Chapter Eleven

Christina tosses a cookie crumb at me, trying to get my attention. "Are you okay? You've been kind of distracted lately." She smirks, taking a big bite of her peanut butter cookie. "Daydreaming about some hot guy you saw?"

Not daydreaming so much as worrying.

Tobias and I had gotten together before Christmas and then after most of my family members left and Tobias was free of his Mom and Zeke, we got together again at his apartment. But each time, no matter how much he denied it, I know us being together still worried him. Honestly, you'd think he was expecting a SWAT team to bust down his door at any moment and execute him.

He tried to hide it a majority of the time we were together. I think he mainly did it to protect me or to keep me ignorant to how he felt.

"I'm fine." I lied, rolling my eyes at her. "Just…worried I'm not going to hear back from Elmhurst before the deposit deadline, that's all."

She rolled her eyes, reaching for another cookie. "You're going to get in. I mean, Brown's accepted you, right?"

Feeling a large knot in my stomach, I wrap my arms around myself and shrug. "I still haven't heard back from them yet, but I mean, I might want to stay in Chicago. I don't really think I want to go away for college."

Christina almost drops her cookie on herself, stunned. "Are you kidding me? Brown's all you've talked about since we were kids! It's been your first choice college since birth!"

"I know, but I'd rather stay home. We could get an apartment together, both attend Elmhurst. It'd be great."

This time, she almost chokes on her cookie. "Alright, what the hell is going on with you? Did you hit your head or something? Kill too many brain cells?"

Rolling my eyes, I kick her playfully. "No, just…I'm starting to think maybe Brown's just a dream."

"You have the grades, GPA and SAT scores to get in! You're perfect for it!"

I really wanted to change the topic, badly. I actually wanted to talk to her about Tobias but I knew that it wasn't a very good idea to do that.

All of a sudden, Christina's face lights up like a Christmas tree. "Does your wanting to stay home have anything to do with a guy?" She smiles a knowing smile and I feel my face get warmer.

"No, absolutely not." Not a complete lie. "It has to do with my family. I want to stay with them through college…"

Christina's joking demeanor changes and I'm suddenly on edge. "Tris, is everything seriously okay? You've never had a bad feeling about Brown and now you're suddenly all for Elmhurst?" Realization hits her and I can see it in her eyes. She knows. "You didn't get in…" It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Sighing, I reach for a sugar cookie and poke at the icing. "No, I didn't get in. I got a letter a few weeks ago saying that they couldn't find me a place in the class."

"Tris, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd instantly tell me about how stupid they are for not accepting me and telling me that they would be losing out and I wouldn't! I didn't want sympathy."

Christina looks hurt, understandably. "Have you kept this to yourself that entire time?"

I shake my head. "No, I told…someone." I really, really hoped she wouldn't push for who 'someone' was, but I knew her too well.

"Who would you tell before me?" She asks, sounding offended.

"Chris, it doesn't matter." Christina stands up so fast I'm surprised she didn't get lightheaded. All traces of her earlier humor were gone and she looked mad – pissed, even.

"It doesn't matter? Of course it matters, Tris! I'm your best friend and you hide this from me?!" She crosses her arms over her chest.

Tossing the cookie back onto the plate, I stand up, my hands balled into fists. "Why are you so offended? I'm the one who got rejected from their first choice college! You know, the one that I've obsessed over for the past eighteen years!" Frustrated, I shake my head and try to lower my voice. "I think you should leave."

She left, slamming my bedroom door behind her and I sat back down on my bed. There was a small soft knock on my door and my Mom poked her head in. "Everything okay? Christina left here looking slightly upset."

I shrugged and watched as she came to sit down next to me, a packet in her hands. "I hope you two can work it through. I'd really hate to see you two stop being friends this close to graduation." A small smiles plays at her lips. "Speaking of graduation, this came in the mail for you today." She hands the packet over to me and I see Elmhurst College Admissions Office written across the top of the packet. "Do you want to open it right now?" She asks when I keep staring at it.

"Uhm, no. I think…I think I'll go open it with Christina." My Mom smiles and hugs me, giving me a kiss on the forehead and then leaves. Once she leaves, I'm running to my car, over-excited.

