I do not own anything, just my ideas!
Chapter 24
TRIS
"Please, Tris. Pleeeeease." Christina begs. We stand outside of my house and the air has been getting colder as the minutes pass. I don't think Christina truly realizes how late it is.
"It's almost 11 on a school night, I don't know if Tori will let me go."
"Then sneak out."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Come on, Tori doesn't have to know."
"Tori doesn't have to know about what?" Tori says as she walks through the door.
"Oh," Christina stutters, "I need to borrow Tris."
"You know that you both have school tomorrow and it's late."
"It won't be long, I promise."
I give Tori a look, but she gives me one too. Tori says, "Have her back by midnight."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Christina squeals, gripping my arm and pulling me to her car. We get in and all I can think is why Tori let me do this.
"So are you going to tell me why you waited until Thursday night to do this?" I ask.
"I wanted to do it earlier, but every time I get a chance to go over, it is raining. And the game is tomorrow."
"They better win if I'm doing this for you." Originally, I was going to go to bed early this night, because I spent the last couple nights up late texting with Tobias. It's nothing. Well, it's not nothing. It's... I don't know. But Christina is Christina. She called me saying she was outside of my house. And now here I am driving to Will's house to paint up his car for the big rivalry game tomorrow.
"Don't worry, our boys won't let us down." The drive to Will's house is not long, and we get there fairly quickly. We get out of her car and quietly walk over Will's car.
She hands me the white marker, keeping the red for herself, and we begin to write on his car. Christina being herself, does not do this job in silence. "So are there any other cars you want to paint up tonight?"
"Who else's car would we do?"
"Four's."
"Why would we do that?"
"Gee, I don't know. He's in the group, he's our friend, he's playing in the game tomorrow... ARE YOU KIDDING? We would do it because you like him and he likes you. Can you imagine him waking up tomorrow morning, walking out to his car and seeing this."
As she says this she points to Will's car. Along the back, we wrote "Go Firehawks" really big, Will's number is plastered all over, "Christina 3 you" is along the side. "He'd love it. Well, except we'll put your name with the hearts instead of mine."
"I don't know about that."
"Are you kidding me?"
"No, now it looks like you are done so can we leave now?"
"No, we are going to talk, then, and only then, I will take you back home if that is what you want."
I sigh, "Fine, what are we talking about."
"Finally. You know I've been trying to get you to talk all week." She says as we walk back to her car and get in. She doesn't start it, we just sit there.
"What do you want to know?"
"What happened Saturday night?"
"I didn't go to Homecoming."
"Come on, you can tell me. I know Four left the dance after some girl danced on him."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, some slut walked up to him and started grinding on him. He tried to get away from her, but she kept on going. Eventually, he did this spin thing and she fell on her ass. It was actually pretty funny. Anyway, right after that, he left and no one knew what happened."
"And you think I do?"
"Don't act like you don't know."
"I don't know what you are talking about." I try to suppress my smile. I don't know why I'm not just telling her what happened. Maybe because that night is mine and Tobias'.
"You're blushing... You're blushing!" She squeals, and I cover her mouth with my hand. It is late and what we need is for the neighborhood to wake up. Her tone turns serious, "Tris, everyone knows there is something going on there. It's like everyone knows but you. You should have seen the way he looked at you at dinner."
"It was nothing." But it wasn't. I remember how when he looked at me it melted my heart. How every glance my way turned his mouth up into a smile.
"Oh, it was not 'nothing'." She says taking her phone out.
"What are you doing?"
"Since you aren't on Facebook, I will show you the pictures Tori posted." It's true. After all the bullying in New York, I decided it was best to not be on any kind of social networking site.
She flips through her phone, and in seconds, she pulls up a picture of Tobias and I. I remember it perfectly. His arm is around my shoulders, holding me close to him, and my arm is on his back. Neither of us looks into the camera, only into each other's eyes.
It's like I am not looking at a picture of myself. Instead, I see two people with love and respect in their eyes. It is truly an absolutely beautiful picture.
