Hello! I'm sorry that I'm such an erratic author. Please forgive me. Well, I'll let you read chapter three now.
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Chapter Three-Scare
Nami sat idly on her neatly made bed in her small room. Staring at the "trash dump" before her, Gustafa's melodious tunes caught a hold of her senses. He must be pretty desperate to have to play music for a living.
"Lunch!" Tim's voice interrupted. Instantly Nami hopped from her bed, thrust open the door, and darted down the stairs. There is nothing like one of Ruby's meals!
"Good morning, Nami," Tim and Ruby chimed simultaneously when Nami entered the kitchen.
"Whatever," she tried to discourage their happiness, but that wouldn't work on Tim on Ruby. They'd been housing Nami for over a year and knew almost every little nuance of her sardonic and flippant personality. Ruby just set down a delicious plate of one of her special dishes undaunted by Nami's barrier. And if anyone there would've payed very close attention,they might have perceived a brief semblance of a smile on Nami's face.
"Decided to sleep in late today?" Tim began the conversation. Nami inanimately nodded. I guess it is 10:00 in the morning. Suddenly, a vigorous thud shook the inn and perked everyone's attention.
"Oh no," Ruby sighed heavily. "It's Van again." Nami tried her best to keep from bursting out in laughter. She knew how much of a nuisance the portly salesman was to her "proprieters." Everytime that familiar pounding came from upstairs, Ruby slipped out malign (at least in Ruby's opinion they were mailign) words from under her breath. Tim on the other hand, took the passive approach. He almost broke out in a cold sweat whenever Van entered the premises. Nami, of course, always saw to it that she was far away whenever Van came to stay at the inn. So with much reluctance, Tim exited the kitchen to "greet" Van. Ruby, who was too busy sulking over her misfortune, didn'y even notice when Nami rapidly disappeared from the inn. Ahh, fresh air.
Once again, a rivulet of Gustafa's inticate music meandered to Nami's observative ears. It had a lighthearted skip in it, but Nami tried not to notice. However, the distraction began to get the better of her. That was a funny thing about her personality. Although she constantly tried to ignore all the distractions that might lead her off the distinct path of "shut everyone out," nine times out of ten, her curiosity got the better of her. So within her nature, it wasn't long before she found herself planted directly in front of the "lunatic minstrel," as she called him. She stared in amazement as his lithe fingers fiddled up and down his treasured guitar. He was so assimilated into what he was playing that he didn't even notice she was there until he'd played the last note.
"Hello," he bid her with surprise written all over his face.
"Hi," she forced under her breath, eyes averting him.
"My, that's a fun one to play."
"Is that all you have to do all day, play music? If so, you really need to get a life." Suprisingly, instead of retorting in disgust, he calmly offered an explanation in true "Gustafa" fashion.
"Actually, music allows me to become one with nature and express myself. It bridges theprodigous gap between reality and imagination, creating not only a wonderous sensation, but a spectacular experience as well." Had not Nami been quite so "urked," she would have allowed her jaw to hit the ground. Gosh, this one's a toughy. Nami was utterly defeated…for the moment. You just wait. I'll come up with something she inwardly plotted as she walked away.
Next, Wally and young Hugh came into view doing their daily exercises. Anyone who's desparate enough to run all day has problems too. She wasted no time in passing the two fitness fanatics to take a walk up to Romana's mansion. Immediately, more music met her ears, but this time it was the young Lumina's lucid piano that produced it. The music seemed to ease Nami a bit, and it got louder the nearer she inched towards the mansion. When she reached the cast-iron gate, she stopped and checked herself. At that very moment, a familiar face gently opened the door and stepped out, Lane.
Nami was secretly relieved that he looked to be in good spirits, but quickly reprimanded herself for caring at all. Nevertheless, her latent girlish nature began to leak out. My, how handsome he looks. With his chestnut locks rumpled in stubborn clumps upon his head and those deep brown eyes scanning his surroundings--wait! Scanning his surroundings? Oh no! But it was too late, for the gawky farmer had already noticed her leaning against the gate, staring straight at him. His eyebrow raised in confusion, and Nami just wanted to crawl away and hide in a corner. Oh no! He's coming in for the kill! H-he's coming right this way!
"Hello," he congenially greeted her as if nothing had ever happened between them. Next, Nami made a major mistake from her own book of rules, she paniced.
"H-hi," she hesitated uneasily.
"I guess I never really got your name."
"N-Nami."
"Oh…well in any case, nice to meet you." He then really tested the new acquaintance and offered his hand. For some odd, odd reason, she accepted his offer and shook it. Oh, you big dummy! "Well, I have to go."
"Fine," she attempted a hiss, but it didn't quite have the proper humiliating ring to it. I'm ruined! This time, Lane simply rolled the comment off his back with no problem at all. Cheeks firing, head spinning,Nami nearly sprinted to Blue Bar.
"Muffy!" she shouted after bursting into the bar like fool. "Muffy, pour me something strong, really strong!"
"What's wrong? Did you about have a heart attack when you saw Lane?" Muffy teased.
"Very funny, now hand it over!"
"You could say 'please.'"
"Please!" Luckily, Muffy stopped with the chatter and poured Nami…something. Without any hesitation, she poured the strong liquid down her throat and harshly slammed the glass down on the counter.
"That ought to wake you up… or put you out." Nami began to feel weak, as if her strength was rapidly leaving her. Her body seemed to be shutting down, and then darkness conquered her.
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Nami woke to the worst headache she'd ever experienced in her life. It took a moment for her brain to register what had happened. Ohhh…that's right. Muffy…and the drink. When she stirred, her whole body ached intensely. Oh, I shouldn't have. The fact of the matter was that Nami had never had an alcoholic beverage before, with the exception of an occasional Moon Trip, and those had hardly even a drop of real alcohol in them. Just face it, Nami. Drinking is not something you got from your mother. Ohhh, don't ever do that again. Suddenly, Nami's mood took an abrupt shift from confusion to fear.
What happened back there with Lane? Where you exposing yourself to someone. No! You can't do this to yourself again Nami. You know the game. When you get close to someone, you get hurt…or you hurt them. To no surprise to her, hot tears were painfully scalding her cheeks. She knew that deep down, the enduring emotional scar of Joe still hurt her, a scared little girl, deeply. In fact, it was still holding her back. Should she shut herself away from everyone, or should she open herself up? She didn't want to be hurt again, ever again, but if she never had anyone, life would be so unbearably lonely. Body and soul, equally hurting, Nami covered her face and quietly wept.
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Hi readers! I kind of wanted to mix humor and drama together, but don't be afraid to tell me if it's too much. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I'm doing. ; P