Have you ever seen herds of animals on TV, the way it's pure and utter chaos? The young getting lost in the crowd with the parents continuing to move forward. Well, I personally think that every school morning in the parking lot is the exact same thing. You see the preppies holding those huge, plastic, blue and white lunchboxes that are nearly a third of their size, with their broad brimmed hats flopping down over their faces while they play with their friends. Some constantly lift it up while others just drop it to the ground. But as you go up the age scale you see how innocent 5 year olds are. The seniors of the school walk in their 'packs', every now and then you come across a group where the boys show off their bruit strength, or as I like to call it stupidity, causing the girls to smile flirtatiously. Honestly, I'm glad I've never been one of those girls, nor will I ever be. The way they chase after those boys just shows how incredibly stupid they are. They think that at age sixteen they have the right to act the way they want. Completely forgetting about the young kids that see their behaviour and think it's how all older kids act. I turn away from the car window and find my brother, Caleb, is reading another one of his books. 'Algebraic equations' is written across the cover in a bold blue. I roll my eyes.
"You do realise they're going to teach us this in class?" I say, smiling at his, 'maturity' as he likes to call it.
"I'm pretty sure in Maths C they don't explain it to you again though. So I'm not taking the risk." he tells me, not bothering to look up.
"Umm, actually, son, they do." my dad tells him, keeping his eyes on the cars in front of him, "They just expect you to understand it quicker and have your own motivation." I snicker, and my mum in the seat in front of me suppresses a smile. Caleb closes the book.
"Well, that was a waste then, I could have been reading something else." He says ruefully. I pat him on the shoulder.
"It's alright, maybe they'll give us reading book in English." I say sarcastically. His expression brightens.
"Hopefully…" he says, mainly to himself. I shake my head and look out the window once more, noticing the traffic is shortening a head of us; only about seven cars until we reach the parking spaces. I sigh and lean my head back on the head rest, all the while placing my ear phones in and turning up the volume. I have never been a fan of first days of school; especially at a new one. So today I have a feeling the end of the day can't come sooner. I close my eyes, and shift my thoughts to the music blaring in my ears.
- (Super short time skip)-
"Dammit, Caleb." I mutter under my breath as I make my way to Home-form. Well, try to anyway. My brother insisted we take a look around the school before we went to class, his curiosity alive as ever. Although, he didn't tell me we only had five minutes to do so. I look back at my time table; it says I'm in the room X5, 12-6, at the very back of the school. Luckily I'm in the right area, just not the class. I let out a huff of annoyance and read the class plaques on the rooms again.
"Are you alright?" someone behind me asks. I turn and see a boy, roughly my age standing there. Part of his shirt hasn't been tucked in but other than that he wears his uniform correctly; ironed white shirt, black and dark blue tie, black polished shoes, and dark blue shorts that nearly reach his knees. I basically wear the same thong except the tie is a light blue and I have a blue skirt on. The boy has light olive skin and short, brown hair. What keeps me silent are his eyes; they're a deep blue, almost black. For some reason I think I could easily find myself lost in them.
"Hello?" He mocks, tilting his head to the side. I shake my head clear of its thoughts.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Just having problems finding my class," I stutter, looking back at my time table.
"Mind if I take a look?" He asks, holding out his hand for the paper. I nod and hand it to him. He only looks at it for a moment before he gives it back.
"It's just around the corner." he says curtly, walking in its direction, apparently showing me to my classroom. I'm quick to follow.
"Not to sound rude, but shouldn't you be going to your class? I'm sure I can manage from here." I say, right next to him. It looks as though he's holding back a grin.
"Undoubtedly, but we're in the same Home-form." He says, opening one of the class room doors with X5 on the front. Once he's inside, he holds the door for me. Once I step through I'm about to say thankyou but he moves away to a seat right in the back corner, away from anyone. As soon as I take my first step towards an empty seat, the teacher speaks up.
"You must be Tris; I've never seen you around here before." She says kindly, smiling at me. I can see the edge of a thick scar running across her eyebrow to the bottom of her lips; I don't want her to think I'm staring so I answer quickly.
"Yes." I can feel most eyes on me so I look at my books, not knowing if I can go find a desk yet.
