Call Me Six

21: 'Herpes' -Tobias

TOBIAS-

It was calming down... Slightly.

People had almost gotten used to our beloved Beatrice sleeping with half of the school; there were even rumours that she had a fling with Radley. But it wasn't until this one Tuesday morning that a storm blew up and everyone knew exactly who she'd been screwing.

I was on the phone when it happened - talking with the lawyers about who legally has custody over Sophie.  At least both my father and I agree that it's I who should care for her.

A loud bang came from down the hallway as the main doors were flung open and Peter came storming through. His jaw was set, shoulders tense and fists balled as he shoved through the crowd, hunting down his victim.

"Tris!" he bellowed and a circle cleared; revealing said girl in her pink blouse and denim shorts. "You, you fucking slut gave me herpes."

The entire student body froze.

"Sorry, you must have me confused with someone else... I'm clean," she said and smirked before turning on her heel and leaving - or attempting to.

"You fucking whore!" His calloused hands reached out, landing firmly on her shoulder, spinning her around whilst the other found its way to her jaw.

Chaos.

Everyone was panicking fleeing in all directions as only a few people tried to pull him off of her.

"Hey!" I shouted and shoved my way through.

She was down on the floor, her shirt ripped and untucked.

"Get off of her!"

His foot planted neatly into her side.

"Get the fuck off of her!"

I grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt before slamming him into a row of lockers. "What do you think you're doing?" I hissed and pressed his face further into the warm metal. "I suggest you take your punk ass and get out of here before I smash your face through this door; got it?"

He nodded and mumbled some incoherent nonsense before scampering away.

That's when reality hit... I spun round to the girl trying to pick herself up off the floor with tears streaming down her face.

"Tris?" I asked and crouched down beside her. "Fuck off, don't you all have classes to be in?" I yelled, sending the last few people fleeing into open doors.

She sniffed, "Thank you, Four," and tried to stand before toppling over and clutching at her ribs.

"You okay?" She merely glared. "Sorry, stupid question..."

She tried to stand once more but fell to her knees and let out another frustrated whimper.

"Here, let me help," I said and slid my arm around her shoulders whilst the other cradled behind her knees. "I'll take you home, okay?"

"No," she whispered as I stood and started to push past the thinning crowd. "I can't go home, Caleb can't see me like this, he'll kill me."

"Okay... I'll take you back to mine, Soph would be glad to see you... She's missed you, you know." Tris started to protest once more but I quickly shut her up. "Tris, you can't stay here, just let me take you to mine."

"Fine," she replied and curled in closer to me. "Thank you, Tobias."

I placed her down in the passenger seat of my truck before heading round to my own side and pulling out of the school parking lot. It was quiet, my radio was currently broken so the only sounds were of the adjacent traffic.

"That was nice," I said - voicing my thoughts from over twenty minutes ago.

"What was?"

"Hearing you say my name."

She hummed in response and continued to gaze out the window.

"Tris," my eyebrows furrowed as I already regretted the question brewing on the tip of my tongue, "how can you be so positive that Peter didn't- you know- from...you?"

"Simple," she said, unfazed by the question, "I never slept with him."