I wake with a jolt, a scream crawling up my throat and I have to swallow it back down so that I don't actually scream. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears, my breathing unsteady.
I hate these nightmares so much.
I look to my side and Gizmo is curled up next to me, and it calms me slightly so I start petting him before I lean down to give him a small hug, my anxiety finally disappearing completely.
I sit and stare at nothing for a few moments before I grab the walkie talkie on my nightstand, holding the button down for a few moments before I speak. "Larry?"
A moment later his deep voice comes through the walkie talkie. "Yeah, Sal?"
"You got room for your best friend?" I start to slide out of bed, already knowing the answer. When doesn't he have room for my company?
"Of course I do!!! Get your ass down here, loser." Larry starts to laugh through the walkie talkie and I shut it off, because his laugh gets all weird and loud through the speaker. Then again he's all weird and loud so I guess it's not much of a difference.
~~~
I watch Larry for a while as he silently draws, the only thing keeping his room from being completely quiet is SF playing in the background. It'd usually be hella loud except it's late at night and Lisa would murder Larry if it was that loud.
"What do you think is the worst way to die?" I ask, my hand brushing through my really tangled hair. It's something I do when I start to get anxiety, and Larry knows.
Larry glances at me before he stops and thinks about the question. "Maybe... Dying alone? Or an overdose?" (Wink wink) He raises a brow before he asks, "What about you?"
I shrug. "It's weird, but, my worst fear is getting electrocuted to death." (WINK WINK)
"Really? I would've thought maybe... Well... You know." Larry looks away awkwardly, hinting at the whole dog and shotgun thing.
"Well yeah, that too I guess. But I don't know, electrocution just... Freaks me out." I shrug again, and Larry nods.
"Maybe your dumbass got struck by lightning in another lifetime." Larry laughs at the thought, and he starts to draw little lightning bolts on his paper.
"I hate you." I nudge him in the ribs, and he starts to laugh more, causing me to chuckle with him. It's impossible to get mad at Larry.
That's a lie, I got mad at him once when he dropped my glass eye on the floor, then he continued to wipe it clean with his shirt. (His shirt definitely wasn't the cleanest)
"How could you hate me?" Larry pouts, and he starts to draw a stick-figure me under the lightning bolts.
"Why did you draw me so short?" I glare at him before I look at the drawing again. My body was smaller than my head.
"What do you mean? That's accurate."
"That is not accurate!!" I shove him and he falls off the bed, and it was loud enough that Lisa would definitely wake up.
"Are you trying to get us killed!?! Act asleep!" Larry whisper shouts as he tosses the sketchbook across the room, and I reach over to turn off the lamp and we both plop down where we were at.
Larry started to fake snore right when Lisa swung the door open. I could only imagine the scowl she had on her face.
She walked over to the edge of the bed, staring at me before she moved onto Larry, and she obviously did something to him because I hear him yelp and cry before Lisa starts yelling at him.
"Larry Johnson!!! What time do you think it is that you want to be so damn loud!?" She yells at him, and I had to bite down on my tongue to hold back my laugh.
"But-! Sal threw me off my bed!" Larry replies, and I can bet that he was pointing at me and frowning like a child.
"Sal looks asleep to me, unlike you!" She sighs, before I hear her walking towards the door. "Just go to bed, Larry."
The moment the door shuts, Larry throws a pillow at me, and I start laughing.
"I hate you!"