XAN & JIM.
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Xanโs room has hardly changed at all over the last nine years: a single bed with plain white covers is pushed into the top left-hand corner; thereโsย a wardrobe, a desk, its surface clear except for her computer ( placed dead centre ), and its drawers kept neatly arranged. Thereโs a bookcase on the back wallโand the books that it holds are the only real difference from when she was ten, thirteen, fifteenโwell, those and the square skylight that Jim had allowed her to have installed in the ceiling only couple of years before.ย
She stared up through the glass now, trying to pick out the stars, pinpricks of light through a thick layer of cloud, but the heavens were too overcast for her to be able to see anything. She shifted onto her side and then onto her stomach, tossing and turning but unable to get comfortable. The sheet had quickly rumpled and it rubbed at her skin through the cotton of her pyjamas. Eventually, she wound up on her left side, eyes wide in the darkness, staring out at the rest of the room. All those shapes that had once been familiar felt suddenly alien after a term away at Trinity: the wardrobe loomed over the end of her bed, looking black and hostile; the tiny circle of green light on her laptop charger winked at her like an eye. Xanโs skin flushed hot and then cold. She shivered and lay very still. It took her several minutes to work up the courage to sit, to swing her legs over the side of the bed, and finally to stand. Half-expecting hands to shoot out of the shadows and grab her any moment, she moved towards the door. The hallway beyond her bedroom was dim, but she was surprised to see that, at the very end of it, there were lights still on in the kitchen. Perhaps Sebastian was having trouble sleeping tooโthat was hardly unusualโor maybe it was her father, who often worked late into the night.
She edged into the room to find Jim sitting at the centre island, and wondered for a few seconds about retreating and leaving him to whatever it was that was keeping him up. Deciding that this would be pointless ( no doubt, heโd heard her coming down the corridor, silent though she was ),ย she slipped through the door with a quiet, โAlright?โ, and padded across the tiles to stick the kettle on. โWhat is it?โ she asked him, wary of disturbing him and yet wanting to help if only heโd let her; she could do with the company, and--she thought--maybe he could do with the rest.ย โWhat are you working on? Is there anything I can do?โย


















