The Hunt Begins (Zooey, Open Tag)

[Zooey Segel]

The bell rang and Zooey Segel dashed from her seat in Algebra class. It was made incredibly difficult since she had chosen to carry both her mellophone and violin to class with her in order for her to make her quick escape. She was the first through the doorway, though it took a careful few steps to prevent any musical banging sounds, and she scampered as quickly as her encumbered frame would allow. For a few lucky moments, the hallways were clear. But soon mobs of children flocked to their lockers and Zooey's progress through the hallways slowed to a crawl. She desperately hoped to make it to Cera Lamprey's locker in time to catch her and find out which park was going to be cleaned. Zooey wasn't interested in the cleaning so much as hanging out with Cera, but for some reason the older girl had managed to elude her almost all week.

Even in orchestra class it was difficult to get Cera's attention. She was easily one of the most popular girls in orchestra, and everyone liked her. She was so nice! How could they not enjoy her company? But sadly that meant that many people vied for her attention, and often Zooey couldn't even get near enough to her idol to strike up conversation. Instead she was relegated to sitting three rows back, stuck as a second violin. But Zooey was practicing, and even the teacher noted that she was getting better. Perhaps by the end of the year she might get to move up to first violin!

Blonde hair fluttered around Zooey as she bounced and weaved down the hall, but to her dismay Cera was no longer at her locker. The next destination was Graham Alderman's locker, but again Zooey was let down. Her final hope was where Annie Holmes kept her stuff, but for the third time Zooey had failed to find Cera. Zooey sat by the locker and watched kids pass by, half hoping Cera would miraculously show up, and began trying to think of a way to get to whatever park she needed to get to.

Her father wouldn't allow her to go out tonight, so she couldn't go home. She needed to find a ride somehow, but the only older kid she knew to ask was Cera. Zooey was starting to get the feeling that she wasn't going to make it to the park clean up. Dejected, she stood, picked up her instruments, and headed out of the school.

The sun was bright, further mocking Zooey's wasted effort. It would be a nice day to be in a park. Her one final hope was to find her elusive idol in the school parking lot. She made her through the tangle of people, not really sure what kind of car Graham drove. She knew Cera didn't have a car, and relied on Graham, but that was about it. Perhaps she could discover which car was his by peeking inside. She walked up to a red car and peered through the windows. Nothing inside seemed to scream either Graham or Cera. She moved on to the next car down the row, but again could not find a thing. She went to car after car, and none had any sort of clue that convinced her of anything. She was becoming so engrossed in her detective work, however, that when a voice behind her called out, she nearly jumped out of her shoes!

[christophe]

His first day at school had been... mundane, to put it mildly. Christophe had sought out Llyria but been unable to even catch a glmipse of her platinum blonde head - much to his annoyance. He'd been unable to get to know anyone during his classses and, as such, was at something of a loose end once school was over for the day. No homework had - thankfully - been assigned and all he faced was an evening stuck in front of the TV or in his room playing Rock Band on his X-Box.

Alone.

It held an appeal that lay midway between zero and nil.

He wandered out of the main entrance, hands thrust deep into his pockets and head down. Cghristophe's attention was focused on the tarmac about six inches ahead of his boots. A constantly moving target but one that was oddly soothing but it was the sound of feet on that same tarmac that finally caught his attention. A girl. Young. Long fair hair. It wasn't her appearance that grabbed his interest so much as her actions. Furtive came close to describing them but it was clear she was looking for something... or someone.

"Hey," he stated in an even tone. "Have you lost your car?" Surely she wasn't old enough to drive... was she? Heaven help the pedestrians around here if so! "Need some help? What colour is it? Maybe from up here I can spot it for you," he added helpfully. Being tall had its advantages.

[Zooey Segel]

“Omigosh!” Zooey whirled around towards the voice that had so suddenly startled her. “You scared the daylights outta me!” She took a deep breath and looked the older boy up and down. He was a dreamboat! Well, he was no Graham Alderman, but Zooey knew there was only one Graham and since he was dating Cera, Zooey figured he was the best looking guy possible! “I'm not looking for my car, I don't have a car, I can't even drive yet cause I'm too young but I should be getting my permit soon and then I can drive with my mom and stuff, which will be super awesome, but no, I don't have a car.” Zooey exhaled what little breath was left, then refilled her lungs. “Thanks for asking, though. I'm looking for a good friend of mine's car. You know Graham Alderman? He's dating Cera Lamprey. She's my friend, really, not Graham so much cause I don't really know him as well but I know Cera cause she's in Orchestra with me and we both play violin but she's waaaaaaaaayyyy better than me, but I'm getting better!”

