Persisting Anyway

10) So Wake Me Up When Its All Over

So, just to clarify, chapter 8 was a dream. It was Sydney's dream when she was unconscious.

Beeping. That is all I heard, I couldn't see anything, but I felt something squeezing my index finger. I felt drained of energy, so I made no attempt to open my eyes.

I have no clue how long I laid there with my eyes closed, listening to beeping, but eventually I slowly opened my eyes. Looking around, I noticed a bed and a chair. On the end of my bed, Carter's head was laying in his arms. A faint snore escaped.

I laughed softly, "Rough day?"

Carter shifted from one arm to the other. He was such a deep sleeper, I actually found it adorable. His face was facing towards me, he would deny it completely but I saw a small hint of drool.

Nevertheless, I ran my fingers through his hair. "Thank you for being here." I whispered. I ran my hand through his hair two times before dropping my hand back on the bed, next to his head.

I sighed deeply and looked around the room. Something warm took my hand and encased it. "You're welcome," a response came. I looked over to find Carter, awake. He was smiling. It was a comforting smile, and I couldn't help but smile as well. My hand was still encased in both of his hands. I stared at my tiny hand compared to his for a second before looking outside.

It was dark.

"What time is it?" I asked suddenly.

Carter pressed the home button on his phone, "about four in the morning."

"Oh my goodness, what are you still doing here?" I questioned incredulously.

"Your mom had to go back home to watch your brother. I told her that I would stay here and call her if anything happens."

"Bradley, that's my brother." I informed him. He nodded to show he comprehended what I was saying.

"I should call your mom and tell her that you are awake."

"No!" I exclaimed. "uh, I mean, don't wake her up, she needs her rest."

Carter slowly placed his phone down and looked back up at me. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I'm just tired and I have a little headache."

"You should sleep. I'll let you go to sleep."

"I can't right now! Not with you watching me." I protested. Carter laughed.

"That is true." He shrugged one of his shoulders. "Since you are not going to sleep, and it would be rude of me to fall back asleep," I laughed at his reasoning, "then I guess we can play a card game." Carter continued. He walked over to his backpack on the chair and pulled out a deck of cards. "What do you want to play?" He held out the deck, I grabbed it.

"Um," I drawled as I pulled the cards out and started shuffling. I moved to to the ground, folded my legs together, and placed my hands in my lap. "How about BS?" I suggested.

"Fine by me, I hope you enjoy loosing." Carter challenged.

"You have never played with me, Jones, prepare to be shocked." I dealt the deck out.

I looked at my hand and analyzed how I would play. It looked like it would be mostly bluffing. Unfortunately, Carter was extremely good at picking up on bluffing. He called it every time. The times I was lucky enough to actually have the right card, he still called "Bologna Sandwich!" I laughed and showed him my card.

"That's it! I give up! This game is....stupid." Carter threw his cards down in mock frustration. I held up my plethora of cards to show that I had the larger portion of the cards. When he saw my handful he laughed so hard that he clutched his stomach and rolled onto his side. I could not help but laugh as well. Eventually, the laughing progressed from thinking it funny to just running-on-adrenaline-because-it-was-the-middle-of-the-night laughing.