The Iron Soldier: A FourTris Divergent Story

Chapter 2

I'm positive my face is as red as the roses.

"This is Al," Will announces.

"I'm so happy to meet you Tris. These are for you." Al hands me the bouquet and it completely blocks my view of the entire table. I hear a chair slide beside me and I know he's joined our table.

"Um, thank you?" I'm sure I don't sound grateful and it makes me uneasy. The room is full of strangers oohing and ahhing, as well as comments about how sweet, how cute and how thoughtful Al is.

Christina pulls the mass of flowers out of my hand and places them in the only empty chair at our table. Al is sitting beside me wearing a huge grin. "How's that for a first impression?" He asked me.

I fake a smile. "Impressive." I want to run away. Al is good looking. If I had to describe him, I'd say he looks like a big teddy bear, with light brown hair and eyes that crinkle at the sides when he smiles. He leans forward and kisses me on the cheek.

In an instant, I'm on my feet. "Excuse me, I need to use the ladies room."

Christina takes one look at my face and adds, "I'll come with you." I grab her arm and drag her with me toward the bathroom. Once we are far enough to not be heard by the boys at the table, I release her arm.

"What have you done?"

"Relax Tris. I know he may have overdone it a bit, but it's only because he wanted you to notice him."

"Well, I definitely noticed him. The whole bar noticed him."

"I know." Christina squeals. "Every girl in here is so jealous of you right now."

"Jealous?" Why would anyone be jealous? I want to die of embarrassment.

"Yeah, isn't is great?" She squeezed my hand. "Oh, here's your phone. Will and I have dinner reservations, so you two can get to know each other in private."

"What? You're leaving?"

"Thank me later babe." She kisses my cheek before running back over to our table, where Will is already standing. I watch their hands join as they walk out of the bar together. My mouth hangs open. How could she do this to me?

My phone chimes, alerting me I have a text message. With the phone at arms length, Christina's name appears on my screen. The message reads, "I told you to wear a dress." An unhappy face follows the single sentence.

The bathroom looks like a good place to calm down, so I slip through the ladies room door before a string of curses fall from my lips.

It takes a good five minutes for my blood to stop boiling enough to allow me to rejoin Al at the table.

He is actually a pretty nice guy to talk to. I think he would make a good friend, but anything further is unlikely. Not because he is not interested but because I don't want to get too involved with anyone or anything that would disrupt my studies. Christina is about all I can take.

We talk for about a half hour when his phone buzzes on the table. He looks at it quickly, then turns back to me. "I'm sorry. I really need to take this."

"Oh, go ahead." I smile politely.

"Thanks." He grabs the phone and dashes out the main entrance of the Pitt.

I fall back in my chair, exhaling louder than I though possible. I scan the nearby faces to see if anyone noticed, but everyone is occupied with their own conversations. Only the bartender looks over and our eyes lock for a second. He's tall, dark and handsome in the low light of the bar. I avert my eyes quickly when he doesn't look away immediately.