Divergent High: College Life

ｎｉｎｅ

Christmas Day♧
"Bea! Bea!" Claire, my now 7 year-old sassy cousin says.

"What, Claire Bear?" I ask.

"Can you play hide and seek with me? You too Toby," she says. She absolutely loves Tobias. She also loves giving people nicknames, hence, 'Toby'.

"I don't see why not," I say, looking to Tobias. "Who else is playing?"

"Uh, Addy, Hayden, Mia, me, and you two."

"Okay, let's go," I say and grab her hands down Tobias's. Claire leads us down to the basement where my cousins are playing on the Wii U.

"Guys, it's time for hide and seek!" Claire says.

They finish their game, and turn the Wii off.

"Who wants to count first?" Hayden says. Claire and Addy's hands shoot straight up.

"Ooh ooh, me! Me!" They both yell.

"Hm, how bout a game of row-sham-bow?" Mia says.

"Ooh, yeah!" Addy says.

Claire and Addy play rock-paper-scissors and both do rock. Then Claire does scissors which beats Addy who has paper.

"Yay! I get to count!" Claire squeals.

"Okay, close your eyes and count to 30. Then come find us," I say to Claire.

"Okay."

She turns around to face the wall and puts her hands over her eyes.

"One... Two... Three..."

I grab Tobias's hand and lead him over to the closet. I quietly open the door and get in, pulling Tobias in behind me. I leave the door open a tad, so it won't be impossible for Claire to find us.

"Ten... Eleven... Twelve... Thirteen..."

I notice Tobias's breathing start to get really heavy.

"You ok?" I ask.

"Uh, yeah,"—deep breath—"just my uh,"—another deep breath—"fear of confinement," he answers.

"Oh, here." I push the door open a little wider to allow more light through.

"Nineteen... Twenty... Twenty-one... Twenty-two..."

"Thanks," he says. "I've never really played hide and seek before."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My mom has a brother who lives in Florida with my aunt and cousins, but I haven't seen them in years. I have no idea about what they even look like anymore."

"Wow."

"Yeah. It's probably been 16 or so years since I last saw them."

"Jeez."

"I know. It's sad isn't it."

"Yeah. I'm sorry. You should probably reach out to them. You don't want to go your whole life without knowing your cousins, do you?"

"No, but I don't know how to get ahold of them."

"Yeah, that could be tough. You should just ask your mom."

"Yeah. I thi—" he's interrupted by the closet door opening.

"Gotcha! You guys don't hide very well," Claire says.

"Oh well," I say. "Not all of us can be professional Hide and Seek players."
———————
New Year's Eve♧
"How about this?" I say, turning around in a circle in fronting Tobias. This is the third outfit I've tried on for Zeke and Uriah's party. I have absolutely no idea whether to wear a dress, or pants, or a skirt.