I've never heard silence quite this loud --open

[Juliet Rachel Hart]

It was around nine in the morning when Juliet's alarm clock was going off. Her small hand moved from under her blanket and came down on top of her alarm to turn it off. When it finally stopped beeping, she let out a sigh and just laid there for what seemed like ages before tossing the covers off herself and letting her bare feet touch the cold floor. Grabbing a few things, she headed to the bathroom for a quick shower to help wake herself up a little more. Turning the hot water on, she let it run for a few minutes to warm all the way up and slipped out of her pajamas. Stepping into the shower, it wasn't long before she was done and wrapping herself in her bath robe.

Drying her hair, she then brushed through it and pulled it into a messy pony tail and headed back to her room and opened her closet. She wanted to be comfortable and warm so she just grabbed one of her cute sweaters and a pair of jeans and slipped them on. Wrapping one of her cute scarfs around her neck, she then pulled on a pair of her boots and walked over to her computer and sat down. Letting her computer log on, she placed her books into her bag and closed it up. Once her computer was on, she checked her emails, replying to a few and then checked a few other things before turning it off once more.

It was Saturday and she had plans to go out for breakfast and coffee, then spend the rest of the day in the library doing homework so come later that night and sunday, she could just sit in her dorm and relax. Slipping her jacket on, she grabbed her bag, making sure she had her keys and wallet and then headed out the door. Putting her headphones in her ears, she then turned her ipod on and listened to her music as she walked down the halls and headed outside. There was a little diner just down the sidewalk on the corner that she liked to sneak off to on her saturdays and get breakfast. No one thought to come looking for her there and she could enjoy a nice quiet breakfast.

Arriving, she opened the door and took a seat in one of the booths. Ordering pancakes, sausage and eggs with some juice, she then pulled out her history book to get a little head start on her reading. She had two chapters to read, plus taking notes and writing a little paper about what she had read and learned in class the past few days. Pulling her headphones out of her ears, she turned the page of her book, leaning back in her seat when the waiter came and brought her food. Thanking him, she smiled and started to eat, marking the page in her book so she could pick up where she had left off.

Juliet soon finished eating all that was on her plate and finished the last of her juice. Pulling out enough money to pay for her meal and leave a decent tip, she gathered her things and stood, heading out the door half an hour later. It had warmed up a little but it was still a little cold outside. Buttoning her jacket up a little, she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and looked around as she crossed the school grounds. There were several people outside running around, others just walking and talking with their friends. She figured everyone else was either still sleeping or inside staying warm. She didn't blame them either. It was cold and cloudy, threatening to rain any moment.

Picking up her pace a little, Juliet soon found herself at the library and stepped inside. Just in time too as it had just started to rain a little. Watching it from the window, she sighed, noticing it had no signs of stopping any time soon. She was fine with that though. Juliet had plans to just stay in the library and study all day. With a hop in her step, the girl headed to the back like always and set her things down on the table. Besides the librarian, she was the only person there. It wasn't unusal for her to be the only one there.

Shaking the thought from her head, she put her jacket on the back of her chair and pulled out her books, starting with her history where she had last left off. Pulling her notebook out and a pencil, she started to take notes going back later and color coating all of her notes when she was done. Brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, she smiled and got started on her paper. Almost two hours later, Juliet was done with her history and math homework and was now moving to her english. Standing, she went to grab a few books she knew she would need off of the shelf.

Humming quietly to herself, she bit her lower lip as she ran her finger of the spin of the books and then grabbed the ones she needed and headed back to her table. Setting them down, she grabbed the history ones she no longer needed and put them back. It was then, that the power went out in the library and she couldn't see anything. Oh, this is great... She said and sighed, jumping when she heard the thunder. Dropping her books, she took a few steps back and bumped into someone, unaware that there had been a third person in the room. Oh I am so sorry! She said, turning around, squinting her eyes to try and see who it was but couldn't.

[Erika Roxann Martens]

Finals were coming, and thus Erika was venturing into an area that she did not spend all that much time in normally - The library.

It wasn't so much that Erika had anything against the library. She just didn't have much use for it. Being from a relatively well to do family, most of the books she read she could buy easily. She lived right in town with her parents, so she didn't even need to worry about her family sending her money like most of the other students. She also didn't need to come to the library often to study - Most of her studying she conducted at home. What's more, much of her spare time was focused on volleyball at the moment anyway. She didn't put absurd amounts of efforts into her grades - Only what she needed to keep her grade point average at an acceptable area to remain on the sports team, and that was it.

To do one of her final projects for class, however, Erika needed access to an encyclopedia. For once, her father had put his foot down, saying that they had no need to purchase an encyclopedia for a single project, especially when she had the world wide web at her fingertips. Her English teacher, being a strickler, specified that it had to be a written encyclopedia, and thus Erika was forced to trek to the library. As she ventured there, she recalled all too well a very important tidbit that she'd ignored prior to now - She had an outstanding fine on a book she'd lost in freshman year. Now, the simple solution would be to pay the fine. The unfortunate part? Erika did not have the money on her, and by the time the fine was paid off, the library would be closed, and Erika would lose valuable time on her project. Which would not be a worry save for the project being due tomorrow...

It was about this point where another idea began to formulate itself in the back of Erika's mind. An unsavory idea, but once it presented itself, it was one that Erika could not help but keep feeding as she went over it in her head. She could take the encyclopedia she needed. It wouldn't even be as bad as her normal escapades. She wasn't even technically stealing. She was simply utilizing the library for what it was used for in the first place - She was borrowing a book! She was simply bypassing all of the annoying red tape. It would be back on the shelf by tomorrow, and she doubted that anyone would even notice it was missing.

With that, Erika ventured over to that corner of the library. She grabbed the book that she was looking for and took a seat at one of the tables, a plan already in motion. She spread a couple of other books in front of her, to make it look as though she was working on homework. She stayed there for several minutes to keep up the illusion. When the librarian's back was turned, Erika went to gather up her things, surreptitiously placing the encyclopedia that she had no plans to check out amongst the rest of her books. The best part about this plan? The encyclopedia would easily blend in with the rest of her books. Besides, even if someone did notice what she was doing, she could claim that she didn't notice she'd grabbed the encyclopedia with the rest of her things. It was the reason she'd opted to use the method that she was. She'd learned that early on in her endeavors - Always have a good excuse. It helped that people usually didn't expect it out of her...

She was almost home free, a smile coming across her face when the power went out in the library as a result of the storm outside. As a result of the newfound blackness that surrounded her, she didn't see that her path was about to collide with that of a slightly younger girl, and her books went flying. Argh! Stupid power! She went to bend down and pick up her books quickly, digging through her purse to try to find her cell phone and create a bit of light when she heard the girl addressing her. Great, just great. Rule number one of successful stealing was not drawing too much attention to yourself. Nevertheless, she'd look more suspicious if she didn't respond, and so one came. "Don't worry about it! It's not like either of us can see a thing..."[/color] Though her eyes were starting to adjust, it was still quite dark. Then again, if she could get out while it was still like this...

Word count: 799
To: Juliet/Denny
Notes: Here ya go! First response!