Zooey stepped away from the car and towards her new friend, extending her arm. “I'm Zooey, by the way. People used to call me Abby but it's my middle name and I thought I should probably go by my first name, which is Zooey like I said, so when I started high school I figured it was about as good of a time as any to make the change, and this is just my freshman year but it's going really really well so far and almost everyone calls me Zooey, 'cept for some of my older friends from when I was young and all.” Zooey's words were a mile a minute, though she was too lost in her own thoughts to worry if Christophe were able to catch it all.

“Anyway, I don't know what kinda car Graham drives, or if it's still here cause they might have gone to the park clean up already but I needed a ride and I was hoping I could get one from Cera, or I guess Graham cause Cera doesn't have a car and he drives her everywhere. They're totally in love and she's so lucky!” Another breath finally slowed Zooey to a halt, the pause this time actually lasting more than a second. But the silence was short lived.

“So what's your name?”

[christophe]

If she'd been startled by his arrival, Christophe - in turn - was equally so by her reaction. He struggled to keep up with her rapid reply, frowning slightly when some parts defeated his ability to translate. Alderman? Cera? He assumed those to be names and who the girl was looking for. He also grasped the fact that she couldn't drive but much after that was lost on him. Christophe thought he'd heard the word 'orchestra' but...

"I'm Zooey."

Christophe drew in a sharp breath, his brain baandoning the vain effort of trying to keep pace with the so far one sided conversation. Her name wasn't one he'd encountered before but at least he was on more solid ground now...

... at least, he was until the girl set off again on another rapid speech. His eyes widened in even further astonishment, lost more than before.

Christophe smiled and nodded at where he hoped were appropriate moments.

"So what's your name?"

Remerciez Dieu. Solid ground once more.

"I am Christophe," he replied, his accent telling her right away he wasn't a native from these shores. "Christophe Broussard," he added. "I don't known those people I'm afraid. Do you live far from here? I would be happy to offer you a lift. I don't have a car but my mother will be here soon." He felt sure his mum wouldn't mind a detour, relieved to know Christophe was finally making friends.

[Zooey Segel]

“Nice to meet you Christophe!” Zooey stuck her arm out in front of her as her chatter began to race on again. “You should really meet Cera and Graham, they're like the coolest people at the school! That's why they're doing the park clean-up thingy, cause they care about the planet and stuff, which is awesome, and I really want to help out. But if I go home my dad'll never let me out to the park cause there's too much to do around the house so I can't go home, but if you want to help with the park I'm sure that everyone would be really happy to have you!” Zooey didn't really know this at all, but she figured an event such as this was the type that wouldn't turn volunteers away.

“So where you from, anyway?” Her voice continued to chirp on, with little sign of stopping. Her teachers usually learned early in the year not to call on Zooey too often unless they wanted a to take a break from talking for a good couple minutes. For some teachers, this wasn't a problem. “I can tell you're not from around here, cause you talk funny. Funny enough that you're probably not from America. I've been to a lot of places all over the world. I was born in Australia! I went there once a few years ago, and it was really neat. I guess they say the Outback is a lot like how the West used to be in America, back when there were like cowboys and Indians and outlaws and cattle drives and all that neat stuff. I got a boomerang but it doesn't work very well.”

A beeping noise came from Zooey's satchel, which managed to get her to stop talking for a moment. She set her instruments down and began digging through the large pouch, finally managing to retrieve her cell phone. She opened in up and almost immediately frowned. “Ugh, my dad. He wants to know when I'm coming home. So whaddya think about going to the park?” Hope was in her voice, as it seemed Christophe was her last hope to make it to the clean-up. Otherwise home was the only option, where she could look forward to cleaning her room and helping to prepare dinner (or calling the Jade Garden, which was much more likely), and that usually amounted to a boring evening.

