I raced behind Percy to the elevator at the edge of the Pit. Tris and Four were waiting for us, holding the doors open, but Eric was fast. For the life of me, I couldn't see how all of those piercings didn't interfere with his daily actions. We've been here under the radar for six months searching for possible half-blood relatives, and, of course, my birthday is the day all the loose ends unravel. Chiron sent us here, into the future, for some crazy reason to find these relatives of half-bloods. Apparently, once Olympus moved on to China, half-bloods began to be shunned by society, even relatives of half-bloods called Divergent. Here in Chicago, citizens have been separated into five factions of thinking and way of life, but the Divergent fit in with multiple groups of people. Percy and I came and went through the initiation process of the bravery faction or Dauntless. We had two instructors who we found to be Divergent but no others in our class. This morning, Percy exploded into my Dauntless apartment yelling, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY BRAVE, DIVERGENT, HALF-BLOOD WISE GIRL!" and Eric, a bratty, evil, conniving Dauntless leader overheard his remark. He had attempted to corner us at breakfast where we sat with Tris and her boyfriend, Four, but we refused, saying we were already running late for our jobs. The time in between then and now has mushed itself together in such an insane way that I can't even figure out what really happened (there's ADD at its finest). All I know is that now the four (haha four of us and one of our names is Four) of us are fleeing the compound until we can come up with a plan. Percy's brilliant head of seaweed wanted to stay and kill Eric while we had the chance, but we wouldn't have made it five steps without being trapped by the guards that would have surrounded us without our head start.
"Annabeth! Look out!" Percy screams. I tumble into a moving roll that brings me back to my feet as a plate soars over my head and crashes into the wall. Percy grabs my arm and drags me even faster into the elevator. Four is repeatedly pushing the close button while Tris shoots the guards that are advancing towards us. Without warning, the elevator jolts up towards the open air above us. Rapidly, we surge out of the elevator as soon as the doors open. The train is chugging by so we all jump into a car before our pursuers have even exited the compound.
I find myself standing with eyes wide open by the door. Two strong arms wrap around waist and pull me to the ground, out of my shock. Before I can resist, I'm enveloped in Percy's arms. My muscles relax as they remember his familiar contours, and I succumb to his loving grasp.
"Well, that was an adventure," he whispers, nuzzling my neck while he does so. His breath tickles the baby hairs at the bottom of my hairline, and I shiver.
I nod my head as I lean into him. "Another near death experience caused by the stupidity of the seaweed brain species," I say.
"Ah, don't be so hard on him, Annabeth. After all, he's only male," Tris said with a slight smile.
"Ya, Annabeth don't be so – wait, what did you say?" Percy said, his face forming a look of astonishment and offense.
Four playfully shoved her away and put a fake pout on his face. "Fine, go crawl into someone else's arms then."
Tris crawled back to him and tugged on his forearm. "Ah, come on, To- Four, you know it's true. Guys just don't think things through all the way. Like that time you tried to cl –" her sentence was cut off by Four's hand covering her mouth and his other arm putting her in a headlock. Giggles were escaping from under his hand, and his face turned a deep shade of red.
"Tris! You promised you weren't going to talk about that!" he exclaimed through gritted teeth.
She shoved his hand away and slid upright through the headlock. Turning to face him, she slowly kissed his lips before saying, "I know, but I had to get my incredibly handsome, strong, fearless man back." At that a smile curled onto his lips, and he kissed her forehead.
I sunk deeper in Percy's chest without realizing it. Percy laughed into my curly blonde hair and kissed the top of my hair. "I love you, Wise Girl," he whispered, barely audible.
Turning so I could see him, I whispered, "But not as much as I love you."
He laughed and stood, hoisting me over his shoulder at the same time. Percy started spinning and I screamed while laughing. "PEEEERRRCCCYYYYY! WE'RE ON A FREAKING TRAIN!"
"All the more reason to have a little fun!" Four yelled. He slung Tris over his shoulder and started to spin with us.
I don't know how it happened but somehow, Tris and I caught each other's hands. Worst. Non-idea. Ever. Four and Percy were spinning in opposite directions, and we slid out of their grasps on to the floor, and they landed on top of us.
After a bunch of oofs and ows and a couple, "Get the hell off me T- Fours!" we managed to untangle ourselves from each other. Percy, laughing, dragged me to the side of the train car. He gently kissed the back of my neck and blew my hair out of my face, which I didn't think was possible from the angle he was sitting but oh well.
"Don't get too comfortable you two!" Four scolded from four feet in front of us, "Remember we're all in the same 6 x 10 car.
Percy smiled. "Let's make a deal. You guys remember that, and we will. I get the feeling we've been in more situations like this than you guys."
"Speaking of that," Tris said, "what's your story?"
I yawned. "How about we tell you if there's extra time tomorrow?"
"Okay," Tris mumbled, already mostly asleep with her head buried in Four's side. He chuckled with a smile.
Without realizing it I had fallen asleep. Just barely waking from my sleep next to Percy, I overheard a few words of his conversation with Four.
"She's everything to me. Without her I –" I fell back asleep with a faint smile on my face.
