Page 19 of After All This Time

MOM

ME

are you guys okay? i’m starting to get worried

MOM

We’re fine. I’m just helping Laura get some air

ME

why didn’t you tell me you were going to do this before you left?

MOM

I’m sorry, Sweet Girl. Laura was freaking out in the bathroom, so I suggested we go outside for some fresh air. I think it’s helping a little

How’s Noah?

ME

sleeping like a log

MOM

He’s been so wired today. He deserves to rest. Alright, we’ll be back up soon

ME

okay

I glance over towards the window down the hall.

The sky has turned pitch black and all the desks are lit up thanks to desk lamps.

I’ve been here since around one in the afternoon, while Laura, Noah, and Mom have been here for several hours. Still, we’re all ready to drop at any moment now.

“Did I fall asleep?” Noah asks, his sleepy eyes looking right up at me.

“Yes, you did.”

He takes his head out of the crook of my neck and sits upright, rubbing his eyes with the knuckles of his index fingers. “Was I snoring? Please tell me I wasn’t snoring. That would be so embarrassing,” he says.

“You weren’t snoring.”

He’s looking down both sides of the hallway for Laura. “Where’s my mom?”

“My mom took her to get some fresh air. They’ll be back up here soon.”

He nods his head slowly, puckering his lips out.

After twenty minutes, our mothers make it back to us.

Laura looks so exhausted, it breaks my heart just to look at her. Her eyes are sunken in with dark circles underneath and her face is partially covered in red splotches. She can barely keep her eyes open. Her mascara has melted around where her dark black eyelashes start.

“I’m going to stay overnight with Lizzie,” Laura says.

“No, you’ve been here all day. You need to get some rest,” Mom tells Laura.

---