Chapter 1
Tris' Point of view.
I walk into a huge place with lots of glass. My eyes scan the room for where I need to go, and my eyes instantly settle on a reception desk.
"Hi, I need to get my timetable." I say.
"Name?" The lady at the reception asks, without looking up from her computer screen.
"Tris Prior"
The printer starts up next to the woman and she hands me a sheet of paper.
"Thanks" I say and begin walking away.
"Wait!" The receptionist commands, I obey and walk back to the desk.
"You have been assigned a First Week Friend," Gee that's cheesy! "Her name is Christina - here she comes now."
I turn around and see a tall girl with mocha coloured skin and black hair pulled back into a neat pony tail.
"Hi!" She says. She seems nice and cheerful. Always good to have a happy friend.
"Hi," I mumble.
"Come on, let's go find your locker!" She says as she begins to walk back down the corridor she came from. I follow. Well, this new school seems nice, so far.
We walk and talk for a while before reaching a corridor that was obviously purposed for lockers.
"So you have that piece of paper Shrek gave you, right?"
"Umm, yeah, here." I hand her the piece of paper "Shrek?" I ask.
"Oh, yeah. Her real name is... I don't actually know but that what we nickname her anyway - just don't say it to her face" she winks at me and then mutters something under her breath.
"Something wrong?" I question
"No, it's all good! Your locker is number 6, right next to mine - my locker is 5 then you have Four's one as 4" a kid called Four... Odd. "Uri's is 10, next to Zeke his brother at 11, then Shauna, Marlene, Lynn, and Will are at 19, 20, 21, and 22; and Al is in 26." She practically squeals without, it seemed, taking a breath. I don't have a clue who the heck all of those people are, and who would name their child Four, I just hope they are nice.
"Ok," I smile.
"Come on, we still have half an hour to go before first period, i will show you our little, quirky gang!" She says after I finish putting my stuff in my locker and choosing my locker code: 2307. She leads me into what looks like a quad and takes me toward a group of people.
A boy who looked around my age turns around and sees us walking toward us.
"That's Will." Christina whispers to me, her breath tickling my ear a little. He has dark, floppy hair and hazel eyes. Christina spots that I'm staring because she then whispers "He's my boyfriend" and runs toward him to give him a quick hug. The ongoing conversation drops between the group as I approach. Everyone turns to look at me and I feel my cheeks warming up. Great, I'm probably blushing. Luckily, Christina breaks the silence, to which I am thankful.
"Guys, this is Tris, she's new so be nice. Not looking at anyone in particular, Uriah, Zeke." She gives them both a death glare and then carries on "Her locker is 6 so look out for her ok, we don't want her having a bad first day with the guy next door." Huh? What?
"Anyway, Tris, this is Uri, Zeke, Mar, Lynn, Shauna, Will, Al, and Four" she says gesturing to each in in return. They all look friendly, well, Uri and Zeke look like brothers and mischievous and Four, he looks tough, like 'you don't want to mess with me' tough. Ah well, if they are friends with Christina they are probably nice. I mutter a quick, barley audible "Hi" and then the bell rings, signifying the start of my first school day here.
Chris, as she tells me to call her now, and I have the same classes all day because of the FWF thing and her friends drift in and out of our classes throughout the day. First period is English with Mrs Mathews, we get to class late and get let off the hook, just, because it's my first day. Chris is elected to sit next to me with Uri and Zeke behind us. The lesson started of boring, but I noticed Chris enjoys it. Anyway, as I said, boring as hell until I felt a slight tap on the back of the head. I turn to Chris but she is just listening to Mrs Mathews. That leaves me one assumption, I turn my head slightly and see a smirking Uri. He makes a signal with his eyes as if to say 'look down' and I do. I pick up a scrunched up piece of paper.
"Prior." Uh oh, this can't be good... "Is there something behind you that you that's more interesting than this lesson?" Sniggers erupt from the class and I turn back toward the front of the class still with the piece of paper clutched in my hand, out of view. I feel my cheeks going warm and realised that I am once again blushing.
