CHAPTER 11 - TRIS

I want to skip school so badly. It's like my bed holding me down.

Just stay home and keep crying.

No, I have to distract myself by leaving the house.

There are too many memories at school though. Just stay home.

I kick the covers back and grab a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

"Beatrice!" my mother calls from the bottom of the steps. "The bus is here!"

I grab a granola bar and run out the door.

0

"Hey! Beatrice!"

I turn around to see Zeke bounding in my direction. Uriah follows close behind him.

Zeke catches up to me. He looks worried.

"Have you seen Tobias anywhere?" I stop in my tracks and turn around, walking away from the two of them. Uriah steps in front of me and gives me a worried expression.

"You know what happened. Don't you?" he asks softly. I nod slowly.

"Evelyn passed away and Tobias couldn't handle it. So he left."

I wipe away a tear that is threatening to break loose over my face. Uriah and Zeke flash each other concerned looks. Evelyn was like a second mother to them as well.

"Where'd he go?" Zeke asks me. His voice sounds thick with emotion.

I shrug. "I don't know. I was too stunned to go after him."

And then another tear slips over my cheek.

"He told me he liked me and then Marcus arrived and we met in the tree house and he asked me to come with him and I begged him to stay but he told me he wouldn't and I begged him to at least stay for the Formal but he told me he wouldn't take me and left me there alone. He just left. He's my best friend and he left!"

I can't keep the tears back. They aren't giant sobs, just little tears flowing over my face. Uriah gives me a sympathetic look and pulls me into him, his arm across my shoulders. Zeke just stares at a distant point and mutters something under his breath.

"I knew he was lying."

I pull away from Uriah and give him a look.

"He lied about something?"

Zeke nods and swallows.

"I went over to Tobias' place yesterday before you came over and asked him if he like you. He said he didn't and only wanted to be friends with you. I guess he had other plans."

Zeke smiles just slightly and I feel repulsed. Tobias lied and said he didn't like me, told me he did have feelings for me, and then left. That is so stupid.

Christina and Lynn see us from the entrance of the cafeteria and then see our worried faces. They grab Al and Will and make their way over to us. Lynn grabs my arm and gives Uriah a look.

"What did you do to her Uriah?"

Uriah puts up his hands in surrender and steps away from Lynn.

"I swear it wasn't me! It was Tobias!"

Lynn scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"Yeah right. Like Tobias would make Beatrice ever cry. He loves her!"

I feel another twinge in my stomach and feel like I'm going to throw up.

Christina hands me a tissue and her water bottle. I gratefully accept them both while Zeke explains what happened last night between Tobias and I to everyone else. By the time he is finished Christina has her scrunched up in anger, Will is grabbing her arm to hold her back, Lynn is making fists, and Al is just looking confused.

Something warm spills into me. Even though my closest and best friend abandoned me for good to escape grief and the world, there are still people here who care about what happened. I thought they would just give a nod or hug, then continue on with their lives. But these are Tobias' close friends too. So they are worried about me and worried about their idiot, but great, friend. I am eternally grateful for them being at my side.

"Let's hunt him down," Christina exclaims after a moment of silence. She reaches into her bag and pulls out her cell phone. "We can post 'Wanted' or 'Missing' posters and see who can find this idiot. Zeke, you and Tris knew him best. Where do you think he would be."

Zeke opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

"Let's not look for him."

Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy. Which I probably am right now.

Christina shrugs. "That's fine with me."

I shake my head.

"That's not what I meant Christina. Maybe we should let Tobias show up somewhere first before we decide to look for him. He could return tonight or the police may arrest him for speeding. We all know how many times he's been pulled over in a week for speeding too much. Just give it twenty four hours and I swear he'll pop up somewhere."

Al gives me a conflicted look as everyone thinks this over.

"But where would we see him?" Al asks quietly.

I stand up straighter

"Evelyn's funeral, of course. Who misses their own mother's funeral?"