Try
Tris P.O.V.
1 year ago
"Caleb, stop! You're going to crash!" I yell.
"Shut up, Bea, I've done this before!" he shouts back.
"What?! You've driven buzzed before?! You're insane, Caleb! Pull over, now!"
"No way, Bea, this is MY precious mustang get your own!" He said the exact same thing earlier when I made him leave the party. I didn't think he was that drunk. Just buzzed, like every other time.
"Caleb?! What has gotten into you? Don't you care about, oh, I don't know, NOT DYING?!" I scream even louder than before.
"Bea, you need to calm your tits," he says so slurred I barely can comprehend.
"Caleb, pull over or so help me god-" Next thing I know we are swerving into the ditch flipping upside down with no other signs of life anywhere. I feel a burning sensation in my head realizing it's an airbag. I feel something trickle down my face and reach up to touch it. Blood. And shards of the windshield. I look over to Caleb who has already passed out. "CALEB!" I yell. I fumble in my back pocket for my phone. My shaky, delicate, fingers somehow call 9-1-1.
"9-1-1, what is your emergency?"
"I'm in a ditch on Abnegation Road, my brother is blacked out, in the driver's seat, please help!" I sob.
"Okay, honey, help will be there ASAP. Are you out of the car yet?" she asks.
I somehow choke out, "No."
"Okay, carefully get out. Can you do that, honey?" she asks sweetly.
"I- I don't k-know. The car i-it's flipped," I stutter.
"Okay. You should still be able to get out. Try." I repeat that word over and over in my head. TRY. I carefully climb up and out of the car.
"I-I'm out."
"Good. Okay, do you hear the sirens yet?" I faintly listen to the silent forest near us and begin to hear sirens instead of nature.
"Yes."
"Okay, so, are you bleeding?" she asks
"Yes. M-my face. From the windshield."
"Okay. Is that all?"
"My leg-it might be broken."
"Are they there yet?" I look up and see bright flashing lights a couple hundred feet away.
"Yeah."
"Okay. I'm going to go now. They will take perfectly good care of you and your brother, okay?"
"O-okay," And flip my phone shut.
Everything next happens in a blur.
I wake in a room covered in white. The hospital.
"Tris!" someone—my mother—shrieks.
"Mom, I'm okay. What about Caleb?" Silence.
"Mom. Caleb?"
"Sweetie, the doctors tried, they really did. He's gone, honey." She says with a tear sliding down her cheek.
My body froze. Then sobbed. But during the whole time of this, only one thing ran through my mind. Try.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.
Yep, that's what I wake up to every single morning. It's been 1 year and 3 months since the crash. Me a sophomore, him a senior. It's now December, here in wonderful Chicago. Ha. Right. There's 3 feet of snow on the ground and I have to walk to school. How joyous. I throw on a big black hoodie, ripped, black, skinny jeans and a pair of converse. What color, you ask? Black. I'm not depressed or emo, or whatever, I just generally like the color black. I apply my make-up (eyeliner), do my hair (ponytail), and grab my bookbag and head out the bedroom door.
Lookin' good today, Tris, I think.
I slip my giant snow boots over my converse and walk outside. I don't bother with a coat. I pull my hat and ripped gloves on and walk out the door without a word.
I'm about a block away from my house when I realize someone is beside me in their car.
"Need a ride?" she asks.
"Sorry, what's your name?" I ask. I recognize her from school, so that's something.
"Christina. My friends call me Chrissy." She explains.
"Thanks, Christina."
"Call me Chrissy."
"I'm not your friend, though."
"Well, it appears you are now," she smiles.
"Ah, okay." I don't want to be rude, but this is exactly what I want to avoid. Friends. After the accident I haven't really had any friends because I'm too afraid of losing them. I told myself this year I'd at least try because that's what Caleb would have wanted. Five minutes later we pull into the parking lot of the school and I say, "Bye, Christi—Chrissy. Bye, Chrissy."
"Bye, Trissy."
"Oh my god, Chrissy, no."
"Ohhhh, yes," she smirks and walks off.
I head to my locker and get my stuff for… Shit. It's three months into the school year and I don't even know my own schedule.
1st Biology-Mrs. Matthews (Ew.)
2nd Music-Tori Wu (Score! Everyone loves Tori, I mean, how can you not?)
3rd English-Mrs. Reyes (Too perky for my taste)
4th History-Max Rifle (Okay, yeah, super weird last name. everyone calls him Max.)
LUNCH! (Praise the Lordy!)
5th (GOD, shove a pencil down my throat.)
