Chapter One: Things change... Even dreams…
It was a cloudy day, as Tobi drove down the highway at a steady 80mph. She glanced to her right, and saw her father leaned back in the car seat, asleep. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she realized that her younger sister had also dozed off. Sighing, she turned up the radio, and sang quietly to the music she knew. It was a relatively mind numbing trip; 350 miles up to Oklahoma, and 350 miles back. She was the driver, seeing as she was breaking in the driver's license she had just gotten the previous Friday, but she now wished she could join them. Feeling inexplicably tired, Tobi grabbed for her Rockstar Latte, and took a big swig of it. Shortly after consuming that, she shoved a handful of Sugar Babies in her mouth. Suddenly she felt more awake and aware of her surroundings. Unfortunately, there was the intense feeling of boredom that she couldn't shake. Turning up the radio a bit more, she sang to a few Three Days Grace songs they played, then popped in a Linkin Park CD, and began singing the whole CD to herself.
About an hour passed and no one woke up. The CD had ended about half way through the hour, and she had gone back to listening to the radio. They played a bunch of songs she had never heard, but liked regardless. Still the feeling of boredom began to annoy her, and she wondered if she should wake someone for a conversation. Deciding against, she tore into her Monster, to keep awake. She recalled why she was so tired, and smiled to herself. Remembering last night was interesting to her. She remembered the guy she had met on Gaia, and how she thought it was unusual for someone as nice as he was to like someone like her.
"I'm no prize, Kei-kun…" she whispered to herself, remembering the name on his IMing program. She drove on, still thinking about that night. 4am was not regular, even for her. She usually hit bed about 2am, but she felt as if she couldn't leave him, only managing to leave at 4:30am, and falling asleep finally at about 5am. Then she got awoken the next morning by her idiotic cousins at about 6am. She was annoyed at the fact that she had gotten just an hour's sleep and was then expected to drive all the way back home, but she made sure to keep note of that next time they went on a long trip…Still, Tobi wondered why someone like Keith would ever like someone like her. Although she had trouble understanding his whole answer, she loved him, regardless.
A few days passed and she got to talk to Keith more. She finally knew what he looked and sounded like. When she first heard his voice, she was excited, and amazed at how timid he had sounded. Looking from her musical perspective she guessed he would make an excellent Tenor 1. Still, she got to talk to him, and she was able to see pictures of him. Knowing more about him made her feel somewhat secure. Through out their first conversation, she sang to him. He told her she sounded good, but since she was nervous about singing to someone, Tobi was in doubt about the true quality of her singing. They talked and used the messaging system to do random things. Tobi greatly enjoyed his company, and she felt confident that he enjoyed hers. She would stay up late just to talk to him, because like Kevin, he had managed to capture the once isolated heart she held. She couldn't figure out why she loved him, but also like Kevin, she didn't question it much, and just worked him into her life. There were several times when she wished she could go up to where he was and just be with him for a little while. It was about a day or so later that it happened.
She was simply walking from class to class listening to her iPod like usual. The only thing different from today was the fact that Kevin was out of town, and was missing from school. He rarely missed, often making Tobi feel bad over the fact that she missed more than he did. She first went to her math class. She sat quietly in her corner listening to her music and doing her work as she did everyday, never speaking to anyone in the class. The announcements came over the intercom like every other day, and once the bell rang she stopped to talk to Brittney for a few minutes, and then went on to English. She sat in her English class the same as Math, only occasionally talking to her friends, Magnus and Ben. Tobi didn't speak to them much, since all they talked about was World of Warcraft, to which she knew nothing about. The bell rang again, and she was off to Health class to only partially listen to her coach ramble and rant about a basketball game she didn't care about. It was this point that Tobi turned up her iPod and just listened to that rather than her coach. She thought about getting a good paying summer job to take a trip up to Michigan to go and visit Keith. She wasn't sure as to if she should just fly up there, or if she should plan it as a motorcycle trip for her family. Going solo seemed like a better plan, due to the fact that her parents would wonder about her motives to go visit someone she had met online. She didn't feel like having them pestering her for information about Keith. Her thoughts were interrupted as; once again, the bell rang. She moved on to her Pro-Start class where they had cooking to today. She pulled back her hair, tied on her white apron and cranked up her iPod, working steadily and relatively in sync with the only girl she got along well with in there, KC. They never spoke to each other much during labs, only making motions to know what to get from each other, since both Tobi and KC wandered the kitchen with their iPods or MP3 players on. After another successful lab, they stood in their kitchen with the other lab mates, who were enjoying the food prepared. Tobi and KC were just talking as they usually do.
"So, you met this guy online?" KC asked, spooning another bit of food into her mouth. Tobi nodded.
"Yea, I think he's really sweet." She replied. KC laughed a bit.
"You're so desperate…. A guy online? Really?" KC asked playfully. Tobi seemed a bit annoyed as she flung some green food at KC; which she knew KC despised deeply.
"And you've never met anyone online?" Tobi asked as KC flicked the green off of herself in disgust.
"Damnit! Why green?! I hate green!! And, yea, I have… I dated them too…" KC replied, angrily wiping her arm off as if to cleanse it from the green food.
"Then I'm the desperate one, even though I'm not dating him?" Tobi asked. KC glanced at Tobi and grinned.
"You will with time… Kevin'll get bored with you, and this Keith guy will be there to take you." KC said. Tobi set her plate on the counter, and then swung at KC, who barely managed to dodge it. Swinging again, Tobi caught her in the shoulder.