[christophe]

She was relentless. Christophe had abandoned any hope of even trying to keep pace with the conversation but he found the girl fun to be with. Zooey. Even her name was strange to him but she was friendly (if impossible to understand). He did manage, though, to grasp that her friends had gone to the park to, he guessed, clean the area. A noteworthy venture indeed and Christophe found himself warming to the unknown duo even before he'd met them.

Christophe had been poised to answer her when her phone warbled into life. "We can go to the park if you would like that," he said. "My mother would be happy to take us there if it's far or we can walk. SHe will be happy knowing I am finally making friends," he added with an uneven grin. "I would like to go with you," he said in conclusion and he waited while she replied to the text.

"But to answer your earlier question. I am French," he replied. "From Paris. I thought you were maybe English. Your accent isn't easy to place. And boomerangs are known to be difficult to tame," he added with a wink. "So, do we walk or is it better to have my mother drop us off?" Christophe shrugged slightly in the gesture that seemed second nature to those born in France. "I have no idea how far the park is from here." One friend had been made - in addition to Llyria, of course - and with the prospect of meeting even more people at the park Christophe's spirits started to lift.

[Zooey Segel]

Zooey's fingers flew across the keypad of her cellphone quickly while she talked to Christophe. She liked him, he seemed really nice, and she was very grateful for his offer of a ride. “Thanks so much, it's gonna be really really fun, I promise. I mean, the clean-up part is okay and all, but the people there will be fun and that's what will make it a blast! And you seem really nice, Chris, can I call you Chris or is it just Christophe? Or I could come up with a funny nickname for you and you can come up with one for me and that could be super fun! I'll have to think on that, though, it can't just be any old nickname, it has to fit.”

“That's awesome, France? I've never been to France, but my parents went by themselves once. My aunt came to stay with us, she was really boring. We didn't have too much fun, but it looked like my parents did when they came back. I don't think it was very fair, they usually always take us with them. Sometimes we're gone for weeks at a time and I have to have a tutor cause I miss so much school! But that hasn't happened since I've been in high school. My parents say it's too important.” Zooey took a brief moment to sigh. It was obvious she liked traveling with her parents. “And you think I have an accent? That's super neat, no one's ever told me that before! I feel like I'm from everywhere, not one place in particular. I mean, I guess I'm mostly American, I've lived most my life here in L.A., but I've been to four continents and thirteen different countries! I think my favorite was Africa, it's so neat there!”

“Oh no!” A look of shock crossed Zooey's face for a moment, then she smacked her head. “I almost forgot, I'm not exactly sure which park they're cleaning up. That's why I was looking for Cera or Graham or Annie, 's cause they'd know but I wasn't sure.”

Zooey knelt down and began digging through her bag once more, but this time all sorts of objects came flying out of her bag. Three different colored golf balls followed a notebook, which followed and old Polaroid camera that was obviously in disrepair. Finally, Zooey popped back up holding what she was looking for. “I really hope this has the location on it, and that it's still correct. This was the first flyer they put up about the event, Cera handed it to me after class a few weeks back!” She opened the paper, and luckily enough it had the name of the park scrawled across the top of the page. “Hooray!” she cried out, her excitement reaching a crescendo. She gathered her belongings back into her bag right as her phone began to chirp once more. “Ugh, Dad again!”

Zooey's face fell as she read the message. For a moment, no words came out of her mouth. Then, slowly, her brow began to furrow and she tossed her phone hard down into her back. “Dang it!” She stomped over to her instruments and sat down in between them. After a few breaths, she looked back up at Christophe. “I'm sorry, but I don't think I can go to the park. My dad said he'd be here soon. But you should still go.” The small girl held the crinkled flyer up in the air for Christophe to take. “Here's all the info, just ask for Cera Lamprey and tell her I sent you. She's real nice and she'll help you out with anything.”

Zooey didn't seem quite as loquacious anymore, and it was quite evident she was very disappointed in the events that had just transpired. She had been quite looking forward to getting to hang out in the presence of Cera Lamprey and her amazing friends. The clean-up would have been such a great opportunity to impress the older girl, but alas, her dad got in the way once again.

[christophe]

"I have never been called Chris but I like that you want to use it for my name." Back home it had often been shortened to Tof but Chris sounded nice. "I will think of a nickname for you," he added with a laugh. "And I promise you it will fit. But yes, you have an accent but then everyone here has one to me, remember?" Christophe laughed as he spoke. He was, after all, the stranger here and so every American had an accent. Just Zooey's seemed... different.