6th Gym-Coach Amar (Woop! I love gym.)
I grab my Biology binder and music folder and head to this god-awful class.
While Mrs. Matthews drones on in a monotonous voice, I notice a piece of folded paper land on my desk, it says 'Chrissy 3'. I roll my eyes and unfold the note, 'wats ur schedule?'. I write down all of myclasses and give it to some guy in behind of me- Four I think- to give to Chrissy. Four taps my shoulder with a smirk- the hell? What's with the smirk?– I think to myself. He hands me the note a few seconds later and I unfold it again and it says 'awesome we have 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th periods together. Four has 1st,2nd ,5th, and 6th with you ;)'
Wtf? I think to myself.
I write back, 'the hell, Chrissy? Whats with the ';)'?' I hand the note back to Four hoping to god that he doesn't read it. He hands it to Chrissy. I see her scribble something down and hand it to Four- he still has the smirk, which is obnoxiously cute- WTF TRIS NO! I yell at myself in my head. I unfold the note and it says 'he's been staring at you all period, gurl! He never stares at ANY girl! Not that he's gay or anything lol he's totally straight…' I almost laugh out loud causing me to get some looks including from Mrs. Matthews.
Crap, I think to myself.
"Ms. Prior, usually I'd give a detention for passing notes in my class, but I think I'll have you read it out loud since it seems to be quite funny." She devilishly grins. My face turns bright red, as does Chrissy's.
"C: 'wats ur schedule'"
"I wrote it down"
"C: 'awesome we have 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th periods together. Four has 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th with you ;)'"
I look over at Chrissy and my eyes glance over Four. He looks confused. Chrissy is holding back a laugh.
"T: 'the hell, Chrissy? Whats with the ';)'?'"
"C: 'he's been staring at you all period, gurl! He never stares at ANY girl! Not that he's gay or anything lol he's totally straight…'"
By now everyone in the classroom is laughing at Chrissy and Four. He looks down his cheeks turn a dark shade of pink. Even Mrs. Matthews was giggling which almost never happens. She gets back to the lesson and Four still hasn't looked up, from what I can see out of my peripheral vision. The bell rings and he practically sprints out of the room. Me and Chrissy look at each other and laugh so hard we have tears.
We head to Music together and since Tori is so laid back, she lets us sit wherever we want.
"Okay, class! I have a new assignment for you," Tori says, "You'll be singing a duet with the person of your choice." As she says this, I already feel Chrissy's eyes burning into my head so I look over and nod.
"Can I have your phone number?" she asks, "So, you know, we can work on it at home."
"Yeah." I start scribbling down the digits onto the piece of paper I ripped off of the corner of my Biology notes. I hand it to her and she puts it in her pocket.
Tori then says, "Now that you all have found a partner, I will give you some time to figure out what song you'll be singing."
"Oh, oh, oh, oh! I have the perfect song!"
"What?"
"WIGGLE!" she practically blew my eardrums which earned looks from everyone, including a smirking Four.
"Chrissy. No," I giggle just a bit.
"C'mon. Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssseeeeeee?"
"No Chrissy, I refuse to ever sing that song in the course of my lifetime."
"Fine. What's your brilliant idea then?" she smirks.
"Um… how about Try by P!nk?" I ask. This was my absolute favorite song because the word 'try' would be engraved in my brain forever.
"Sure! I love that song, it has really good meaning," she smiles.
"That's why it's my favorite song." I say.
"So, what time do you want to meet at my place? Crap, here's the address," She scribbles on a piece of notebook paper. I take the paper and shove it in my pocket.
"Or," I say, "I could just ride home with you since I don't have a car."
"Sure! So, since we have , like, 20 minutes left of class, we should get to know each other. I mean, I know nothing about you. Color, Crush, restaurant, TV show, favorite book, hobbies?"
"I like black, I like no one, I usually eat at Dauntless Café, Brooklyn Nine-Nineis the best TV show known to man, The Fault in Our Stars is my favorite book, and I spend most of my time beating the crap out of punching bags and being at the gym. You?"
"Same-black-, Will…" she mutters, "I love Dauntless Café too! Pretty Little Liars, The Mortal Instruments, and shopping!"
Oh my god, she shops, kill me, I think.
"Cool. So who is 'no one'?" she asks, "'cause there are a ton of really good looking guys in this school."
"I don't know… I guess I just don't really get close with guys. Or anyone. You're the first friend I've had in a while."
"Really? You're gorgeous, I'm surprised you're not already taken!"
"Haha, Chrissy. Real funny," I scowl.