"He came to see me." I say, "I was on my roof by myself and all of a sudden, he was there too."
"Oh my gosh!"
I laugh. It feels good to talk about this to someone. "Yeah, we went to the park and just talked. I actually had a really good time. And then, when we were coming back to my house... He kissed me."
She screams, real happiness in her eyes. "And then..."
"And then... I kissed him."
"Holy shit. So what's been going on now?"
"Well, we're talking, and... uh, it's complicated."
"And what? You like him, he obviously likes you; what's so complicated about that?"
"I just want to take things slow." I say slowly, thinking of my scars that hide under my clothes. "Besides, he has a couple big games coming up-the rivalry game, post season-I don't want to distract him."
"Distract him? Honey, you have been 'distracting' him since the beginning of the season."
I roll my eyes, "Alright, whatever you say."
"Shauna's right," she sighs, "you're impossible."
"If it makes you feel better, we plan on hanging out this weekend, hopefully after the game tomorrow, too."
"Alright." She says, but giving me a look from the corner of her eye. "Since there is still time before we have to get back, let's go to Four's house and decorate his car."
"Fine, let's do it."
"Yes." She says as she starts the car. We drive along and my heart begins to race. I can't imagine the look on his face when he will see his car.
I've never been surrounded by so much black in my life. There are a lot of people at normal games, but this is the last game of the regular season. And it is against our school's rival. Since I'm new this year, the 'hatred' I have for the other school is not as intense as most of the other students'.
Normally, we have blackouts, but the other team's colors are black, silver, and white. Ours are red, black, and white, so during these select games, we wear red. But that doesn't mean our school doesn't mess around with the other. While the other school's fans strut through the gates decked out in all black, so do we. But a little different.
Christina tried to convince me to join the student section, but I refused. There are even more people at this game than normal; I'll be staying close to Tori. But as expected, the student body is decked out in red, but as they walk in, they all wear black trash bags, giving the illusion of a black sea.
As the minutes tick away till the game starts, I get more and more thankful that I stayed away from the craziness that is a few sections away. My attention gets brought back to the field as our guys take the field. I see Tobias immediately. He catches my eye too, and I press my hand to my mouth and send a wave his way.
Warm-ups go by and soon enough, it is time for kick-off. The players take their place on the field, and right as the teams break from their huddles, our student section starts jumping around. I hear a voice above the crowd.
"I!" I the students chant.
"I believe!" I believe! They say, following her.
"I believe that!" I believe that!
"I believe that we!" I believe that we!
"I believe that we will win!" I believe that we will win!
Right as the students say their last part, a huge cloud of white is thrown into the air. It smells... clean. It takes me a second to realize that they are throwing baby powder into the air. There is so much powder, I can barely see the mass of teenagers cheering.
The large, dense cloud slowly floats over the field to the other side, leaving our side of the field. Now that the powder has settled, I see that all the students have ripped off their trash bags and what was a black mass, then a white cloud, is now a red sea. I have to admit, that was pretty cool.
I turn my attention back to the game and see that I missed kick-off. It looks like it was a fair catch, based on the way the players are setting up. I see Tobias take the field, and I can't help but letting my eyes linger on him. His huddle breaks, and the guys hunch down at the line of scrimmage. The ball is snapped, and the game truly begins.
The night's peace only last for a moment, because as our caravan approaches Christina's house, the guys scream in victory out the windows. The game was pretty close, up until the fourth quarter when we took the game and ran with it. I guess last year's game didn't end all to great-they lost-so winning this year meant a lot.
As the cars pull into the driveway, we all pile out and head into Christina's house. She is housing the little victory party this week, and I am a little grateful. I've been to her house enough times that I am beginning to feel really comfortable in it.
I've been to her house before, and her basement is one of my favorite places in the house. It is large, but half of it isn't completely finished. The part where the stairs are is finished, and along that wall is a "man cave" with a bar and more than one TV. On the other side of the basement, is not completely finished, but it's my favorite part.
