Carriber Stone

Carriber Stone is tired and exhausted. But he knows he cannot sleep. If he slept, Ashton would run away again.

"Tell me what happened to Ash, Carriber," Shanely says over the phone.

Carriber makes sure Ashton is asleep before proceeding to reply. And he does.

"Ash's parents were mad at him. They expected him to get a scholarship for a college through science. You know, they want him to follow their footsteps. Ashton told me stuff before. But I never knew it was this serious. So basically, he was focusing more on his sport teams - that is track and basketball - and was getting B's and lower A's on all his subjects, and that was upsetting and angering his parents."

"But," Shanely says, "B's and lower A's are good, right?"

Carriber shakes his head. "Not for his parents. You know how strict and controlling they are."

"I know. And then?"

"So he was having constant arguements at home and he had the last straw last night. I woke up at three in the morning from a franctic call from his mom. I found him near the park and brought him to my house."

"What about your parents?"

"I explained the situation to them. They are okay with Ashton staying here for a few days."

"Oh. Thank god. Okay, Carr. I need to go now. Bye. And take care of Ash, alright?"

"Sure thing. Bye."

And the call is cut. Carriber decides to just close his eyes for a minute.

And when he opens his eyes, he realises he slept for seven hours straight. And he is more surprised to see that Ashton is still sleeping.

"Ash!" he says to wake him up. After five minutes, he finally wakes up.

Carriber firstly orders him to use the bathroom and brush his teeth. When he is sure, Ashton is going to go, he slips out of his room to get some food.

"Hi, mom. Dad."

His father looks up from a business magazine and chuckles. "Good morning, Carriber. Or should I say afternoon."

Carriber groans and realises it was already 12:45 pm. He thinks about how lucky today is a saturday.

"Mum," he says, "just give mine and Ashton's food. I don't think he is ready to come down."

"Alright," she says and hands him a tray with two plates, four huge sandwiches, two bottles of water, and some oranges. And also adds a letter on the top.

Carriber gives his mother a quizzed look. "Oh it's from your Allie," she says quickly.

He takes the tray upstairs only to see Ashton cleaned up and day dreaming.

"Hey," he says softly.

"Hi." Ashton's voice is quite and erect.

Carriber places the tray in the middle if the two and smiles. "What are you waiting for? Come on, lets eat."

It is four hours later, Ashton is ready to talk to Carriber's parents about his problem.

"Carr," his father says, "leave us alone for sometime. Go up, alright?"

He nods and goes up. He reaches the last stair, when he remenbers his letter.

Carriber goes to his room amd opens his letter.

Dear Carriber,
I am halfway through Paper Towns. And really, it is SO good. Thank you. And also a huge thank you for thinking I am beautiful. I kind of don't get compliments daily... I told you The Book Theif was really good! Ha! How is your life right now? I'm being so selfish past few letters, that I forgot to ask you about it. My mid-terms are coming up! God, there is so much to study... oh my, the cold is becoming barely bearable here. Like, jackets have become a part of our daily ritual! I am even unable to walk barefoot in my own house! Okay, so me and my dad went to a mall yesterday and my dad looked SO confused and bored that once he bumped straight into a clothes shelf and it fell down! Well, it was pretty embarrassing. He seemed pretty upset, too but then, again I bought him his favorite icecream and he cheered. He acts like a total kid sometimes! Anyways, hope to get a reply from you soon.
Allie.

Carriber smiles. It is like Allie's letter had changed his whole mood in a go.

Carriber also notices how free Allie is becoming towards him, letter by letter. At the first one, she seemed really formal, but now she isn't hesitating to share her feelings with him.

He took a pen and paper and began to write his reply.

Dear Allie,
You don't have a clue on what shit is happening in my life, currently. You know Ashton, right? My best friend? Well... he ran away from home. I got a 3-am-franctic-call from his mother. I found him, though. Luckily. He ran away because he wanted to join a college through sports, but his parents (both of them are doctors) want him to follow their footsteps and take up science. Ash didn't want to, and I guess they were fighting about it nowadays. He had the last straw last night, and he ran away. I was very much shocked about it, when I heard it. I found him about an hour later. Now currently, he is okay enough to talk to my parents about it. I just hope their talk goes well. *fingers crossed*. Well, I am honestly, deciding on colleges. Well with only a couple of months for school to end, it does get stressful. You know what? No matter whatever shit I went through school, in the end, I am going to miss it a lot. Really! What do you think about it? Oh... did I tell you? You know Shanely, right? My other best friend. Well, I think she likes Ash! And even Ash likes her, too! Well, they didn't tell me, but I am sure. *cheeky grin*. Anyways, I have to go now, so take care and reply soon.
Carriber.

Carriber slips the letter in a nearby envelope and rushes down to the call of his best friend, Ashton.