I Owe You One - A Tobuscus Fanfic - PART 25
by ~Sashasalsa13
Toby had left about an hour ago, but I still couldn't sleep. I wanted to talk to someone, but I didn't know who. Everyone was asleep, especially since my friends and family are three hours ahead. I sat up in my bed and went through my contacts. The first time I passed her name, but the second time I went through them I saw it. Justine Ezarik. I clicked on it and it took me to her info. I didn't even notice, but when she put herself in my phone, she had written a little message in the bio section.
Please call me whenever necessary, Belly. It's the least I can do for you for saving one of my best friends .I smiled and tapped her name. I put my phone to my ear and listen to the phone ring six times. Just as I was about to give up, she picked up.
"Hello?"
"Justine? Did I wake you?"
"I'm sorry, hun. Who is this?"
"It's Bel…Maddy." I heard ruffling, footsteps, then a door slam.
"Baby, hi! Are you okay?"
"I'm really sick. I can't sleep, and I can't stop thinking about home."
"I'll be right there." She hung up. I didn't want her to physically come to our house! I just wanted to talk to her over the phone! I needed someone to offer me comforting words, that's all.
After ten minutes of staring into the darkness, my ears perked up at the sound of a fingernail on glass. My head spun toward the window and I reached over to grab the curtain. She had her hands in her jean pockets and a huge grin on her face. She motioned to open the window.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, "You didn't have to come all the way over to our house! I just wanted to talk!"
"Yes but that's not good enough when you're homesick. You've been separated from your family for an entire month, now, and that's painful for a fifteen year old girl. I need to take your mind off home by physically taking you somewhere. That's the best way to distract. Now come on, let's go for a drive, shall we?"
She rolled her windows all the way down, and the coolish California air felt so good. It was almost as if I hadn't actually had a chance to take a breath in a while, and this was my first one since June. Which, in a metaphorical sense, was partially true. I had not once been bored since I got here. I'm always busy with something, even if it's just responding to tweets. Which are not all kind, by the way.
"Where are we going?" I smiled at Justine in the driver's seat.
"You'll see!" She sang back to me.
Another twenty minutes of yelling the lyrics to songs from her playlist and giggling at the weirdest things went by really quickly. She pulled into a rocky parking lot, surrounded by trees. We both hopped out of the car without saying anything. She indicated that she needed me to follow her and we weaved through the trees. Suddenly, my mind clicked and I realized that I could hear waves splashing on the shore. Sure enough, there it was. The ocean. It was beautiful at night. The stars reflected off the water and glowed like I'd never seen before. And the smell of the salt intruded my senses as I welcomed it, gladly.
"There she is!" A man came out of nowhere and put his big warm arms around me. I knew who it was immediately, simply because of Toby's distinct scent. Glee flowed though me as I gave Justine the biggest smile I could manage and closed my eyes. The sound, the smell, the warmth of the arms; everything was suddenly perfect again.