Title: To Be Taboo
Author: DriftedLaughter
Genre:
Date:
Tris
Fifty or so teenagers lined up behind Club Divergent, eager to get in. Seventeen year old, Beatrice Prior was standing in line with her friends, Marlene and Christina. Christina bit the bottom of her lip, suppressing a childish giggle that was going to explode out of her. She was excited – really excited. As the distance to the front of the line began to grow shorter, she squealed with glee, until finally, they were next to walk in.
The bouncer eyed Tris suspiciously and she felt uncomfortable.
"Age?" he asked, his tone was serious and he looked at her as if she was about to start trouble. She had a narrow face and eyes that were wide and round, her figure was like it belonged to a twelve year old.
"Si-se-" she stuttered, never being able to lie. She looked down at her feet, afraid of looking the bouncer straight in the eye. Christina elbowed her lightly in the ribs. This was pressure and she knew that if she didn't answer soon, they couldn't get into the club.
"Face it. Face your fears." She scolded herself. Bringing her head up, she looked him straight in the eye and told him her age – seventeen. She did it! Nodding his head, he allowed the three girls to walk into the club.
The darkness enveloped the club, but strobe lights and mist floated around the dance floor. It was packed with sweaty bodies, swaying to the music and drinking their feelings out.
"Well, we're gonna go dance." Marlene's eyebrows rose, a twinkle of carelessness in her eyes. Tris, being a girl with two left feet, decided to make her way to the bar on the far side of the room.
"Can I get you anything?" the bartender asks while washing some of the glasses. Different brands of wine and vodka lined up behind him, tiny lights illuminating the display. Tris shakes her head, staring at her friends who are laughing their stresses away.
"You alright?" a guy a seat away asks as he sips his drink. His voice was strong and deep, matching his tall height and deep-set dark eyes. He had a strong jawline, a light stubble coming in.
Tris nods her head, "I, um, tired- " she gives him a lazy excuse. As she brushed a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear, he called the bartender. Smiling, the bartender mixed a drink.
"On me." the stranger smirked as the bartender placed the drink in front of him. He pushed the drink towards her, brushing against her hand as he did.
"Oh, you really shouldn't have." a scarlet hue creeps up against her cheeks as she bites the inside of her lip. Pushing it back, she apologizes. She knew that going to the club on a late Sunday night was already unacceptable by her parents, but if she went home drunk, that would be a whole other level.
"Relax. You look like you need it." pushing the glass back towards Tris, he gives her a light smile. She's hesitant with the drink and slowly takes a sip. "So, what's a girl like you doing at a club like this." he takes another sip of his drink. Turning around, she points to Christina and Marlene, who are thoroughly enjoying themselves.
"And you?"
"Celebrating. I, um, got my first teaching job." her eyebrow quirks up and he chuckles at her response.
"I know. I don't seem somebody who would be a teacher."
"No. It's not that. It's just that, um – never mind." the tip of her lips pull up into a smirk and she tries to stifle a laugh. They sit there for a couple of seconds, until he clears his throat.
"I'm Tobias, by the way." he holds out his hand for me to shake.
"Be - " she stops and then continues, "Um – Tris. Just Tris." she straightens the wrinkles in her dress as her face flushes pink.
"Well, just Tris, now that we know each other's names, mind telling me the real reason why you're not dancing with your friends?" his eyes crinkled in the corner as the corner of his mouth turned.
"Uh, well, I can't dance." her cheeks burn and she plays with her thumbs.
"Come on. I'll teach you."
"Oh, I'm really bad. Like really, really bad."
"Aw come on, you can't be that bad." he invites her towards the dance floor, tugging lightly at her arm to bring her out of her seat. He brings her arms around her neck and then, hooks his hands on her waist. Slowly, he maneuvers her waist, making her body sway to the music playing in the background. Everything felt right.
She giggled, her voice like a light song. At first, she faces the floor, watching as each foot moved around to make sure that she didn't step on his feet. She was careful, letting out sighs of relief when she was close to stepping on his feet, but managed to move them at the last second.
All of the sudden, he places his finger under her chin and pulled her face towards him. He forced her to look into his eyes and she couldn't help but turn away from embarrassment.
"I'd like to get to know you." his voice tickles the tip of her ears as he whispers into it.