"Leave her alone, please Ms! It's her first day" Christina pleads and I get let off the hook again, gee I have a lot to owe this girl! Class resumes work so I take the chance to open up the piece of paper. I spread it out over my textbook so it looks like I'm actually doing my work and read what is scribbled on the piece of paper in barely legible writing, it says:
Want to come over to ours tonight for a game of Truth or Dare?
I scribble back:
Sure, how do I get there?
And pass it back onto their desk without looking behind me. I decide to try and get some work done in the meantime. A couple of minutes later another tap occurs on my head. This time I'll be smarter. I kick the piece of paper so it's between my chair and Chris' and then pretend to accidently knock my pen off the table. I reach down, supposedly getting my pen, but also grabbing the paper at the same time. This time, in a different handwriting it says:
I'll get Four to give you a lift.
-Z
Great. I will be stuck in a car with a boy named Four who looks like he could move a tank if he chose to. I turn over the piece of paper and scribble:
You going to U&Z's Truth or Dare tonight?
And pass it to Chris. I get it back a few second later:
Yeah.
Well at least I will actually know someone there, ish...
I decide to leave my little conversations there and get on with my work.
Next period we have P.E with Coach Amar. The only other person in this lesson that I know besides Chris is Four. Yayy for that. Amar seems nice though, compared to Mrs Mathews. Today we have cross-country running, which I'm happy about, I'm naturally good at running so this should be fun! We all start in the same positions and as soon as Amar says 'Go' I'm already a couple of meters in front of the main pack. Once I reach the finish line, Amar is waiting with a stopwatch and a clipboard.
"Hey! Great, you beat everyone, aga-"
I look at him quizzically. What does he mean by that?
"Oh sorry, I thought you were someone else. Your Tris aren't you?" His eyebrows crease together "so where is he? Four I mean, he usually finishes first, well, always." As if on cue Four comes jogging past us and then comes to a halt and turns back. When he realises I'm here he cocks his eyebrow. I just shrug and go to sit by the finishing line waiting for Chris. I can still hear their conversation though.
"You got beaten, since, like, ever" Amar states
"Yeah," I hear Fours low gruff voice say.
"By a girl!" Amar exclaims
"Yeah,"
"Man, she beat you by a miles"
"Yeah?"
"You just got beaten by a girl and all you have to say is 'yeah' !?"
"Yeah..."
I hear footsteps approaching and then Four comes and sits by me whilst I wait. All I hear for what seems like ages is his deep, rushed breaths and my heart beating like it's about to explode out of my chest.
"You beat me." He suddenly states
"Umm, yeah"
"How?"
He's really starting to sound a bit like a caveman. To me it seems like a limited vocabulary.
"I just..."
"Just?" .
"Just ran. I used to run all the time along the beach where I used to live. So I guess I'm a natural runner."
He just stares at me. Wow. That was literally the longest conversation I've had with anyone here apart from Chris. And it's to a boy named Four. Gee.
"Oh," is all he says before going silent. And we stay that way before Chris crosses the line in which I go to her.
"You were with Four!" She squeaks wiggling her eyebrows.
"No. Just. No. I was just waiting there because I finished and then he finished and sat next to me." In return I get a face of obvious shock.
"You. You. You beat Four?!"
"Yeah... So what?"
"No one. No one ever beats Four. Ever." She stops to catch her breath and then says "Congrats" I can't help it, a huge grin plays over my lips.
"Gee. Thanks" I say before she hurries me over to the changing rooms. Apparently, this news has to be spread, fast.
Once I'm changed, Chris takes me back out into the quad, back into the spot we met the others earlier. We are the first ones there so Chris explains a little about everyone.
"Four, Zeke, and Shauna are already 17, little older than us, only by 10-11 months though, and everyone else is 16. I presume your 16?"
"Yup"
"Ok, well, as you know Will and I are together, so are Uri and Mar, Zeke and Shauna, and we are trying to get Al and Lynn together!" I nod but I don't really think that Lynn is Al's type, they are completely opposite but you never know...
"The only two left are you and Four!" She giggles excitably
"No. No. No." I say. I will not go out with the guy who has limited vocabulary.
