Novel Jumper

Chapter Eight

 Lilia woke slowly. She wasn't even sure why she had woken until she saw Connor's dark eyes, blinking mere inches from hers. Inhaling sharply, she scrambled into a sitting position, not even having realized she had fallen back asleep after her nightmare.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," Connor said as he drew back.

"It's fine." Lilia ran a hand through her tangled hair. Her fingers got stuck and she started untangling the offending knot. "What is it?"

"You slept through the night. It's early morning. We should probably get moving now."

"Really?" Lilia rubbed her forehead. It felt like mere minutes ago, she had been falling asleep on the uncomfortable bed.

"Really." As she stood, Connor handed her a sandwich consisting of stale bread and a bit of cheese. She bit into it hungrily, not caring about the low quality of the food. With a shock, she realized that the harrowing events of the day before had kept her from eating dinner. How long had it been since I last skipped a meal? I can't even remember...

"Thank you," she said around a mouthful of sandwich, and soon finished the sandwich.

Connor laughed disbelievingly, watching her. "You'd think that you were starving."

Lilia shook her head. "Just really hungry! Forgot to get dinner last night," she said cheerily, feeling much better with nourishment in her stomach. "I'm ready to hit the road."

Connor chuckled again, shrugging, and crossed the room to his bed, tossing her duffel bag to her. "I've packed for you. If you want to change, I can give you your privacy."

"That would be nice, thanks," Lilia said, and Connor left the room. She hoped he was standing guard at the door - she still felt uneasy about being alone after yesterday's terrifying events.

She quickly changed into a blue button-up shirt and brown capris. At least Theresa had some sort of medieval fashion sense, she thought gratefully, transferring the small figurine of the girl from her pocket to her duffel bag. Fastening her belt around her waist, she adjusted the position of the dagger until it hung at her side rather than in front of or behind her leg.

She rapped lightly on the door. "You can come in now," she called.

Connor did so. As Lilia had hoped, he had remained in front of the door.

As she folded her former outfit and arranged the items in her duffel bag to be neater than the sloppy packing job that Connor had done, she called over her shoulder, "Where will we be passing through today?"

"I'm going to try to keep our walk relatively easy," Connor told her. "I know you're not accustomed to so much walking."

"No, not really," Lilia agreed, fiddling with the stubborn, creased corner of a pant leg.

"We might have to walk through a bit of forest, but if nothing else, it'll be a pretty hike, at least."

"That sounds nice." Lilia, finally satisfied with the contents of the bag, turned to find Connor in the midst of changing. His bare, muscular back was to her as he bent over his duffel bag in search of a shirt. She whirled back around, blushing and staring resolutely at her duffel bag.

"What?" Connor asked innocently. Then, he laughed. "Not used to that either, are you?"

"My parents would have killed me if I was ever alone with a boy who was taking off his shirt," Lilia said, imagining the looks on their faces if they could see her now. Then she blushed even deeper, realizing how she sounded.

Connor just continued to laugh. "It's safe to look now," he said teasingly. Lilia took a deep breath, prayed that her blush was fading, and grabbed her duffel bag, turning around to face a now fully clothed Connor.