Carter opened her eyes and stretched out her arms. Within seconds, Zac walked in, looking as sick as ever.
"Hey Car, why are you sleeping in the same bed as my brother?" He asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
Carter smiled. "I didn't wanna bother you. You were sleeping and I figured I might wake you up if I went back to sleep in your room." Carter pulled the covers off of her and very carefully climbed over Taylor. He mumbled and rolled over.
"Should we wake him up?"
Carter shook her head. "Nah. How do you feel?"
Zac shrugged. "My arms feel weighted down. I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Still feel like you're gonna puke?"
"No. I don't feel sick anymore. I just don't feel healthy."
Carter grinned. "Maybe if we went for a swim it would give you some more energy."
"Hmm. I don't see how it could hurt me."
"Alright. I'll run home and put my bathing suit on. I'll meet you out there."
"Cool."
Carter climbed over the balcony and went down the hall to her bedroom. She pulled her black halter top bathing suit out of her top drawer and was about to start changing when she noticed that Melissa was sitting on her bed.
"What was wrong with you last night?"
Carter shrugged and pulled off her shirt. "I was sleepwalking."
"I didn't know you were a sleepwalker."
"You don't know much about me."
"And I suppose you think you know everything there is to know about me?"
Carter shrugged. She took a closer look at Melissa and noticed that she had her hands behind her back. Carter took a deep breath. "Could you leave so I can change?"
"No. I want to give you something first."
"I don't have time Melissa. I'm going swimming with Zac."
"No really. Here." Melissa stood up and walked over to Carter.
Carter flinched when she handed her the small wallet sized picture of her mother. She took a deep breath and snatched it out of Melissa's hand. "Where'd you get it?"
"You left it in your pocket again. You have to stop doing that, Carter. Pretty soon you won't even have a picture of mom left. It's pretty sad the way you throw that thing around and not even care where it goes."
Carter glared at her sister. "Get out, Melissa."
"It's my room too."
"OUT!" Carter took a step towards Melissa and screamed in her face. A warning of a big sister.
"Whatever." Melissa rolled her eyes and left the room.
Carter changed into her bathing suit and made her way outside. Zac was already in the pool, so Carter took the time to appreciate where she lived. She did that quite often, in case she ever had to move away and leave her home.
She loved the way her back yard always smelled like freshly cut grass, even though nobody ever mowed the lawn. The warm air always hit her arms and made her smile. She could lay in her backyard for hours and stare up at the clouds, telling Zac which one looked like a rabbit and which one looked like a bowl of mashed potatoes. Zac said they all looked like mashed potatoes to him.
But most of all, Carter loved the differences between the two houses. Even though they were technically joined, they still had so many differences. Zac's side looked yellower on the outside, no peeling paint, no dirty front porch. Carter's side looked older, more run down. But that didn't matter to her. She liked the way people could tell that two very different families lived in that house.
"Hey Goober. Thought you were gonna wait for me?" Carter threw her towel down and stepped up onto the diving board.
"You take too long. For a chick who doesn't even brush her hair, you take like.. hours to get ready."
"I brush my hair. It just doesn't take as long as yours does." Carter stuck out her tongue and dove off the board. She swam all the way under water to the shallow end where Zac was standing. There, she grabbed his legs and pulled him under.
"ACK!" Zac flipped his hair back and laughed. "At least you didn't pull my shorts down that time."
"You got lucky." She grinned.
"So what's the deal with you and Tay?"
"What do you mean?" She asked casually.
"You guys don't hate eachother anymore?"
"Nope. I'm not supposed to tell you but Taylor has a crush on me."
Their whole lives, Carter and Zac shared a secret. Even when somebody said not to tell the other something, they figured it was ok to talk as long as they used the phrase "I'm not supposed to tell you but..."
"He does? Whoa. Who'da thunk it?"
"Yeah it's kinda weird."
"Do you like him?" Zac asked, curious.
"I dunno." Carter shrugged and grinned. "I'll race you to the other end." She screamed before starting to swim.
"NO FAIR YOU LITTLE HO!"
After two hours of swimming, Zac started to drag. Whenever Carter ran over to the diving board, he would stay behind, leaning against the side of the pool. He would tell her how great her last dive was or how much her previous one sucked. Carter began to get concerned. She swam over to him and sighed.
"Are you ok? You wanna get out?"
"I'm fine." Zac shook his head, out of breath.
"You better get out Zac. I don't know what's wrong with you, but you don't look so great."
"How do you mean?"
"Your eyes are really dark underneathe and you just look tired."
"I am."
Carter pushed him over to the ladder. "Ok We're getting out and you're gonna go to sleep."
"I can't sleep forever Carter! This isn't gonna last long. It's probably just a flu or something."
"You're still going to bed."
"Fine. But I better not wake up to find you sleeping with Tay again."
Carter laughed. "Don't worry, you won't."