it was an accident! {open}

[LIZZIE SPENCER]

Lizzie could hardly believe she was spending her free period at the library. It was Friday! Her Friday free periods were dedicated to finding places she'd never been before. Sure, they were near the school because she had a class after. But there were always new places and things to discover. The library... well, she'd already commited every nook and and cranny to memory. (However, if tested on this knowledge, she'd fail miserably because the old things had to make way for new ones).

Lizzie had checked her planner yesterday and it was then that she remembered the Science test. It was on Monday which meant she had the weekend to study. She needed a book, though. This book was one her teacher had suggested (luckily, Lizzie had asked so she didn't have to worry about her classmates snatching the book from right under her nose). So, she had to go to the library to check it out for the weekend. Otherwise, she'd completely forget about it later.

The library was, as to be expected, quiet. It wasn't exactly her favorite thing as she'd grown used to the noisy streets of New York. She recognized most of the students having familiarized herself with most of the student body. That wasn't important now, though. People would just be annoyed with her if she interrupted their studying.

Lizzie appreciated the subjects-based aisles. The library could get so confusing sometimes. Lizzie had to doublecheck her planner for the book title and author before she started browsing the shelf. After two look-overs and no finding it, she began to worry. But then! Right up there, just barely out of reach!

Lizzie didn't want to bother anybody for help and she wouldn't even know where to look for a step stool. Carefully stepping up on the lowest row, Lizzie stretched to the best of her ability. Her fingertips grazed the binding. What happened next was a blur of pages and books and hair. "Owwww," Lizzie moaned, pushing the hair out of her face.

She sat up slowly, rubbing the back of her head. Quite a lot of books were on the floor with her but -- of course, she thought as she looked up -- the one she needed sat cozily on the shelf. She couldn't do anything without making a mess, could she?

outfit

[JACKSON HIRSCH]

Now, Jackson Hirsch didn't hate the educational part of school. Though he'd rather spend his time doing something else, he knew this was necessary and therefore didn't complain. Besides, if he failed a class, he'd probably be kicked out, and he would not be able to handle his mother's disappointment. So he was going to spend his free period in the library. On a Friday.

It was times like this that he wished he had a cell phone, so he could text Grace any of his mates to come study with him in the library. Well... Grace had a class this hour anyways, right? Home Ec or something. He wished he was in that class. Any excuse to have some of Grace Holladay's cooking was accepted and adored.

But anyways. Studying. Yeaah.

As soon as he got all his books and papers scattered across the table in a way that made sense to any disorganized teenager, he realized he didn't have a book he needed. Wonderful. Sighing, he got up to go search for it. When he did, he heard a crash and went to the aisle to investigate.

Well, there was a girl there, surrounded by books. A pretty girl. Teenage-boy-senses kicked in and he realized he had to help her. She could have a concussion or something. Because that wasn't just an excuse to talk to her. Pfffft.

Rushing over, he reached out a hand to help her up. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking at the mess, and then up to where she was looking. "Let me guess, you need this one?" He grabbed it with the hand he wasn't using to help her up.,Smiling, he added, "I'm Jackson, by the way."

[LIZZIE SPENCER]

Lizzie sat there awhile longer, waiting for a librarian to come and tell her off. She’d surely be kicked out in no time and – oh dear, what if she was banned from the library? She looked around with wide worried eyes, not at all wanting to get in trouble. She started to gather the books around her, organizing them into small piles on the floor. She put them together in alphabetical order by author but she was so very flustered, she had to keep correcting them.

Relief flooded through her when somebody asked if she was okay. Lizzie looked up at them. He had a lot of hair and a nice smile and Lizzie was pretty sure his name started with a J. Lizzie grinned at him, taking his hand and pulling herself up. “Oh, thank you so much!” She sighed, brushing her hands against her jeans and straightening her top. Thank goodness there were teenagers here that were willing to help a clumsy girl. Lizzie watched as he reached for the book. He made it look so easy, though h was taller than she.

“I can’t thank you enough!” She exclaimed, taking the book and holding it close. Now that she had the book, she didn’t plan on letting go of it. “My name’s Lizzie.” She extended her arm for a handshake, still smiling. Lizzie was just so pleased that he’d helped her. She was also quite relieved that a librarian had yet to come see what had happened. “I thought for sure I’d be in huge trouble over this.” Lizzie looked back down and remembered that she’d started to put the books back together in some sort of order.

She kneeled down and, somehow still keeping hold of her book, scooped up a couple more so she could return them to the shelves. Smiling at Jackson (J, she knew it), Lizzie shrugged as if to say well, I can’t just leave it can I? “If you’re not busy, I’d love some help in putting these back.” He was in the library, though, wasn’t he? He most certainly must be busy. Studying for a big test perhaps or rewriting an essay. “But if you have schoolwork to do, I can handle this.” She added quickly, sounding embarrassed.

