Nightide

If it's in someone else's point of view she becomes Zariah, but if it's in her POV she is Zera. If you guys want me to I'll put Zera's POV, when it's her POV or just Overall POV. Just let me know what you all prefer.

Chapter 6

Jeremy grabbed his bags then continued inside the room. He shut the door with his foot. When he lifted his eyes, Zariah stood before him in nothing but a nee length white towel. But to Jeremy's shock, Zariah was obviously not a boy. Her long wet blond hair hung down the front of her body. He jumped back at Zariah's short scream, tripped over his back and landed on the floor trying to hide his eyes. Since when was Zariah a girl? He heard the bathroom door slam shut.

He stood slowly and gaped at the dark brown door. If this Zariah was a girl, what had happened to the real Zariah? And who was this girl. As he stood there, he heard a sob. He stepped to the door, but paused when her breathing caught. "Hey," he began, "umm, I…I'm not going to tell on you or anything. And I'm sorry for walking in on you like that. If I'd know you were a…well, yeah obviously I would never do that." He ran his hands through his hair. He noticed the breathing had calmed. "You can come out," he said after ten minutes of standing.

"I-I can't," she replied, but again to Jeremy's shock, her voice sounded just like Zariah's.

"Why not?"

"Clothes are in the drawers beside my bed upstairs."

"Hold on." Jeremy turned and darted up the stairs. The second he made it to the top floor his eyes began their search for the drawers. His feet rushed him over and his hands jerked the drawer open. He bit his lip at what he saw and his face flushed. Definitely the wrong drawer.

He went to the second drawer and brought out a shirt and pair of pants. He groaned when he realized he had to get her underclothes. He returned to the above drawer and quickly grabbed her undergarments. Filled with embarrassment, he raced half-way down the staircase and leaped over the rail.

His feet thumped on the ground and alerted the girl in the bathroom. "You okay, Jeremy?"

"Umm, yeah," he replied; "Clothes are by the door. I'm going to stand outside for a minute." He hurried outside and shut the door loud enough that the girl could hear.

Zera sighed and quickly parted the door, grabbed her clothes then changed. As she was placing her clothes, she grew embarrassed. This was going to be more difficult than she had thought. After, she had placed her pants on, she wrapped the ace bandages around her torso, then placed her baggy shirt on.

She then slipped out of the room and upstairs. She replaced her belongings and sat on the bed. The door below opened, but it crept. Jeremy's feet touched the floor. "Zariah?" he called. Zera sighed. Okay, she had to face him. She stood and ventured down the stairs.

He looked up at her and gave a shy smile. His blond bangs covered his eyes. He had rearranged them, Zera noticed. "Yeah, Jeremy?"

"How is it that you're a girl?" he asked, but his eyes drifted to their feet.

"It's complicated, Jeremy. I don't think you need to know." He looked at her.

"I'm not going to tell. I promise. And I'm not Zach, so don't worry about getting blackmailed. I'm not like that. I just want to know why I've got a girl—that looks just like Zariah—dressed up like a boy living in my room."

"Umm…" Zera paused: "Let's take your things up to the room. I don't want someone walking in and hearing."

Jeremy grabbed his bag and forced himself to follow Zariah and not stare at her long blond swishing hair. He wanted to know who this girl was and what she was doing there, but more than anything he wanted to talk to her about why she was posing as Zariah.

Once upstairs he dropped his bag and sat on his bed. Zariah sat in a chair and faced him. "Go ahead and ask your questions."

He had to stop himself from bouncing up and down on his bed. "Okay. Why are you pretending to be Zariah?"

"I knew you'd ask that. Uh, my twin brother is named Zariah and he met you guys during the summer. You know that already, but I don't know much about it. A few weeks ago, the day school started, he got in a car crash. You heard about that. Well, he's terrified that Zach will be upset and kick him from the band because he has to use the money for hospital bills. He's also upset because the concert was coming up soon. Zach had told him that he'd announced that Zariah would be joining the band and would be preforming at the next concert. There's no way he could recover in time, so I agreed to become him and join the band; however, I wasn't supposed to get caught nor was I supposed to stay long. I'm just here till he gets out."

"Okay. So you're here because your brother is afraid of Zach, yet you don't fear him?"

"You're wrong there, we fear the power his money has, not him. Zariah could knock Zach out anytime he wanted; he's just not stupid enough to risk it—unlike me."

"Yeah, I noticed, you have more of a courageous spirit. By the way, what's your name?"

"I think it is best if you don't know. You might end up slipping."

"Awe, I wanted to know the pretty name that fit such a pretty face," he stated with a pout. She looked down, her blond bangs concealed half of her face, but he could see the blush on her cheeks. He smiled.

"I'll tell you some other time. Right now, I need to fix my hair and become a boy again. Thanks for keeping this a secret."

His smile brightened, "No, problem. Actually, it makes me feel great." He put his fist over his heart, "I'm the first person to know; therefore, I'm your protector. I'll do my best to help keep your secret safe."