I scurry through the halls of the Bureau, looking around every corner to make sure my dad isn't there. Once I clear the hallway I am standing by, I run quickly to the first door on the left. I open it and walk in, shutting it behind me. I sit down in the only open chair. Matthew looks up from the screen he was just staring at and raises an eyebrow at me.
"Shouldn't you be at school?" He asks while chewing on the pen in his hand.
"No, I'm taking a mental health day." I say with a smirk. He just shakes his head and looks back at the screen in front of him.
"Isn't this your third mental health day this week?" He asks without looking up from the screen.
"Yes. What's your point." I say while leaning back in the chair and putting my feet up on his desk.
"Its only Wednesday." He says while shoving my feet off his desk.
"I don't like school. School is boring and all the teachers are bitches." I say.
"Well that's too bad because until you are 18, you have to go to school. It's the law." said Matthew. I roll my eyes at him.
"A stupid law." I mumble while standing up. "Are we still on for tonight?" I say as I walk towards the door. He nods at me before turning back to his computer. I walk out of his lab, not before looking around to make sure my dad was no where insight.
Matthew and I have been best friends since he moved here when he was 5 with his parents. When he turned 18, he got a job at The Bureau of Genetic Welfare, where we both live. I'm only 16, so I am still forced to go to school, though I don't show up half the time. There is no point in going. I am already a genius so I can pass every class without even studying.
Its not like I have any friends there anyway. When I said Matthew was my best friend, I also meant my only friend. I am a bit of a loner. Plus, almost everyone there is scared of me. It might be my 12 piercings or my three tattoos. Or it could be the fact that I beat the shit out of three football players on my first day of high school. But that wasn't my fault. They were the ones who decided to hit on me.
Unlike Matthew, I was born at the Bureau. My mom had me when she was 16. Right after she had me, she went into the Chicago experiment on a special mission. She was supposed to come back, but she ended up falling in love with someone else and staying there. I grew up my whole life with my father, David. My dad runs the entire Bureau so I am like a celebrity here. Everyone knows me and everyone knows not to mess with me.
I never knew my mom. I've never met her, never talked to her, never even seen a picture of her. I have tried to find her on some of the cameras showing Chicago but since I don't know her new name, I can't find her. Every time I try to ask dad about her, he gets really quiet and changes the subject.
The only thing I do know about her came from these letters she wrote to me while she was in the fence. They didn't say much other than she loves me, she never wanted to leave me, and she will be back for me someday. I used to wait by the door of the Bureau, looking for her to walk in and come get me like she promised. Sadly, that day never came and I gave up on her years ago. I am perfectly content with the life my dad has provided for me.
I finally arrive at the training room that is in the basement of the Bureau. It is supplied with any equipment or weapon a girl could need. I taught myself how to use all of this stuff when I was 10. I have been teaching myself how to fight since I was 6. It gets lonely living in the bureau. There aren't many children here. I had to find a way to entertain myself.
I walk in and pull my sweatshirt off leaving me in a black sports bra and black sweatpants. I go over to the storage closet and pull out a roll of tape. I wrap my knuckles quickly and head over to the bags. I start out slow with simple punches and kicks. The bag moves, but not a lot. Even though I have been training my entire life, I am still small and don't have an overwhelming amount of muscle. Once I have warmed up a bit, I move to complicated sequences. After an hour my knuckles are sore, so I move over to the treadmill in the corner of the room.
I turn it on and hop on. I start to run and rip off the tape that remained on my knuckles. I turn the treadmill up to 8 and start sprinting. My breaths are labored and there is a burning in my lungs but I love the sensation. I feel free, like I could run anywhere. While I'm allowed to leave, sometimes the gates surrounding the Bureau make me feel trapped. Sometimes I just need to do something that lets me know I can get out if I need to. This is one of the ways I do that.
I feel a hand on my step falters. I fall and am thrown off the treadmill. I land on the ground with a thump. I look down to see I scraped my right knee pretty badly. I groan and look up to see Dad standing there. I mumble 'shit' under my breath before standing up and walking over to the first aid kid. I grab rubbing alcohol and apply it to my wound with gauze. Once I know the cut is clean, I throw the gauze out and walk over to my dad.