"Oh, and can I ask you something?" I question shyly.
"Go ahead!" she laughs
"Right, so earlier you were talking about my locker number and then you said something about looking out for me because of my neighbour. Why?"
"Ok, well, not to frighten you or anything but your locker is next to mine and also next to Peter's."
"Who's Peter?"
She cringes before muttering "The worst bully you will ever meet."
"Oookayy…"
"Ah here comes Four now." Chris says, I follow her eye line and find Four with Zeke heading our way. He seems to be having a proper conversation for once. So, not entirely a caveman…
Once they reach where we are a conversation begins automatically.
"So, what are we wearing tonight?" Christina asks. Zeke rolls his eyes.
"Casual, Christina, casual and usual, nothing special." Zeke sighs. I get the impression that Chris can be a pain in the ass sometimes! "Oh, and Four, can you give Tris a lift tonight? She doesn't have a clue where she needs to be." Christina raises her eyebrows at me, so I give her a death glare.
"Yeah, I guess." Great, I'm now off to a Truth or Dare game with people who I have barley met with a boy called Four as a chauffeur. Happy Times.
"So Four, how does it feel to be beaten?!" Christina squeaks, playfully punching his bicep. I see him tense up at her touch but then relax soon after. Odd.
"Four was beaten? Where? Who? How?" Uri squeals like a girl, as he comes running up with Lynn.
"In P.E today. Cross-country running. Tris beat him by miles!" Christina squeals back.
"Ha! Fourey boy, looks like you've met your match!" Zeke shouts. Four excuses himself and says he's going to the bathroom. We let him leave but Zeke sends Uri after him.
After a while, Uri still hasn't returned and neither has Four, although the rest of the so-called-gang got here a few minutes ago. Christina, being Christina, has told everyone about me beating Four and gee, the amount of backslaps or hugs I've got… I've honestly l lost count – it seems like beating Four is a big thing, a huge thing! The bell rings to tell us rec is over and we walk inside. Chris and I look over her timetable, seen as we have the same timetables.
English Ms. Mathews
P.E Coach Amar
Rec _
Art Ms. Wu
Math Mr. O'Far
Lunch _
Form Ms. Wu
P.E Coach Amar
Double P.E! A huge grin places it's self on my face. Next up art, I'm not too bad at art but I think others will be better. We will just have to try and see.
"Hey, look, we've got the same form class as Four, Uri, Zeke, Will and Lynn!" Christina states. "Zeke! Will! Lynn!"
"What's up?" Lynn asks as she drags Will from his chat with Marlene and makes Zeke follow them.
"You guys are in Ms. Wu's form, right?"
"Yeah?"
"So is Tris!" Chris giggles.
"Mmmkay, gotta go, got art with Mar and Shauna now, speak soon." Will says
"Hey! Wait we have art now too!" Chris shouts running to catch up with Will, Mar, and Shauna, I follow because I have nothing else to do. I run and catch up with them in seconds.
"You're pretty quick!" Shauna exasperates.
"Well, duh! How do you think she beat Four?!" Mar laughs.
"Speaking of Four, anyone know where he and Uri got to?" Zeke asks obviously concerned. He obviously cares for his brother a lot, and Four. They are probably good mates seen as they are around the same age and the only older boys in the group. We head to the art classroom and I find in this class I was meant to be sitting by Four – I wonder where he is? Nah, why am I worrying about him? I don't honestly know… meh. Suddenly, the door bursts open so everyone could see a smirking Uri and a Four laughing his head off.
Ms Wu breaks my chain of thought by starting the lesson off, not even batting an eyelid at Four and Uri.
"Draw what you want, but make it appropriate" she glares at Uri and Zeke "for any audience, as these will be put on our display in our reception." I smile to myself. I think I like this teacher. She seems relaxed.
I feel Four sit down next to me, his bicep brushing mine. Four is still smiling so I decide to rip a piece of paper from my book and I write:
Someone's happy.
And pass it to him. A second later I get a reply:
How did you do it?
Huh? I'm confuse, so I scribble:
Do what?
And again I receive it back:
Beat me.
