Laser Tag?
Part 2 of 2. There may be a third bonus part... Only if you guys want one. If you like the ending the way it is here, let me know. If you need closure, I can post the third. Enjoy :)
-NINTH GRADE-
In the ninth grade, Beatrice had hardly changed. Well, she'd gotten significantly hotter, but her personality hadn't changed in the slightest. Another thing that changed was that she made a friend. She never felt she needed anybody until she befriended Christina. Christina was from a different school in just the next district over, and she was a better friend than Tris could ever imagine. She never imagined having such an amazing friend in high school, but she kind of just… appeared into her life. Tris and Christina met at the local Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Tris was scouting out the newest young-adult fiction when a girl came up next to her and started looking at the books.
Tris's day went a little like this:
Beatrice stood in the YA Fic section of the book store. She scanned the rows of books saying in her head, "Read it, read it, read it, haven't read it, read it, haven't read, read it, read it…"
She picked up a recently released book and began to read the summary.
"That's a great book," someone chirped. "I couldn't stop reading it."
Beatrice turned her head to see a tall, tan-skinned girl with a pile of books against her chest.
"Sounds good," she said quietly.
"Her other books are exceptional also. My name's Christina. You?"
"Beatrice." She continued reading the cover of the book.
"You like to read?"
"Mhm."
"Me too. Care to converse over a good novel at starbucks? I've got a car," she offered with a kind smile.
Beatrice didn't say anything for a moment. "Let me ask my parents. Why are you so quick to be friendly?"
She shrugged. "I'm extremely shy, believe it or not. But I could tell you were too. You seem like a conversationalist about books. Plus I can tell you're not really good with people either."
"How are you so good at reading people?" Beatrice asked inquisitively.
"A book can teach you so many different things. I learned it from a series called The Naturals. Great series. You should read it sometime."
Beatrice smirked. "Already have."
Christina laughed. "All right. I'll be here. Go ask your parents."
Beatrice smiled, and then sauntered over to where her parents were observing the historical books.
"Hey, Mom, I met this girl over in my section… Her name's Christina. She wants to have a book discussion. This sounds weird, but can we go to Starbucks?" she laughed.
Natalie looked at Andrew with a hesitant visage.
"This is awfully unlike you… May I meet her?"
She shrugged. "I suppose. Come this way."
Beatrice led them over to where Christina was standing, her pile of books still stacked against her body. When Christina looked up, she blinked, then dropped her books.
"You… This isn't possible. You're Natalie Prior. You wrote my favorite series of… of all time. You're the reason I am who I am. Are you real? Are you actually here?" she asked with wide eyes.
Natalie nodded her head. "Indeed, Christina," she chuckled. "May I invite you over to my home? I make much better coffee than any Starbucks."
Christina laughed, then looked at Beatrice, which made her laugh.
"My name is Beatrice Prior. Daughter of the author Natalie Prior and professor Andrew Prior. Christina, would you like to come over to my house?" Beatrice chuckled.
That was most likely one of the best days of Tris's life. She played the day over and over in her head again and again and she's never once regretted it. Never. Beatrice never had a friend before that day. Christina was more important than anybody in Beatrice's life, and the other way around for Christina. There was one thing that annoyed Beatrice:
The fact that Christina began to call her Tris. That boy… Tobias was his name, if Tris remembered correctly, called her that. She disliked it. She actually grew used to it because Christina was very adamant about calling her that. She acted like she hated it, but because Christina and Tobias called her, it began to grow on her.
-TENTH GRADE-
Tenth grade was when Tris began writing her first novel. It was about high school, but with a twist. It involved angels, demons, things of the sorts. She worked on it nonstop. It made her happy. When she was writing, she could be herself.
Christina was writing this book with her, so they would frequently talk about it when they met for coffee twice during the week, then usually read or write together on the weekend. Tris usually did some revising on it and shared it with Christina, and she always approved and loved her new developments, and when Christina had a new idea, Tris usually supported it. They were perfectly matched.
One day, when Tris was typing the book on her laptop in study hall, Tobias came up to her.
It went a little like this:
"Watcha writin'?"
