The Guide to Maximum Turbo (Under Construction)

Chapter 9

Tod. My best friend.

My brother.

I have known him all my life. Our parents were best friends from High School and once they graduated, they remained close. And so, when Tod and I were born, we became friends. 

There was another though.

Annie.

She  was the other part of our little group. We were as close as any one has ever been. Told each other everything.

Slowly, things started to change. Annie and Tod got closer. They started keeping secrets from me. I found out later that they were dating.

They loved each other. I have known them my whole life. We were the Three Musketeers. Never apart.

Until... it all started to fall apart.

He always tries to keep it in the past. Says that it just wears him down. I know it still hurts.

But it was years ago. But still, we don't talk about it. It just hurts too much.

I still see her. Hear her. I dream about her all the time. Her blond hair, green eyes, all those freckles... She was always so happy and kind.

But things don't stay the same.

She was the closet thing to a sister I had.

But then, she got sick.

No, it wasn't a cold or cancer. Her mind. She became... twisted. She spoke of horrible things.

Killing.

Murder.

But she tried to fight what ever was changing her.

She came to me crying one day. Told me that that would be the last time I would ever see her. I asked where she was going and why. All she told me was, "I'm broken. I need to be fixed. You guys can't help me any more."

And that was it. The next day at school she wasn't there. Nor the next, and the next, and so on.

Everyone else just forgot about her. They didn't talk about her. But if they did, they would talk about her like she was... dead.

I suppose they weren't completely wrong. She had changed in a way that made her seem, well, dead.

But I always thought that if I found her, I could talk to her. Bring her home, fix her. But no matter how far or long I looked for her, I could never find her.

So I slowly gave up. I stopped looking and we moved on.

Tod never could. He became depressed. He hated being alone. I had spent nights with him while he had dreams about her. It was hardest on him.

"Yo, Rain. We are here." T told me, interrupting my thoughts. Wow, I must have been really consumed by my thoughts.

I didn't even notice that  we flew all the way across town. 

We landed in front of a small apartment complex in the middle of a tough neighborhood. I told Tod that he could always come and live with me, but he would just shake his head.

He'd say, "Its better this way. The kids here need someone to look up to."

"Okay T, lets cut the turbo. Tod's a friend. No need for hostility, yeah?" I joke. Once I'm in my street clothes, we head up to his apartment.

When we get there, I knock. A muffled 'Hold on, I'm comin" was heard on the other side. A few crashes followed and the door swung open.

His black hair was thrown all over the place, like he just woke up. His arms were littered with black and blue bruises and so was his face. His shirt was torn and his pants had so many holes in them. I saw a faint line of red coming down from his nose and mouth.

Tod looked like he just got out of a boxing match, and he lost.

"Oh, its just you" He sighed, letting me in. "Yeah, its just me. Nice to see you too. What the heck happened to you?! You look horrible." I state.

He chuckled. "Oh thanks Rain. That exactly what every guy wants to hear from a pretty girl. By the way, this is not what you think, okay. I was just... helping out a friend. Nothing... illegal... ish..." he trailed off.

You see, his friends are not the best guys. I mean yeah, they do what they do because they need to provide for their families, but that doesn't mean that they need to do illegal things.

You see, most of his 'friends' are drug dealers. They are actually nice guys when they aren't breaking the law. I even went out with one of them. But they attract the wrong kind of crowd. And that gets guys like Tod beat up. But he would never bail on his friends. Especially because they have all gotten him through the worst nights.

"You have to move Tod. This place is rotten inside and out and you keep getting hurt. I mean, I could care less, but Rain gets distressed when she sees you like this. Okay, maybe I'm worried about you too, but that's not the point." Tech ranted. He rolled his eyes at her and lead us into his living room.

When T and I found eachother, Tod was the first one to know. It was about 5 years after my parents were killed. Tech, Tod and I worked together to find out all the things that Tech and I could do while linked. It was kind of like a Rocky training montage. 

His apartment is small. One bedroom and one bathroom with a small kitchen that connected to a small living room. He says that rent is cheep so its the best place for him at the moment. He doesn't get paid much so this is the best he could get.

I've offered that he stay at my place but he says that he "doesn't want to put me out" what ever that means. 

" So what is up girly? This is the first time you have come to visit me in a while, it must be important." Tod asked while sitting down on a kitchen chair. 

"Aunt Joy... she is gone. She has been kidnapped. I'm working with N-Tech to find her but so far... its not going too good. They are really testing my patience. I just needed someone who knows how to take the edge off." I explained with one breath.

Tod said nothing. Aunt Joy and Tod became close after his family kicked him out. But that's a whole other story. 

He got up and came over to me. All he did was hug me.

This is what I needed.

"I missed you squirt. Ill help you. I promise." He mumbled into my hair. 

Ever sense I found out Aunt Joy was taken, I had tried my best to stay strong. But for the first time, in that moment...

I cried.

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Wow guys, it has been a while! It feels great to upload again. Like I always say, sorry for the late upload. I have just gotten really distracted with my senior year being half way over and family health issues coming up but I hope to upload more chapters quicker and more often. But for now, this is going to have to do.

Also I am trying out a new writing style, as you may have noticed. I'm trying to make it more readable. I know that paragraph writing looks okay on bigger screens but on a phone, its a little annoying to read through. 

So tell me what you think about this new way of writing I have done. I hope reading this chapter was better then it has been in the past. 

So as always, vote, comment and read on my friends. Peace out Girl Scouts :)