Ch. 3

It was two in the morning. Tobi looked from the clock, to Megan, who was fast asleep in a heap of blankets. The fort had collapsed right before they’d gone to bed last night and neither was in the mood to fix it. Maybe tomorrow night it’ll keep. Megan had said. She smiled at the memory.

A small fan started to wrrrrr inside of her laptops hard drive as it started up. As it did, she looked around the living room. It was a lovely shade of yellow during the day but on nights like tonight it looked dark brown, threatening to reveal her secret.

               

A bright light flooded the room but, quickly dimmed. She turned her attention back to the screen and clicked open the web browser. Once she’d gotten to the correct website she was left staring at a black screen with a blinking cursor in the top left hand corner. She worried at her lip, trying not to jump every time a bug moved. Why does everything, she thought, have to be louder at midnight? As if to interrupt her thought, green words began scrawling across the screen.

ElfWarrior568: Tobi, you there?

She took a deep breath and exhaled and quietly as she could. ElfWorrior568. That was Mark. A small smile tugged at a corner of her mouth. She’d always liked Mark. And his fascinations with elves.

Hawaiianfist123: Every time I am said Sam I am.

It took less than six seconds for him to reply.

ElfWarrior568: Good to see you haven’t changed.

She was typing something about how she never changes when another person tagged in the conversation.

Ameslan654: Helloooo ladies.

She smiled again. Amsilan654. That was Cal. He wasn’t on too often but, when he was you knew it was going to be a fun night.

Hawaiinfist123: Hey Cal

ElfWarrior568: Cal? You’re still alive?!

Ameslan654: Shut up Mark. Hey Tobi. How’s life?

Hawaiianfist123: Not bad. You?

ElfWarrior568: I thought we chopped your head off last Halloween.

Ameslan654: It’s been quiet around the house but, other than that, pretty good.

Ameslan654: No, my head is still intact. It was a fake axe.

Tobi sighed. Cal may have been deaf but, they all knew that’s not what he meant about the silence. Three months ago his parents got a divorce. Not long later, his older sister moved out so now it’s just he and his mom living together and his mom’s an alcoholic so that doesn’t help much. The only way to communicate with him is through sign language. Drunken people probably don’t sign well, Tobi concluded.

ElfWarrior568: Are you sure? Maybe I should come over and check that…

Ameslan654: Come within twenty miles of me and you die.

ElfWarrior568: How do you know I’m not behind you right now?

Ameslan654: You’re not. I’d smell you if you were.

ElfWarrior568: SMELL ME?! Cal, you’re a freak.

Hawaiianfist123: Well, you do have a unique scent…

ElfWarrior568: Oh shut up.

Ameslan654: Yes! Ten points to team Ravenclaw!

Slendy26: Ravenclaw? I thought you two were Hufflepuff? Did I miss something?

Ameslan654: A competition arrives!

ElfWarrior568: A competition arrives!

Hawaiianfist123: A challenge arrives!

Slendy26: Can’t we just forget about that? Please? It’s starting to get old.

Ameslan654: Was it challenge?

Elfwarrior568: I thought it was competition.

Ameslan654: I thought so too but Tobi seems to have a different idea.

Slendy26: Tobi’s on tonight?

ElfWarrior568: Hawaiianfist123. Have you added her yet?

Ameslan654: Yep she is.

Hawaiianfist123: Right here Sev.

Slendy26: Oh yeah. I saw that ID but didn’t think it was her. What happened to scardycatluv09? Is that why you haven’t been answering my pings?

Hawaiianfist123: Simple. I grew up. And yes, it probably is.

ElfWarrior568: AND TURNED INTO THE HAWAIIAN FIST! UNCLE TO HAWAIIAN PUNCH!

ElfWarrior568: lol

Ameslan654: Nice.

Slendy26: Is that where you got the new ID from? Hawaiian Punch?

Hawaiianfist123: It’s creative. I know.

                The back and forth badgering went on like that for a while. There was an argument about Taco Bell vs. Taco John, Coke vs. Pepsi, and McDonalds vs. Burger King. At one point, Mark had said:

ElfWarrior568: McDonalds = the Wal*Mart of food industry.

