Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

seven

    The dining hall is still bustling with people when I arrive. Which was surprising considering how late I was.

My eyes scanned the room for an empty seat. After a hot minute of actively looking, my eyes finally land on one- or several- in the far end.

Despite how crowded it is, the entire bench is empty, save for one person brooding alone in the corner over his dinner.

I trekked through the rows before stopping by the mostly empty table, earning curious glances from the people around us.

"Is this seat taken?" I asked.

The Dauntless leader glares at me over his shoulder with his piercing blue eyes, not even bothering to spare me a response before he turns back to his plate and continues gobbling food down.

"Okay..." I drawled. I think I'm starting to see why the table is empty. "I'm just going to take that as a 'no'."

I sank into the seat down from him and grabbed a piece of meat from the buffet-style pile in the middle of the table, staring down at it curiously.

"It's a hamburger," He says with the shake of his head, "It's like you Abnegation live on a whole other planet."

"I know what a hamburger is," I shoot him an unimpressed look, "I just never had one before."

Returning my gaze to my plate, I grab my knife and fork, ready to dig in when Eric reaches over and snatches my cutlery out of my hand.

"No one eats a burger like that," He chastises.

Sliding closer to me, he pulls my plate towards him and proceeding to pile a bun and slices of cheese on it. Then, he cuts the bun crosswise before beginning to construct the burger, sandwiching the patty and cheese between the buns.

Shoving my back in front of me, he picks up his own in his hands and takes a large bite as if to demonstrate.

"Eat," He practically orders.

Picking up my burger just like he had, I take an apprehensive bite.

The burger is surprisingly good and I let out a groan in appreciation.

"Holy cow, is this what I've been missing out on?" I mutter, going back in for another bite.

I pause when Eric lets out a laugh- a proper, genuine laugh- shocking me, and everyone around us if the wide-eyed gazes were anything to go by.

Noticing the attention on him, Eric clears his throat, glaring back at the other Dauntless members that were still staring our way.

"Is there a problem?" He snaps.

With just one question, Eric manages to send all of the Dauntless members whipping back around like their asses were on fire.

"That's what I thought," He grumbles.

"Is there a reason why everybody's avoiding you?" I ask the question that has been plaguing my mind ever since I sat down.

He corks a single pierced brow at me, "What makes you think they have a choice?"

"Don't we always?" I retort.

Humming thoughtfully, he finishes up the remaining of his burger before grabbing a slice of chocolate cake from the dessert pile. "I like it this way."