I look at him and his cheeks go crimson. He obviously took being beaten hard.
I don't know, like I said I just ran. You in Amar's P.E later?
I don't get it back for a while, so I decide to draw. For some reason I start to move my pencil in the shape of flames. They are basic flames, made out of different shapes. I decide to write in a fancy writing 'Dauntless High' seen as that's the name of the school. My old school was nothing like this, it was all rules and strict teachings. Here it feels free. I feel the hairs on the back of my next prickle like someone's watching. I turn my head and see Four staring at me, well, me or my drawing, it's hard to tell. The note comes back:
Yeah… That's really good!
I write a thank you back and then look over at his. I supress a smile, art obviously isn't his best subject. I end up colouring my flames in orange with yellow shading around the edges, and the writing in black, then Miss Wu dismisses us and I wait for Christina outside the class. She ends up coming out last, as always, and then we head off to maths with Ms O'Far.
Lynn, Marlene and Al are in maths with us. Marlene seems pretty similar to Chris, and Lynn seems similar to Four. Al is really shy, I don't know why, he seems nice, though. Chris and I sit together, obviously, and Mar sits alone at the back of the class, forcing Lynn and Al to sit together. It's easy to see they enjoy each other's company, but not as much as Chris would've liked. Ms. O'Far is a new teacher who recently moved here from America. Most of her maths problems ended up being about America and using American terms like 'sidewalk' or 'trash'. The lesson ends up being the shortest one we have all day because period 4 is the shortest one. I'm glad – it's right before lunch. After maths has finished, Chris takes me back to the same spot in the quad as we've used all day. This time, Will, Uriah and Four are already there and I see Zeke and Shauna walking toward the group from the opposite direction. Everyone is listening to Uriah crack jokes until Zeke gets here.
"I'm pretty sure everyone knows already but just to make sure… You are all coming to a Truth or Dare game at mine tonight, ok?" Zeke shouts.
"HEY! It's mine apartment too!" Uri shouts
"Yeah, but you're not important." Zeke replies and suddenly there's a fully-fledged argument about who's important and who isn't. I swear they are like five year-olds! We walk into the canteen once we are called and I start to follow Mar in the queue for food. Christina is in front of Mar and Uri is behind me. As I get to the end of the queue, I stand looking over the desert choice. I don't have a clue which is better, so I just leave desert. Just when I pick up my tray a piece of chocolate cake on a little plate is plonked on to it. I turn my head to look at Uri who, definitely put it there, and cock and eyebrow.
"Trust me," he basically squeals like a little girl, again. "You'll love it!" I shake my head in disbelief at how childish he is, and turn to face the dining hall. I see a mocha coloured had waving in the air and I go to the table it came from.
Christina is waiting, with Mar, Zeke and Four who were all in the queue before me, at a table they say is their usual. Once everyone is sitting down, Uri starts cracking jokes again, but not before he has chance to tell everyone how I turned down 'Dauntless Cake' as they call it.
"You'll never guess what, guys!" Uri shouted
"What?" Lynn answered exaggerating her annoyed tone.
"Tris turned down Dauntless Cake!"
"WHAT!" Four shouts in disbelief – spraying food all over the table, and me.
"I know she walked straight past it! So I gave her some!" Uri says proudly. Everyone turns to stare at me. What is this big cake malarkey all about?! I honestly don't know so I just shrug.
"Go on then!" Shauna urges, elbow-butting me as she does so.
"Fine." I sigh, and take my first bite. "Mmkay, you're right. It's pretty good" Isay taking another bite.
"Pretty good? It's freaking AWESOME!" Zeke argues.
"Yeah, fine. It's awesome" I agree and finish the cake within seconds. Once we finish they all drag me outside and start talking about random stuff.
Form seems to be just a general 'getting to know you' and 'homework help' thing. I'm glad Miss Wu is our form teacher, I wouldn't live if it was Mrs Mathews. I'm also glad about who's in my form with me, they are really my closer friends. Chris, Lynn, Uri, Will, Zeke and I are all in this form, and I'm happy about the form colour too: black. The grey form reminds me too much of my old Abnegation High School, blue is with Mrs Mathews so that's a no, white is too light and happy, and the same with yellow. I don't learn much through this period, only that Uri and Zeke are much more childish than I originally thought.