[JACKSON HIRSCH]

Jackson smiled again, noticing she had started putting the books into piles. "Not a problem," he said. For any ulterior motives he might of had, being a teenage boy, he was still glad to help. He was a helpful person, that Jewish boy. After he had the book out of his hands, he was about to bend over and start picking up the other ones, but she started to speak. Lizzie. Lizzielizzielizzie. He would have to remember that. Sometimes he forgot names or got them mixed up with faces and things like that.

"I like the name Lizzie," he said, British accent as strong as ever. He shook her hand, then shrugged. "I think the librarian is deaf to anything except whispering. Talking, she's fine with. The crash of books, fine. But if you're making an effort to keep your voice down, noooo." Rolling his eyes and smiling (yes, again), he looked around for the librarian. Nope, no one else was coming to see what had happened. Cool. Yeah, this was completely fine.

It was then that he realized he really didn't have any plans for tonight. Yeah, nothing to do on a Friday night wasn't exactly his forte. Maybe he could hang out with Grace... no, he would study. He had to, really. It's not like he really thought he would get anything done during his free period. Honestly, he was a teenager, and he got distracted. But since he had nothing to do later tonight, he could study then, and maybe help out this girls some more.

"Of course I can help," he said with another smile. He almost always smiled, but sometimes it faded a bit and he had to make it brighter when needed. He bent over and started picking up books, shrugging. "I can do it later. It's just studying, after all." He normally didn't take this much time to study, but he was just having trouble with this chapter. Not a big deal.

[LIZZIE SPENCER]

How she hadn't noticed his accent sooner, she'd never know. Once she recognized it, though, Lizzie leaned close (probably too close, but she sometimes had trouble with personal space; she sat right next to strangers on the subway for goodness sake and actually had conversations with them) and grinned. "You're from England?" She hadn't meant to ask but it came out more a question than a statement. The accent would have answered that easily enough but she couldn't help to double check.

Lizzie giggled, covering her mouth with her hand for a moment. "I hadn't noticed." How silly that was, for a librarian to notice whispering, the very thing students were supposed to be doing. Pleased to see that she'd made a mess of things without getting in trouble, Lizzie relaxed. She no longer had to worry about the librarian kicking her out. "Thank you!" She said again, for what felt like the hundreth time. Perhaps she ought to hold back on the thank you's for awhile... For all she knew, it was entirely annoying.

Still holding onto her book somehow, Lizzie began to pick the other ones up, carefully so as to make sure they didn't fall again. She'd spent so much time putting them back in order, having to redo it when they ended up wrong. Lizzie made a mental note to no longer try fixing things if she was flustered. It just made everything harder to deal with. Lizzie glanced at him with wide eyes before smiling a little, "you can't say 'just' studying. Studying is... important."

For one defending studying, she sure did seem hesitant to call it important. Honestly, though, she didn't like reading or taking notes for school. Not when there were better things to do. Shrugging, Lizzie slid some books back onto the shelves she could reach. "I guess it depends on the class." She realized a couple of the books weren't in the right order and she huffed an annoyed sigh before correcting them. "I'm really quite terrible at this."

[JACKSON HIRSCH]

Jackson's accent honestly was fading a bit from spending all these years in America and the last three around Americans. But it was still present (especially when he wanted to use it to add to his charm), if his ear for accents wasn't as up-to-par as it used to be. But once she leaned closer to him (which admittedly he didn't mind at all) and asked the question, he noticed, and grinned wide. "Born and raised in Birmingham." Well, he had come here a while ago, but still. Seven was pretty much the end of his childhood, right? And he barely knew he wasn't in England because he never got off the farm back in Iowa. "You too? Are from England, I mean." He couldn't place where she was from just by her accent, but he could tell she was from there.

It was really cute when Lizzie giggled. Jackson's smile was neverending, but he did think of Hollie there for a second, and her laugh. He couldn't help but compare girls to her sometimes, though for some reason, they never even came close to Grace Holladay. They were just friends, though, so it wasn't a big deal. "It's fine. Honestly, I don't see why anyone wouldn't help a pretty girl like yourself." With one sideways glance at her while he placed the books he had picked up where they belonged next to the ones she had, he focused on rearranging them in the proper order.

Because a hint of doubt had corssed his face after he said that and he didn't want Lizzie to see that.

At the comment about studying, he shrugged. "I can study tonight, though..." She hadn't sounded so sure, so he looked at her. "I'm just guessing, but it doesn't seem like you think it's that important." With a shrug, he took a step back and made sure the books were in the right order. "I agree, it totally depends on the class."

He looked at her and laughed. "Terrible at what? Look, Some of mine are out of order, too." With that, he rearranged some of the ones that were off.

notes; sorry this is so terrible and kind of lat but i lvoe lizzie and uh yeah right in the otp but this is pre graceson anyways so