Oh my God! I'm sooooo sorry it's been so long. I hope everyone forgives me. It wasn't my fault! Honest! Here's the next chapter:

Chapter 10: The Opportune Moment

God, it's terrible being on a ship during a storm! I'm just glad I'm not out on deck! I found myself thinking as I sat on the bed in the captain's quarters. All the rocking back and forth violently really gets to you after a while. Seriously, I wouldn't recommend it any time soon.

My hat was on a desk and as I watched it – there wasn't much else to do – I thought for sure it would fling to the floor. But it didn't, if just slid back and forth.

So. Bored.

"Scott," I whined for the tenth time, wishing he would appear sometime soon.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw some sparkles. "Scott!" I cheered, jumping from the bed just as the ship rocked so I ended up on the floor.

"Hey, Hayden," he said, helping me up. "How are you holding up?"

"Well, pretty good. But some parts are boring 'cause there's nothing to do. Like now." It was so very true. I wish… "Ooh, ooh! I wish I had a pet skunk!"

He raised an eyebrow. "A skunk?"

"Yeah! But it has to be very, very obedient. And it can only listen to me. And I don't want it to be fully-grown yet, but not a little baby either. It has to be a girl, too. I'll name her Lily!" I was getting excited. The last pet I had was a gold fish named Bob and he only lasted a day before my mom flushed him. Maybe I over fed him…Oh, well!

"Okay, wait a minute. I am not giving you a skunk if it only listens to you!" He crossed his arms.

"Fine," I mumbled. "It can listen to you, too."

"That's better. If it only listened to you, well, that'd be a recipe for disaster."

I stuck my tongue out at him. It's not fair! I've never had anyone listen just to me. But I knew it was true. At least about a skunk. I mean, if it did only listen to me, there's a very long list of things that could go wrong. Things that would be bound to happen. I can't help it. It's just that chaos seems to follow me where ever I go. Kind of like with Jack.

"Okay, one skunk named Lily coming up," Scott said with a funny look on his face as if to say, 'Seriously, a skunk?!'

I just grinned as I saw some sparkles and a black animal with a white stripe. "Oh!" I cried. "You're so cute!" I picked up my new pet. "Thanks, Scotty." I smiled at him.

He smiled back, then looked down at Lily. "Alright," he admitted. "I guess you're kind of cute." He pet her head.

"I think she's adorable!" I said happily. The ship gave another violent jolt. I almost fell over but caught myself just in time. "Oh," I said, looking around the room with only one bed. "I wish this room was cut in two with two beds." I didn't want to argue with Jack again over who would get the bed. Immediately a bed appeared and a wall that started right between the two doors that lead to the deck split the room into two. "Yay!" I cheered. "My own bed! Now Jack and I won't have to fight over who'll get the bed! We'll both get one."

Scott laughed. "Oh! Here," he said as I stroked Lily's fur. He held out his hand, palm up, and it began to sparkle. A pouch materialized. "Berries," he explained. "For Lily to eat."

I took the blood-red pouch from his hand. There was a long string on it so I could tie it to my belt. "Thanks." I paused, looking up at my best friend. "Scott, when I'm here, what's happening at home?" I was curious about this. I mean, did time stand still or was I just missing?

"I knew you'd ask sooner or later." He gave a small laugh. "For you, it'll seem like you're here for several days. At home, you'll really only have been gone for roughly two and a half hours. Your body will appear as though you're asleep, but your…" He searched for the right word. "Spirit is really here."

"What if someone tried waking me up?" I asked, thinking of my mom. She may yell sometimes, but she always apologized afterward. Always. She was a good mom. The best, in my opinion. She's always there when I needed her, though she may be a bit impatient at times. Plus, her and my dad did buy me all that pirate stuff.

"Don't worry, I'll be keeping an eye on your house, too, in case that should happen. If it does, I'll take care of it." He scratched behind Lily's ear.

The storm seemed to be moving away; the thunder was growing distant. The ship was rocking more steadily now, the waves growing gentler.

"Well, if there's nothing else, then I should go."

"See ya later," I said cheerfully as he disappeared with a wave. I sat on the new bed in my newly divided room, playing with Lily. Then she curled up in a ball in front of me and I pet her while thinking aloud.

"You know, I really like Jack," I told the dozing skunk. "More than I've ever liked anyone, and now…" I sighed. "Seeing him like this, in the flesh, still seems like the most wonderful dream I could ever wish to have. And Scott being a fairy." I laughed softly to myself. "Well, it's just too good to be true!"

