We finished our sandwiches in comfortable silence.Pearl started filling the sink with soapy water while I collected the plates and passed them to her.Wannabe took the cue to stand next to Pearl with the drying towel in his hand, ready and waiting.
“I’ll dry,” he grumbled when Pearl tried to shoo him away.“Anchor’ll give me hell if I don’t earn my keep.”
Pearl snorted.“Anchor gives you hell no matter what you do.”
“True,” Wannabe said.“But this way, he doesn’t yellasmuch.”
It only took us a few minutes to do the dishes, and then we headed to the cozy couch with a crocheted blanket tossed over the back of it.A shelf full of VHS tapes that looked like they were older than me was underneath the VCR, with a small TV on top of it.
“I know everyone has streaming now, but Skull Island does not,” Pearl laughed as she ran her fingers over the faded plastic spines.
“I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie,” I chuckled.“Let alone one on a VHS.”
“I know, right?”Pearl pulled a tape free and held it up triumphantly.“Here.Pirates of the Caribbean.The first one.I watched it once, and if I remember right, the sound gets fuzzy halfway through.”
“I love that movie, and I can just stare at Orlando Bloom even if I can’t hear what he is saying.”I fanned myself with my hand and laughed.
“See, we are meant to be friends because we aren’t going to fight over the same guy.You can have Orlando; I will take Johnny Depp.”
“Yeah, Johnny is all yours,” I reassured her.
“Oh thank God,” she said, sagging with relief.“I can’t share Johnny.”
“You’re both freaking crazy, and I’m telling Anchor,” Wannabe called from the table.
Pearl silenced him with a glare.“You will do no such thing.Did you forget that you are supposed to forget?”
“Yeah, he forgot to forget,” I laughed.
“Jesus,” Wannabe murmured.
“Start forgetting, Wannabe.The second Anchor comes through that door, I don’t want you to even remember your name,” Pearl warned, but she couldn’t help but laugh.
I snorted.“No danger of that.”
Pearl and I settled onto the couch while the opening trailers played, and Wannabe dropped into the recliner with a satisfied grunt.
As the movie started, Pearl curled into the opposite corner of the couch with her legs tucked under her, and her cup of tea cradled in her hands.Every so often, she’d quote a line under her breath before Johnny Depp even said it, a habit she didn’t even seem aware of.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Wannabe did not find it as funny.After the fifth time she did it, he scolded her to shut it.
I liked being here.
And for the first time since stepping foot on this island, I didn’t feel like a stranger they’d accidentally scooped up with the weekly groceries.
I felt… connected.
At one point, the film glitched, giving Jack Sparrow an extra-long dramatic blink.Pearl and I busted out laughing while Wannabe snorted without looking away from the screen.
My head sank back against the couch cushion, and a slow exhale slipped out before I could catch it.
My eyes drifted toward the door.
Prime was out there somewhere.Doing… something.Something dangerous, probably.Something important.Something that made his jaw tighten and his shoulders tense and his voice drop into that low, controlled tone that did terrible things to my heart rate.
I shouldn’t have been thinking about him.