"It's lovely to meet you, I'm Ms. Reyes. Well, everyone, I hope you all make Tris feel welcomed to St Veronica's. Christina, Shauna, would you two mind to take care of Tris?" I sigh internally. Like I said moments ago to the boy, I can take care of myself.
"Sure." The two girls pipe up, and then the one with mocha skin asks the boy next to her to move down a seat in order for me to sit between the two girls she pointed out. I keep my head down and make my way to the seat. The girls on the table give me a warm, friendly smile. I grin a little. Once I'm seated the girl with mocha skin introduces herself, "Hi I'm Christina, and this is Shauna." The girl beside me extends her hand and I take it.
"Hi." I say, I've never been good with introductions. The girl, Christina points to the girl next to Shauna, "This is Marlene." We both wave a little to each other as she motions to the boy beside herself, that is reading one of the textbooks, "and Will." He continues reading, probably not noticing I'm here. She leans in closer and whispers something in his ear. He looks up dazed and looks at Christina tilting her head in my direction, clearly embarrassed.
Will turns and finally sees me, and his eyes widen in surprise. "Oh, hello." He smiles, his shaggy blond hair flopping over his eyes. He shifts it out of the way before extending a hand, "I'm Will." I take it and introduce myself.
The bell rings and everyone begins to stand up, "What do you have first up?" Shauna asks me. I look at my time table and sigh.
"Maths." Although I'm good at the subject, I still hate it.
"Who's your teacher?"
"Ms. Mathews. Do you know her?" She chuckles a little, looking sorry for me.
"Yeah, she's a bit… how can I put this lightly..." She taps her chin.
"She's a bit of a bitch." Christina tells me.
"Amen to that." Will says, putting away his book.
"Well, if you want, my class room is just next to yours. I could walk you there." Shauna offers. I smile and nod.
"Thanks." I say, I wave my goodbye to Christina and Will, but they don't see it, their chatting to each other.
"Don't take it personally, they're "madly in love"." Shauna says, making air quotations. I laugh and we both walk to Y block. Luckily it was just a quick walk but it was enough time for Shauna to ask me to sit with her and some more friends at lunch time. I agree, happy to see I'm close to making friends. When she's gone I face the window and look into the class room. It's grey, dull walls look like a prison and the desks are spaced in pairs. I'm surprised to find a flat screen TV at the top of the wall above the white board. I feel a light tap on my shoulder and turn to see my brother.
"You made me late to Home-form." I say immediately. He rolls his brown eyes.
"I'm so sorry," Caleb mocks, "Do you want me to explain it to the teacher? 'I'm terribly sorry Ms. My sister is extremely lazy when it comes to getting to class on time', how's that?" I wack him on his shoulder and he laughs. All the students file into the class room and we follow. Once I step in, I see the boy with the mysterious blue eyes sitting in the back corner. He looks bored with his head resting on his hand, obviously drawing on the desk.
"Beatrice?" Caleb calls, motioning me to a desk where he takes a seat. I can feel my face go red as I sit down. I lean in closer to him and whisper, "I told you to call me Tris at school. Five times to be exact." I've never really liked my name, and he knows it. He nods apologetically.
"I will appreciate silence in my class Ms. Prior." The teacher says. She wears a tight fitting blue dress that shows her muffin top, and dark blue heels. She looks at me as though I am a disobedient toddler. I dislike her already.
Turning to face the rest of the class, she says, "Good morning students." We all say the customary 'Good morning" back while she pushes her glasses up further up the bridge of her nose.
"For those of you who do not know me, I am Ms. Mathews, head of maths in year 12." After that she rambles on for a bit longer, explaining how her lessons work. You know, the usual 'I will not tolerate tardiness in my class' or 'homework will be given back on time and fully completed, no excuses'. My mind eventually starts to wonder for a while, eventually I find myself looking back at the boy I met before home form. He isn't too far away so it's easy to see he has his textbook open and is working from it while Ms. Mathews is talking. I take the opportunity to really look at him. Sure, I may seem like a creep, but my curiosity kicks in from time to time. He has long, narrow fingers, ones that are made for fine, deft movements. When I look closely I can see the small scars over his arms, white compared to his tanned skin.
"Ms. Prior." The boy looks my way and we make eye contact for a split second before I turn away and look back at the teacher.
"Yes Ms. Mathews?"