Different lights dangle from the ceiling and fall to the floor next to the walls. There's a cushy couch with different shaped chairs and been-bags all wrapped around in a circle in front of the 12 foot white screen that is perfect for movies. Off in the corner is a fuseball/airhockey table and a separate TV designated for video games.
There is not a harsh light, but a soft glow, and the room smells like apples. It's quaint, and it has character. In between the two parts of the basement is a double door exit that leads to the backyard. Just outside is a fire pit and a porch swing.
As almost everyone runs in, me being me, I am the last one to get out of the car, and I linger to the door slowly. After being in a crazy screaming vehicle, I need to take a break. The funny thing is, I don't jump, or feel startled when I feel his hand touch my shoulder. "You coming, pokey?" Tobias says.
"You're one to talk. You're not in the house either."
"I was actually hoping we could talk."
"Me, too. Come on, let's go inside. We can go out into the backyard. The last thing we need is them freaking out that we aren't inside yet."
"You want to know what would really make them shit their pants?" He says with a sly grin.
"What?"
"Jump in my arms."
"What?"
"I'd ask you to jump on my back, but that's not a good idea."
"Okay..." I don't get to finish because he has wrapped one arm around my back and the other under my knees. A shriek, no-a laugh, breaks my lips. I quickly wrap my arms around his neck. As he carries me to the door, I am laughing so hard my sides are hurting. I guess him tickling me doesn't help the situation.
We rush in and I see the door to the basement is wide open and noise is coming from it. "The basement." I say through laughs. We descend the stairs and the conversation that was just going on, stops.
"Well, it's nice that you've joined us." Shauna says with a wink.
"Tris, were you... laughing?" Christina asks.
"Yeah... but, he was tickling me." I say looking at him.
"You can put her down, now." Zeke yells from across the room. I forgot I was still in his arms. He releases me, but as his hands pull away, he bends down and kisses me on the cheek. His mouth is next to my ear, "Sorry, just seeing you laugh like that, I couldn't help it."
"It's fine." I say. I look around and see everyone staring at us.
"So... what were you guys talking about?" Tobias says.
Christina speaks up, "The thing the student section did during the game."
"You mean the baby powder?"
"No, the other one."
"You have to admit, it was pretty cool." Marlene says.
"I didn't get to see what you guys did. You know, I was kind of on the field playing a game." Uriah whines, but with a smirk on his face. Defense was on the field when they did it.
"Well, we got a video, so you now you can see it." Marlene replies.
"Ooh, let me see." He nearly topples over his girlfriend, taking her phone.
"Wait," Christina says, "I can hook it up to the projector so we all can see it."
She walks up to the project and plugs Marlene's phone in. We all come to the projector and fall into different seats. I sit in a bean bag next to Tobias.
The white screen lights up, a fire of red takes over the once white surface. Because it is the last regular season game and against the rivals, every inch-the bleachers and the stairs-is covered with students. They are all moving around, their hands waving up and down.
In the front, Brady-I think his name is, a six foot eight basketball player-has on a big cloak and a long white wig and beard. In his hands is a long wooden pole, a staff. He begins to wave the staff around; when he shifts right, the crowd of students shift to the right, and the same with the left.
He continues to move the staff around, the students following each movement, until he stops. He takes the staff in both hands and slams it down into the ground. The students then fall down to the different sides, even the ones crowded onto the stairs fall to a side, leaving the stairs completely bare and a clear view of Brady.
He proceeds to walk up and down the stairs, arms held up waving the staff around. Marlene reaches up to the projector and takes her phone back. "And that ladies and gentlemen," she says, "is Moses parting the Red Sea. Get it? We were the red sea and Brady was Moses. Pretty cool, huh?"
"That is so cool. I can't believe I missed it." Uriah whines.
"At least you got to see the baby powder." She replies.
"Yeah," Zeke says, "that was cool and all, but can you watch how much you use. It looked cool, but I nearly suffocated on the field." He begins to uncontrollably laugh, falling down to the ground and twitching. We all laugh.
