Zoe didn't understand why she was so happy to see Jon that morning. Normally they'd grunt their greetings at each other, eat, then go their separate ways, but what happened was very different. First there was the smile; a bubbly, cheery smile that came unbidden at the sight of him. Then, to follow that, they talked. It was like a pipe had burst and she couldn't stop it.
She knew it wasn't like her to continue this way, but for some reason that morning it felt so good. First, they talked about her dream. Jon seemed very interested in it for some reason, though she thought he was disappointed when she couldn't give him many details. Then they spoke of her black ribbon that she was wearing that morning. She had decided to do something different for school and hoped it looked alright. She was worried about looking silly in front of the other kids; that was also different. Normally she couldn't give a rip what people thought of her, but today she felt like she didn't want to rock the boat as much.
Breakfast flew by, and soon they were walking and talking their way to school. She spoke of bands she liked, a vampire novel she was reading, even a television show she was enjoying. She giggled (!) when she talked of the previous night's episode. That shocked her a bit, but not enough to quiet her down. She was turning into a chatter-box!
Not that Jon seemed to mind. Every time she looked at him he had the most amused look on his face. She must be, like, totally entertaining!
In front of the school they parted ways, Jon to go talk to his friend Karyn, and Zoe to go hang out with her best friend Athena. Athena was, like Zoe, dressed all in black. She looked at her friend appraisingly, obviously noting the ribbon, then greeted her. Now it was time for Zoe to talk with Athena, well for Zoe to talk AT Athena, more like. Whatever had happened on the walk to school hadn't stopped. She was still Chatty Cathy.
Later...
