TRIS POV
"Okay, initiates. Today you'll be practicing throwing a good punch." I can barely hear Four give directions to us because Molly and Peter won't shut up. I hate Peter more than I've ever hated anyone, but I guess since I didn't hate anyone in Abnegation that isn't necessarily a hard thing to do.
We all spread out and go to our own punching bags. I throw the hardest punch I could, yet the punching bag barely sways. What?! I try again, this time reassuring myself that I'm Dauntless, which means that what I've been doing won't get me past initiation.
"Stiff, what the hell are you doing?" I hear Four say behind me. "You seriously call that a punch?" Angrily, I turn around.
"Yeah, I do."
"Your thumb is on the inside of your fist," he observes. "That's wrong. It's supposed to be on the outside." I spin around and try to punch again, this time with my thumb on the outside. I could feel it already – that was perfect.
Four takes a few steps closer to where I am, and he leans in. "I wish I knew how you got that so quickly," he says quietly. He then walks away and begins observing other initiates, but he didn't seem as interested as he did with me.
"So, what was up with you and Four during training today?" Christina asks. I take a sip of water to stall.
"Nothing much. He just showed me a better way to punch." Christina stares.
"Four tried to help you?" she asks, shocked.
"Yeah, he did. He isn't some cold-hearted monster, you know."
"He sure can seem it. What'd he tell you?"
"God, Christina. There's nothing going on between us! I barely know the guy. Anyway, he showed me a better way to punch. Apparently, your thumb is supposed to go on the outside of your fist. I can't believe I didn't know that. I mean, seriously. It's so much more comfortable that way, too."
"Well, how come he didn't show me that? That tip could've helped when I was punching the bag and it barely moved." Christina and I continue to chat as Al talks to Will about how Peter used to act in Candor. When we're all finished, Christina, Al, and Will all go back to hit the hay.
"Hey, Tris, you coming?" I hear Christina call out to me.
"No, I'm not tired. I'm going to take a walk around the compound."
"Okay, see you later." I walk in the other direction and head towards the Chasm. I listen to the water rushing below me and wonder what it would be like to voluntarily plummet to your death. I look down and watch the water crash on the rocks, and shiver at the thought of getting cut up and drowned. Suddenly, I hear someone talking.
"Come on, Four, can't we do something together tonight? Like watch a movie or something?"
"Audrey, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm busy in the computer room this week? Maybe next week." What? Four? Why's he here?
"Ugh. We never do anything normal couples do." At this, he presses his lips to hers and they kiss here, with the water rushing calmly. It must be perfect for both of them.
"What about that?" he asks. She smiles at him.
"I guess you're right. See you tomorrow." They kiss again, and she starts to walk away. She pauses in between her steps, and says, "I love you."
"I love you, too," Four says back. I look down at the Chasm one last time, and I tiptoe and try to get away, but Four hears me.
"Tris?" I turn around. "I didn't know you were here."
"Well…I didn't think you'd be here." I quickly walk away, devastated. What was that? I didn't even say goodbye or anything. I just…walked away. Then I remind myself that there was a reason for this. Four has a girlfriend that I already hate. And why be nice to people I hate? Yet again, I probably shouldn't have been so rude to an instructor.
But for some reason, I don't care.