Tobias's POV:

I don't want to be here. Zeke decided we should "have a fun day at the beach" Yeah, right. Zeke has been going on and on about the girl he likes, stupid things Uriah is up to, and what's going on in his life. I'm only half listening.

"So anyway, she's really hot man." Zeke says as he picks up his fourth can of beer. I nod and watch the ocean.

Waves have always fascinated me. I listen to the sound of the waves, and let myself believe that everything will be alright. My head turns Zeke's voice into a mindless drone, so I can be alone with my thoughts. I watch people sit in the ocean and talk, play, or relax.

Then she catches my eye. Tris.

My eyes fill with longing as I see her and her friend, Christina messing around in the sand. Tris is laughing and smothering herself in sunscreen. They are too far away for me to hear what they are saying, so I try to read their lips.

Christina says something that looks like, "Why do you need so much sunscreen?" Tris shrugs and says something along the lines of "You know how pale I am, I burn really easily."

Christina nods and shoves Tris playfully. Tris glares at her and grabs a handful of sand and throws it into Christina's hair. Christina's mouth goes wide, and I assume she's gasping. Tris laughs so hard she clutches her stomach and tries to catch her breath.

I smile. They are definitely having more fun than Zeke and I. Tris pulls off her gray swimsuit coverup to reveal a plain black bikini. I start to drool. She's absolutely... stunning. But she looks uncomfortable. I want to run up to her and shield her beautiful body from the other boys who have started staring. Tris turns pink.

Christina must say something about how beautiful she looks because she seems to gain an ounce of confidence. She drags Tris by the arm and pulls her into the ocean. They venture out until Tris tells them to stop. By now they are pretty deep, and have started splashing each other.

Tris gets overheated and dunks her head into the water making her blonde hair a little darker with water. Christina does the same and when she comes up, Tris throws her head backing laughing. Christina looks confused.

While still laughing, Tris manages to point at Christina's nose. A medium sized crab has hold of the bridge of her nose. Christina crosses her eyes to look at her nose, and shrieks. "GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!" She yells. I can hear her from across the beach. Tris laughs harder and pulls the crab off her nose, throwing it deeper in the ocean. It lands a few yards away from them.

Then the unthinkable happens. Something pulls Tris under the water by her ankles she opens her mouth to scream, but water floods her mouth. She spits it out quickly and chokes. She tries to fight it, but it is too strong. Christina tries to grab her, but it is too quick.

A rip current. Panic overwhelms me and I run after her and jump into the water, leaving a surprised Zeke behind.

I swim as fast as I can, putting every single ounce of muscle I have into each of my strokes. I am over to where she was in no time and Christina is just standing there, dazed. I glare at her and follow the current.

I realize it isn't getting me anywhere, so I swim under water and open my eyes. The salt water burns. I have to fight to keep my eyes open. I swim incredibly fast, and look around for her. I finally see Tris. Her eyes are closed and the rip-current is carrying her along. I reach my hands into the current and realize why neither of them could fight it.

I wrap my arms around her limp body and pull out an unconscious Tris into my arms.