Hey, so this is another story from Christina's point of view-I don't know why, guess I just need a break from writing about FourTris and focus a little bit on Chrill (or whatever their couple name is).
I've been working on this for a while, please read and review!
Again, I don't own any of the characters or the Divergent series, that's all VR's brilliance :)
I rush down the hallway, caught in the tide of the older Dauntless members. I shouldn't be doing this, I think. I really want to, though. I'm only an initiate, but I'm not the only one here. Tris is running next to me, her blond hair streaming out behind her.
Apparently she was invited last week, and managed to extend the weekly invitation to me, too. The two of us are the only transfers coming, I think, but then I notice a slightly familiar boy. Will, that blond kid from Erudite, is coming too. Uriah, Lynn, and Marlene, three Dauntless-borns, are also here.
We race out of the Dauntless compound and into the cool night air. It fills my lungs as I breath heavily. I've been an initiate in my new faction for a while now, but I'm still not as physically strong as the full members. I breath a sigh of relief when we start slowing down. I finally look around as we enter a tall building. It looks abandoned and old, but still solid-looking.
My relief is taken away when the group of about fifteen Dauntless members and initiates begin ascending a set of old, rusty stairs. The loud sounds reverberate around me as I climb as fast as I can.
My muscles are screaming by the time we get to the top, and I am panting heavily. Of course, the girl on my right side is fine, as are most of the other people. I groan mentally, then my mouth drops open as the group starts filing out of a door, onto the roof.
Why are we going on-I think, but then I see it. Tris never told me what it was, just smiling slyly and telling me that I would love it.
It's a zip line. A zip line right off of the freakin' roof.
"What? No way! I am not doing that!" I whisper urgently to Tris. She turns to me and smiles.
"Oh, come on! It's not that bad. I've done it before." She seems different to me now. She's bouncing on the balls of her feet, and actually excited to go. I, on the other hand, am not. She points to where the two steel cables start, where a few volunteers are already strapping in the first two people.
"See? You're totally secured. All you need to do is pull the brake when you get to the bottom. And they just added a second cable, so two people can go down at the same time!" I swallow and watch as the two, a girl and boy, push off and fly down the wires until I can't see them; though there is still a strong buzzing coming from the cables.
"I can't do this" I say automatically. Tris takes my hand and squeezes it.
"Come on, I wouldn't have brought you here if I thought you would chicken out! I know you can do this, Chris."
I sigh just as the buzzing of the left cable stops abruptly, and the right one does too after a few seconds. Immediately the next people in line grab harnesses and start strapping in. We're somewhere in the middle of the group; but at the speed that these people are moving, it won't be long before we get to the front of the line. I look around urgently, but I know before I even look that there is no way out. I can't go back inside and down the stairs without people noticing me; and anyways, I probably wouldn't be able to make it back to the compound without getting lost. So my only choice is…I shudder inwardly as I turn back to the zip lines. I'm not afraid of heights-at least, it's not in my fear landscape- but we are very high up and the harnesses don't look that secure. I study them, then turn to the actual cables. There's two of them, side by side, so that two people can go at once. Each ride seems to last about a minute, which is actually a bit long, because everyone looks like they're going pretty fast. Some go faster or slower depending on their size. So I probably wouldn't go as fast as some of the bigger people. But I wouldn't go slow, either. Depending on my speed and acceleration, when would I have to pull the brake? I won't know my speed until I leave the roof, so that gives me less than a minute to decide when to pull the brake…
Someone bumps into me by accident, shaking me out of my thoughts. What am I doing? I'm thinking like a frickin' Erudite. I'm thinking too much. I'm not acting Dauntless at all. I close my eyes for a minute, ashamed and scared. When I open them, I see that the line has gone down a lot. I'm probably the fifth person in line now. Uriah is just going down with Marlene, and Lynn is standing in front of me, talking to…Tris? Since when were they friends?
It doesn't matter right now. Right now, it means I need to find a partner to go down with; otherwise I could end up riding alone if there's an odd number of people. I scan the small group quickly. Besides Tris and Lynn, I see two older girls, probably around 20 or so, chatting and laughing together. Nope. There's a boy, who looks a year or two older than me, and looks strangely familiar. As I think, I realize that he must have been a Candor transfer from last year. Maybe he'll let me go with him if he recognizes me. I hesitantly step towards him-just as another guy runs up and apologizes for being late. Darn it. I think I'm out of luck until I see a mop of blond hair. It's Will.