"Beatrice, what are you doing here?" he says in his stern voice that is supposed to scare me. It hasn't scared me since I was 12.
"I was running until I was rudely interrupted and thrown off the treadmill." I say.
"I mean why aren't you in school?" Dad says, getting a little more frustrated.
"This morning I wasn't really feeling up to seeing the shit bags I call peers." I say with a sickly sweet smile. Dad sighs and whips his forehead with the back of his hand.
"You can't keep doing this Beatrice-" says Dad. I quickly cut him off.
"Tris. My name is Tris." I say.
"Fine. Tris, you need to go to school. Its not only the law but its important for you to get an education." Dad says while sitting in a chair next to the treadmill.
"Why do I need to go to school? I already know everything I need to know." I say while walking over to some of the weapons that are laying around. I pick up a knife and face my dad again. I run my finger along the blade and study it.
"This can't happen again, tris. You need to go." Dad says while standing up. I look up from the knife and raise and eyebrow at him.
"So I'm not in trouble?" I say.
"No, you're in trouble. Grounded for two weeks. Clean up here then head up to the apartment. Straight to your room." Dad says. I groan and chuck the knife at a target about 30 feet away from me. Dead center. Dad walks over to the target, pulls the knife out, and places it back on the table.
"Nice shot." he says before walking out of the room. I groan again and pick up a few things around the room. Once it looks like it did when I walked in, I head up to my apartment. I walk in and grab a water bottle from the kitchen. I head to my room and fall onto my bed.
My room is all black. Everything form the bedspread to the curtains. The only thing that isn't black is the white spray paint that coats the black walls. Different designs are forever imprinted on the surface. There are clothes and garbage scattered everywhere across the floor. I have never been known to be clean. A pile of towels lay outside the door to the bathroom attached to my room. I should probably pick those up soon but I'm too tired now.
I pick up my phone and press 1. Matthew is the first speed dial on my phone. It only rings twice before he picks up.
"Hey, Babe." Matthew says when he picks up. I laugh.
"Hey, hottie. Change of plans for tonight. I got caught and am grounded for two weeks." I say.
"Aw, bummer. So you we're not going out tonight?" he says with disappointment evident in his voice.
"I didn't say that. I said I'm not allowed to go out. That just means I'll have to sneak out. I'll just climb out onto the ledge when he goes to sleep. We just have to leave later than planned." I say.
"Okay. See you at 10?" Matthew asks.
"10 sounds good. If anything changes, i'll text you. Bye, bye." I say. I make a kissy noise into the phone and hear Matthew laugh on the other end. I hand up laughing with him. I lie back onto my bed and take a nap.
I am woken by someone shaking me. I groan and swat at them.
"Tris, wake up." I hear Dad say. I roll over and open my eyes.
"Yeah?" I say through a yawn.
"I'm going into my room to work. There is diner in the fridge if you want it. Good night." he says before kissing my forehead.
"Good night, Daddy." I say with a small smile. He smiles at me before walking out of the room. I stand up and walk into the kitchen. I look in the fridge to see leftover pasta. Gross. Instead I grab a granola bar and head back into my room. I look at the clock and see it is 9:30. Damn, I better get ready.
I head into my bathroom and strip down. I throw my clothes into my room before hopping into the cold stream of the shower. I never take hot showers. I hate the heat with a burning passion. If I avoid hot things at all costs. Thats why I have to take a cold shower or i'll feel like I can't breathe and I'm dying. I wash my hair and body before stepping out. I grab a towel and wrap it around myself. I walk into my closet and pull out blue boy shorts, a black bra, black ripped skinny jeans, and a black v-neck. I brush my hair and pull it into a high ponytail. I apply a thin coat of black eyeliner and mascara on my eyes along with Chapstick. I pull on my favorite brown combat boots.