"Kevin won't get tired of me. You're just jealous that all your relationships turn to shit." Tobi said. KC laughed, as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Most guys are in it for the sex… Kevin use to seem this way," KC began, as Tobi balled her fist again,
"And yet for some reason he seems different with you. He's much more patient, and not always looking for sex any more. I think he wants to settle down with you.". Tobi looked at KC, surprised at her words.
"You honestly think that?" Tobi asked. KC nodded.
"Sure all my relationships turn to shit, but that's because the ones I date are in and out of jail!" She laughed.
"You're just in it for the sex…" Tobi said.
"Yep." KC replied, bluntly.
"Fucking whore…." Tobi muttered. KC laughed again.
"That's what they call me!" She said as the bell rang. Tobi and KC got stuck cleaning up the kitchen as the other group members rushed out the door, eager to get to lunch.
"Go ahead, KC… I'll finish." Tobi said, pushing KC towards the door. KC looked at her.
"You sure? Kevin'll be waiting." KC asked. Tobi shook her head, pushing KC forward more.
"He's not here today. Just tell Mandy where I am so she doesn't go wandering off again." Tobi replied.
"O-ok… KC said, hesitantly, as she sung her backpack over her shoulder and walked out the door. "Later Tobi." She said, leaving.
"Later." Tobi called back as she put on her iPod, rolled up her sleeves and went on to clean their kitchen.
Once she had finished, she washed her hands and dried them on her apron. Realizing she wasted 10 minutes, she ran over to her desk to gather her belongings. Once she did so, she walked out the door, forgetting about taking her apron off, or letting her hair down. Walking out the door, Tobi turned up her iPod, which happened to be playing Eternal Snow from Full Moon; she began singing softly to herself. About midway down the empty hallway, she turned back, forgetting about her drawing notebook. She turned around, exiting the room once again, when suddenly someone in a black shirt, and brown cargo pants turned the corner at the end of the hallway. He stood about Kevin's height, around 5'10" or 5'11" with messy brown hair and glasses on. He seemed a bit confused.
"Can I help you find something?" Tobi asked as she turned her iPod down enough to hear. The faint Japanese love song still played softly in her ears. He looked at her in surprise, as if he hadn't noticed her there in the first place. When he spoke, his voice surprised her at first, because it didn't seem to fit someone like him, and yet in her mind, it fit perfectly.
"Actually, I'm looking for someone." He said, timidly. Tobi felt as if she had known him somewhere.
"W-who?" She asked, nervously. He shook his head.
"I'm not really supposed to be here. Please don't tell the school. I'm 23, and I don't think they'd like the idea of me coming here to look for a girl." He said, seemingly unsure of himself. Tobi dropped her drawing notebook, as it dawned upon her just how this person might be. The song rang in Tobi's ears as she tried to properly process the person standing at the end of the hallway.
"K-Keith?" She asked. He stared at her for a moment before excitedly moving towards her. He stopped, suddenly, as if he wasn't sure that was the correct response.
"Amai?" He asked, hesitantly. Tobi nodded as a grin spread over her face. She dropped her grey messenger bag, and ran the remaining distance between them. She threw her arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe, trying not to drag him down.
"How'd you get here?" She asked, as he wrapped his arms around her.
"I managed." He replied, pulling back to look at her, "You look a bit different from the picture I had seen."
"I usually wear glasses and," she began, removing her hair tie and shaking her hair loose, "I never have my hair up, either."
"You still look a bit different…" he said, looking her over. She released him, and took a step back. Wrapping her arms around her center she said, "I told you I was fat, yea…". But he merely shook his head.
"It's not that… Besides, I don't really care about that." He said. She looked at him, confused.
"Then what is it?" she asked, attempting to look herself over, but was unsuccessful in finding something that wasn't already wrong with her. While she was attempting to see her backside, she felt hands on her shoulders. Turning she looked into his eyes, and blushed.
"You're much prettier than I could have ever thought." He said, quietly. Her blush deepened, and it was then she realized that he was moving closer. His face was just a few millimeters away from hers now, and she trembled; for she could almost taste him as she closed her eyes.
Everything went black. Her first thought was that she was actually stupid enough to pass out, just as he was about to kiss her. Then she realized that she heard a faint alarm. She wasn't sure where exactly it was, but it felt eerily close to her left ear. It became louder and louder until Tobi opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling in her bedroom. She looked to her left, and smacked her alarm, which instantly stopped. 5:45am… She was unhappy about everything, and her day had only just begun. First, she was annoyed that her alarm went off when it did… Secondly she was confused as to how surreal the dream was. It really had felt like she had gone through most of her school day. She could even remember her stupid English teacher droning on about hyperboles. Then the worst part about it, was realizing just how badly she had wanted that dream to be real. Tobi rolled onto her stomach and allowed only a few tears to escape as she tried not to think about it too much. Then she had gotten up to take her shower.
As she went on with her day, Tobi couldn't help but relate how everything went just like the dream. Unfortunately as she hit Pro-Start, the lab was shorter than in the dream. They finished cleaning before the bell, so Tobi stalled by packing up slowly. After the hallway had cleared, she secretly wished that by some twist of fate, he would turn the corner and be looking for her; just like in her dream. To her greatest dismay, he never came, so she went out to her usual spot and talked with Mandy. Her disappointment never shone through on the outside, but she had wished with so much of her heart, that the dream would become reality.