04|g e t t i n g h e r
Tris stared at herself in the mirror, closing her eyes slightly as she made a fist around the phone in her hand. She prayed that the pressure from her hand wouldn't accidently type random messages and send it to Max, embarrassing herself for what would seem like an eternity.
Cursing under her breath, she chucked her phone onto her bed, running a hand through her slightly knotted hair. She yawned, checking the time for the third time that day. All her friends had been busy all day, calling to check on her every few hours like she was a child.
In her small group of friends, she was always the one who had to be constantly looked out for and often hid in the shadow of her protective friends, who found it easier to keep Tris single than to risk her getting her heart broken.
Large beams of sunlight flew into the room, illuminating the carpet that she trode on and she savoured the feeling of sunlight on her body. With all the harsh cold weather that had been going on lately, the warmth outside was just enough to lift Tris' slight low spirits.
Her friends had been invited to party at Aiden Carlson's -a kid who literally barfed in Tris' My little pony lunch bag when she was young- in a few weeks and obviously, they'd extended the invitation to Tris, seeing as Aiden had forgotten to invite her.
She'd used the party as an excuse to ask Max out but she found herself too late when she stumbled upon Cara Stevenson and Max having a violent make-out session in one of the school's abandoned hallways.
She'd been avoiding him since that day, afraid that she'd either cry or yell at Cara. The sound of someone humming filled the air and Mrs.Jacobs' head popped up from the other side of the door, her usual smile plastered onto her face.
"Hello sunshine," she greeted, walking into the room. Tris nodded at her, too caught up in her own world to actually register her mother. Mrs. Jacobs raised an eyebrow, "I feel so loved,"
Tris turned to her and set herself onto her bed. Mrs. Jacobs patiently waited for Tris to fill her in on what was bugging her, since Tris always confided in her whenever she needed advice.
"I hate boys," Tris sighed, "Max and Cara were practically eating each other's faces off in the abandoned hallway when I wanted to ask him out. I feel like shit,"
Her mother frowned, "Language,"
Tris chuckled, waving it off casually and eagerly waited for her mother to comment on something other than her explicit use of language. Mrs.Jacobs was always good at giving advice, meaning Tris usually went to her first about her problems since her friends rarely had time to fit her in privately.
She pondered on what to tell Tris, her mind too occupied on trying to find a solution that she didn't notice the loud sound of the ringing doorbell. Tris raised an eyebrow, noticing how her mother didn't lose her train of thought and stood up.
With a house as large as theirs, Tris found herself only reaching the door after whoever was at the door rang the doorbell three times. She groaned audibly, answering the door with a huff but her expression quickly turned to one of surprise when she saw Zayne Mahone standing at her door.
He smiled, "Good morning. Close your mouth, you'll catch flies."
Tris blushed, pressing her lips together into a thin line. Zayne stood silently, his eyes grazing over Tris' body which made her slightly uncomfortable and she cleared her throat, stepping aside.
"Wanna come in?" She raised an eyebrow, stepping to the side. Zayne peered in, taking note of the decoration with a nod. His mother, a famous interior designer, often inquired for his advice about her work.
Tris coughed awkwardly, noticing how he spaced out and Zayne looked up at her once more, shaking his head as he remembered what he was there for. "No thank you," he said, "I'm here to take you out,"
Tris' mouth fell open but the words didn't seem to want to come out, swallowed down by the shock of someone like Zayne Mahone wanting to take her out. Her mother's head popped out of nowhere and a grin spread onto her face.
"Mr. Mahone?" She scoffed,"I haven't seen you since you ran around the house with a diaper on your head,"
To Tris, this was hilarious and embarrassing at the same time, Zayne's blushing confirming her thoughts. She bit back a chuckle and turned to give her mum a poorly brought up glare. "Bye mum," she shooed her mother away hurriedly, not missing the wink she was thrown.
She turned back to Zayne, noticing how he now leaned against the doorway, his gaze focused on a far off corner in the house covered in red paint. Tris stared, almost paralysed by how beautiful his eyes looked when he was doing something as plain as staring at a corner.
Even though he was aware that Tris was staring, he kept his gaze where it had been before, trying to get the thought of Max out of his head. The entire hour of practice the night before, Max had spoken of nothing but how he would have Tris wrapped around his finger like she was string. Just the mere thought of Max having what was his made him angry and he sub-consciously clenched his fists.
Tris raised an eyebrow, resting her hand onto his hand without a moment of thought. Zayne flinched as soon as their skin came into contact and moved his hand away, clearing his throat loudly as he turned away from her.
"Meet me in the car,"
With that said, he walked to the car much to Tris' disappointment as she would've wanted to inspect his sudden vacant expression. To all who knew him, Zayne was never one to get nervous or angry for no reason but that was just what Tris had heard from others.
Now that she was close to him, she knew that no words could justify the being that was Zayne Mahone. No one knew him, apart from Zayne himself.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
Paul's Pizza Place was usually crowded during the weekend, filled with children excitedly playing video games in the arcade and shovelling pizza down their throats. Though it was crowded and slightly messy, it still managed to be an A-listed restaurant.
Zayne and Tris sat at a booth, half hidden by the dim lighting of the restaurant much to Zayne's satisfaction. He stared at the girl infront of him, a strong habit he couldn't seem to shake off. She looked as beautiful as always but it was obvious she didn't see it by the way she constantly tried to pat her bouncy mane down.
