Count On Me

Distracted

A/N: Happy Christmas! My gift to you is another chapter. This month has been even more chaotic than I had anticipated, but I still managed to write a little. Reviews/comments would make lovely Christmas presents... (hint hint)

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2016 | 4:45 PM | FOUR

I pull my membership card from my wallet before entering the gym, hoping to get through the lobby unseen. When I see Lauren working the front desk, I know I'll be unsuccessful. I head straight for the scanner anyway silently praying that she will sense my mood and leave me alone. But I knew it was too much to ask.

"Hi, Four!" she chirps.

I plaster on a fake smile. "Hi, Lauren." The screen flashes green and I quickly slide the card back into my wallet.

Lauren catches me before I manage to take a single step toward the locker room. "What are you up to this weekend?" she asks, a bright smile on her face.

"Just..." I wave vaguely toward the weight room. "This. Studying." I sigh. "New roommates."

"Oh, that's nice. I can get you a couple extra guest passes if you want to bring them in sometime."

"That won't be necessary," I say, shaking my head. If they want to try the gym, Zeke can bring them. But if they join this gym I may need to find a new one. I'll need somewhere to get away from seeing my Beatrice with another guy.

"What are you doing tonight?" Lauren asks. "A friend of mine is having this party up in St. John's. You should come."

"I need to study for finals. Maybe some other time."

"Oh come on, you still have tomorrow to study. A party would be good stress relief."

I cringe remembering that the last time someone talked me into their version of "stress relief" ― just last night ― Shauna found the evidence in my couch. Which isn't just my couch any more. I don't know why I let Zeke talk me into that. It really didn't help anything.

"I really can't put it off any more. Thanks anyway."

"But―"

"Bye, Lauren." She pouts as I walk away without sparing a glance back at her.

I stow my gym bag in my locker and stoop to tie my shoelace. Zeke and Shauna left the apartment just before I did, to meet up with Uriah and Beatrice for dinner. Zeke looked torn, hesitating like he felt like he should say something and I suspect he felt as though he should be inviting me to come with them. Shauna seemed to know better and was looking at him warily. I solved the awkward situation in telling them to have fun, that I needed to go to the gym. And it wasn't a lie.

My stomach was churning the more time went on without word from Uriah. It had been over an hour since Beatrice ran off before Zeke heard from his brother, just a simple message that he was with Tris and she was fine. They must not have been in any hurry to come back to the apartment, though, because more than an hour passed before Zeke and Shauna announced their plans for the evening. And that whole time, my mind was racing and swirling with fragments of thoughts that I couldn't even fully identify, other than an awareness that all of them centered around the same person.

I shake my head. I'm caught in the same loop again, this is exactly why I came here. Nothing clears my head like a nice long session with a punching bag.

I find an unoccupied bag and wrap my hands with tape. When I saw her out there in her leather jacket and blue-streaked hair, standing next to a motorcycle, never in a million years would I have guessed that the woman I was checking out could be Beatrice Prior. If I hadn't seen her face with my own eyes I never would have believed it. Even then I'm not sure I would have, had it not clear by her reaction that she knew me. But I was hit with a longing for her anyway.