"I'm serious," She deadpans.
"Whatever," I glare, "so what's with this Will guy?" I ask wiggling my eyebrows.
She blushes, "Um, he's partnered with Four." She points behind me and I see two guys about seven feet away from me.
"Oh, dang, Chrissy. Not bad." At this she blushes even more.
"Yeah, I don't know if I got friendzoned or what, but I think he likes me back. Ugh! Guys are impossible!"
"I wouldn't know." I laugh. The bell rings and me and Chrissy head our separate ways.
3rd and 4th period are so boring but surprisingly they go by quickly, I head to the cafeteria to stand in line. I get a bagel with cream cheese and a pint of milk. Yep, that's my life. I go over to sit where I normally do, in the corner, when I see wave her hand in the air vigorously and yelling, "TRISSYYYYY!" which makes the entire cafeteria look at me. Wonderful. My cheeks heat up and walk over to Chrissy punching her in the arm.
"Ow, what was that for?"
"For making me look like an ass in front of everyone!"
She just glares and says, "Tris, meet Uriah, Marlene- they're dating-, Shauna and Zeke-they're also dating- Will, and Four, whom you've have already met today," she says as she and I laugh hysterically.
"Are we missing something here?" a dark-skinned boy- Zeke- asked Chrissy, Four, and I.
"Care to explain Four?" I ask.
"Nope!" he was obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation, but I, however, was not.
"Fine, but you'll be explaining later," Zeke says.
"Whatever, dude." Four replies coolly.
I am sitting across from Chrissy and Four sits next to me and next to Chrissy is Will, then the couples are sitting side by side.
Okay, this is officially awkward. If Will and Chrissy start dating, Four and I will just be here… surrounded by people making out. Well, I mean I guess if we dated there'd be an even number but- THE HELL TRIS?! Nope. Nope, I did not just think that. Nor will I ever think about it ever again, I think. I am snapped out of my own world when someone is snapping their fingers in my face.
"Tris? You in there?" Four asks.
"Huh? Oh, sorry what was the question?"
"I asked what you like to do. What your favorite things are."
Chrissy butts in and says, "Oh, I got this! I quote, 'I like black, I like no one, I usually eat at Dauntless Café, Brooklyn Nine-Nineis the best TV show known to man, The Fault in Our Stars is my favorite book, and I spend most of my time beating the crap out of punching bags and being at the gym'"
"How do you remember all that?" I question.
"I just do." She plainly answers.
"So, you like working out? What gym do you go to?" Four asks.
"The Pit, after school." I reply.
"Really? Me too. I've never seen you there." He eyes me suspiciously.
"That's the way I like it. Going un-noticed. That's why I wear black."
"Oh. Wait- oh my god. Are you that girl that broke six punching bags in one day?!" he yells. I nod.
"At the gym they call me Six. 'Cause- well, you know."
"That's awesome! The most I've gotten is-"
I cut him off with, "Four. Yeah, I shattered your record." I smile playfully.
"That, you did." He mutters.
I finally look away and realize everyone is staring at me and Four, jaw dropped. "What?" I say and hear a chorus of 'nothing' and 'I dunno'.
"Well, if you'll excuse Tris and I, we need to use the ladies' room." Chrissy says.
"We do?" I smirk.
"Yes, Trissy."
I shrug and get up. She grabs my elbow and drags me towards the bathroom. I check under the stalls to make sure no one is in here with us. "We're clear, now what do you want?"
"TRIS! Oh my god, how do you not see it? Four totally likes you!" She shrieks.
"I don't even know him, Chrissy and he doesn't know me so how is that even possible?" I ask.
"A) You two have a ton in common. B) He never stares or talks to any girl-well besides me, Mar and Shauna-, which he was doing in class, and C) You don't flaunt yourself at him which, he told me, is 'off-putting and unattractive'!" she squeals.
"Whatever, Chrissy," I say and walk out.
She runs after me and says, "You know if I said that to any other girl they'd be flipping out."
"Guess I'm not 'any other girl'" I reply, sitting down.
"What makes you different from 'any other girl?'" Uriah asks.
"Chrissy told me that—"I am interrupted by Chrissy hopping across the table and clamping her hand over my mouth.
"That is none of your concern, Uriah," Chrissy says.
He looks at me and says, "Trissyyyy, c'mon, tell meeee!"
"I would, but I'm afraid I might get mauled by Chrissy, over here." I say nodding my head towards her.
He just frowns and says, "Good point."