"There is more than one park? This certainly throws a... ah... hammer into things. No, not hammer. Screwdriver?" He frowned knowing that wasn't right either. A tool of some kind... "Spanner! Oui, spanner in the works." He thought that was the saying anyway. "We can try one and then if they aren't there we can go to the other."

Her phone rang once more and Zooey quickly read the message. Christophe was disappointed to find out she couldn't go to the park after all and he took the crumpled flyer from her, storing the name 'Cera' into his memory for when he got there.

"We can do something together another time," he said to try and console Zooey. He'd been able to tell she was looking forward to seeing her friends. "Do you still want a ride home?" Christophe pushed the flyer into his pocket. He wasn't sure if he'd go to the park alone as he didn't know these other people. They might not want a stranger dropping by... but then, he would always remain a stranger unless he made an effort.

[Zooey Segel]

“Okay Chris!” Zooey perked up, excited that she got to give Christophe a nickname, even if it was one common in the States. And he was going to give her one! She hoped it would be something neat. Maybe it would even catch on, and Cera could call her by that! Zooey grinned. “Yeah, I guess I never thought of it that way. I bet we all sound like super weird to you, huh? And I bet I'd have a weird accent if I knew how to speak French, even if I knew it really well, I bet I'd have an accent, huh? I wonder what it would sound like to speak French with an Australian accent? Like 'G'day, mate! Òu est le bibliotèque?'” Zooey's smile grew even wider after her joke. She was very proud of it.

“Oh yes,” Zooey answered earnestly, “there are tons of parks in L.A. There are only a couple near here, though, so we can easily rule out a lot of them. And some of them don't really need to be cleaned up cause they have staff, like at the La Brea Tar Pits. Have you seen them? They're super cool, but they're a ways away from here.” She slowed just in time to catch the end of Christophe's saying, and giggled. “A spanner? What's that? I've never heard of it before, is that like a special European tool? I know sometimes in other countries outlets are different and stuff, so maybe you guys need different tools! We say a wrench for that saying, or sometimes a monkey wrench. I don't think a monkey wrench is real, though, I think they just made it up for that saying!”

After the call, Zooey simply sat on her mellophone case. She would have offered Christophe a seat on her violin case, but it was a soft case, one not made for sitting. “Thanks, but my dad insisted on coming to get me. He was prolly afraid I'd run off somewhere if he didn't.” Her dad had been getting quite upset at Zooey for not coming home right after school. Sometimes it felt like he was wigging out way too much. She was in high school now, she was old enough to watch out for herself! “Do you have a cell phone? Here,” she pulled out her own phone and held it up to the boy, “put your number in my phone, and then I'll have it and we can hang out sometime! Maybe I'll have a big party and you can meet everyone!” Zooey knew in reality she probably couldn't get very many people to come, but she much preferred her happy world where everyone was her friend anyway. “And you'll have to call me after the park to tell me how it went!”

[christophe]

A wrench. A monley wrench? So a spanner was a wrench here... Christophe grasped that... But why would anyone want to use a sp[anner on a monkey? It seemed... pretty cruel. Only in America? Perhaps... He made a mental note to ask his mama what it all meant when they reached home.

"I have a phone, yes," he replied and he quickly entered his number into hers, offering his own back to Zooey for her to repeat the task in reverse. "If I can find the right park... and if they are still there I will let you know how it went. I hope to find your friends Cera and Graham... Is that right?" Zooey nodded enthusiastically. "Bon. Then I hope your father arrives soon as I don't think your instrument case will take a lot more of that," he added on a short laugh and with a teasing glint in his dark eyes.

"There is my mother," he added when he saw a well-known car pull into the car park. "I am very glad I met you, Zooey... and I already have a nickname for you."

He started to leave, glancing back when he heard her call out for him to 'hold it and spill'... Christophe took that to mean he couldn't leave until he'd revealed the name.

"Pétard," he said. "And I will tell you the meaning of it tomorrow. That way you have to see me again... don't you?" He waved and jogged over to the car, wondering how long it would take her to scour the internet to find out it meant 'firecracker'... A perfect way to describe her rapid way of talking and energetic ways.

He'd tell her in the morning... unless Zooey's curiosity saw her call him later tonight!