Resurgent

chapter 16

Chapter 16

~Tris~

Tobias and I enter the dining hall to grab lunch. Zeke and Lauren are already sitting at a table near the front, and Christina is sitting at a table near the back.

Tobias starts to walk toward Zeke, and I stop him and say, "I'm gonna go sit with Christina, I need to talk to her." Tobias nods.

I walk over to where Christina is sitting. When she looks up at me, I smile.

"Hey, so I was thinking - " I say, but she cuts me off.

"Oh that can't be good," she says with a smile, and we both laugh.

"Shut up!" I say, laughing. "Anyway, we haven't hung out in a while, so lets do something tonight. Zeke and Tobias are doing something, so lets hang out."

Christina doesn't look happy or excited, as I thought she would. Rather, she looks sorry and guilty.

"What?" I ask, sounding more snappy than I intended.

Christina looks like a kicked puppy. "I'm so sorry, Tris, but I'm busy." She takes a deep breath. "I have a date tonight. With Uriah."

The news hits me hard. Uriah and Christina are dating? I don't know if I should be mad that she hasn't told me or excited for them that they're finally together.

I'm about to say something to her when she cuts me off.

"Now, before you say anything, I just didn't know how to tell you," Christina says. She takes a big breath. "We have been dating for about two weeks. I started after one of Zeke's parties. We were walking in the hallways, and we just . . . kissed. From then on we just started doing more stuff together. This will be our third date."

I just stare at her, trying to process it all. I'm still shocked she hasn't told me any of this sooner.

I try to smile, but I think its pretty clear its a fake smile.

"Well, I'm happy for you," I say, "but I have to go." I leave the room to go back to training, skipping lunch altogether. It's not like I have an appetite after that.

***

After the initiates finish for the day, Tobias and I walk back to our apartment.

As we walk hand-in-hand, I tell him everything that Christina told me earlier that afternoon.

"So they've been dating for two weeks and she never told you?" Tobias clarifies once I finish.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," I say.

"Well, when did she find out about us being together? It was a lot longer than two weeks into our relationship," Tobias reasons. I hate it when he gets all smart on me.

"Well yeah, but this is different. I was dating our instructor. She is dating our best friend. We never keep secrets from each other."

"First of all, I can think of plenty of secrets you have kept from her. And second of all, is dating your instructor really better than dating your best friend and not telling your other best friend?" Tobias says, giving me a look that says he knows he's right.

"Ours was a forbidden relationship!" I try. "Hers and Uriah's isn't! I want to have been there to celebrate with her. She couldn't exactly have done that with us."

"She probably couldn't have, but does that mean she wouldn't have?" he said sagely.

That comment really shuts me up. I angrily walk the rest of the way to our apartment, unlock it, and stomp in.

I bet I look like a little four year old throwing a tantrum.

I walk over to our bed, forcefully throw myself onto it, and before I know it, I fall asleep. Tobias wakes me up about thirty minutes later, saying he's about to leave.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" he asks me like I'm a child sick with something.

"Yes," is all I say and turn away.

He understands that I'm gonna be fine and that he just needs to leave. Tobias' quiet footsteps leave the room, and he slowly and quietly closes the door.

Once I know he's gone, I turn my head, grab my pillow, and scream into it as loud as I can. I still can't believe she didn't tell me. We tell each other everything these days.

Just then, I hear footsteps and laughter in the corridor outside They stop right as they reach my door.

"You know she is really mad at me," a girl says in a hushed voice.

Christina.

Her voice is soft, so I slowly inch closer until my head is on the door so that I can listen to her talk.

"Why?" asks another voice, this time male.

Uriah.

Of course; they are on their date. Why would they talk about me on their date?

"I didn't tell her about us," Christina says to Uriah.

"It'll be okay," Uriah says soothingly. I wonder if he actually means it or not.

"No, no it won't, Uriah," Christina replies, and I wonder if she, too, means it.

"She'll get over it." Uriah says.

"Yeah, but it will be a while," she replies. I can tell she feels awful and guilty, just by the way she speaks.

"Do you think she is still happy for us?" Uriah asks.

Yes, I am.

"I don't know," is her reply.

"Do you think she told Tobias yet?" Uriah asks Christina.

Of course I have.

"I don't know," Christina says again.

"Do you think she is gonna be mad and not talk to you for a while?" he asks.

"I don't know," she says again for the third time. Her voice is weary.

Well guess what, Christina, I don't know either.