She smiled at this. It was a good point.

Ameslan654: What’s Burger King then?

Slendy26: The Target. Duh.

                Somewhere during the conversation of which power ranger would do best in a fight against Jet Lee, Tobi began to doze off.

                Her computer beeped and she snapped her head up. She glanced at the corner of the screen. 5:23 AM. She’d been on for nearly three and a half hours. Not her longest time yet but, it was still impressive. Cal and Mark had both signed off an hour ago and Sev had been sending her pings at rapid fire for the last fifty-three minutes straight.

Slendy26: I know you’re still on Tobi.

Slendy26: Tobi Tobi Tobi Tobi

Slendy26: C’mon magic hands, answer me. You haven’t logged off yet. I know you’re there.

Slendy26: Are you sleeping?

                That was the most recent one. If she was sleeping. How would I be able to say yes or no to this if I were asleep?

Hawaiianfist123: was. Now I’m not.

                She sat back and waited. When the conversations dropped to just her and Sev, there was no rush to type back some witty response in order to get your two cents heard. So they took their time typically, and thought a bit before saying anything.

Slendy26: There you are! I knew if I bugged you enough you’d send me something. :) How’ve you been doing?

                Tobi grinned. Smiley faces weren’t something Sev ever sent until everyone else was gone.

Hawaiianfist123: Didn’t I already answer this? Or was that before you signed on?

Slendy26: Before.

Hawaiianfist123: I’ve been doing good.

                She took a deep breath knowing what was about to happen. He’d go through the ‘parental check in questions’, even though he wasn’t her Dad. Then, he’d tell her how everything there was. After that, they’d trade random facts they’d learned since last speaking. It’s how it always went. But after that, Sev would always ask a question that made her think of things she didn’t want tonight it was:

Slendy26: Anything unusual happening lately?

                She allowed the cursor to blink in front of her for a while before setting her fingers on home row, preparing to respond. I could lie. She thought. I will lie. He doesn’t need to know the truth on this one. She began to type her lie when Sev pinged in:

Slendy26: Omnis veritatem

                Before she could stop herself, she read it out loud, and was unable to stop her finger from repeatedly tapping the backspace. She bit her bottom lip in anguish and simply watched her fingers fly over the keyboard, spilling every detail she hadn’t wanted to share.

Hawaiianfist123: B*****d. I thought you said you’d stop doing that.

                She stared at the screen. The way she’d worded that wasn’t strong enough, she knew, but she hadn’t wanted him to have time to reply first. That’s immature of you, she thought.

Slendy26: Sorry about all that. Protocol, you understand.

Hawaiianfist123: Unfortunately, but still. You promised.

Slendy26: Again, I’m sorry. I think it’s time to send this in Tobi. They’re not playing anymore. We shouldn’t be either. (And you promised to stop lying to me-may I add)

                She worried at her lip some more, ignoring his accusation. It was almost six. Grandpa would be waking up soon. Maybe she could use it as leverage to get off and-

Slendy26: I can hear that you know.

                She sighed. Sev was magical too. Telepathic. He heard her thoughts as she thought them unless she walled him out. Like, she was about to do now. “cogitatio clausus.” She whispered to herself.

Slendy26: Tobi.

                She smiled smugly. His reaction was immediate, and that filled her with a sense of pride.

Slendy26: Tobi undo that. Reverse it now; it’s too dangerous, please.

                She leaned back with her arms folded across her chest as his pings became frantic.

Slendy26: You’re still too young to be on your own Tobi, you have to reverse it.

Slendy26: Please Tobi; you don’t understand what’s at stake.

                She huffed angrily and typed a response. She hated it when he undermined her ability to understand.

Hawaiianfist123: I am. I know that.

Slendy26: Exactly. But do you realize how important you are? Can you even fathom it?

Hawaiianfist123: No.

                Damn it. She thought. The truth spell was still fizzling in her fingers. She had wanted to lie there.

Slendy26: Exactly. But I can. I do know, and I also know what’s best for you. Like reversing the spell for starters.

