Chapter 3:
A scream jolted Jim awake. What the.... He left the thought unfinished as he bolted out of bed, and ran to the room next to his. She was fleeing the unknown space and collided head on with the him.
"AAARRGGGHH!!"
He clamped one hand over her mouth and pinned her arms behind her back with his other. She twisted and shook and kicked, resulting in his grip on her tightening. When she finally quieted down enough for him to look down at her he noticed, for the millionth time in the past week how pretty she was. With long, golden brown hair gently curling around her face, jade eyes that now met his, glittering with anger and hurt pride, the longest eyelashes he'd ever seen, skin that was slightly tanned, and a small, red rosebud mouth. The first morning she didn't "wake up" really. She just ranted and raved while her face was flushed with fever. When she had awakened two days later, she didn't remember who she was, where she was, or where she was from. His mom had said she had amnesia, probably because of the trauma of three days before, but a week or so later and she still hadn't regained her memory fully. She remembered bits and pieces, but nothing important. Such as her name, how old she was, where she was from.
Zandra took advantage of the fact that he was a little worn down and was relaxing his grip on her hands by biting the hand that covered her mouth hard. He instinctively let go of her with a yelp and she ran back into the room she'd just fled and quickly glanced around for a hiding place. She noticed a half open door and ran into it, slamming and locking the door behind her.
"HEY!" The boys voice sounded annoyed and slightly angry. "Open that up!"
"Why should I?" Her voice was resentful.
"Please come out?" She could tell he was making himself calm down.
"Tell why I should come out."
"Because otherwise---"
"I don't even know who you are!"
"Sure you do. I'm Jim. Remember me?'' He heard her draw sharp breath.
Zandra sank to the floor. her legs suddenly unable to hold her up as memories came flooding back to her foggy brain. Breath Zandra, she told herself . It's just a dream, pinch yourself and you'll wake up. She pinched her arm hard and blinked rapidly. Nothing happened. She pinched herself again, this time harder. And again nothing happened. She fought down the sudden urge to cry, but a half sob escaped her lips.
"Hey...Are you okay in there?"
"Um...I---I guess so. For the most part." The words were soft and Jim strained to hear her through the door.
"Do you want to come out and talk about it?"
"I don't want to talk about anything." Her voice was huffy and he thought she sounded like she was trying not to cry.
"Would you be willing to come out and eat something?" She was quiet for several minutes.
"Th-that would be okay....I guess." The door opened slowly and she emerged into the soft light of the rising sun shining through the rooms only floor length window.
"Thank you." She sounded somewhat ashamed of herself. He decided to leave well enough alone and began to walk to the hall, Zandra following meekly.
"Where am I?" Zandra asked abruptly and was somewhat satisfied with his startled jump.
"We've been over this---"
"We have?"
"Yes, we have. You're in Benbow, Mon---''
"Montressor. Yes, I know that. Where am I right now?"
"What do you mean?"
"What is the place? Your home? A hotel? A bed'n'breakfast? What?"
"Yes, it's my home. It's also an inn. The Benbow Inn to be specific."
"Oh..."
They where at the staircase now. Jim started down, slowing his pace to match hers.
"Is Morph here?''
"What?'' She had seen Morph a couple of times before, but every time she'd seen him previously the shape-shifter had to be re-introduced to the girl.
"Morph. The shape-shifter Silver gave you before he ran away from the R.L.S. Legacy."
He gave her a blank stare. He'd told her a very little bit about the Treasure Planet, but not about Silver or how he'd acquired Morph.
"You know, Silver, the cook, on the R.L.S. Legacy, the ship you went to Treasure Planet on. Come on! You can't have forgotten!''
"Of course I haven't forgotten! Um...Yeah, he's here somewhere." He gave a two-toned whistle. "How'd you know about him?"
"I'll tell you if you take me solar surfing today."
"What! If you think I'm going to take you SOLAR SURFING, you're crazy! I don't even know if you're okay or not. And besides, you're just girl."
"Of course I'm okay! When was I not? How would you know what I'm like anyway? And what does being a girl have to do with it?!" She gave him a deadly look.
"Oh, fine---" He was cut off by her arms being thrown about his neck.
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"
"On two conditions: One: you tell me your name. And two: you tell me how in the world you know about Treasure Planet."
"Okay, my name is Zandra and---" She trailed off when Jim looked at her with a quirked eyebrow.
"Would you prefer Alexandra Marie Florida Tatiana Rushana Cortez better? And if you ever call me by my full name I'll disembowel you.'' He arched his eyebrows and decided to leave it alone.
"Zandra it is." Morph suddenly appeared out of nowhere and began to circle Zandra's head jabbering in a high, squeaky voice.
"OHMIGOSH! He's so cute!" Zandra squealed as the shape-shifter came up to her and nuzzled her cheek.
"That means he likes you." Jim said, smiling at his old friend.
"How cool is that?" Morph began chirping "How cool is that? How cool is that?" and buzzing around her head and continued mimicking her and Jims words until they reached the kitchen.
"So, what do you want for breakfast?"
"Could I try a...purp?" He tossed her one from the heavy laden fruit bowl on the counter.
"Does it need to peeled or anything?"
"Is that a question for someone your age to be asking?"
"Well, considering I've only seen animated forms of a purp before. I'd say it's safe to ask."
"Whatever. It tastes better with the peel."
"So, when are you taking me solar surfing?" She took around a bite of purp.
"Mmmmm, these are good!" She swallowed and stuffed another bite into her mouth.
"Yeah, they are pretty good. We'll go as soon as we finish breakfast."
She gulped down the rest of the purp in a matter of seconds.
"I'm ready!"
"But I'm not." He grabbed a purp out off the counter and took a leisurely bite out of it, savoring the taste.
"Would you hurry up!" She looked at him impatiently.
"Naw, I like to eat slowly in the morning." He took another bite and chewed it slowly. She glared at him. he returned the glare with a sickeningly sweet smile. The glare deepened and she grabbed his free arm and twisted it behind his back. He gave a yelp of pain.
"OW! You're breaking my arm!"
"No, I'm not, but you will finish your purp on the way, or I'll show just how close I can come to breaking it."
He stuffed the rest of the purp in his mouth and twisted his arm around so she was the one with an arm coming close to breaking.
"OW! OW! OW! Didn't your mother ever teach you to be nice to girls?"
"Sure did, but that's beside the point. Please hold still."
She froze in her spot and he released her arm.
"Thank you ever so much. Now, shall we be going?"
"But of course. " She muttered, following him out the door. He grabbed his solar surfer from it's spot on the back porch, slung it over his shoulder and led her to the coach stop.