"You really wouldn't." she admits as his hand begins to travel down the small of her back. She leans in, closing the small space between them and places her head on his chest. Listening to the quiet beating of his heart.
To be honest, she felt that this was unnatural. How could she feel so close to a stranger? He wasn't a stranger though - she knew his name. That counted, though. Right?
"I think I would. You sound smart and beautiful. " she looked up into his eyes, which was the color of rich coffee. Not the kind of cheap coffee you'd find at a convenience store, though. It was like the color of coffee they'd serve at a nice five-star hotel topped with some fancy foam decoration - simple, but elegant and sophisticated.
Her heart began to pump a little too quickly for a stranger. She didn't remember the last time someone called her beautiful.
She leaned in closer and closer, until there was an inch between them. He brings one of his hands on her waist and places them on her cheek, caressing her. Slowly, he began to tilt towards her and then, their lips connected. It was soft and childish at first. Then, she felt a longing and she began to move her hands toward the small of his back. He tasted the cherry chap stick that she wore. He pulled her in closer, intensifying the kiss as he felt an unexplainable desire bubble in him.
"Um, I'd hate to ruin the moment." the high pitch voice of Marlene pulled her back into reality. She stopped and turned around to face her two friends, who wore cocky grins and had their hands crossed against their chest.
"Wait, what time is it?"
"Eleven freaking thirty! You know our parents will be pissed if we don't get back by twelve!" Christina threw her hands in the air as she quickly tugged at Tris' arm, pulling her towards the entrance.
Tobias looked at them with confusion, his eyes wide with a befuddled expression.
"When can I see you again?" he held on to her arm, desperate for an answer. Christina pointed angrily at her watch and began to usher the blonde out of the club.
"I'll see you next time!" she yelled as his figure began to get lost in the sea of dancing bodies. She doubted that she'll ever see him again – the day after tomorrow was the first day of school.
"So, first day back to school – how do you feel?" Christina squealed as she emptied the books from her locker into her bag.
"Excited, but partially already regretting getting out of bed." she smirks as they passed a couple of jocks joking and shoving each other around.
As they entered the classroom, Tris sat down and opened her books.
"So, I heard that the new teacher is hot." Christina pipes as she twirls her pencil between her fingers. The teacher walks into the classroom and piles a stack of paper neatly on his desk. His back turned, he picks up a piece of chalk and in a semi-neat sprawl, he writes out MR. EATON on the board.
The shriek of the bell echoes around the classroom and Tris open up her binder. She began to stare off into space and she clumsily knocks over her pencil. Sighing, she bends down and picks it up.
"Holy crap." he says as she gets back up. The whole classroom goes silent, not a single sound could be heard. The students turn around and stare at her. It takes her a minute to process it and her mouth gapes open.
Christina turns around, her eyes widening at Tris.
A quiet ring disrupts the awkward silence and blindly grabs for her cellphone. Apologizing, she checks her phone.
Did you know that Will's back?
Will, along with Marlene, Christina and herself were good friends throughout middle school, but he moved to New York, only coming back to Chicago today. He was blonde with shaggy hair and had a crease between his eyebrows. She looks back up as she hears a deep voice announce -
"I'm Mr. Eaton. Y-You're new English teacher." Tobias seemed uneasy on his feet, rocking back and forth as he paced around the classroom.
As the bell rung, the students rushed to pack up, shoving books into their backpacks and zipping them up. Tris closed her binder, not even bothering to shove it in her backpack and walked straight towards the door with her head down. She hoped that he wouldn't see her and that she could just walk straight pass him.
"Tris – wait." he grabbed her wrist to stop her and they waited until everyone walked out of class. Christina looked at her, not knowing whether to help her or just leave them to talk. She decided the latter and walked out the door, only turning back once to give her a smile of support.
"How – why." he stopped, not knowing what words to use. "It was an eighteen and up club. How did you get in?"
"I-I lied." she peeped.
"The point is that it never happened and it can't. I'm your teacher and you're my student. This can never happen." he puts it bluntly like a sharp knife to her heart. Tris nodded her head and felt her heart began to crumble. Sure, it was a one-time thing, but she didn't expect to be used like a dishrag and then thrown away. She bit the inside of her lip and scolded herself for wanting to cry. It wasn't enough, because a couple of tears fell down her rosy cheeks. "Hey, are you alright?" he reached towards her, but she shrunk back.