                She sighed. Sev had gotten her out of things more times than she could count and as much as it hurt her pride, she reversed the spell.

Slendy26: Thank you Darling.

Hawaiianfist123: I’m not your Darling.

                She hit logout before he could respond and shut the laptop with a huff. When she looked over at Megan she saw her eyes were open. Her heart leapt in her chest and she quickly said, “I didn’t know you were awake.”

Megan rolled into a sitting position and propped herself up on her elbows. “And I didn’t know you spoke Latin.”

***

“It was nothing really.” Tobi said over a plate of scrambled eggs, her favorite. “Just got into a bit of a fight with an old friend from one of my other schools.” She was lying, Megan knew, but in this case decided against pointing it out. When she lied, Tobi’s left eyebrow would make the slightest twitching motion. It was something not many people noticed about her. How often she lied, that is.

“So you spoke in Latin?” It was pointless to try and point this out really. It’s not like she’d ever caved when she was caught in a lie. In fact, she’d act like nothing was even said, and move on. Megan smiled a little and put a forkful of egg in her mouth. Nothing ever really got past her anymore.

“Nervous habit.” Tobi said with a flick of her wrist. Her eyebrow didn’t twitch, which slightly shocked Megan. I never knew that. “Anyway,” She paused to take a sip of orange juice. “I was thinking about those notes for Research. Do you think Mrs. Groves would notice if I just pulled some from the internet? Or paid a collage kid thirty bucks to do it for me?”

“She’d notice.” Megan said matter-of-factly. “She always notices when you try to cheat.” She ate another forkful of eggs. A loud clang sound made her head snap up. Tobi had dropped her fork on her plate.

“I do not cheat.” Megan winced as she cracked her knuckles. “Besides, sharing is caring.”

“Then you care a lot.” She replied dryly.

“I do.” For a moment, Megan just stared at Tobi. If it was at all possible to be an honest liar, Tobi was it. She seemed so sincere with everything she said and did, sometimes Megan would force herself to believe her, even when she knew otherwise. A smile cracked at Tobi’s face and soon she was laughing quietly to herself about something Megan didn’t know about. So instead of asking, she simply bowed her head and continued to shovel egg into her mouth. The one good thing about Tobi, she thought, is that I don’t have to use manners.    

“Well,” Tobi scraped the chair back and stood up. “I’m gonna throw this in the sink and get some actual clothes on. Want me to take your plate?” She extended her hand. Megan looked down at her clean plate. Hadn’t there been egg there a moment ago?

“Yeah sure.” She said, handing off her plate and standing up to stretch. As Tobi walked away, Megan stared at her. Unlike most girls at school, who claimed to sleep in a camisole and their older brothers’ boxers, Tobi slept in an oversized t-shirt that belonged to her grandpa. If she wore anything under it-she didn’t know. Obviously. Before she could think too far on her friends sleep attire, she walked back through the swinging door, and to the living room.

“We need to rebuild this!” Megan yelled over her shoulder. “It looks like a pile of blah.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tobi’s computer screen opened just a little. It was on and something was flashing. She narrowed her eyes and called out, “Your computer is flashing-I’m checking it out!” And began to move towards the metal secret holder despite her friends demand not to.

Ameslan654: Mark just told me about your play date with your friend. Good luck with that Miss Anti-Social! Lol

Who the hell was Mark?

“Hey!” Tobi yelled as she got into the room. “I said not to-what does it say? Anything?”

“Who’s Ameslan six fifty-four? A boyfriend?” She smiled, voice light and free of the accusation she wanted to use. For a moment, Tobi seemed genuinely confused but, then her eyes snapped open and she said Oh!

“No, that’s just Cal. He’s a friend from another school.” No twitch. Not lying. Megan was impressed with this. “Here, lemme see-” She reached out and took the laptop. Once she’d read the message she smiled. “He’s offline now, so I won’t reply.” She said closing the computer and setting it back down on the floor.

“Is that who you were talking Latin to?” Megan asked.

She shook her head but her forehead creased. There was something she wasn’t saying. Megan sighed quietly, wishing that just once; Tobi would be completely honest with her.