Roommates

Otherside

CHAPTER THIRTY: Otherside

Tobias
Early March

"What are you doing, Tris?" I don't know why I'm asking, I can see very well what she's doing. She's snooping through my email. I didn't even announce myself right away when I saw her. I was hoping she had just turned the computer on and was about to logout to edit her photos, that I just walked into the room at exactly the wrong moment. But no, she kept reading. She was even scrolling.

In a flash, Tris swivels the desk chair to face me. By the look on her face, I have clearly startled her. Not that it looks like she was making any effort to hide what she was doing. She stares at me with her lips parted in surprise- and probably guilt- but doesn't respond.

"Are you reading my emails?!" I accuse. Doesn't she trust me?! I don't even think that I have anything to hide from her, but still I feel my face and chest heating up and my pulse pounding in my ears.

I clench my fists at my sides as I watch Tris suddenly drop the shocked, guilty look and tilt her chin upwards defiantly. "Yes, yes I was." I am shocked at how hard and cold she sounds- as if I was the one in the wrong. "Only because as I went to logout, I saw my own name and was curious. You've been discussing me with Marcus for months."

"So?" I retort angrily. I actually hate discussing Tris with Marcus, but I don't think I am doing anything wrong. "He's my father. You're my girlfriend. It's not strange for me to have mentioned you, is it?"

"You don't exactly have a great relationship with your father, so yeah, it was kind of surprising." Her voice is calm and even, though her eyes still burn with a fury that I do not understand. I turn away from her and open my dresser; I'm standing here in nothing but a towel. I pull out black boxer briefs and a pair of dark blue basketball shorts. I drop the towel and pull on the boxer briefs. "What was more surprising," she continues as I start to put on my shorts, "was finding out how he spent months pushing you in my direction before you finally admitted how you supposedly felt about me."

I freeze with one leg in my shorts and the other out, and slowly look up at her. "Supposedly?" My voice is nothing like the voice I usually use with Tris; it is venomous. I can feel my walls going up, creating a protective fortress around my heart. I quickly pull on my shorts and stand fully upright, taking a few steps closer to Tris and stopping a yard away from her. "Excuse me? Did you really just say that to me?!"

"Well, what would you think if you were in my shoes?!" she shouts at me. I can't believe she's acting like she's the one who was wronged here when I just caught her red-handed! And to imply that I am faking my feelings for her... she doesn't know what the hell she's talking about and she hasn't even bothered to ask me about it! "I know that you usually do pretty much whatever that bastard asks of you," she rants; I flinch. "Am I just another case of you being the dutiful, obedient son? Why are you with me, Tobias? Because I've never understood it!"

"Unbelievable," I mutter. "Those emails were none of your business, Tris. And thanks a lot for your confidence in me. Now I see what you really think of me." Does she know me at all? How can she possibly think that I'm faking this! I fought my feelings for her for so long, and I love her so much. I hate that she can't see herself the way I see her.

But right now, that hurt is all being funneled into the anger I was already feeling about her snooping through my email. On the other hand, I want to set the record straight right now and show her that she should have trusted me.

"Get up," I demand. She glares, which I ignore, but she gets out of the chair. "Marcus doesn't like you, anyway." Can't believe I'm saying that to reassure my girlfriend. My family is fucked up. "He did, after he saw you with Eric, but things change. He had plenty to say about you at Thanksgiving. He doesn't like the 'influence' you have on me." I cringe remembering the beating I took that night.