Innocence

I sighed and slouched against my headboard. My two best friends were sprawled out in front of me. There was Katie, a beautiful and smart blonde who was great when I needed to talk to about girl stuff. And there was Keith, a gorgeous blonde who was sometimes smart and gave me guy advice and life lessons. Katie went by Kady because of her name plus her initials and Keith went by Kid because his three initials.

"Raiden is totally hot and mysterious. You should date him." Katie said. I coughed and choked on air.

Keith laughed. "Kady, he had his hands glued to his cell phone this morning and had to get Adeline to help! Plus, he looks like bad news. Toby doesn't need that."

I raided my hand in the air. "I second Kid's statement."

"Kid, what a great name!" Raiden said as he barged into my room. I took a pillow and flung it at his head. He ducked and it hit the wall.

"Kid, Kady, this is Raiden the retard. Raiden this is two people that you're forbidden to talk to. Katie and Keith."

Katie jumped up and smiled to him. "Heyyyy."

Keith rolled his eyes and pushed his sister back down. "Touch my sister and I will seriously injure you." Keith was an average sized guy that wouldn't look very strong to the average people but actually he can lift over four times his own body weight.

Raiden put his hands up in defense. "Don't worry. I have no intentions. Sorry, Kate-ie. You just aren't my type."

She sniffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever, Dude."

"Okay, Radiation, leave now. You've annoyed me enough for today."

He walked over towards me and sat next to me on my bed. I moved away from him. Keith watched him as daggers flew from his eyes. "Aw." He whispered softly and then touched my scarf. "But I didn't even get to criticize your outfit in some way yet." Every day since he made fun of my hat he's been making fun of what I wear. Even though everything I wear always looks great on me and it always matches. "Your shirt." He said softly clutching its material. I tried to move further away but he kept me close. "Looks like a dirty old rug." He smiled and then jumped off my bed and left the room.

I stared after him in silence. When I looked back over at my friends they were staring at me like I was him.

"That was intense." Katie said.

I nodded.

"Sure was. He shouldn't be getting so close to you." Keith hissed. Katie and I looked at him. He furrowed his brows and quickly added, "After all, you guys will be related soon."

Keith's voice was strained and he looked angry. He didn't get like that often. He was being protective of me. I had been threw a lot my whole life and Keith knew every bit of it. He just didn't want me to get hurt. It didn't make sense that he was trying to protect me from Raiden though. After all, like he said, we'd be related soon and nothing was going on with me and Raiden. I hated him. And plus, I had no interest even if he didn't annoy me with his cocky smile and 'I'm so hot.' attitude.

I still missed Preston. My loving boyfriend that died. I tried to push it out of my mind. I have pretty much gotten over it. Even though each time I think of him, my head pounds, my heart slows down, and I can hardly breathe.

To this day, I still haven't shed a tear over Preston. I pushed the pain so far away because I didn't want to feel it. I didn't want to go through the grieving process. I didn't want to be that sad person. I couldn't take anymore sadness after loosing my baby sister when she was five. She was killed over four years ago.

That tore me up the worst. That's when I started to cut myself. I was only twelve. And after about a year I got over it. Then a year after that my dad and boyfriend had to die. If I let myself be sad, I don't know if I'd ever be able to be normal again.

So, I stuffed it all away. And that's what makes me the bitch I am today.

Katie grabbed my hand. "Hey, you're frowning and you look all sad. Toby! You're going to get wrinkles if you keep that up. Seriously. It's a scientific fact!

I attempted to smile and Keith crawled next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. His face relaxed. "It's okay to feel pain, Toby."

I shook my head and pushed away pain that was trying to slip through my eyes. "No, not it's not. I don't want to be sad. I don't like it."

"Why don't we go shopping? It will make you feel better." Katie suggested.

I shook my head again.

Keith looked at me and read my face. "How about we go home and come over later. You should get some sleep. You look super stressed out." I never understood how he could always read my face. But Keith just could. That was one of the many things I liked about him. I nodded and Keith kissed my cheek before leaving. Katie gave me a tight hug and told me to get Raiden's number for her.

Once they left I collapsed under my sheets and fell asleep.