Hello everybody! So Ndyana suggested I write a story for Toby from 'Discovering Alaska' and I didn't want to disappoint! If you haven't read 'Discovering Alaska' then all you need to know is that it is set in the future where Toby is Yves and Phoenix's son.
I know I'm writing another story at the moment called 'Heading for Hattie' and this story has absolutely nothing to do with it in case you get confused. I'm not super woman but I will try my best to upload both stories as frequently as I can! I hope you like it! :D
Toby's POV
'Don't lie to me Sadie,' I warned my mischievously innocent sister.
'It's not a lie Toby, I'm an honest person,' she replied sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes in a way that makes her able to twist my elder brother, Matt, around her little finger. Not me though; I see right through her angelic act of innocence.
'Pft, yeah you're a real Dali Llama,' I rolled my eyes sarcastically and held her hand in my own.
No, I wasn't feeling affectionate; I was using my savant gift. My gift allows me to look into the past 24 hours of someone's life. It's nothing awesome like Matt's Hulk power (basically superhuman strength), or my dad's explosive power (always terrifying on bonfire night)…in most situations my gift relatively useless but at least it will help me find out which of my siblings broke my iPhone.
My gift caught an image of my little sister playing 'flappy birds' whilst I was in the shower before getting stroppy and throwing the phone at the wall in anger.
'Sadie Benedict! You dirty liar!' I exclaimed and Sadie bit her lip guiltily.
'I'm sorry Toby I love you you're the best brother in the world and you're better than matt and please don't tell mommy and daddy,' Sadie gushed, barely pausing to breathe.
'To the naughty step,' I ordered, showing no mercy. In our household, crimes are at an all-time high with 7 little benedict boys and girls running around the house. In order to take necessary punishment precautions, my parents invented the 'naughty step' which is basically the bottom step of the staircase acting as a temporary prison cell. Our time on the step corresponds to whatever age we are times three…so that would mean Sadie would get 15 minutes which, in my opinion, is not nearly enough.
'But Toby!' Sadie exclaimed in dismay.
'What's she done wrong now?' Matt asked from the doorway. Ally, Matt's soulfinder, was standing close behind as usual. In reply, I chucked him my smashed phone which he caught with his amazing reflexes.
'Sadie! What did I tell you about respecting other people's property?' Matt frowned and Sadie pulled out her bottom lip and gave him the full puppy dog eyes effect.
'I'm sorry Mattie,' Sadie pleaded.
'It's not me you should be apologising to,' Matt frowned.
'Sorry Toby,' Sadie said sadly.
I sighed and debated the possible actions that could take place next before settling on the more mature option.
'It's fine Sadie. It was an accident…kind of,' I forced a smile and Sadie's face lit up before she embraced me in a tight hug. Her arms only reached around my waist but it felt nice to have someone hug me. I've been distancing myself more and more from family life since Matt found Ally. I knew it was wrong and I knew it was mean but I just couldn't help myself.
'You're the best Toby!' Sadie exclaimed.
'Whatever, silly-billy,' I chuckled and let her run off before pocketing my broken phone and setting a mental reminder to beg dad for a new one.
'That was nice of you,' Ally grinned at me.
'I guess I took a leaf out of your books then, angel-cake,' I said, giving her a cheeky grin. I like Ally, more than Matt sometimes.
'So Toby, mom and dad text. They're going out tonight, they dropped baby Tilly off at grandma and grandpa's house but they want us to watch over the other kids,' Matt said, linking hands with his soulfinder.
'Ah, babysitting the gremlins. My favourite occupation,' I laughed and hopped up onto the kitchen surface, searching the cupboards for anything edible.
'They're not that bad,' Ally objected but she was cut off by Elliot, aged 7, threatening to dip Sadie in sulphuric acid.
'Elliot! That is not how you should talk to your sister! ' Matt exclaimed in horror.
'Matt's got a point Elliot,' I agreed. 'Although, If I were you, hydrofluoric acid will get the job done quicker,' I grinned cheekily and Matt hit me gently to warn me not to encourage him. Ally raised her eyebrows at me in a mixture of surprise and suspicion.
'What? Sometimes I like to pay attention in chemistry,' I shrugged.
It was tough living in the shadow of Matt growing up. I knew he was dealing with his own issues, mainly the whole 'Hulk smash' savant power thing he had going on, but he was pretty much perfect in all other areas. I soon learned that there was no point in trying to live up to Matt's target grades so I decided to take my own route in life; one consisting of being popular with my peers as well as keeping up my bad boy reputation. Even though Matt was probably the best brother I could have ever wished for, I did sometimes wish for him to suck at something.
