Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. Veronica Roth does.
The only memory of myself that I remember when I was nine was biking with Caleb, and injuring myself on the pavement.
He was teaching me how to use the pedal properly and how to steer the bike. Thinking that I was ready to do it on my own, Caleb made a bet with me. He said that whoever wins has to get the loser's candy tonight at dinner time.
I agreed.
So Caleb and I raced each other, biking. Going uphill was hard, but downhill was worse. I was going too fast and my brake wasn't working. I was yelling at Caleb, saying that I couldn't control it. He kept saying, Press the brake! Press the brake! But it didn't work. So I just used my feet to stop it and accidentally twisted my ankle. Which made me fly over my bike.
I didn't know which was worse: the twisted ankle or the impact of landing on my shoulder when I flew. Either way, it hurt. I was sobbing uncontrollably by the time Caleb reached me. Well, not really sobbing. Wailing and whining is more like it.
Caleb told me to stay still and he'll go back and get Mother or Father. So he took off on his bike, leaving me alone on the sidewalk. I sat up carefully, and assessed my surroundings. There were lots of trees, so that meant that we were nearing the park where the elderly people went. The park was maybe eight blocks away, so that meant I couldn't go there on foot. Especially not with my broken ankle.
By this point, I've stopped wailing but there are still tears on my cheeks. I make no movement to acknowledge and wipe them. But a boy near me does. I just noticed him now. He was watching me, from the window in his house. Now that I noticed him, he hid behind the curtain, but I still can see one eye peeking at me. And I did the weirdest thing ever.
I giggled.
He looked funny by just peeking at me with one eye. When I laughed at him, he was startled at first, but he smiled at me. I felt a blush rising on my cheeks so I looked away. I focused on when Caleb was coming back. It seemed like an awful lot of time.
Just as I thought of crawling to my house, the boy was crouching next to me. His eyes are dark blue, like the sky after the sun sets. He's too close to me for comfort, I can tell. I blush at that thought.
"H-Hi. Are you okay?"
I blink. Once. Twice. Thrice. Wait, what?
"Uh, yeah but I think my ankle's broken," I say, sniffling.
He stared at me for a while. "Which one's broken?" he asked.
"The right one," I said.
He checked my right ankle and said it was swollen. He's not sure if it's strained or sprained, but it hurts either way. So he dashed in his house and closed the door. Is he just going to leave me there? I hope not. But what if he does? Just as I come to the conclusion that he did leave me out here, he appeared once more with an ice pack this time.
I stared at him. Who is he? Where did he come from? What's his name? He sure does look handsome. His deep blue eyes are mesmerizing. Do I know him from somewhere?
That's where he caught me staring. He looked at me, too, and somehow, it looked like he was in deep thought. We continued staring at each other, like a staring contest. Neither of us flinching, or looking the other way. But that was broken when he said, "It's impolite to stare."
I blushed and my gaze flitted to the ground, but I murmured anyway, "You were staring, too."
Then he did a surprising thing. He laughed. I just smiled at him. Whoever this guy is, I like him. He's nice and kind and funny.
And guess what? He did another surprising thing. He carried me. I was surprised at first, and shrieked. But he never dropped me. He was strong. Either that, or I'm really light. I suspect the latter. The boy then asked my name and I said, "Beatrice Prior."
He simply looked at me and said, "You're a Prior? Oh, good. I know where your house is. I'm Tobias by the way."
I smiled. Tobias. Carrying me to my house. It's weird, and I just remembered now that I forgot my bike! Oh no.
"Tobias, Tobias! I forgot my bike!" I whimpered.
He looked at me reassuringly and said, "Don'y worry Beatrice. I'll get it for you later."
I smiled again, thankfully, at him when we saw Caleb barrelling across the corner.
"Beatrice! Beatrice, are you alright?"
I was going to answer, but Tobias beat me to it. "I think she sprained her ankle, but other than that she's alright."
Caleb looked at him gratefully and thanked him for carrying me. Tobias said he can carry me to my house while Caleb gets my bike. Caleb merely agrees.
Once we reach the house get by the next block, we see my mother walking briskly. When she spots me, she sighs in relief. "Oh my goodness Beatrice, Caleb and I were so worried!"
Tobias once again told her the situation and handed me to Mother. She kisses the top of my forehead and brings her to the house. Tobias comes with us, and my mother insisted that he stay with his father until supper. And that was what exactly happened.
Before he left, though, I asked him if I'll ever see him again.
"Maybe. Somewhere, sometime." And he smiled.
Just because he helped me, I gave his hand a squeeze and he left.
Eight years have passed and here I am, jumping off the roof of some Dauntless building. And landed on a net. The first hand I grabbed felt familiar, and so did his eyes.