As lunch goes on, I learn more about my new found friends. I think actually talking and laughing can be fun. The bell rings and I head to 5th period- Algebra with Mr. Kang. I've always been good with math-how? You tell me.
When I arrive, I see Four sitting one seat to the left and one back. When I hear the bell ring I face forward and look at Mr. Kang as he begins the lesson. I feel a pair of eyes burning through my head the entire period. When I 'accidentally' drop my pencil to see who it was, I see Four quickly turning his head and fumble for his pencil. Why does he keep staring?! I'm not pretty, I have the body of a 12 year old, no curves, my hair is in a ponytail today-nothing special about that- and a hoodie. Seriously, what is up with him? I ask myself all of these questions, yet I find myself smirking.
I hear the bell again signaling that it's time for last period. Yay, gym! I think to myself. Well, apparently not to myself, because I hear Four say, "You have got to be the first girl ever in the history of this school to say that." He smirks.
"They call me Six for a reason, Four," I reply and walk out.
I drop my stuff off at my locker and head out to the girls' locker room. I quickly change into a tight under-armour shirt and black track shorts, and go to the gym. I wait as everyone else shuffles out of the locker rooms including Uriah, Marlene, Chrissy, and Four. We all walk over to our own little group and wait for Coach Amar to speak.
He says, "Okay, class, today you can do whatever you want- jump rope, treadmills, trampolines, or gymnastics, like the balance beam and whatnot." He blows the whistle signaling that we are free to do whatever. I quickly run over to one of the two treadmills so no one else can take it. As I put the speed higher I look over to Chrissy trying to keep up. "C'mon, Chrissy!" Uriah yells. I glare at him and he shuts up. "Go Tris!" Mar yells. At this I smile. Chrissysoon gives out and I haven't stopped. Uriah gets on the one next to me where Chrissy was and he keeps up after about 10 minutes he tires and Mar yells, "Uri, c'mon!"
I shout back, "I thought you were on my side!" she just shrugs and smiles, as do I. I hear Chrissy yell some encouragements even though I'm not even close to tired. Uriah gives up and I see Four get on next.
"Is this a challenge? Because if so, challenge accepted." I say.
Chrissy comes up next to me and says, "You know he has the record, right?"
"Is that so? Well, not much longer," I smirk at him.
"Oh, really?" I hear him ask.
"Why, yes. That is exactly true. I'm going to shatter your record, just like how I shattered your punching bag record."
In the background I hear a chorus of 'ohhh's and 'burrrn's.
30 minutes later, Four is getting breathless and so am I, but not as much. We are both sweating relentlessly but finally, his legs give out and he climbs off.
Everyone cheers. I even hear a, "TRIS HAS TAKEN DOWN THE ALMIGHTY FOUR!" probably from Uri. Five minutes later I finally give in. I high-five Chrissy and Uri. Four stands there in utter shock.
"What can't handle losing to a girl?" I ask playfully.
"No, it's just that no one has ever come close to my record which was 30:57 and yours was 40:46. The one that came closes to mine was Zeke's which was 17:65, how did you do that?"
"You've just got to try." I say softly. The bell rings. Yes! Four is still standing there trying to comprehend. Now I have to head over to Chrissy's for music class. I get my bookbag and meet her by her car.
I am completely stunned by what I see.
Will and Chrissy making out in the parking lot in her car. I tap on the window and she blushes vigorously. "We can work on the project tomorrow," I say winking at her.
Since I didn't have to go to her house, I head to the gym. I walk there and put on my gym clothes that I had worn earlier.
I immediately head over to the punching bags and hit them with all I have. I start to feel blood on my fingers and realize I forgot to wrap them today. I walk over to my bag and dig in it but I can't seem to find it. I remember that Four comes here after school , too, so I'll ask him if I can have some. I walk over to the treadmill he's on and I tap him on the shoulder. He turns around and smiles. Why? Dang Chrissy's right, guys are confusing.
"Hey," he says.
"Hey, do you have any wrap I can borrow for my knuckles? I forgot mine at home." I ask.
His smile falters. What?! Ughhh. "Sure, hang on a sec." he walks over to his bag and grabs his wrap. He comes back over and says, "Give me your hand."
"Why?"
"So I can, oh, I don't know, wrap it," he smirks.
"I'm perfectly capable of wrapping my own hand."
"Undoubtedly."
I roll my eyes and give him my hand. He wraps it up and grabs my other hand sending electric shocks down through it. Can he feel that, too?
"Thanks, Four."
"Yep, let me know if you need anything else."
"M'kay, bye. See you tomorrow." I say waving.
I go back to my punching back and hit until 6 o'clock.