CHAPTER TWO

FOUR POV

*A COUPLE DAYS LATER*

Today is Saturday, which means it's the day where the guys and I take a walk in Central Park together. As of now, it's only Zeke, Uriah, Noah, Jack, and I. Uriah is pushing Jack in his stroller as the rest of us walk beside them. It's been a few days since the bet was made, and I still haven't found a girl yet. But, as they say, good things take time. Time, though, is not something that I have a lot of. The guys only gave me three months to get a girl to fall in love with me and accept my marriage proposal. Three months! It's November now, which only gives me until February.

"Hey, Four, you found a girl yet?" Zeke asks, even though he already knows the answer.

I glare at him and reply with a cold, sharp "No."

"Better find one soon. Time is-a-ticking," Uriah says, and makes a tick-tock sound. I playfully punch him.

"Seriously though. You should find one probably today. Maybe now," Noah suggests. I sigh—they clearly are not going to let this go.

"Here? Now? On a Saturday morning in Central Park?" I protest.

Zeke shrugs. "Sure, why not? There are eight million people in this city, and a lot of crazy people too. What more public place is there than Central Park?"

"Fine," I give in reluctantly. The next couple minutes are spent by the guys pointing out random women around the park, and me refusing every one of them for some reason or another. Then, I spot one. Possibly the one. In the somewhat near distance, I spot a girl running. She's not one of those girls that just jogs, this girl is a real runner. She has impeccable form and a beautiful stride. And even though she's far enough away that I can't see her face, I can tell she is beautiful.

"Hey guys, what about that one?" I ask, discreetly gesturing to the running girl. They all mumble their approval and then Uriah asks, "So that's it? She's the one?"

"Yup," I reply, sure of it. As she nears closer, I begin to examine her more. She is naturally beautiful, not one of those girls who need a shit ton of makeup and surgeries and such to look beautiful. She has long, dirty blonde hair that is pulled up into a high ponytail. It's also evident that she is very fit, as she is keeping an impressive pace. She's wearing running tights and a long sleeve t-shirt. Luckily, she's not wearing gloves, and she doesn't have either a wedding ring or an engagement ring on her finger.

Then I realize a fault in my plan—not that I had much of one anyway, but still—how will I talk to her if she's running. I better come up with a plan fast, because she's nearing where the guys and I are standing. Fortunately, I'm wearing shorts, a hoodie, and sneakers, so I can run but I wonder if I'll be able to keep up with her pace, and talk to her at the same time.

I can't think of any other way, though, so I quickly bid goodbye to the guys and start running. I purposely slow a little bit so that she'll catch up with me, since I started ahead of her. She does, and I speed up again so that our strides are matched.

"Hi. I'm Four," I say, and stick out my hand. I immediately regret this, for many reasons. One, if a stranger came up and randomly started running with and talking to me, I'd be extremely creeped out. Two, she probably wouldn't want to shake my hand, for other reasons than be being a perfect stranger—she was in the middle of running and probably didn't want to move her arm from its running motion. But she surprises me.

"Hey. I'm Tris," She replies, and quickly shakes my hand before returning it to the back-and-forth motion of running. There is a slight awkward silence, as I can't think of anything else to say and she probably doesn't want to talk to me in the first place. Yet again, though, she surprises me.

"So is there any reason you didn't start running until I came near, and then you slowed down so that I would reach you, and then you sped up again to keep up with me?" She asks.

Damn, she is observant. Now I have to think of something smart to say that won't make her think of me as a complete creep.

"Actually, I was walking in the park with my friends when I noticed you running, and I happen to be looking for a running partner, because even though running clears my head sometimes it can be lonely," I awkwardly explain. I think that was okay, it did the job although it still makes the situation awkward. And even though the first part about me looking for a running partner isn't true, the second part is—running is relaxing and all, but sometimes it can be lonely just running through a busy city all by yourself.

"Really? Running is the same for me. It's like when I run, all my problems are gone, but at the same time I sometimes feel all alone. Especially running in a place like here, I'm constantly surrounded by tons of people yet I'm still by myself. It's hard to explain…you probably think I'm crazy. How could one be lonely in a place like New York City? Sorry. I'm rambling…" She says, and laughs at herself.

I laugh too—not at her but with her. She is completely…adorable. I never use that word but that's the only word I can think of to describe her.

"No, I get you. Running here in the city can be lonely despite all the people around. It's like…there are people there, but they're just passing faces to you. They don't fill the loneliness just because they're there. You need people that you know to fill the loneliness. And that, is in part, why I'm looking for a running partner," I say. Even though this whole thing started from a lie, and is because of a bet, what I'm saying is from my heart. I'm saying things I believe because I believe them, and I feel a connection to her. I feel like she gets me. This whole time we were talking, I didn't even notice that I was running. It just felt like a normal conversation with a normal person. But we were running—at a pace much faster than my usual one—and she is definitely not a normal person. Suddenly, this has become about so much more than a bet.

"Sure," She says, suddenly breaking the silence of the past couple minutes.

"Sure, what?" I ask, confused.

"Sure, I'll be your running partner. Somehow, running is more fun when you have someone next to you to talk to, and I never realized that until just now. Race you to the end of the path?" She replies. I grin and nod.

"Ready, set, go!" I exclaim, and we both start to sprint. She beats me, and I'm not the least bit surprised, it being miraculous in itself that I managed to keep up with her this whole time. Suddenly, we have left the comparative calmness of Central Park and we are back on the crowded streets of Manhattan, absorbed in all the hustle and bustle of New York City. She puts her phone number and email address into my phone, then says goodbye and leaves me standing there. I am completely amazed by this girl. I'm not exactly sure what just happened, but the one thing I do know for sure is that my legs are going to be extremely, painfully sore tomorrow morning.

I call up Zeke, the guys are probably done with their walk now and are most likely back at my apartment, hiding from their wives/fiancés.

Zeke picks up on the second ring, and answers with "Hey dude. What's up? How did the run go?"

"It was great. She's…amazing. Tell Uriah and Noah that I found the girl."

TRIS POV

After putting my contact information into Four's phone, I head back towards the subway station. On the subway, I collect my thoughts. I don't know much about Four yet, but he seemed nice and funny, although a little weird at first. I do know that he'll be a good running partner though, he was able to keep up with my pace throughout our whole conversation. I can't wait to run with him again sometime, hopefully soon.