Not Your Enemy

Tobi walked into the living room and smiled at Clarice and Saline. Both women had serious looks on their faces, but quickly changed to bright smiles when they saw Tobi. Clarice got up from the small recliner, brushed off the wrinkles from her expensive looking outfit, and walked over to Tobi to pull her into a tight hug. Tobi hugged the older woman back, breathing in the subtle scent of sweet perfume and shampoo. When the two pulled away from each other, Tobi looked into awfully familiar light brown eyes of her long time teacher. The small orbs reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t place her finger on it.

“Pourquoi votre visage rayonnant?” (Why is your facing glowing?) Clarice questioned, looking into Tobi’s shining eyes and gleaming features. Clarice knew that look all too well, but when she had that look she ended up doing something she regretted and breaking too many hearts.

“Je ne suis pas, vous êtes juste voir les choses Clarice!” (I’m not, you’re just seeing things Clarice) Tobi protested while looking down at the floor to hide the heat in her cheeks. It was weird how older women knew everything about younger girls by just looking at their faces; Clarice was no exception. Although, everything she did was so predictable to Tobi. Tobi caught herself several times doing or saying things she saw Clarice doing. Like whenever Tobi was mad she’d cuss in French, a habit she picked up from Clarice after being watched by her so many times.

Clarice winced when she heard Tobi use her first name, but said nothing of it. She just went on scolding her about not coming to dance practice every day like Tobi use to and about the feint smell of cigarettes. Tobi forgot she had yet to cleanse her car of the scent of nicotine, but brushed it off by saying some ‘rebels’ at school smoked all the time in the parking lot. Tobi knew the older women, both her mom and Clarice, didn’t believe her but she was lucky they didn’t press the subject.

“Well, I must be off to entertain my guest,” Tobi announced after several long seconds of the two woman looking at her sharply, “I love you both, but I shall be on my way.” With a dramatic bow, Tobi skipped up her stairs and into her room were Ruby was standing. Tobi couldn’t hide the large smile on her features and obviously Ruby saw it.

“Well, someone’s in a good mood,” Ruby said with a bruised smile.

“I am, don’t you think everything is looking up?” Tobi lay down on her bed with a dazed look in her eye. Her thoughts strayed to Jasper and her heart sped up, making her feel as if she were floating on a large cloud and the world spun around her.

“Oh, my God, you are so head over heels for Jasper,” Ruby snickered and laid beside her.

“And you are for Emmett,” Tobi poked her side and rolled over onto her side to look at her friends profile. Ruby had a great bone structure, and Tobi told her that many times before, but Tobi felt she wasted giving her beautiful body to Tobi when other guys would worship the pot she pissed in.

“I am, Tobi. He makes me feel so beautiful.”

“What are they doing to us?”

“Putting us under a spell,” Ruby giggled. “I’m actually really looking forward to a sleepover, you know besides the ones you and I have.”

“It is nice to have other friends.”

“Hey!” Ruby said and feinted hurt.

Tobi laughed and shook her head at her friends overdramatic acting, “You have to admit it’s nice to have new people.”

“Yes,” Ruby said, “but there is something so odd about them. Did you see how they got when we asked them to go to La Push with us?”

Tobi frowned a bit and nodded. She didn’t understand why the air had gotten so awkward when she brought up the La Push idea, “Yeah.”

“Last night when the Cullen’s picked me up, they didn’t even get near the town, we had to go in the middle of the road. Sam looked like he was smelling something bad, and there was so much tension between them.”

“Maybe it’s just nothing,” Tobi got up and walked over to her lighter. She hadn’t touched it in a while and missed the cold steel under her touch, “I mean, there can be a million different explanations for why things were like that.”

“True,” Ruby sighed as she turned over to face Tobi who was playing with her lighter. Ruby shook her head as she watched Tobi’s eyes gleam with a sadistic happiness as the dangerous element moved dangerously close to her skin, “When you mess with that shit you scare me.”