Tris immediately closed her laptop. She never shared what she was writing, and neither did Christina. She wasn't expecting Tobias to come up to her so randomly. They shared the same study hall in the cafeteria, but he'd never spoken to her before.
"Doesn't concern you," she answered simply.
He smirked. "I stood behind you for an easy ten minutes reading what you write. You're so absorbed in it. It's a rarity to see that kind of inspiration and devotion these days. It was very well-written, and I definitely enjoyed it. When you finish it would you mind letting me read it?"
"You can read it when it's on a shelf at Barnes & Noble Booksellers."
He smirked. "Fair enough."
Tris gave him a confident smile, then shrugged.
"It's Tris, right?"
She chuckled. "Sure. That seems to be what everyone's calling me these days."
"Well. Tris. I'm excited to buy and read it. See ya 'round." He winked, and then he sauntered off.
She rolled her eyes, opened her laptop, and began writing again.
-ELEVENTH GRADE-
Tris began to get her life in order. She'd begun looking at colleges. She'd begun to think about how her life would turn out. She began to worry too. She began to worry about what it'd be like if her book was rejected in its publication appilication. If it had, she'd keep trying. No matter how many attempts it took. In fact, it took her mother seven attempts, and it ended up on the bestseller's list. Tris and Christina had only sent it to one publishing company, and it was last month. Typically it took three weeks for a publisher to get back to the author, so they were slightly concerned.
She notified her teachers that if she got a call to answer to company, she was stepping out to answer it. They were all okay with it, and they were all excited for her.
Third period, her phone buzzed against her thigh. No one ever called her. It had to be them.
Her call went a little like this:
Beatrice felt a buzz against her leg. Her eyes widened, and she fumbled for her iPhone.
When she pulled it out, it read "Harper Collins Publishing Co."
She asked her english teacher in middle of a lecture, "Mrs. Lee. It's them."
She grinned excitedly. "Go! Take it!"
Beatrice nervously exited the classroom and entered the hallway.
"Hello?" she answered anxiously.
"Would this be Ms. Prior?"
"Yes, indeed it is."
"Hello, my name is Ian Steiner of Harper Collins. I have some news about your book, The Nirvana."
"Thank you for calling. What might this news be?" she answered, crossing her fingers and squeezing her eyes shut, as if they were sowed that way.
"Very good. Very good news. We'd like to publish Christina White's and your book. It is equally contributed, correct?"
"Yes, yes it is," Tris said, still unable to open her eyes. She was too excited. She could hardly contain herself.
"Fantastic. Just to give you an idea, the book should be published sometime next year, maybe Novemberish. I must say, for you only being eighteen, your work is astounding. Your mother has taught you well."
"Actually," Tris said, "my mother wasn't involved in my reading or writing at all. Obviously she was happy I was into it, but she never bothered me about reading my material. Nobody has read the book besides myself, Christina, and you, Mr. Steiner. This really is an amazing opportunity though. Thank you so, so much."
The publisher was smiling, Tris could tell. "All right. Well, I'm sure you're in class at the moment. I've notified Ms. White about the publication, just so you know."
"Okay. Thank you so very much, Mr. Steiner," she said, tears puddling in her eyes.
"My pleasure. Good day, Ms. Prior."
"You too."
Tris stood in shock. She didn't know what to do. At eighteen, a junior and senior in high school (Tris started kindergarten a year late due to her mother's fame and travel and book signings, so she was a year behind; Tris was supposed to be a senior) getting their book published. That was astounding. Tris was amazed and proud of not only herself, but also Chris. She couldn't have done it without her. It'd have been impossible.
She opened her eyes, then dialed Christina's number.
"Tris," Christina answered. "We did it."
She nodded, even though she knew Christina wouldn't see her. "We did it," she whispered.
And at the back of her mind, she thought, So Tobias will get to read my book, after all.
-TWELFTH GRADE-
Tris and Christina's book came out in mid-December of 2011. It was on the YA bestseller's list, and there was an article written about them in Goodreads and other media. Christina graduated from high school and continued on to Stanford. She could go anywhere she wanted. She published a book. The same went for Tris. When the book came out in December, that was when she graduated early to continue on to Oxford University in England. Tris left the U.S. for Uni, and she couldn't have been happier. After she and Christina were separated, they still kept in touch despite the ocean-wide stretch.