I quickly approach him, and he looks up at me. I freeze and my breath catches in my throat. I've never really seen him except during training and in the dormitory, and he usually goes right to sleep in his clothes. I've never talked to him, and he's never talked to me. So why do I feel so nervous as I look up into his blue eyes? He's taller than me, of course, but only by a few inches. He frowns at me as I open my mouth.
"Um, hi…I'm Christina, from initiation…?" He nods stiffly, so I continue.
"So, uh, I don't have a partner for the zip line…and I was wondering if…you wanted to…" I trail off, suddenly embarrassed.
"You want me to go with you?" He clarifies, and I nod, grateful that he probably can't see my blush underneath my dark skin.
He shrugs.
"Sure, why not?" I breath a sigh of relief, before Tris taps me on the shoulder.
"Hey, I'll see you at the bottom, okay? Don't forget to pull the brake!" And with that, she runs away and shoots down the line in record time. I shake my head-and freeze. We're the only ones left on the roof besides the older Dauntless member that was strapping everybody in. I turn back to Will, but he's not next to me anymore-he's already being strapped into the harness. I quickly walk over to join him, and reluctantly get strapped in next to him. I gulp and close my eyes, trying to calm down. But when I open them again, I gasp as I see the city spread out before me. I suddenly realize just how high we are, and immediately know that if anything happens to me between here and the ground, it's not going to go well.
"Ready?" The man says, and I nod stiffly. It's now or never. He steps between me and Will, and I get one fleeting look at the blond boy on my left before the man pushes us off the roof.
The first few seconds are filled with panic as the building disappears from beneath me. I can't even scream, the wind shrieking past my face, my short hair is flying around me, the ground seeming so far away. As I get used to it, I calm down a little.
But as soon as I get comfortable, something happens.
I feel a jerk as something happens to my harness. I squirm, trying to look up, but freeze as I hear a ripping sound and see two of the straps on my right side flapping loosely from the side of the harness. Suddenly there is another jerk, and I grip the other side even harder as the last strip of fabric gives way. Now I scream. There are only 3 straps on my right side holding me to the harness. If they break…
I hear an answering yell and look over at Will. He stares at me, terrified, and screams again, and I can barely hear him over the wind.
"Rake! Pull the rake!" I hear, and it takes me a minute, in my panicked state, to realize that he means brake. Pull the brake. Of course!
I gingerly raise my hand, and as soon as I feel the handle, I yank it down as hard as I can. I jerk to a stop immediately, gasping. It's only a few seconds before I realize that I am only about 100 feet off of the ground. The group of Dauntless is up ahead, ready to catch me and Will. Some of them, seeing me, start to run, but I know there is no way that I can fall into their arms from here. I look for Will, and see that he is also stopped, further down the line. He looks back at me, and I say to him,
"Go ahead! I'll be fine." Neither of us are convinced by my statement, and then Will reaches up behind him and grabs the zip line cable. He starts to pull himself back towards me, as the cable is relatively flat because we are almost at the end. It's not until he starts to move that I discover how strong he is. He was always pretty lean, but now the muscles of his arms are strong enough to pull his weight. I see them as the sleeves of his black t-shirt move around them.
I stop staring as quickly as I had started, when Will finally makes it back to me. He reaches over and grabs my harness, pulling himself closer to me. I gulp as I find myself entranced by his bright blue eyes. He's so close to me, and it's…a little awkward, actually. He clumsily reaches over my back, trying to grab the untied straps.
I realize that I should be helping him, so I twist around and grab the strap for him. This automatically makes me lean even further away from it…and closer to Will. I blush as my back presses into his chest through the thin harness, but then I turn back around to give him the strap. He takes it from me, his fingers brushing mine. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for me, I don't feel anything special when our hands touch. Inside, I freak out, but not outside (hopefully).