'Whoa look at the time kids!' Matt exclaimed, looking at his watch theatrically.
'Ha! Bed time for the minors!' I laughed, pulling faces at my younger siblings.
'Ah what! no!'
'Come on Matt! Don't be mean!'
'I'm ten years old! I'm old enough to stay up till midnight!' They complained loudly with a touch of annoyance.
'I don't know about you guys but I'm beat!' Ally yawned.
'See! It's late and we should all get to bed,' Matt said pointing to the clock. The big hand was coming up to 10 o'clock in the evening but for me, that was early. These days I don't often get to sleep until way into the morning.
One thing they never fail to mention in health and social classes is what a pain children actually are. Instead of sitting the class in front of boring documentaries on the difficulties of bringing up children, they should just send the pupils to look after my siblings for a day. That would really be a deterrent to teenage pregnancies.
It took Matt, Ally and I roughly one hour and 15 minutes to get the kids into bed with their teeth brushed and by that time, Ally and Matt were exhausted and went to bed themselves.
As I walked around the eerily quiet house, I realised how much I actually missed it being loud and crowded. It was depressingly lonely when you were by yourself.
I watched crappy television shows for a good few hours until I was sure everyone in the house was asleep before getting up from the coach and switching off the TV, leaving the room in complete darkness.
The night was my favourite part of the day by far. There was something so amazing and beautiful when the sky was as dark and velvety as chocolate and the streets were silent as though they were just listening…watching.
I grabbed a beer from the fridge, despite being well under the legal drinking age and headed to my room. Fortunately for me, my bedroom window was the perfect angle, allowing me to climb onto the window ledge and up onto the roof with ease. It wasn't the first time I had done this, and I doubt it would be the last. It was almost like a secret guilty pleasure of mine, one which I hadn't shared with anyone else.
There was a cold chill in the air but I needed that to keep me awake. I think my mom would have a heart attack if she came home and saw me asleep on the roof. I laid back on the cool roof tiles, allowing myself the perfect view of the sky. The stars were the only thing I came up here for and they certainly didn't cease to disappoint tonight. There's something about those burning jewels of fire scattered across the deep dark sky that just made you feel safe, like friendly eyes looking out for you. When there stars were out, I didn't feel so alone any more.
'Since when did you start drinking?' I shocked voice sounded, drawing my attention away from the stars and back to Matt's disapproving and concerned face.
'Since when did you start caring?' I shot back with a grin. It was true; Matt was normally on my side when it came to my deviant behaviour.
'Christ Toby! Surely you have enough brain cells to know getting drunk on the roof is not a good idea!' Matt exclaimed, climbing further onto the roof with the intention to persuade me to get down.
'But what I lack in brain cells, I make up with charm, right?' I grinned and relaxed, diverting my attention back again to the stars.
'I'm serious Tobias! How long have you been doing this?' Matt frowned.
'Long enough. Lay back, brother. Relax,' I pushed, taking a long swig of the bitter tasting drink before politely offering Matt some, which he of course denied.
'You see that group of stars…the ones shaped like a bow? That's the Hercules constellation,' I pointed to the group of stars to the left.
'I never knew you were interested in stars,' Matt replied.
'No one does. It's the kind of thing that wouldn't look too manly at school,' I chuckled.
'What about the ones over there?' Matt asked curiously.
'Hmm…they look a bit like ursa minor but I'm not sure,' I replied thoughtfully.
'Toby…answer me this honestly okay?' Matt sighed before continuing. 'Are you okay?'
'Fine and dandy, brother,' I laughed jokily.
'Seriously Toby? You're not…slipping…are you?' Matt asked seriously, not believing my laughter.
I thought about his question seriously for a while, debating it inside my head. Was I slipping? I had no idea.
'Matt…do you know the reason why I like looking at the stars?'
'Because you're secretly a massive nerd?' Matt teased and I nudged him with my elbow.
'No, that's your role,' I shot back.
'Okay then, why?'
'Because I know that somewhere, my soulfinder could be looking at exactly the same stars. I don't know, perhaps she's even thinking about me…wondering where I am….who I am. Do you get what I mean? The stars make me feel less alone,' I struggled to explain. I've never been very good with my words and it's always been hard to get my thoughts across but I thought that explained it pretty well.
'I understand Toby,' Matt smiled slightly before taking a tiny sip of my beer to make me feel a bit better.
I guess stars are like soulfinders in some sense; they're beautiful, special and tempting…yet a little out of your reach.
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