"Would you mind sharing with the class what you were doing while I was speaking?" I think I've changed my mind; I don't dislike her, I hate her.
"No Ms."
"Then keep your eyes to the front or your desk." She turned back to the class once more. I could feel my cheeks flaring but I held back a snide comment. I sunk into my chair and began writing down the equations on the board. From the corner of my eye I saw the boy steal a glance my way. This time I kept my eyes on my table, now and for the rest of the double period.
-(Time skip)-
After the single lesson of Chemistry I make my way to my locker. The lockers here are smaller than those at Chicago High. But luckily my bag still fits inside. As I finish packing away my books and grabbing my food, I hear the loud crack of books falling to the floor.
"Aren't you gonna pick those up nerd?" I turn and see a blond girl on the floor picking up her books, above her a girl with short cut hair laughs with her friends. I go ridged and I feel my cheeks flare. Ever since Caleb was bullied I hated people like that girl laughing. Sure, I always thought they were cruel and pathetic; but after I saw what some kids did to Caleb I began to loath them. I close my locker door, place the key in my pocket, and make my way towards the girl on the floor. I bend down and help her retrieve her belongings.
"Look at that, seems like the Stiff's finally made a friend." the girl above us sneers, "You're pretty short aren't you?"
The blond girl turned towards me and I gave her a look that told her to say nothing. We finished gathering her things and stood up, "Let's go." I say, paying no attention to the group. The two of us turn around but the girl calls out, "I asked you a question." I pause and turn back.
"And?" Her smile falters.
"Don't bother Molly, the twerp is just trying to look tough." A blond boy behind her says. I chuckle lightly as the girl and I turn the corner. She breathes out a sigh of relief and visibly brightens.
"Thankyou, um…"
"Tris." I say.
"Tris. I'm Susan."
"Tris!" I turn to face my brother, but when he sees Susan he trips over his feat.
"Caleb, are you alright?" I hold back a laugh as he continues to stare at Susan. She smiles a little at him and he looks back at me, his cheeks going red.
"Susan, this is my brother. Caleb, this is Susan." I motion between the two of them. They both greet each other and Caleb mindlessly fiddles with his hands.
"Do you guys want to sit with me and some friends this lunch?" Susan asks, pointing to one of the undercover benches on the grass. There are roughly six kids there, some chatting others listening and eating.
"Sure." Caleb says, a bit too hastily, Susan only smiles.
"I told this other girl, Shauna, I'd sit with her and her friends, but I'll see you guys around for sure." I tell them. I have a feeling she didn't completely understand what I said because she and Caleb are still looking at each other. I smile to myself and step back, saying a goodbye in the process. They both wave and make their way towards the table.
I can't keep a smile off my face, that is; until someone nocks me to the ground. I fall with a thud and hit my head. For a moment I see stars, then he helps me up, apologising profusely, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Oh crap, I'm so sorr-"
"Uri, shut-up. Leave the girl alone." Once my head stops spinning I see the two boys in front of me. For second I think I see double, but then realise they must be brothers. They both have dark caramel skin and dark brown hair. The boy with green eyes speaks up on his brothers behalf, "Sorry about him; he had too many Fruit Loops for breakfast this morning."
The other boy pushes him a little bit, "If I remember correctly Ezekiel, it was you that had too many Fruit Loops." Then they launch into an argument about who eats the most Fruit Loops for breakfast. I clear my throat awkwardly and give the two a pointed look.
"Right, sorry." Ezekiel says, suddenly his eyes light up as if he remembered something, "Are you the new girl 'Tris'?" He asks me.
I nod, "And you are?"
"No time for that now, we have to get to our table before lunch is over." Before I can say anything else both boys link on of their arms with mine and walk me in the direction of a table and bench on the undercover area. I stay quite ridged but don't say anything. If things start to get shifty I'll act. After we exit the large crowd I see Shauna sitting on a table with what I soon recognised to be everyone I met in Home-form. Even, to my surprise, the boy with dark blue eyes I was caught staring at in math. My cheeks go red and I look over to the others. When they all see me they look embarrassed.
"Zeke!" Shauna yells, "What are you doing?"
"Being gentlemanly and showing Tris to our table." Uri says. The blue eyed boy looks up from his phone and looks at me surprised. Marlene shakes her head at the boy to my left.