Lily lifted her head sleepily to look at me and tilted her head to the side. Oh! I thought happily. She's just so huggable loveable!

"I wanted to let Jack kiss me last night," I admitted to her. "So badly. And if Will hadn't been there…well, let's just say we probably would've gone a lot farther than kissing." I pictured Jack leaning closer and closer, our lips almost touching. Then Will's voice, bringing me back to my senses. "I was ready to kiss him, but…I wasn't ready." Lily tilted her head to the other side. "Oh, sure I know that doesn't make sense. I guess…" A thought struck me. "I guess I'm just waiting for the opportune moment."

She licked my hand that was petting her.

"I don't know when it'll be, either," I told her as if she had said something to me. She looked up at me, her eyes big, then yawned. "Yes, I'm sure I can wait!" She laid her head back down, curling up once more and began purring softly. Huh, I didn't know skunks could purr. "Alright, I'll forgive you, but don't talk to me like that again." I continued petting her. "Yes, I'll let you sleep now."

------------------------

Scott materialized back in his room. He was exhausted. It took a lot of magic to give someone the temporary ability to grant wishes, but if he hadn't down that he would've had to listen to her thoughts and wait for her to make the wish that brought her to the Caribbean. He didn't like listening to people's thoughts, though, as that seemed like a major invasion of privacy.

He collapsed on his bed and glanced up at the two, small, flat-screen TVs in front of him. On one screen was Hayden talking to her new pet. On the other was Hayden "sleeping" peacefully in her bed at home.

Scott sat up long enough to hit the Power button on the one with Pirate Hayden, then fell backwards, back onto his bed. He stared at the sleeping form for a moment before looked away.

She was so beautiful. He sighed. They had tried dating around two years ago, when they were 15, because everyone had been saying they made such a cute couple. At the time, it had seemed like a good idea so they gave it a go. It hadn't felt right, though. They just hadn't clicked – like he assumed a couple should. They decided to quit dating and just be friends, like before. It had been for the best.

But not too long after that, Scott began to feel something. Like…his heart would start to beat faster whenever he saw Hayden. Or even when he'd think about her. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her. It took a while, but soon he realized what was going on: He loved her. It was that simple. But she seemed completely oblivious to any of this. Especially when her Pirates of the Caribbean obsession started and she began worshipping Jack Sparrow. Her entire room was a shrine dedicated to the pirate captain! And he felt…well, jealous.

But Scott would do anything to keep his best friend happy, which is why he gave her the temporary ability in the first place. It might pain him to see her with Sparrow, but it was what she really wanted. As long as she was happy, he…would try to be.

Sure, he'd thought about telling her how he felt, but what if she didn't like him? What if their friendship was ruined because it? What if they went out of a while, then broke up and hated each other? Though, he could never see himself hating Hayden. No way!

He looked at his bedroom walls. They were covered in random posters. Some of them were of bands – such as Taking Back Sunday and the All-American Rejects. Others were of movies – one being of Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann. There was also an old one of Hilary Duff. He used to love her and just never got around to taking it down. Then he glanced at his door, which was filled with tons of pictures. Many were of him and Hayden, others were of him, his parents, and his little sister. His gaze lingered on one that was taken on Halloween. Him and Hayden had been forced to take his sister, Veronica, trick-or-treating. It was of the three of them in their costumes. Veronica was a fairy princess. Hayden, of course, went as a pirate. He had decided – actually, no. Hayden had forced him – to go as a pirate, as well. She had tried to convince his little sis to be one, too, but she refused. Repeatedly.

Veronica was quite a bit younger than Scott. She was nine-years-old – eight in the picture, and he had been 16 at the time. Ah, memories.

Maybe… He sighed. Maybe someday I will tell her how I feel. I'm just waiting for the opportune moment.

-----------------------

There! I hope you liked it. When I first started this fic, I had planned to have Hayden and Scott be just friends – neither of them liking the other. But my plans changed, as you can tell.

I'm currently writing the next chapter. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post it, though. I'm going on vacation next week (for spring break). I might be able to post it the weekend after that, though – hopefully, if I finish writing it (I'm not very far into it at the moment). I'm also writing a fan fiction with a friend of mine. I'm not sure when we'll post it, but when we do, we decided to post it under her name. I'll tell you when we do. It's about two girls who were watching DMC and at the end, Jack jumps out of the TV. It is filled with humor-y goodness.

Anyways, reviews will be appreciated. I REALLY want reviews! And I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. I love you all! Virtual cookies for everyone! (Unless you don't review, then I don't love you. Pout.)