Chapter Eight: To the Last Swig
The clouds inched across the sky the next afternoon. I sighed. ~This is one long day. I can't stand all of this waiting. I want it to be the evening, so Jack can teach me how to freakin' read!~ I walked over the railing at the edge of the boat. I couldn't help but notice how Anamaria kept talking to Jack all day. ~I bet she wants to catch Jack's eye.~
I looked at the ocean. The waves crashed merrily on the starboard side of the ship. I closed my eyes as I inhaled the salty scent of the sea spray. The light, cool breeze and the call of the seagulls calmed my mind. I drifted off into a slight daze as I leaned too far. My mind remained tranquil as I began to plummet.
~~~~
"Breathe, Emily, breathe!" I heard a rough voice shout as strong hands repeatedly pumped my stomach. I snapped out of my reverie into reality once again. ~What happened? Where am I? Am I dead?~ I coughed out large amounts of salt water. I felt a towel slide across my face.
"Emily, are ye alright? Ye scared me half to death. Please never do that again." Jack hoarsely whispered to me. I gazed all around. ~I must be in the captain's cabin. Nice.~ I also noticed that I was placed on a rough bed. I looked around the room and noticed that it was the only one. ~This is where Jack sleeps. Hehe.~ Jack helped me up. With support from Jack, I was getting out of the room. As soon as I exited the cabin, I was face to face with Anamaria. She grabbed my arm and pulled me below deck.
"That was a nice move, Emily, getting Jack to save you. Yeah, 'e's a sucker for that. Jack can't resist saving a girl in trouble." Anamaria beamed. I chuckled to myself.
"It actually wasn't a move or anything. I kinda fell asleep and I don't know what happened afterwards."
"Ye don't, but I do. After ye fell off Jack had us slow down the ship and drop the anchor while 'e performed his signature dive into the water and pulled ye above the surface." ~Wow, he can swim and dive! That's sexy!~ "We threw 'im a rope and pulled ye two aboard. 'e carried yer limp body to his cabin, and now yer awake and well."
Anamaria and I spent the rest of the afternoon doing basically nothing. We had a few staring contests, all of which Anamaria had won, and I learned the basics of sword-fighting. When he was free, I challenged Jack to a swordfight. He knew that I was just playing, and he won easily. We also gawked at Jack as he sailed the ship. ~He is so good-looking when he is concentrating.~ He didn't see us. ~At least, we think that he didn't see us. I mean, he didn't say anything.~ The day continued in painful anticipation. I have never been so anxious about spending time with a man.
~~~~
"Shut the door." Jack whispered to me as I excitedly tiptoed into the kitchen. I closed the door gently and sat down at the small, round table across from Jack. He pulled out a quill, ink, parchment, and several books. I looked at him confusedly. ~That is a nice quill, and that ink looks expensive. Where and why did Jack get those?~
"Jack, can many of your crew read and write very well?" I asked him even though I already knew the answer.
"Nah, only Mr. Cotton and I can." Jack answered.
"Well, then why do you have such nice ink and an expensive quill?" I studied him as he thought about it. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense to have ink and quills if nobody else can read or write." Jack nodded in silent agreement and then spoke.
"To trade or sell, really." Jack explained. "Either that or I stole it without knowing I did." He smiled and all of his gold teeth glinted in the candlelight. He picked up the quill and dipped it into the ink bottle. He placed one piece of parchment in front of him and started writing letters.
"These are the letters of the English alphabet, savvy?" He pushed the parchment towards me. I held it up to the light so that I could see it clearly. Jack passed me the quill and ink. "I want ye to copy all of the letters five times each." As I wrote he told me about all of the letters, and that they have two forms, upper case and lower case. Jack explained that some letters are called vowels, and many letters have two or three different sounds. Jack said each of the sounds. I had trouble concentrating as he repeated them several times for me. ~Oh, he is so hot.~ He had me repeat the sounds back to him. I was a fast learner. I only had problems with the rules and exceptions of the English language. ~Why did there have to be so damn many!~
"Here, let's try some simple words now that ye've got the basic idea." Jack took another piece of parchment and wrote down some words. He passed the parchment to me when he was finished writing it.
"Erm, ugh, th-, the?" Jack nodded and took it back. He wrote another one.
"Iys? No, is." He nodded once again.
"Uh, um, kah, cat!"
"Good luv, good. Keep up the good work." ~I can't believe it! I'm actually reading! I've read three words: the, is, and cat!~ For another hour or so, Jack kept feeding me simple words. I was soon very good at reading. I could get most of them at the first glance.
