Chapter 21:

"Morning sleeping beauty." Jewel laughed quietly as she pulled out a chair for Zarabeth to sit at.

Setting down her tray, Zara tried once more to rub the sleep from her eyes as she sat beside her friend. Looking around the table, the girl noticed that almost everyone was already finishing up their breakfasts.

Cane nudged Cygnus as he caught Zara's attention from across the table. "Looks like someone had a short night."

The girl picked distractedly at her food, the lunar eclipses looking less than appetizing as she met Cane's glance. "Good thing it's the weekend, right?"

Cygnus joined in the banter as he gave Zara a knowing look. "I guess Jim's off to a late start too."

Looking around the table, Zarabeth suddenly noticed that Jim wasn't in any of the seats around them. "He's still asleep?"

Talyn took a bite of the powdered spheroid in his hand, dusting the sugar off of his glove before speaking through the pastry. "We wouldn't know."

"But you're his roommates." Zarabeth was growing more and more confused as she watched the faces of the boys change, each one now marked with bewilderment and surprise.

Cygnus leaned further over the table, trying to read the girl's face as he spoke slowly. "Jim didn't come in last night."

"What?"

Talyn looked from Zara to the other boys then back at Zara. "We thought maybe he was with you."

The girl swallowed hard, her mind reeling as she tried to make sense of what people were saying. "We were in the common room till close to three, but that's the last time I saw him. Are you sure he didn't just come in and leave early?"

Cane shook his head, pushing his tray aside. "No, we're sure. His bed wasn't slept in."

Zarabeth's mind was swimming. Leaning an elbow against the table, the girl ran her hand through her wavy hair as she tried to think. "No one's seen him today?" Looking about the table, each person denied or shook their head in reply.

Cygnus' voice was low and hesitant as he said what was on everyone's mind. "We didn't worry 'cause we thought for sure that Jim would be wherever you were."

Zara abruptly stood from the table, throwing a distracted reply to everyone's blank stares as she started walking toward the outside door. "Hold on."

Unsure of what she was up to, Cygnus and Talyn both rose to follow Zara as she left the dining hall.

Zarabeth desperately tried to think as she pushed open the door in front of her, trusting that her feet were taking her where she wanted to go. Reaching into the pocket of her dark leggings, the girl pulled a small key from where it had been hiding. Zara's heart began to pound hard and fast as she finally stood facing the large storage shed behind the dorms. Her hand trembling slightly, the girl inserted the key into one of the small doors, the lock giving way with a sharp 'click'. Zara stood there for a moment, unsure of what she wanted to see inside. The girl came back to her senses as she heard a pair of feet making their way toward her from behind. Twisting the metal handle, the heavy door swung open on creaky hinges as Zarabeth looked inside the small dark room. Sitting against the far wall, just as it had been left before, was Jim's solar surfer.

Now even more confused than before, Zara released a heavy breath as she leaned against the metal door frame. Without turning around, the girl spoke to the boys she knew were behind her, confusion evident in her voice. "It's still here."

Talyn was the first to speak, looking over the girl's shoulder as he caught sight of the surfer. "So, what does that mean?"

"Jim hasn't left or anything. I-I don't know where he is. It doesn't add up."

Talyn joined the two by the shed. "I'm sure he's fine. If he's not back tonight, then we'll go from there."

Zara nodded mechanically, her mind distracted as she tried to think positively. It just didn't feel right. It didn't make sense. Where could Jim be?

Zarabeth spent the rest of that day in a trance. She tried to concentrate and be present with everyone, but she couldn't help but be worried. Zara's neck was beginning to get stiff from constantly looking around the room every other minute, just waiting for Jim to suddenly show up.

After no breakfast and hardly any lunch, Zara knew she should at least try to eat her dinner. She sat there for a long time, doing nothing but stare down at her tray, prodding at it with her fork every once in a while.

Worry behind her voice, Anaise tried to get Zarabeth's attention as she leaned over the table. "Hey, I'm sure Jim's fine."

Jewel picked up from there, pushing the girl's tray closer to her as she smiled confidently. "Zara honey, it's not gonna do him or you any good if you starve to death! Come on, the bonzabeast is good tonight."

Zarabeth stared down at her food, her mind elsewhere as she slowly stood. "I-I'm going to bed. Wake me if anything happens. See ya, girls."

Genevieve turned around in her chair as she watched her friend walk away, her voice low. "We will. Don't worry."

Once inside her room, Zara stood blankly between the four beds, for who knows how long, her mind a mess of thoughts and emotions as she tried to think. The girl eventually made her way over to her bed, propping her back against the wall as she looked out into the Etherium through the window. She watched as the misty star-dust clouds changed from a bright pink to a deep purple and blue, evening turning into night.

"Jim..." She whispered his name into the empty room, trailing her fingers against the cool glass. Where was he? A flood of confusing emotions had been constantly surging through her that day, but now she could separate them. She was confused. Everything about this whole situation had been a mystery, one that she didn't know how to solve. She was doubtful. Everyone was telling her to think positively, that Jim would be fine, and that he could take care of himself. It didn't feel right, none of it did. She was afraid. A feeling in the pit of her stomach was telling her that something was up. Jim couldn't just disappear into thin air. Or if he were leaving, he'd tell her or one of his friends at the least. No, something was definitely wrong. But what? Where could she possibly look? There was nothing to do but sit and wait.

Most of all, Zarabeth felt alone. This feeling of isolation, of abandonment, hadn't been felt by her in a long long time. She'd always felt emotions very strongly, even when she was a child. When her parents died, she hardly understood why they were gone, but she knew how to feel. She felt alone. Zara realized at that moment that since that first day aboard the Legacy, the day she'd met Jim, not a day had gone by but that they were together, even if it was only for a brief time. Jim had been, since that day a year and a half ago, a permanent fixture in her everyday life. What else was she supposed to feel when the biggest part of her heart was missing?

"Come back to me."

Silence. No news. Nothing happened. The following day proceeded just as the one before. Everyone was beginning to worry, to wonder what could have happened to Jim, but no one had the answers. The boys took turns going through the dorm building while the girls checked the grounds and some of their regular places in town. Everyone tried to stay positive, for Zarabeth's sake, if nothing else, but they each began to worry.

Making her way back to her room, Zara was ready for another sleepless night, afraid of what would find her in her dreams if she slept. Reality was just as much of a nightmare as she could have in her dreams.

Crawling under the covers, Zarabeth released a deflating sigh as she rolled over to face the wall. She didn't want to go to classes the next day, but she knew that she had to. They'd looked everywhere for Jim, everywhere that they could go, with nothing to show for it.

A sound, like paper sliding against stone, broke through the silence in the dorm room, causing the girl to look up from where she lay. Glancing across the room toward the door, Zara noticed something that hadn't been there before. A small white envelope was lying on the floor.

Zarabeth picked up the paper, turning the envelope over in her hand, she saw no writing on either side. Uncertain of what it might contain, the girl slowly tore at the flap before pulling a small sheet of paper free. With trembling hands, Zara swallowed hard before unfolding the crisp paper, revealing the two words which were scrawled across the white background.

"Still Smiling?"