Twenty minutes later I'm standing outside of Tobias's apartment and I'm banging on the door, open-palmed and as loudly as I can. Before he even has the door fully open, I burst past him and can't help but bounce on my feet, smiling. "What are you doing here?" He asks, not able to hide his smile.

I hold up the packet and Tobias shuts the door, walking over to stand in front of me. "Did you get in?" He asks.

"I don't know, I didn't open it but it's a packet!"

Taking a deep breath, I rip open the packet and pull out a folder. Opening up the folder, I instantly see the word Congratulations in the first paragraph. I basically had to force myself to read the rest of the letter, but once I did, I realized there was another letter behind the acceptance one.

"Oh my God…" I breathed.

Tobias stepped closer, placing a hand on my arm. "What?"

"I…I got in." I can feel my heart in my throat. "And I got a full scholarship. I got a full ride to Elmhurst!" Throwing my arms around Tobias, I bring my lips to his, taking him by surprise.

Pulling back, Tobias brushes a few strands of hair away from my face and he's smiling a large, all-teeth smile. "I am so goddamn proud of you, Tris." His words and the look in his eyes make my heart flutter and something tightens in my stomach. "I knew you were amazing, but I didn't expect this." He nods to the paper that ended up falling out of my hand.

He pulls my face back to his, twisting his hands in my hair, holding my face close to his. He's pulling me over towards the couch where he sits down and pulls me onto his lap. Both my legs go to either side of his thighs and I run my fingers through his cropped hair while his hands move down to rest on my waist.

I run my hands down his back and they rest at his lower back, at the bottom of his shirt. With shaking hands, I run my hands up under his shirt, the tips of my fingers brushing along the bare skin of his back.

He shivers and presses his lips to my throat. My breathing speeds up and once again I can feel my heartbeat in my throat, but this time it isn't out of excitement – it's out of nervousness.

There's a heavy knock at the door and Tobias cusses under his breath, pulling away from me. I shift myself off of him and move a little down the couch, out of sight of the front door.

Doing my best, I try to listen to the conversation. "Zeke, I just…I can't. Not tonight, I'm busy."

"Dude, you've been busy the last few months!" Zeke exclaims and I cover my mouth to stifle my giggle. "Unless it's because of some hot chick, I don't understand why you can't come out for a few hours."

Tobias sighs and I can picture the annoyed look on his face. "Zeke, I have a job. A full-time job, teaching none the less, and that takes up a lot of my time. I'm really sorry, dude. Maybe we can do something this weekend."

I hear a deep laugh and Zeke says, "Fuck, man. You're boring with this new job. I miss the old Tobias, the one who wouldn't hesitate to come out and drink."

"Yeah well, sometime people have to grow up." I heard the door shut and I turned around, resting my chin on the back of the couch. "Please tell me you weren't listening." Tobias sighs, stepping into the living room.

Smiling, I laugh. "Looks like your buddy misses you." I frown as Tobias crosses his arms over his chest. "If you want to go out with him I don't want to stop you. I can go home…"

He shakes his head. "It's fine. Zeke will find another friend to hang out with and he'll get over it. He always does."

Tobias looked like he wasn't upset about it, but I still felt bad. I wanted Tobias and I to work out, I really did. But I didn't want to take him away from his friends and family just to be with me. I wouldn't want to make his friends and family hate me before they even really knew me.

"Go hang out with him; I can go to Christina's. I owe her an apology anyways."

"Are you sure?" He asks. I'm not sure if he's worried about me lying about going to go see Christina or if he just doesn't want me to leave. Actually, the latter was probably just me being conceited.

Nodding, I push myself up off the couch. "Yeah, it's fine. My parents are probably wondering why I've been spending so much time at Christina's and God knows my mom will probably show up to her house one night."

Tobias smiles at that and presses a kiss to my forehead. I grab my Elmhurst letter and then leave.

I'm smiling as I walk towards the elevators and when I push the 'down' button, someone speaks behind me, scaring me. "Prior?" I turn around.

"Hayes?"


So yeah, this wasn't as long as the previous chapters but I really just wanted to get something up. I actually have no excuse for not writing as much as quickly as I used to. I just occasionally get writers block and it sucks because I want to write but have absolutely no idea what to write.

But yeah, I'm so glad that you're all enjoying it and the positive feedback is actually helping a lot.