He ties the strap down and I hand him the other one. When he's finished, he stays next to me for a minute, staring at me. I stare back, before he abruptly pushes off of me and starts to travel down the zip line again. I exhale, realizing that I had been holding my breath, and follow. The Dauntless cheer as they catch Will, and I soon follow, dropping into their arms. They put me down on my unsteady legs, and I stumble towards the rest of the Dauntless that are waiting. I hear a shriek and turn around to see Tris running towards me.
"Are you okay? I was worried…you were so high up!" She grabs me in a tight hug, and I hug her back, trembling slightly. As soon as she pulls away, Lynn walks by me and slaps me on the back.
"Nice job, loudmouth" she says as she passes.
"Uh, thanks?" I reply unsteadily. I turn back to talk to Tris, but as I do, my eyes find Will's unexpectedly. I find myself walking towards him; but when I get there, I suddenly feel embarrassed. I awkwardly lean against the wall, mirroring his pose.
"Thanks" I say, after a few moments of silence. "For…everything."
Will shrugs.
"No problem." He replies casually.
"Were you scared, too?" I ask, slightly embarrassed. "About the zip line, I mean."
He shakes his head, but I look harder at him, and see that he's not really as tough as he looks. His hands are shaking slightly, but he has his arms crossed, trying to hide them.
"You were! I know you were!" I exclaim before I can stop myself.
He cracks a smile.
"Maybe."
I smile too, and punch him lightly on the arm.
"It doesn't matter. At least we both did it and survived."
"Yeah."
A group of boys run past us, bumping into me as they go. I stumble forward and lose my balance. I brace myself, but I feel Will's strong arms wrap around me and pull me to my feet.
When I look up at him-I realize that he is actually only a few inches taller than me- I also realize that we are close. Very close. His arms are still around my torso, and I feel an irrational urge to kiss him.
And I do. I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck, and kiss him before I can change my mind. He stiffens, but soon he kisses me back. When we pull apart I am gasping for air, but when I look up, I am surprised to see that he's frowning.
"What?"
"I…I can't, Christina."
"Why? Do you have a girlfriend or something? Do you just not like me? Do I have bad breath-what is it?" I'm ranting now, mostly embarrassed at my rash decision. What did you think he was going to do? Ask you to marry him?
"I'm not going to make it through initiation." He says it quickly, ashamed. "And I can't…be with you if I'm not going to be staying in Dauntless."
His words shock me, and I stand there, trying to process his words. Does that mean he wants to be with me? I shake my head. It doesn't matter.
I stand on my tiptoes so that we are eye to eye.
"Will. You are going to make it through initiation. We can both make it through if we stick together. I don't know if you even care about me or not, but I'm still not going to let you give up on your life!"
The square goes deathly silent, and I realize that the Dauntless are all either staring at us or leaving. I blush deeply and start to walk quickly away from Will, joining the throng of people. The wind is cool on my face as we walk through the streets, and I realize that there are tears on my cheeks. I wipe them away before anyone can see them.
We are almost back to Dauntless headquarters when Will finally appears in my vision. I try to ignore him, walking faster; but he catches up with me as the two of us break off from the rest of the group and head back towards the dormitory.
"Christina" he says, but I look straight ahead and keep walking. He sighs, and I can see him walking at my side out of the corner of my eye.
Suddenly, he grabs my wrist and spins me around, pinning me to the wall. I resist, but he's stronger than me, and holds me firmly, but gently, against the cool cement wall.
"Let. Me. Go." I say through gritted teeth. Will stares at me.
"Will you stay here if I let go of you?"
I glare at him.
"Maybe."
He releases me, and I push away from the wall. He looks at me warily, unsure of my intentions.
I roll my eyes and cross my arms.
"What do you want?"
He sighs in relief.
"Just…why did you-you know what, nevermind. It doesn't matter." He starts to walk away from me, towards the dormitory.
"Why did I kiss you or why did I stand up for you?" I ask. I speak quietly, but my voice echoes in the empty corridor. "Because I think you know why I kissed you."
Will stops and turns.
"Do you care about me?" The direct question takes me by surprise.
"Well, I mean…yeah, I guess I do. I don't even know why-I mean I don't know you that well, but…ugh, I don't know." I sink down to the floor, pulling my knees to my chest.
