Don't you know she's gone?

Don't you know she's gone?

"Excuse me? I'm here to find a Trissa Keita?"

The voice startled Isla Pérez out of her thoughts. She had been studying for her history test tomorrow- stupid America, why must you fight so much?!?- and wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. The person who had spoken to her was a middle-aged man with an uncomfortable look on his face. Isla wasn't sure why. They were in a library, after all. Who could dislike being there?

"That depends. Who the heck are you and what do you want with Tris?" Isla questioned.

The man looked even more uncomfortable now, shifting his eyes from side to side. "I'm her... uncle. Her father needs to speak with her."

Isla frowned, tugging on the dyed pink strip in her sandy brown bangs.

"Why did her father not come?"

The man gulped. "He was busy. Please, can you just tell me where to find her?"

His words brought back a memory. Something Tris had said to her when Isla asked about her family.

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"I'm going to visit my parents this weekend."

Trissa looked up from her book.

"Oh?"

Isla nodded. "It's my brother's birthday."

Tris smiled faintly. "Tell him I said happy birthday."

"What are you doing over the weekend?" Isla asked her roommate. "Cause if you don't have plans, you can come with."

Tris shook her head. "Nah. I won't interrupt your family get-together."

Isla tilted her head, setting down her computer. "Will you visit your family?"

Tris froze. "No. they'd be too busy to see me, even if they wanted to."

Isla got up, plopping down on the couch next to the other girl.

"Their loss."

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Isla snapped back to the present. The man was still looking at her.

"I'll call her and see if she'll agree to meet you," Isla informed him.

"No!" he insisted. "I need to meet her now!"

Isla flinched back at his sudden volume change.

"I'm really sorry, but I won't just have her meet some random person from the library."

"I'm not random," he said, "I'm her uncle."

Isla frowned. "Still. If she agrees, I will meet you back here at 4:00 pm tomorrow."

The man relented. "Fine. I will see you then, Miss..."

"Isla. I'll see you then."

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"Tris! I'm back from the library!" Isla called out to her girlfriend- It felt so nice to call Tris her girlfriend, even if she'd only been able to do it for a couple of weeks- so she would know Isla was back to their dorm if she hadn't checked her texts. Which she hadn't, apparently, considering her surprised "Oh!"

"Are you baking again?" Isla asked, walking into the kitchen. Tris had been, based on the supplies scattered around the counters and the white flour sprinkled across Tris's dark skin.

“Hey, Bookworm!” Tris said, raising her brown eyes to meet Isla’s green ones, “How was the library?” 

Isla puckered her lips. “Fine, but something weird happened. There was a man there who insisted that he was your uncle and that your dad was looking for you-”

A loud crash cut her off as Trissa dropped the mixing bowl she was holding.

“W-Wha-What?” Tris’s voice came out shaky. 

“Whoa!” Isla exclaimed, running over to her girlfriend and wrapping her arms around her. “I didn’t tell him where to find you. I know… I know you don’t have the best relationship with your parents. I told him we’d meet with him only if you wanted to.”

Tris’s breath caught. “I’d… I don’t know. I want to make things right between me and my parents, but they aren’t going to accept me if they wouldn’t accept me then. But still, I want to try.”

Isla nodded, rubbing circles on Tris’s back. “Ok. we’ll meet with him tomorrow, assuming he’s actually your uncle.”

Tris closed her eyes, leaning into Isla’s embrace. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

Isla smiled as she pressed her face into Tris’s black hair. “Course, Love. Of course.”

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Trissa got out of class fifteen minutes before Isla got out of gymnastics. Which meant she had twenty minutes before she and Isla were supposed to go to the library to meet her father. Oh, joy.

“Uhhh,” Tris whispered to herself and her dog she was taking on a walk as she went to Isla’s gymnastics studio. “Why do I have to do this?” 

No one answered, which allowed Tris to try and think of what she was going to do when she and Isla went to meet her family. She checked her watch as the gymnastics studio into view. Twelve minutes. 

“Do you think Isla would like a scone when she gets out?” Tris asked the dog, Waffles. Waffles, being a dog, didn’t answer other than barking and wagging his tail. 

“Yeah, I think she would,” Tris decided. There was a scone place right around the corner. 

Tris tugged on Waffles’s leash. “Let’s go, puppers. We need to hurry if we’re gonna get food.”

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Isla got out of gymnastics class to find Tris sitting with Waffles at a table in front of the studio, eating a muffin. 

“Hey, Bookworm!” Tris called. “I got you a scone!”

Isla smiled. “Hey, Butterfly. How long have you been here?”

Tris shrugged, standing up and handing Isla the bag. “Not super long. Ten minutes, maybe?”

Isla opened the bag, taking a bite of the scone. “Ready to go?”

Tris gave her a weak smile. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

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Tris nervously twisted the ring around her finger. Back, forth, back, forth. 

“He should have been here by now.” Back, forth, back, forth.

Isla glanced over. “It’s two minutes after four. Calm down. Read a book.”

Tris shook her head. Back, forth. “Nope. I couldn’t focus on reading now, anyways.” Back, forth.

Isla shrugged. 

Back, forth, back, forth. 

“What are you reading?”

Back, forth.

Isla flashed her the cover. “These Violent Delights. It’s a Romeo and Juliet retelling, but they’re all gangsters in Shanghai. And also there are monsters.”

Tris smiled. Back, forth. “Sounds cool.” Back, forth. 

Isla set down the book, grabbing her hands before she could twist the ring again. “Hey. It’ll be fine. Ok?”

Tris sighed. “Ok.”

Isla smiled. “Good. besides, I think I see the guy.”

Tris turned around. And yeah, there was her uncle. Great. 

He caught sight of her. “Trissa!”

Tris bit her lip, squeezing Isla’s hand tighter. “Uncle John.”

He walked over to them. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you for a while. Your father would like to see you again.”

Tris stiffened. “Would he now,” she said, barely audible.

Her uncle sighed impatiently. “Yes. Now come along, he and your mother are waiting for us.”

“Excuse me, I don’t think we’ve met,” Isla interrupted. “I’m Isla, Trissa’s girlfriend. Pleased to meet you.”

John frowned. “Yeah, kid, nice to meet you, but my niece and I need to get going, so you can run along with home, ok?”

Isla’s smile shifted into a glare. “No, I don’t think I will run home. I’m staying with Tris.”

“And besides,” Tris spoke up, “I’m not going with you.”

“Your father-”

“My father,” Tris interrupted, “didn’t care about me when I was a kid. My father is a terrible parent and a terrible person. I don’t want to see him, and I don’t want to see you. I thought maybe something would have changed, maybe you guys would care about me as who I am, not who I can be. But since you don’t, please. Leave me alone.”

John stared at her in shock, and Isla whispered “Good job.” in her ear.

Tris stood up suddenly. “Come on, Isla. Let’s pick up some pizza on our way home.”

Isla nodded, shooting John another glare as she and Tris left.

“Good job, Butterfly. You did amazing.”

Tris smiled. “I know. And I’m not going to go back.”

Isla grinned. “Good. Now, I believe I was promised pizza? We can even get it with pineapples, you weirdo.”

“I’m not weird, pineapples are the best!”

Isla sighed jokingly. “Why do I love you again?”