"Yeah, I know. We can never be." she turned at her heel, wiping away her tears with her own sleeve.
She walked quickly toward her locker, hoping that nobody would catch her before she made it there. She clung on tightly to her books, wondering how stupid and weak she might have looked.
"Guess who?" she heard a familiar voice say as he covered her eyes.
"Will!" she turned around and enveloped him in a tight hug, Christina and Marlene lingering close by. "Welcome back!"
"What's with the tears?" Marlene chirped, pointing to her red eyes.
"It's nothing, Mar. I'll tell you later about it." she shrugged her shoulders and dug into her backpack to look for a pack of tissues.
"Come on guys, we've got Gym with Mr. Pedrad again." she shooed her group of friends towards the gym.
"Shut up! Are you kidding?" Marlene yells loud enough that the whole of China could hear on the other side of the ocean. Tris and Christina try their best to quiet her down.
"Wait – you mean like Mr. Eaton. The hot English teacher?"
"The one and only." Tris grumbles as she grits her teach. How could she have fallen for him so easily? She wanted to smack herself against the wall over and over again until she gained some of her intelligence back.
"So, what are you going to do?" Christina asks as she pulled her arm behind her head, stretching it.
"What is there to do?" asked Tris as she pulled a tank top over her head and began to tuck in some stray hairs after tying up her hair - "There was nothing to start in the first place."
"The last time I remember, Beatrice Prior was a girl who only grazed hands. And what did you two do? You two kissed. Kissed!" they begin to walk out the locker room and into the gym. They were climbing ropes today, something she was never interested and quite frankly, failed at.
"Well, how can we ever be a couple? He can get arrested for heaven's sake!" she whispers to her friends, afraid of somebody overhearing. She grew emotionally tired from all this talk about Tobias and her. They were never going to work out since the start anyways. She tried to persuade herself that she didn't even feel a spark with him and it was all just total crap, but every second she tried coax herself out of it, she just fell stronger and faster for him.
"I'm Mr. Eaton and I'm filling in for Mr. Pedrad today."
"Oh shit." she tried to hide herself behind some bulky girls near the back. He begins talking about dividing up the class into lanes and when he spots her, he stopped, cleared his throat and then smoothly continued.
"Alright, now go split yourselves into groups of two." groups began to form and people began to scatter. She slid past him like an eel, hoping he would not notice her. "Not you."
Christina waits up for Tris, so they could partner up, but Tris waved her hand, telling her to find another partner. Nodding, she walked away to find another person to partner up with.
He waits for a couple of minutes until the groups are in the water and then he calls out for them to begin swimming. They stand should to shoulder and she begins to feel inferior against his height. She rubbed her temples; thoroughly embarrassed that this is happening again.
"Look, I'm sorry for before." he tries not to make eye contact with her, avoiding looking into her blue eyes, which sparkled with determination.
"There's nothing to be sorry for." she murmured quiet as she felt herself rocking back and forth at her heels. "Can I go now?" Christina and Marlene poked their heads towards Tris' direction, both wondering what their friend and their English teacher were talking about. They watched the soundless movie as they talked. Then, their friend nodded her head and walked away, but not before he caught her by the wrist.
"Looks like you and me have to pair up. Odd number." sighing, she followed him towards one of the ropes. He gestured toward it, offering her to try it first.
"Oh, I'm bad. Like really, really bad." she shakes her head, not willing to make herself look like a food in front of all her peers.
"Come on, you can't be that bad." he scoffs, pushing her towards the rope. She takes in a breath, then wrap her hands around the rope. "Keep tension here." he went up behind her and placed a hand against her stomach. To tell the truth, she felt relaxed. All of her worries were forgotten as she focused on not falling. She urged herself, one hand after another and that determination paid off. Soon enough, she reached the top and was beaming, proud of herself.
"Now what?" she yelled back down. From her height, he seemed less intimidating and well, more natural and at ease. He tilted towards one side, his hands on both sides on his waist and a natural smile on his face.
"Jump!" Christina cups her hands around her mouth and yells at her. One. Two. Three. She released the ropes, letting her body dangle freely until she hit the soft mat planted at the bottom.
"Tris! First jumper!" he helps me up from the mat, our hands touching forming pure electricity. He apologizes and makes his way out the door as the bell begins to ring. It was annoying, but eventually easier to deal with, just like this situation.