Once I am done, I look at the clock and see its 9:55. Perfect. I slip my phone into my back pocket and place pillows under my blanket to make it look like I am lying there. I put a blonde wig at the top that looks like my hair. Once I am satisfied, I walk over to my window and slowly pull it open so it doesn't make a noise. Once its open enough, I slip through and onto the ledge. I close the window behind me and start to shimmy across the ledge. I look down at the five story drop but it doesn't even faze me. I have done this so often, I could do it in my sleep.
I get to the edge of the ledge and jump. For the few seconds I soar through the air, a huge smile spreads across my face. The smile only lasts for a few seconds because my feet soon connect with the roof that is level with my window. I dust myself off and walk over to the door leading off of the roof. I pull it open and prop it with the brick I leave there. I run down the stairs and make it to the bottom in no time. When I walk out the door leading to outside, Matthew is already leaning against the wall waiting for me.
"Hey, hey." I say while walking over to him.
"You made it out?" he says as we start to walk to his car.
"Of course I did! Who do you think I am?" I say with a laugh. I haul myself into the passenger's seat of his truck and shut the door. Matthew gets into the driver's seat and starts the car. He puts a brown paper bag into the back seat and drives off. I look out the window as we pass through the gate around the Bureau and keep driving. We drive for another half hour until Matthew pulls the car over at an abandoned train station.
I climb out and Matthew grabs the bag while getting out with me. I walk up to the platform next to the tracks. I stand on a newspaper dispenser and pull myself onto the overhang. Matthew hands me the bag and I climb to the other side of the overhang. Matthew follows me up and crawls over to me. I open the bag and pull out the bottle inside. I smile at the tall white bottle with a blue top.
"Savvy Vodka. My favorite." I say while pulling the top off.
"I know. Thats why i got it." Matthew says. I put the bottle to my mouth and take a large gulp. The liquid burns as it goes down my throat. The burning sensation is familiar. I love it. I hand the bottle to Matthew and he also takes a sip. I lie down and stare at the sky above. My eyes skim over the different constellations. There was a period in my life where I was obsessed with stars and what is beyond. I memorized almost every constellation in the sky.
"Hey, Tris. I have another surprise." Matthew says.
"And what would that be." I say as I continue to lie down. I see Matthew pull something out of his pocket and hold it in front of me. I smile when I see the joint he is holding out.
"Where did you get that." I say as I sit up.
"One of the guys int he lab had it. I didn't even have to buy it off him, he just gave it to me." Matthew says with a large smile. I take it form him and hold my hand out for a lighter. Matthew pulls one out of his pocket and hands it to me. I light the joint and put it to my lips. I breath in and hold it for a few seconds before blowing out the smoke. I hand Matthew the joint and he hands me the bottle. We bring them both to our lips and I take a sip while he takes in a breath.
"Whats that?" Matthew asks while looking down the tracks towards the farms.
"Its probably nothing. Your just seeing things." I say while taking another sip. I take the joint out of Matthew's fingers and take another hit. I blow the smoke out before bringing it to my lips again.
"Tris, I'm serious. There is something out there." Matthew says a little more alert this time. I squint in the direction he is looking. It takes a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust. When they do, I see what he is talking about. There is what looks like a group of people walking up the track. I quickly put the joint out and put it into my pocket. I put the top back on the bottle and put it into the bag. I hand Matthew the bag before hopping off the overhang. I reach up and grab the bag from Matthew while he jumps down.
We walk to his car and get in. He turns it on and drives onto the tracks. He starts driving towards the movement we saw. After a few minutes, we see a group of people walking on the tracks through the headlights.
"What the hell?" I say while getting out of the truck. Matthew follows my lead. I slowly walk towards the group of people. "Who are you people?" I say cautiously.
"Hi, my name is Uriah. We're not exactly sure where we are but we're from inside the fence." The guy who I guess is named Uriah says.
Wait?! From inside the fence? They aren't supposed to be able to get out! Whats going on?
This hope you like my new story! If you haven't Read my other stories, How to Be a Heartbreaker and Becoming Dauntless, you should! I will update this soon. Until then, sit tight! Thanks for reading!
-Hockeycrazy7