Together: Sequel To Alone

Chapter 4|Touring Together|

C H A P T E R 4

The next morning, I leave for classes at seven fourty-five, still wiping sleep from my eyes. Al is already awake when I emerge from my room, eyes hooded by sleep. Without turning from whatever he's doing, he puts a cup of coffee on the counter. I express my muted thanks before throwing the dark drink down my throat. After almost falling asleep several times, I stand and stretch my still stiff muscles, confirming my theory that going back after spring break would be harder than the beginning of the year.

"So," Al begins " Am I still supposed to be your boyfriend or..."

" No" I say " just if he comes over"

" Have a nice day" Al shouts as I proceed through the threshold of the door. I dash through the hallways out into the brisk morning air, shivering slightly as I cross the vibrent grass. I'm getting my Major at the moment so I have fourteen classes that I have to take. The one I'm headed to now is calculus, located on the opposite isde of campus, making my mornings the best.

I walk into class and take my seat as usual, five minutes left before eight. Students trickle in, filling the seats around me as I rest my head wearily on the desk.

Class passes quickly as I jot down notes in slanted cursive in my notebook, trying my best to stay awake. I have a severe case of tunnel vision at the moment, not being able to focus on anything but the professor and the pen that rests loosely in my hand. Before I know it, students are flowing from the room, hastily escaping the classroom to transfer to the next.

As my foot crosses the threshold of the door, the professor, a man in his late thirties with messy brown hair, calls my name;

"Prior" his voice echoes through the deserted classroom.

"Sir?"

" Would you be willing to walk a student to his next class? You took it last year, Physics. You're taking this year as well, right?" Times like this are times that I am glad to have such a good memory.

"Yes sir, I am. I can walk him, it's my next class." I reply, swinging my foot across the carpeted floor.

" Good, he should be waiting outside." With that, he disappears, setting off to do some teacher-y business.

The fresh air cascades around my face as I slip from the stuffy classroom, inhaling the pleasant scent into my lungs. My eyes dart around the campus, looking for any sign of a confused pupil. There are a few students mulling around campus, chatting with their friends as they wait for the next class, but no one looks lost.

Just as I decide to walk away, a force barrels into me from behind, propelling me towards the ground. We both collapse onto the cold concrete, groaning and roiling away from one another. I cradle my elbow, the skin raw and red at the end, to my chest and get to my feet. My hand goes to grab my notebook but is met with another, larger hand going to grab the book as well. They other person raises the book to me, which I gratefully accept, tucking the book under my arm before turning to thank whoever it was that handed it to me, only to freeze when I see who it is.

Tobias stares back at me, his blue eyes wide with shock, as the smile falls from his lips. Not that I was staring at his lips though.

"Oh... sorry" he says, his jaw clenched tight.

"It's fine" I say, fighting to keep my head from falling.

" I'm supposed to find a guide here" he explains awkwardly, brushing his hand against the back of his neck.

" I'm waiting for someone to guide." I say " wait"

" I guess I found my guide" he says with an awkward laugh. I can't meet his eyes for some reason.

" I guess so" a laugh bubbles awkwardly from my throat as well. He stares expectantly at me, waiting for me to show him where to go. " Uh... follow me I guess"

We trek silently across campus, sidestepping chatting pairs or kissing couples. I see Tobias glance at me from the corner of his eyes every so often, trying to covertly scan my face.

"Can I help you?" I finally ask after fifteen minutes of him continually staring at me.

"I thought you were going to wait?" His voice is weary and sad. This isn't a conversation I want to have.

" Why should I have?" I don't mean to snap at him, but I do. " I thought you would've at least told me you were leaving."

" I know I should've, but I wish you would've waited" he sighs

"Again, why should I have?" My hands migrate to my hips in a questioning pose " For all I knew you could've died, you could've moved to canada and changed your name. I didn't know if you were coming back, so why should I have spent the last few years moping about it?"

" I thought you loved me Tris! I thought you had more confidence than that" With a deep sigh, he stalks off I'm the direction we were headed.

I do love you, I want to scream, I did wait. I want to be with you.

But I can't, I can't let him know I still have feelings for him. I can't let him back in after he left me. Though I did wait, it's not fair for him to have expected that. For him to have expected me to stay alone until he returned.

So I keep my mouth shut, not screaming the words I so want for him to hear, and follow after him, guiding him in the right direction.

The walk there is silent, neither if us daring to break the silence, in fear of making thing a worse. I'm sure, if I say something, it will wreak havoc.

I stop Tobias before he goes into the building, forcing him to look at me.

" Do...do you want to get coffee sometime?" I ask hesitantly " to catch up?"
His eyes quickly flicker with indecision, contemplating my offer.

"I... yeah. Coffee sounds good" as he agrees, he steps into the building, leaving me out front with a stupid smile on my lips.

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IM SO SORRY. this is so overdue. I was at a music camp for a week and I didn't have any way to update. Here's this now though. Love you guys, thanks for your patience

Stay fluffy🐼