“Fire is my baby,” Tobi sighed heavily, but her voice was full of happiness, “it’s the only thing that makes me feel real, you know? When I accidentally burn myself I know that there is physical pain that overcomes the emotions fuck I feel. My heart races when I know things are too close to danger when I pull it to my face… fire makes me feel human.” Things got quiet, and no words were spoken as Tobi just basked in her flaming glory. Tobi was about to wave the flame under her hand before a hand snatched the lighter from her fingers and threw the unlit item across the room. Tobi looked up and met the strict and worried eyes of Ruby.

“Don’t do that shit around me,” Ruby shook her head and walked over to grab the lighter and shove in her pocket, “correction, don’t do that shit…period.”

Jasper listened to Alice go on about how he needed to distract Tobi long enough Tuesday; Every since Alice had her vision about the tragic event that coming day, her nerves were all over the place. If her heart could beat, Alice knew she would have suffered from several heart attacks. She looked into Jasper’s fading eyes and spoke in a speed only a vampire could understand, “Trust me, Jasper, she’s going to need your help if you don’t get over your thirst and try to take her mind off of everything. Yes, I know she has Ruby, but Ruby won’t be able to help her when it happens.”

“Alice,” Jasper whispered, looking back into his ex’s worried orbs, “I’d never let anything happen to her.” –And for the first time he allowed himself to speak the words that he prolonged ever since the previous year- “I love her too much.”

Tobi woke up to a loud screech coming from beside her and rapid movement of her mattress. Startled, Tobi shot up and looked around her room trying to find the source of the problems; yet once she did her eyes narrowed at her best-friend tackling her little brother to the floor and grabbing the collar of his shirt.

“Try that shit with me again, Ginger!” Ruby screamed.

“Oh, yeah baby,” Holden gasped out with a chocked laugh, “I like it rough.”

As Ruby lowered her fist to punch him, Tobi shoved her off and pulled Holden roughly off the ground. She glared at the shorter boy with crossed arms and yawned before whispering the words only they knew at the moment, “Je ne donne pas une merde ce que vous avez fait, ou allait le faire, mais je sais que si vous essayez à nouveau et la ruine mon sommeil, je vais te botter le cul tous le chemin du retour vers la France. Maintenant, avec cela dit, je ne veux pas vous narguer avec mon Ruby fucked up ou je promets de ripper vos bite off et dire à maman.” (I do not give a shit what you have done or would do, but I know that if you try again and ruin my sleep, I'll kick your ass all the way back to France. Now, with that said, I do not want you to taunt my Ruby fucked up or I promise to rip your dick off and tell Mom.)

Holden shook his head and grinned, “Je disais juste bonjour.” (I was just saying hello.)

Tobi pushed him away from her door, “Maintenant, je dis au revoir.” (Now, I’m saying goodbye) She slammed the door in his face and stumbled back to her bed. Tobi looked at her phone charging on her nightstand and rolled her eyes when she saw it was only 9 a.m. She huffed and sat up to look at Ruby, “What the fuck is wrong with you two? I was actually sleepy better than I have in weeks.”

“Well good for you,” Ruby rolled her eyes, it was obvious she was cranky, “I was just woken up by a little boy who was reaching for my tits. That was the highlight of my life, now I can die in peace knowing I was about to be assaulted by a prepubescent shitface.”

“You should have punched his john,” Tobi advised, getting off her bed and walking to her closet, “Since I’m up now, I might as well pack for tonight and tomorrow. You can borrow my shit if you want, but don’t use my black bikini because I call dibs on that.”

“You cuss a lot in the morning.”

Tobi nodded, “It’s a bad habit that I can’t seem the get rid of. Hell, I’ve been doing it for as long as I remember.”

“I know,” Ruby chirped while fiddling with her phone, “I just got a text from Emmett.”

“And…”

“He’s coming by to pick us up in an hour.”

Tobi shook her head, “How does he know we’re awake? No, better yet, why the hell is he picking us up so early? I thought sleepovers were night things.”

“The Cullens are weird if you haven’t noticed,” Ruby said, getting up and going through Tobi’s things before heading to her bathroom, “besides, it gives us enough time to admire the boys.”

“True, and true,” Tobi laughed while reaching in her closet to finish packing the clothes she needed, “hey, do you think they’d mind if I showered at their house. It’ll take too long for me to do it now.”

Ruby shrugged, “I already did so I doubt they’d care.”