"Jar, give, mine, Jack, has, joy, in, his, rum" I was saying these words as if I had memorized them. Jack wrote another word and showed it to me. "Love." I said this word so familiar to me, and yet so unfamiliar. I looked into Jack's eyes. I had never truly been in love. I have never even kissed a man. Desire took over my body so suddenly. All I could think about was Jack and how much I wanted to be with him. Jack stopped and stared back into my eyes. I lost control of myself. I inched close to Jack and closed my eyes. I could sense that he was leaning in as well. I felt his hand touch my cheek. I stopped breathing and waited for the blow.
WHAM! The door opened with a deafening slam. Jack and I paused, only an inch from each other's face. We turned our heads to see who had opened the door. It was Will Turner. Jack grabbed my arm and quickly pulled me behind the kitchen counter. I looked around. Apparently, Will had not seen us. In fact, he wasn't even awake. ~He's sleep-walking! He interrupted the best moment of my life, and he was sleeping!~ We watched as Will walked right past us. He opened the middle cabinet and pulled out a bottle of water. He drank it heavily to the last swig. He began to swirl the last bit of water around in the bottle. I laughed out loud. Jack swiftly grabbed my mouth and pulled me towards him. ~Yes! I am sitting in his lap, and his hand is covering my lips!~ Will put the water back and strolled towards the door. He slammed it shut. As soon as we were sure that Will was out of earshot, we burst out laughing.
"I've noticed that someone has been drinking all of the water and leaving only one last ounce!" Jack managed to say through fits of laughter. "Tomorrow we shall see if Will remembers any of this."
"No, let's see if Elizabeth knows about his sleep-walking sessions!" I bantered. Once we calmed down, I could barely move my mouth. It had been paralyzed from laughter.
"It's getting late, luv. We should be leaving now." Jack stood up. I got up from the floor as well.
"Wait, Jack, we need to decide when to meet again for another lesson?" Jack turned around again.
"How about same time tomorrow; is that fine with you?" ~No, I want to have another one sooner.~
"That would be wonderful." Jack nodded and smiled. He left the room. I walked over to the table and sat down in Jack's chair. ~I had him. I was so close, and he had me.~
The clouds inched across the sky the next afternoon. I sighed. ~This is one long day. I can't stand all of this waiting. I want it to be the evening, so Jack can teach me how to freakin' read!~ I walked over the railing at the edge of the boat. I couldn't help but notice how Anamaria kept talking to Jack all day. ~I bet she wants to catch Jack's eye.~
I looked at the ocean. The waves crashed merrily on the starboard side of the ship. I closed my eyes as I inhaled the salty scent of the sea spray. The light, cool breeze and the call of the seagulls calmed my mind. I drifted off into a slight daze as I leaned too far. My mind remained tranquil as I began to plummet.
~~~~
"Breathe, Emily, breathe!" I heard a rough voice shout as strong hands repeatedly pumped my stomach. I snapped out of my reverie into reality once again. ~What happened? Where am I? Am I dead?~ I coughed out large amounts of salt water. I felt a towel slide across my face.
"Emily, are ye alright? Ye scared me half to death. Please never do that again." Jack hoarsely whispered to me. I gazed all around. ~I must be in the captain's cabin. Nice.~ I also noticed that I was placed on a rough bed. I looked around the room and noticed that it was the only one. ~This is where Jack sleeps. Hehe.~ Jack helped me up. With support from Jack, I was getting out of the room. As soon as I exited the cabin, I was face to face with Anamaria. She grabbed my arm and pulled me below deck.
"That was a nice move, Emily, getting Jack to save you. Yeah, 'e's a sucker for that. Jack can't resist saving a girl in trouble." Anamaria beamed. I chuckled to myself.
"It actually wasn't a move or anything. I kinda fell asleep and I don't know what happened afterwards."
"Ye don't, but I do. After ye fell off Jack had us slow down the ship and drop the anchor while 'e performed his signature dive into the water and pulled ye above the surface." ~Wow, he can swim and dive! That's sexy!~ "We threw 'im a rope and pulled ye two aboard. 'e carried yer limp body to his cabin, and now yer awake and well."
