Title: Divergent High
Summary: Tris Prior is a sophomore at the most elite school in Chicago called Divergent High when she and her friends Christina, Will, and Al have a new gym teacher, Four. Four's gym class isn't like any other class Tris has ever taken. He's intimidating and he pushes Tris almost to her breaking point, but this doesn't stop her from getting close to him as she learns more and more about his past and who he really is.
Rated: T
Genre(s): Romance, Friendship, Drama
Pairing(s): Tris/Four, Christina/Will, one-sided Al/Tris
Warning(s): teacher/student relationship, kissing
My name is Tris Prior, and as of tomorrow, I will be a high school sophomore. I am sixteen years old and I go to Divergent High. I live in Chicago with my parents and my brother Caleb. I can't believe I am going to be a sophomore. It feels like yesterday that I was a freshman, nervous and even smaller than I am now. I don't look sixteen. I have a small frame and a round face that makes me look like I'm about fourteen or even thirteen.
"So I heard there's going to be a new gym teacher," my best friend Christina says. She has dark skin and hair and is a lot prettier than I am. She talks more than she should, though.
"Wonder what he's like," her boyfriend Will says.
"Hopefully not as mean as Eric," Christina says.
"He was really mean," I agree. "He made Al stand in front of that target while he threw knives at him."
"Yeah, but you took his place," Will points out. "You were really brave."
"I had no choice," I say. "He would've kicked me out of the class for standing up for Al."
We walk into gym class and I am surprised to see how young our new teacher is. He can't be more than twenty five. "My name is Mr. Eaton," he says when he has our attention, "but you can call me Four." Weird name, I think, and wonder what it means. "This year, I will be training you to work hard. It may not seem like it at first but I can assure you that I have your best interests in mind. I will be pushing you because I know you can achieve a lot. I can promise you that you will be different at the end of the year than you do right now. Don't expect this to be like any other gym class."
"That's reassuring," Christina says to me, loud enough for Four to hear.
Sure enough, Four comes over to me, Christina and Will. "What's your name?" he asks.
Christina gulps and tells him.
"Well, Christina," he says, "I expect you to keep your mouth shut unless you want detention."
Christina and I exchange a look.
"Now I know that this is your first class of the day," Four continues, stepping back, "but if I see any of you falling asleep, it's an automatic detention." He gives Christina a look like he's expecting her to comment. Thankfully, she doesn't. "Bravery and patience are necessary if you'd like to pass this course."
And then someone comes into the room that surprises us all - our old teacher, Eric. "What's he doing here?" Christina blurts out. She's glowering at him. Will and I give her warning looks.
"He's going to be my assistant," says Four. "Now, come in here. I want to show you something."
We follow him to the back room, where apparently a new...something...has been built. I can't see inside the hole in the floor to whatever is in there. But I can hear a sound almost like insects crawling over each other. Beside me, Christina shudders.
"I want you all to look in that hole," Four instructs. "We call it the Pit. Go on." He motions for us to look. A few students, including me, send him hesitant looks before peering over the edge of the Pit.
Christina screams and almost falls in and Will and I grab her and pull her back. There are thousands, probably millions, of live scorpions in that hole. "How...Why...Is it even legal to keep these in here?!" Christina demands. She's really, really afraid of bugs.
"The school has given us permission," Four says.
"Why?" I ask.
"It's a training course," Four says. "We'll practice over the floor in the gym for the whole year. It's kind of like an incentive to work as hard as you can, because if you get below the red line in your training, those of you below that line will have to do the course. Fall into the scorpion pit, and...well..."
"Are you kidding?" Christina says. "This can't be legal."
"Chris," I whisper. Be quiet or he'll make us do it now, when we aren't ready, I think, but I keep the thought to myself. Thank goodness, we're saved by the bell then, signaling lunchtime.
"What. A. Weird. Class," Christina announces as she sits next to me at our usual table with Will and Al. "I can't believe Eric is back. What a jerk."
"I wouldn't insult your teacher's assistant behind his back," a voice warns as he joins us at our table. Four sits down by the group of teachers who usually sit at the other end of our table.
I stare at him as he steals a roll off one of the other new teachers' plates, a handsome dark-skinned guy. The guy smacks Four upside the head and Four chuckles, surprising me. "Don't be so sensitive, Uriah," he says.
Uriah laughs. "Yeah, I'm the sensitive one, Four," he jokes. "And this school isn't the best school in Chicago."
Four rolls his eyes and bites into the roll. Uriah looks young, almost too young to be a teacher. I wonder what he teaches. They joke around for a few minutes before Four turns to me and asks, "What's your name again?"
Surprised that he even cares, I answer, "Tris. Tris Prior."
"Prior?" Four says. "Is your father Andrew Prior? The mayor of Chicago?"
I nod.
"I've done some work for your father," Four tells me. "I worked in one of his control rooms for a while before I decided to become a gym teacher."
"Oh," I say. "He...never mentioned you."
Four looks at me strangely and then continues to talk to his friends, and I talk to mine. What a weird day, I think to myself.
AN: What do you guys think so far? Review please? And MERRY CHRISTMAS :) :) :)