"Alright, let's take this outside to the fire before it gets too cold. Then we can come back in and watch a movie on the projector." Christina says.
Everyone agrees and walks out to the bonfire lighting up the night. It doesn't take that long before the cold air gets to people, and everyone decides to go back inside. Everyone, except Tobias and I.
"Go on in, we want to stay out here." Tobias says, and a few cat calls are thrown our way. He turns to me. "I'm sorry, but they aren't going to give us a break any time soon."
"Why wouldn't they give you a break?"
"I've never really liked anyone as much as I like you."
I can feel the blush rushing to my cheeks. "Ohh... Well, I guess I don't help. I've already been bombarded with questions from last week."
"Let me guess, Christina?"
"Yeah, she just wanted to know what happened Saturday." He reaches out and grabs my hand, protecting in from the icy wind. "And she noticed there was something going on between us."
He hesitates as he says, "What did you say?"
"I said that we're talking and that it's all kind of complicated... That I want to go slow."
"So... what is going on here?"
I get up out of my chair and sit down on his lap, so I can close to him. And I'm trying to stay as warm as I can. "I... I'm willing to give it a try."
His hand comes up to my face. He lightly kisses my frozen nose, my cheek, then my lips. "So, Tris... Will you be my girlfriend?"
"I just have one question... Why me? I mean, I know other girls like you and have tried to get with you..."
"You're the only person I want."
"But they are prettier than me, and they aren't as damaged. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that someone could really care about me the way you do."
"You deserve so much more than what you've gotten. And you know about my past, my burden, and you don't see me as a kicked-puppy. You let me feel like I am Superman."
"You're more than that. You are more than a bird, more than a plane, and I know it's not easy." He looks at me with... aww, and he leans in and kisses me full on the mouth. It's the first time we've really kissed like this since that night at the park.
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes, in a dozen languages... oui... si... yes."
"And, are you free to go out tomorrow?"
"I'll have to clear some room from my schedule... but I think I can squeeze you in." We both laugh.
"I never got to really thank you."
"For what?" I ask.
"For what you did to my car. It's funny because I wasn't in the best mood, and I walk out and see what you did... I loved it."
"It was no big deal, Christina and I were already out doing Will's car, and your house was on the way home. And I guess I wanted to do it for you."
"Well thank you." He leans in and kisses me again, and this time I kiss right back. The cold air sudden warms up. I really like it, feeling him and tasting him. After a few minutes, though, I begin to feel overwhelmed.
"Too far..."
"Okay," he breathes, "let's go inside."
I jump off his lap, and we walk back inside. We are welcomed with the heat of the house and the yells by our friends. The boys are intensively watching an air-hockey game being played by Christina and Marlene. All the sound being made are happy screams and defeated grunts. But when we walk in, the game quiets down.
"So," Zeke says above the crowd, "what were you two doing out there alone?"
"Well, if you need to know," Tobias says, holding my hand tighter and bringing me closer, "I just asked my girlfriend out on a date."
Like a bomb exploding, our friends jump towards us and hug the two of us. The girls scream in my ear things like: I knew it, it's about time, ay ohhh. The guys slap Tobias' back, and Uriah gives Zeke money.
"Did you guys have a bet?" Tobias asks.
"Yup, one that I won." Zeke says proud, but his smile goes away quickly when Shauna comes up to him and slaps him upside the head.
Tobias and I do not let go of each other for the rest of the night.
Author's Note
Updated a little early this week due to the fact that I am traveling a lot this holiday season, so I hope you enjoyed. Happy Thanksgiving/Black Friday! Let you eat until your insides explode, then go and burn it off running around stores for Black Friday. And if you don't celebrate, happy weekend! Please review!
Be brave, everyone!
QUOTES
1). I know that there are cuts all over the bottoms of my feet from running over the rough pavement and bits of glass. Every step stings. I focus on that. –Insurgent, book
There are two (movie, song) quotes in this chapter... Happy Thanksgiving!