"Guys, I'm pretty sure you've freaked her out." Will says.
"We have not!" Ezekiel, Zeke, protests. "Have we?" He asks me.
For a second I'm stumped, "Umm… no." I drawl, trying but failing to lie. "No not at all. Can I sit down now?" I asked, uncomfortable to be between the two.
"Sorry." The two boys say in unison, letting go of my arms. They both sit down on the edge of the table and Christina shuffles down a bit in order for me to sit between her and -guess who?- the boy from math. Great.
"So how was Math?" Shauna asks me when I sit down. The girls are leaning on their elbows and looking at me as if they know something.
"It was alright." I say, more like a question.
"Well," one of the girls say, "We saw you sitting with one of the new kids." She raises her eyebrows suggestively. For a moment I just sit there, letting that sink in. Then I get it.
"Aww, she's blushing! Oh, I ship-"
"He's her brother." The boy says beside me, sounding bored. The table goes quiet.
"Did Four just talk?" Marlene asks and everyone looks at him strangely. The boy, Four, glares at them and goes back to his phone, I notice he has an earphone in. My curiosity flares and I feel like asking what he's listening to. But I think better of it.
"Well, Tris," Zeke begins, "Let me introduce you to our group. I'm just going to go through everyone because-"
"Zeke," Shauna warns.
"Because you don't know the vital roles they play." He finishes, giving everyone a satisfied smile. He puts an arm around Shauna, "This here is my beautiful- no, no, scratch that- gorgeous girlfriend Shauna. She is the…"
"Come on Ezekiel, we don't have all day." His brother taunts. The other brother narrows his eyes.
"That's Uriah, my little bro. The girl next to him is Marlene, his girlfriend. To be honest it took him a few years to build up the nerve to-"
"Next!" Marlene shouts out, glaring daggers.
"Fine, fine. The out-there, love birds over there are Christina and William-"
"Will." The blond haired boy tells me, annoyed. "Honestly, you are by far the worst presenter."
"Well, if everyone would stop interrupting… Like I was saying, this long haired yahoo in our group is Lynn-"
"I'm a girl. You don't go around calling Shauna and them 'long haired yahoo's'."
"Whatever! Anyways…" He dwindles, "That ravishing boy next to you is our brother Four, well, he's adopted. But we still love him." He smiles at Four, all he does is continue to look down. "Yes, he does that a lot; pretend he didn't hear us and all…"
I let out a small chuckle once he's finished with the introductions.
"Why 'Four'?" I ask the boy next to me. Everyone freezes, but that's not when I realise a made a mistake; it's when he tenses.
"What's it to you?" He responds curtly with venom. He looks up and I meet those mesmerising blue eyes again. This time neither of us seems to be as happy.
"It was just a question." I say with equal annoyance.
"What makes you think you can talk to me?" At that my blood boils, what happened to the boy that helped me to Home-form?
"It must be because you're so approachable. You know, like a bed of nails." Eerily silence hangs over the group, and I do not look away. Looking away is submissive. Looking him in the eye is a challenge. It's my choice. Heat rushes to my cheeks. What will happen when the tension breaks? But strangely enough I see a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"Careful, Tris." He says softly, almost as if there's some hidden message behind it. The bell marking the end of lunch rings and he gets up placing his phone in his pocket in the process. Part of me wished I had asked about the music though.
I turn to the rest of the group and they're all staring at me. "What?"
"I'm pretty sure we're all developing a theory." Christina says while the others nod along.
"And it is?"
She stands and pulls Will up with her, "That you have a death wish."
So, what do you reckon? Should I keep going? If you have any ideas for future chapters please post a review. Honestly, please post a review in general. I was really worried posting this and I don't want to keep going if you would think it's bad. And I'm sorry if I made any mistakes with spelling or grammar. I'd appreciate it if you could tell me so I can improve next time.
I'm not saying Veronica Roth is a saint by calling the school 'St. Veronica's'. I just thought 'Divergent High' and stuff like that has been used a lot already. But there's nothing wrong with that.
Also, if you guys have any questions I'm happy to answer them! One last thing, I know that Tris seemed a little bit rude to the 'popular kids', and I only did that because I think that's what she would think.
Thanks for reading, please review! Advice is welcome, just please don't be too harsh.
DauntlessRunner46