

“Well then I will need to give them a look when I get the chance” he said glancing at the shelf of books nodding his head, and he would when he could. “Oh it’s a pleasure meeting you as well” he added, he was always one for being polite of course.

[penelope jane arkwright]

Penelope looked down at the books tucked in her arm, the thinner volume atop the much heftier Bag of Bones. She traced the raised red letters on the jacket with a forefinger in an absent manner, gazing down at the cover art, trying to see if she could come up with a vague guess as to what the story would be about without reading the inside flap. There was a cell phone with a cracked screen, in a pool of what looked like it might be blood, though an overturned paper cup might also mean that it was coffee. Penelope opted for the blood explanation, it sounded more appropriate for a horror.

What might it be about- a possessed cell phone? Even in her head that sounded silly. Penelope would just have to wait and find out, she supposed. Her gaze flickered briefly to Elijah, thinking on how much she liked that name. It wasn't common, but not unheard of, and at the same time, still traditional. Not unlike her own given name. Penelope had yet to encounter someone that shared her first name, though never once had someone misspelled or pronounced it incorrectly. She bit her lip lightly after Elijah spoke, now entirely unsure of what to do with herself.

Why did she have to be so awkward? Why couldn't she, just for once, know what to say? The boy was nice, there was no reason for her to act so withdrawn... Penelope did, however, manage a smile, a real one that didn't look quite so strained as the last. Maybe they might be able to talk for a little bit? "Do you, um, do you mind if I sit down?" asked Penelope, gesturing to the chair across from him. That was definitely beyond her comfort zone, and she instinctively blushed- a slight pink tinge creeping across her cheeks.