Chris, Four, Uri, and Shauna are all in P.E with me. Apparently, we are doing hockey today, but when Uri asks Amar he says
"Yeah today we are doing hoc-." He stops when he sees me "No, change of plan, we are doing sprinting". I think he wants to see me run again. I definitely want to run again! We all start like last time and then sprint to the finish line which is clearly in view this time. Once I get to the finish line, I find I'm first again and Four is second. This time, Amar has three stopwatches around his neck, the first one he stops when I finish, then the second he stops when Four finishes and the last one he uses for everyone else. He also has two clipboards, and once I muster up the courage to spy on what he is writing my theory is reassured to be correct. On the first clipboard I see everyone's names and times, and on the second one I see my and Four's names with our times side by side. It look sort of like this:
Four 2.43 2.59
Tris 1.59 2.07
Wow. I beat him by almost a second, well, that's good I beat him by a long-ish time both times. I walk back to Chris with a huge grin once I've got my results.
"Someone's happy!" Chris squeals.
"Yeah, well, I beat Four, again. And I saw our times…" I reply in a reasonable voice
"Anddddd!"
"I beat him by almost a whole second!" by this time, everyone in our little group (that's in this class), apart from Four, was huddled around us.
"Wow, that's a lot!" I hear Uri say
"Don't tell Four though, he's taking this hard" I say sympathetically **Mental slap** Did I seriously just say that?! Chris raises her eyebrows at me. I shake my head. No. They all, being the great new friends I have, let it drop and we walk to get changed. Once all of the girls are back in school uniform, we leave and go to our lockers to get our stuff for the end of the day. At the moment I shut my locker the shrill sound of the bell fills the hallway; I look for Chris but she is nowhere to be seen. Great, now I have no idea how to escape this school. Luckily I see Zeke down the hallway; I run up to him and tap his shoulder.
"Oh, hey Tris." He greets
"Hiya, I was just wondering how to get out of here. I'm slightly cluelezss, it being my first day 'n' all."
"Right, ok, follow me" He seems slightly nervous. I wonder why? I see him glance behind me so I do the same, what I see I can only assume. What I see is a boy going into locker 7. Peter.
Once we get outside, I thank Zeke for helping me and walk toward my car. It's not anything fancy but it does the job. When I get close, I see a figure sitting on the hood of the car parked next to mine. I get closer and realise it's Four, and he's waiting for me.
"Hi," I say because what else is there to say?
"Hey. I thought I would follow you home so I know where you live so I can pick you up later easily." He replies. Oh, Snap! I forgot about him coming to pick me up later.
"Great idea!"
"umm, ok, let's go then" he says nervously as he gets into his black jeep. I follow his actions and get into my car. I start the engine and pull out from the school.
I drive my usual way back home, every so often checking my rear view mirror for Four in his jeep. He was always there, trailing behind me, and a soon as I got out of my car at my house, he mirrors me. My feet automatically start to lead the path toward the front door.
"See you tonight then!" Four calls to me as I open the door. Damn, he must think I forgot about him. Well, I basically did.
"Do you want to come in?!" I shout back "We have some coffee!"
"um, I'm okay, thanks." He jumps back into his jeep without any further speech and drives off.
"Well, that was awkward…" I mutter under my breath before stepping into my house.
"Heyy!" I shout to no one in particular. I know that Caleb is back: his car was out on the drive.
"Hi, Beatrice!" He shouts in reply.
"Tris!"
"ok – Tris!"
"Where are you anyway?!"
"Living room!"
"Ok! Coming!"
I walk into the living room and find Caleb sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. He's watching 'Doctor Who' and drinking coffee with a biscuit. I correctly identified the episode of 'Doctor Who' as 'The Fires of Pompeii' – Caleb continually watches episodes of 'Doctor Who' over and over because, in his words, "You never know what Moffatt has planned – always best to check so you know what the fandom is on about!". He currently re-watches 'The Fires of Pompeii' because the actor Peter Capaldi is in it, and he has been cast as the new doctor.
