Treasure Planet: The Real Treasure

Chapter 16

Jim was woken up by one of Mr. Snuff's many appendages making a farting noise and blowing air straight into his face. When he attempted to bat it away, he fell out of bed and sleepily groped around for his boots. After getting the first one on, he reached for the other, but it hopped away.

"Morph?" Jim grumbled, clearly exhausted and not ready to get out of bed yet. He rubbed his hand across his face to try and wipe the sleepiness away.

He crawled over to where Morph had hidden and tried to find him.

"Morph it's too early for this," he said. Suddenly, he felt the little pink blob kick him in the butt, hard.

"Hey! Morph!" he yelled, now wide awake. The floating boot stuck its tongue out at him, turned back into himself, then picked up Jim's real boot and flew around the room

"Come back here," Jim shouted, trying to catch the little blob.

"Come back here!" Morph repeated.

Jim wasn't watching where he was going, and ran right into Raphaelle's hammock. He fell to the ground, landing on top of her.

***

I was interrupted from my dream when I fell out of my hammock. I gasped as I hit the floor. After my mind grasped what was going on, I realized something, or more accurately someone, was on top of me.

It was Jim.

Jim was lying on his stomach across my body, and he looked very flustered. He was blushing and scrambling to get off of me. When he finally managed to pull himself together, he stood up and looked down at me. I slowly sat up, keeping a guarded expression.

"Umm, hey. Good morning," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

I gave him a blank stare, not saying a word. He acknowledged my reaction and sighed.

"Look, about last night, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean any of it. I was angry and frustrated at myself. But that doesn't give me the right to yell at you. I hope you can forgive me," he said, not quite looking me in the eye. He looked completely ashamed of his behavior.

I stared at him a moment more, then smiled. My expression confused him. I stood up and gave him a hug, which he graciously returned.

"I forgave you last night," I whispered.

"Wait, you were awake?" he asked, pulling out of the hug. He held onto my shoulders at arm's length so he could check and see that I was being serious.

"Yeah," I said sheepishly. He smiled and blushed a little.

"Jim," I started, finding courage that I didn't know I had. I looked down at my shoes as I spoke, still not brave enough to look in his eyes while I laid my heart out on the line. "I really care about you. And I want to be more than friends. I'll understand if you don't feel the same way but I just needed to let you-"

"Shh," he cut me off. I squeezed my eyes shut, expecting him to reject me. But when I felt his fingers under my chin, tilting my head up to look at him, I opened them. My eyes instantly met his, and I was captivated.

The look he was giving me put a strange tingly feeling in my stomach; a good feeling. His eyes held mine for what felt like forever before they slid down to look at my lips. He started leaning forward. I instinctually stood on my tip-toes so that he wouldn't have to lean down so much. He was at least half-a-foot taller than me. His eyes were half-closed, and I let my eyes slip shut as well. I almost shivered in anticipation.

I could feel his hot breath against my lips. We were just about to kiss, when Jim's head lurched forward and banged my forehead.

"Ow! Morph!" Jim yelled. I saw the little pink blob had kicked Jim with his own boot. He laughed and flew out on deck.