Roots

Chapter Tris: Too Close

I look around the room for an empty table. There is only one left, but there is two people sitting there. Four and another guy. They are talking. I guess he made friends without me.

Chris pulls me with her, Will and Al. Chris sits one seat away from Four as Will and Al flock to sit next to the other guy.

That leaves me.
Sitting next to.
Four.
Yes, the one I wish to avoid.
Great.

"Zeke," the unknown boy declares sticking a hand out for us.

"Will," he shakes his hand.

"Al," he says coping Will's motion.

"I'm Christina," she greets reaching over me for his hand.

"Tris," I add awkwardly.

He sticks his hand out.

"Sorry I don't touch people unless necessary."

"It's okay, Four doesn't either." There's that name again. Four. Way to rub salt in a wound.

"I don't touch people." Four agrees beside me.

A man starts to walk over to us. He is heavily tattooed and pierced.

"And what do we have here?" He asks pulling a chair up at the head of the table.

"This is Will, Al, Christina and Tris." Zeke replies.

"Ohh, a stiff hadn't had one of those in a while." Beside me Tobias tenses up. No, Four tenses up. Yes, Four.

"Tell me stiff," he continues. "Do you know the name of the only other stiff here?"

"Tobias Eaton," I say acting as if the name was something I had to memorize, like vocabulary words or y=mx+b (that will help you with slopes).

"So you do know. Now little stiff I ask, do you know him?"

He is playing with fire here. I hope he gets burned.

"His house was next to mine," I word carefully. "I would see him in passing and he came over to my house once when we were young. The last time I saw him was at his mother's funeral."

"How interesting."

He then goes on talking to Four about something I don't care about.

He was walking the line with me, he was close.

Too Close.

Longest chapter yet!!! 339 words yay!!