"Again!?" I complain.
"Again." He confirms. He's a right little annoying 'Fanboy', as he calls himself, but you've gotta love him!
"Right, well, I'm going to get changed."
"Mmkay." He says with his mouth full of biscuit. Once he's finished chomping he says "Why?"
"Going out tonight!" I call from half way up the stairs.
"Who with!?" uh, he's always the one to question everything.
"Friends!"
"Ok!" Once I reach the top of the stairs I head straight to my room. It's not posh: one wall is painted black, with a red border and all the other four walls are painted a light shade of red. I have a double bed with red pillowcases and a black duvet with red roses climbing up it like vines. It's pretty nice, and I like it. I walk over to my closet and pull out a black t-shirt, a black, woolly jumper, and some denim, skinny jeans. I don't bother with any make-up, I never do, what's the point? When I get back down stairs Caleb has another episode on, this one is 'Midnight' because he wants to spot the 'monster' that runs across the screen. I swear he has been watching this episode over and over again for years, never seeing what he wants to see.
"There!" he exclaims "Did you see that!? The guys are going to love this!" Oh, wow, he finally found it.
"What? Did you find it?"
"Yeah, there! Look I'll replay it for you!" and he does. I don't see a thing, but it would be a shame to ruin his happiness.
"Oh wow!"
"Come here and watch!" he says, patting a spot on the sofa.
"Umm, I kinda need the loo…" I say awkwardly, it's true I do, but I really don't want to watch 'Doctor Who'. I walk out and go to the toilet. When I come back I hear a car horn and presume it to be Four. I call to Caleb and walk out of the front door.
He's leaning against his jeep. His outfit looks similar to mine: jeans, a pair of red converse and a maroon hoodie. I do, however, notice his mouth, slightly tugged up at the corners, he's actually smiling.
"Hey."
"Hiya, we gonna go then?" I ask impatiently.
"yeah, sure" she smiles and jumps into his seat.
Once we arrive at the apartment building, after a long and awkward drive, we get let in instantly.
"Man, you made it!" Zeke shouts, "Come on in!" We follow him through a small hallway and then into his apartment.
"Trisssy!" I hear Chris shout and I scowl. Bad choice of nick-name.
"We gonna play or not?" Lynn asks.
"Yes, of course we are gonna play!" Uri Screeches "But first we are playing 'Never Have I Ever – a flexible game', then 'Bed Wed Kill', and then we will spin a bottle before the final showdown of T or D!"
"Let's just get this over and done with." Lynn complains and we play.
Once everyone is sat in a circle surrounding glasses of lemonade, mixed with some peace serum stuff that only Amity schools are allowed. The peace serum makes you go do-la-la in la-la land, it's very amusing to watch.
"Right I go first!" Zeke announces. "Never have I ever have I stripped in public." And everyone giggles when Uri takes a 'shot'
"Never have I ever loved unicorns." Uri says, with an overdose on the Peace Serum.
"Ok, um, Lynn, you go now." Zeke trys to draw the attention off of his crazed lunatic of a brother.
"Never have I ever had a crush on Tris."
Andddd, it's blushing time. I'm seriously surprised when Al, Uri, and Four take a 'shot'. Four. Uri. Al. and I've only been here a day. I cringe and then Zeke declares a brake before we do any other activities, so the Peace stuff can wear off.
"Dude, I need to grab my phone from my house, can anyone drive me?" Al asks
"Sure, I can drive!" Four giggles.
"Ehhh, no." Zeke replies solemnly. "Not whilst your like this matey."
"I'll go with him, It'll be fine" I offer.
"Fine." Zeke sighs, "just be careful."
"Sure thing, Zekey Wekey!" Four squeals and runs out the door.
We turn the corner at the bottom of Zeke and Uri's street. Just as we turn the corner I see a blinding light I instantly recognise as headlights. The impact was quick and swift. The only things I could hear were the sound of tyre on tarmac and Al's scream. The smell of burning rubber filled the air and then, it goes black.