Anamaria and I spent the rest of the afternoon doing basically nothing. We had a few staring contests, all of which Anamaria had won, and I learned the basics of sword-fighting. When he was free, I challenged Jack to a swordfight. He knew that I was just playing, and he won easily. We also gawked at Jack as he sailed the ship. ~He is so good-looking when he is concentrating.~ He didn't see us. ~At least, we think that he didn't see us. I mean, he didn't say anything.~ The day continued in painful anticipation. I have never been so anxious about spending time with a man.
~~~~
"Shut the door." Jack whispered to me as I excitedly tiptoed into the kitchen. I closed the door gently and sat down at the small, round table across from Jack. He pulled out a quill, ink, parchment, and several books. I looked at him confusedly. ~That is a nice quill, and that ink looks expensive. Where and why did Jack get those?~
"Jack, can many of your crew read and write very well?" I asked him even though I already knew the answer.
"Nah, only Mr. Cotton and I can." Jack answered.
"Well, then why do you have such nice ink and an expensive quill?" I studied him as he thought about it. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense to have ink and quills if nobody else can read or write." Jack nodded in silent agreement and then spoke.
"To trade or sell, really." Jack explained. "Either that or I stole it without knowing I did." He smiled and all of his gold teeth glinted in the candlelight. He picked up the quill and dipped it into the ink bottle. He placed one piece of parchment in front of him and started writing letters.
"These are the letters of the English alphabet, savvy?" He pushed the parchment towards me. I held it up to the light so that I could see it clearly. Jack passed me the quill and ink. "I want ye to copy all of the letters five times each." As I wrote he told me about all of the letters, and that they have two forms, upper case and lower case. Jack explained that some letters are called vowels, and many letters have two or three different sounds. Jack said each of the sounds. I had trouble concentrating as he repeated them several times for me. ~Oh, he is so hot.~ He had me repeat the sounds back to him. I was a fast learner. I only had problems with the rules and exceptions of the English language. ~Why did there have to be so damn many!~
"Here, let's try some simple words now that ye've got the basic idea." Jack took another piece of parchment and wrote down some words. He passed the parchment to me when he was finished writing it.
"Erm, ugh, th-, the?" Jack nodded and took it back. He wrote another one.
"Iys? No, is." He nodded once again.
"Uh, um, kah, cat!"
"Good luv, good. Keep up the good work." ~I can't believe it! I'm actually reading! I've read three words: the, is, and cat!~ For another hour or so, Jack kept feeding me simple words. I was soon very good at reading. I could get most of them at the first glance.
"Jar, give, mine, Jack, has, joy, in, his, rum" I was saying these words as if I had memorized them. Jack wrote another word and showed it to me. "Love." I said this word so familiar to me, and yet so unfamiliar. I looked into Jack's eyes. I had never truly been in love. I have never even kissed a man. Desire took over my body so suddenly. All I could think about was Jack and how much I wanted to be with him. Jack stopped and stared back into my eyes. I lost control of myself. I inched close to Jack and closed my eyes. I could sense that he was leaning in as well. I felt his hand touch my cheek. I stopped breathing and waited for the blow.
WHAM! The door opened with a deafening slam. Jack and I paused, only an inch from each other's face. We turned our heads to see who had opened the door. It was Will Turner. Jack grabbed my arm and quickly pulled me behind the kitchen counter. I looked around. Apparently, Will had not seen us. In fact, he wasn't even awake. ~He's sleep-walking! He interrupted the best moment of my life, and he was sleeping!~ We watched as Will walked right past us. He opened the middle cabinet and pulled out a bottle of water. He drank it heavily to the last swig. He began to swirl the last bit of water around in the bottle. I laughed out loud. Jack swiftly grabbed my mouth and pulled me towards him. ~Yes! I am sitting in his lap, and his hand is covering my lips!~ Will put the water back and strolled towards the door. He slammed it shut. As soon as we were sure that Will was out of earshot, we burst out laughing.
"I've noticed that someone has been drinking all of the water and leaving only one last ounce!" Jack managed to say through fits of laughter. "Tomorrow we shall see if Will remembers any of this."
"No, let's see if Elizabeth knows about his sleep-walking sessions!" I bantered. Once we calmed down, I could barely move my mouth. It had been paralyzed from laughter.
"It's getting late, luv. We should be leaving now." Jack stood up. I got up from the floor as well.
"Wait, Jack, we need to decide when to meet again for another lesson?" Jack turned around again.
"How about same time tomorrow; is that fine with you?" ~No, I want to have another one sooner.~
"That would be wonderful." Jack nodded and smiled. He left the room. I walked over to the table and sat down in Jack's chair. ~I had him. I was so close, and he had me.~