He took a slice of pizza from the tray, his free hand tapping the table which Tris didn't fail to notice. The entire time they'd been together, she noticed how he fidgited and fiddled with things whenever they were enveloped with a thick silence.
Tugging at her ponytail, she let her mind settle on Max, who surely would've been either hunched over a play book or shoving his tongue down Cara Stevenson's throat. Either way, both seemed to be pretty good distractions from her.
Her eyes inched to Zayne's face as he stared at the wall behind her, his jaw moving as he slowly chewed. Just by looking at him at that moment, she figured out why he had so many girls falling at his feet.
He was stupidly handsome.
In just a simple blue shirt and black jeans, he managed to look drop dead gorgeous and made a million eyes follow them as they strolled through town to the restaurant.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Zayne smirked, tilting his head to the side, "You seem lost,"
Tris scoffed, the only thought running through her head being the one that he was a hypocrite for calling her lost when he'd been gone most of the time. She kept the thought to herself and leaned forward, brushing the pizza crumbs off her hand.
"I need your help," she said before she could figure out what she was saying. His head perked up at the sound of her voice and he noticed the way she wrung her hands nervously. "I have a crush on this guy and I need your help getting his attention,"
Biting back a cold frown, he nodded, leaning towards her so that his head was so close to hers, she could see the small freckles dotted across his lightly tanned face. "Who is this guy?" His voice came out colder than he'd hoped for it to be.
She swallowed hard, immediately shaking her head. It was stupid of her to think that Zayne Mahone would help her get the attention of the one person he hated the most. If anyone else had heard their conversation, they would've accused Tris of attempting to anger him.
"Max Grey," she whispered and fiddled with her fingers. She expected him to yell at her but he didn't. Instead he stayed calm, which in Tris' opinion was just as worrying as if he yelled.
Silence had always been a blessing and a curse to Tris; she favoured the silence when she needed to think; sometimes silence made her think too much and that was bad. This silence was uncomfortable, unnerving Tris more when Zayne's eyes almost glared at her.
Even though the restaurant served delicious pizza, the taste of it suddenly became bitter to Zayne, laced with a future where Max would win the bet. He'd lose everything he worked for all because of this silly girl's crush on an asshole.
Though he wanted to badly, he couldn't say no and risk losing Tris. She was slowly warming up to him, he could tell by how she lost the tenseness she usually had around new people, something he noticed when she first met his best friends.
"Ok," he sighed, "But you owe me something,"
Tris' raised an eyebrow, holding her breath once more as he nibbled on his lip, his eyes moving to hers seductively. She found herself leaning in without her consent and her heart pounded like a drum.
Despite the noise around them, all Tris could hear was their breathing and all she could see was what was infront of her: Zayne Mahone.
Not Max Grey.
She repeated that mantra in her head, trying to move her body that didn't seem to want her to move. They got closer to each other and Tris tried hard to stop herself; to control herself but to no avail.
This was Zayne Mahone. Not Max Grey.
The sudden use of mantra seemed to help as she turned to look down at her empty plate. "You finished the pizza," she said, relief dripping from her voice at her quick change of subject. Zayne bit back a frown and rolled his eyes.
"You had five slices and I only had three," he answered with a shrug. "It is fair,"
She scoffed, though she was grateful that he hadn't brought up their almost kiss. "I'm a growing girl," she retorted and smiled when Zayne chuckled, her heart giving an enormous thud.
With a small, withering smile, she stood up and Zayne followed her lead. Luckily they'd already paid before they were served, allowing them to finish their meal and walk out without a hassle.
Both of them waved at their waiter as the walked out, Tris not missing the wink he threw her. Zayne didn't miss it either but pretended he didn't see. He wasn't a threat. Max Grey was.
"Where to now?" Tris asked, stretching her legs as she soaked in the slivers of sunlight breaking through the mass of grey clouds in the sky. After all the rain that had been taking over New York, it was good to feel the sunlight, even if it was only a sliver.
Shaking his thoughts out of his head, Zayne thought over the different locations they could've gone to in the city that never slept. It was only 3pm, leaving them almost a whole 4 hours to do something.
"You said you wanted Max's attention right?" Zayne asked, turning to her. Tris nodded at him, curious to know what was running through his head. "Then go to the party with m-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Tris shook her head violently, kind of resembling a crazed lunatic. She raised her hands, creating a wall between the two of them and it was only then when Zayne noticed how close they were.
"That won't help,"She answered sharply, raising her voice slightly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, not missing the way she shut up immediately and held her breath.
"Calm down," he whispered,"It will help. I mean, if it helps;Max gets jealous easily,"
An amused smile fell onto her face and she grazed her bottom lip with her top teeth, considering his offer and found herself nodding despite her previous argument. Zayne blinked in surprise which Tris failed to notice because she was too engrossed in planning.
Though she wasn't happy because of him, he still smiled because she was happy.
And in then end, wasn't that what mattered?
As soon as the thought entered his mind, he shook it away and began to second guess himself, a habit he could never entirely get rid of; only avoid. He turned away and stared at the sun that was now glaring down onto the busy streets of New York, deciding that he could leave Tris to plan in peace while he began to plan himself.
He needed to end this bet quick.
*****
This chapter has been sitting here collecting dust so I've decided to finally finish and update it. Vote and comment.
Love
Musawa