She wondered what Tobias thought of the book.
If he even read it.
Tris had a feeling he did. She hasn't talked to him since tenth grade, but there was always the occasional hello in the hallway.
She didn't regret anything in high school. She didn't have time for regrets. She couldn't afford that. Not in college. Not where she was. Everything was perfect. She regretted nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Well… Maybe one thing.
Tris wished she'd talked to Tobias a little more. She didn't want to be best friends like she was with Christina, but she wanted to be friends with him. If she had to regret anything, that would be it. She wished, just wished, that she'd been friends with Tobias. But she couldn't change that. So she dealt with it. It was the way it was. Simple.
It was simple.
-PRESENT-
Parts of these memories all cascade their way through her head. She's excited, nervous, and happy. Maybe a little terrified too.
"Tobias," she says with a chuckle. "It's nice to see you."
He slightly shakes his head. Obviously she knocked him out from his trance.
Tobias stands up, and so does Tris. He goes in for a hug, as did she.
"You look good, Tris," he whispers as they hug.
She smiled. "You too. Handsome as usual," she chuckles. "How are you?" She sits down in a chair next to his.
"I'm pretty good. I'm not going to ask you how you are, because, well, obviously you seem to do pretty well with yourself. You know, having published a book and all," he laughs.
She laughs a beautiful laugh. "Yes, you could say I've been doing all right. What are you doing these days?"
He shrugs. "Just going around… doing my thing."
"Doing your thing?" she chuckles. "What is 'your thing'?"
He shrugs yet again. "It's nerdy."
She laughs. "Tobias. I'm a damn writer, for God's sake. My job is literally being a nerd."
He shyly smiles at her. "I'm a director in market analysis for an organization called FLLC. Funding Local Libraries of Chicago. We're a non-profit organization that raises money for libraries to buy more books. Nerdy, right?"
She laughs. "I dig nerds."
He smirks at her and asks, "So where you livin' nowadays?"
"Oxford. I just finished up my degree there, and I'm moving back here to Chicago in about two weeks," she explains. "Though Oxford is beautiful, I don't know if I can handle any more British accents."
Tobias smiles. "Gotta love Chicago. I could never leave this place."
"I don't know how I did for four years. I miss this place."
"This is slightly irrelevant, but I read your book the day it came out. I went to find you, but someone told me you left for college earlier that week. I was kind of pissed, to be honest. I wanted to ask you if you were going to make a sequel, if you were going to continue writing, if Lilly ended up in Nirvana…," he rambles.
She smiles. "No, yes, yes."
He looks relieved, Tris notices. "That's been eating you up, hasn't it?" she asks.
He nods. "Indeed."
"So, anyway," he chuckles, "you married? Boyfriend? Hell, kids?"
"None of the above," she answers. "Yourself?"
"None of the above."
She smiles at this. "How can we pick up like old close friends, even though we hardly ever talked in high school?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. I've imagined having a real conversation like this with you back in high school, but you were just always so shy," he chuckles. "Plus," he says, his face reddening, "I always did have the slightest crush on you."
Tris's eyebrows go up in surprise. "Really?"
He shyly smiles at her. "Yeah. I mean, I constantly tried to start a conversation with you, but you were always extremely shy and quiet."
She laughs. "I am, I will give you that. I may've come off as a little bit too preserved, but more and more I found myself wanting you to start up conversation."
He grins at her. "Well. Here we are now. Would you like to converse elsewhere?"
She throws him a coy smile. "What do you mean by that?"
He chuckles and says, "You want to get out of here?"
"Tobias," she laughs, "I've been here all of about twenty minutes."
"What's your point?" he asks. "Somehow, nobody notices you—just like high school—even though you look stunning."
She blushes. "Well people seem to be noticing you."
"Because I was football jock. Because they noticed me back then. None of that matters. What matters is that we're here, now, at this shitty high school reunion"—Tris laughs as he says that—"and that anything else would be better than this."
She mischievously smiles. "What'd you have in mind?"
Tobias copies Tris's smile. "What are your thoughts on Laser Tag?"