I feel him sit down next to me, and I relax a little.
"So, why did you stand up for me?"
I shrug.
"You were giving up on yourself. We still have plenty of time to get used to the fear simulations."
"But I can't. That's the point. I was better at fighting than facing my fears, and I wasn't good at fighting. If I can't do better by the end of initiation, then, well, you know what happens."
I turn and look at him, frustrated.
"You might have grown up in Erudite, but you are Dauntless now, so start acting like one. Dauntless don't just give up, they fight until the end. How did you even think you'd become a member of Dauntless? You need to be dauntless. You don't need to be fearless, but you have to face the fears you do have. It's the only way to overcome them."
I take a breath and continue.
"You're afraid of failure. And you're not trying to face it, either. As soon as you saw your greatest fear brought to life, you decided that it must be your fate. But that's not what accepting your fear means. After you accept that you're afraid, you have to find out how to not be afraid of it. Believe that you can succeed, and you will. Will, if you can get over your fear of failure, than you won't fail!"
When I stop talking, the hallway falls silent, and Will stares at me. Suddenly, he chuckles and shakes his head.
"And you're telling me to stop acting like I'm back in my former faction?" He says, and I start to laugh with him. When we stop, he looks over at me again and takes my hand. This time, I feel a thrill shoot through me.
"Thanks" he says, and kisses me.
"You're welcome" I reply, flustered, when we break apart. I suddenly shiver from the cold, and lean against him. He awkwardly wraps an arm around me, and we sit there for a minute.
Eventually, he stands and offers me a hand. I accept it and he pulls me to my feet. I keep his hand in mine as we walk the rest of the way to the dorms.
"So…do you want to…be with me, or not?" I ask hesitantly. "I mean after…you know…what happened tonight."
"Of course I want to. I wanted to before you even kissed me." I look at him, and he shrugs.
"I just didn't want to…complicate things, especially if I wasn't going to get through initiation."
We walk around the corner, and freeze. Four and Tris are kissing-no, making out-against the wall near the dormitory. I look at Will with raised eyebrows, but he just shrugs.
"How do we get past them?" I mouth silently to him, and he shakes his head. We can't, not without them noticing us. They do seem…pretty busy, but Four will notice us eventually, with his superhuman abilities.
Right as I think that, Four stiffens and his head whips towards us. Tris's eyes follow his gaze, and she blushes profusely. I think I see a hint of color in Four's face, but then he moves away from Tris and his face hardens.
"And just where have you been?" He says, and I gulp. Uh oh. Not what I expected.
"I could kick you out of Dauntless for this." He growls, but Tris intervenes.
"They were with me, Four" she tells him, and I sigh in relief. "I invited them."
He looks down at Tris, conflicting emotions evident in his face. Finally, he looks back at us and shakes his head.
"Don't let it happen again" he says, defeated. He glances at Tris again, and glares back at us.
"And if you tell anyone about Tris…" he threatens, and both me and Will nod quickly.
"I know, Four" I say with a small smile. "I won't tell a soul." Will agrees, and Tris smiles at me, only slightly embarrassed now. Four, however, only looks slightly relieved.
"Well? What are you two still doing out here? Get to sleep-it's going to be a long day tomorrow. If you don't get in there, extra training for both of you."
We don't need any more encouragement. Will and I quickly enter the dark dormitory, and Tris follows behind. I share a glance with Will before me and Tris go to our cots.
"So when were you two a thing?" I whisper to Tris as we get ready for bed.
"I don't really know. It just kinda happened." She replies with a dreamy smile. "What about you and Will? Are you guys a thing now?"
"I…I think so, but it's still kind of complicated. It just…happened, I guess" I repeat her words with a chuckle. She laughs too, and yawns.
"Goodnight, Christina."
"Night, Tris. Sweet dreams" I say. I know mine will be, I think as I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face.
Please please please review and read my other stories!
I have another story that I just posted the first chapter to. It's called Simulations, and it's another story that I think will involve Chrill in the future. But I will take longer to update if I am not encouraged by readers :)
So read, review, and follow me to get the first notice on all of my future chapters and stories!
~Divergent. Lunar. Shadowhunter.
