Hi. All of these bolded words are author's notes. Okay. You got it? Good. This is your basic, overdone, no-war, happy instructor Tris story. Like I said, overdone, but these are my favorites, so deal. Anyway, Al dead, Tris POV and here we go:
Disclaimer: All characters from Divergent belong to Veronica Roth, I lay no claim to her immense intellect, though I do admire it.
TRIS:
I wake to an empty room and nothing but cold space next to me. This unusual only because I know Tobias should be here. And yet, his bedroom is deserted. I do not live with him, not yet, though I spend most of my nights here and have collected a small stash of clothing in one of his drawers. I turn on the lamp and check the time; it's 5:56. I try not worry about Tobias as I slide out of bed, but even after being with him for a year, I still find myself stressing over the fact that he might leave me. One year, and I still have my insecurities. But I still feel lucky. Exactly one year ago, when I first met Tobias on the first day I came to Dauntless as a transfer after choosing—it's Choosing Day! I scramble out of bed and jump into the shower. My first day training initiates, with Tobias. He must have already gotten ready and went for breakfast. I clean my hair and shave my legs, quickly finishing to leave the shower. I find the clothes Christina had found for me after I told her I wanted to be intimidating. She had given me tight black pants, knee-length black leather boots and a grey tank top, and covered that with a skintight black leather jacket. The top went down a bit further than I am comfortable with, but it showed my ravens, which Christina said made me look "irresistable." I had argued, but Christina is too stubborn for her own good, and had almost physically forced me to wear it. After I slip into the clothes, I top off my look with mascara and light lipgloss. I was admiring myself in the mirror when Tobias walked in, holding three muffins in one hand. He only grinned at me and tossed me a muffin. I dig into it eagerly.
"Two for you, Mister Four?" I say, enunciating the word "Four." I have to practice if I'm going to call him that all month. I can't give away his real name. It's too personal, too intimate. He smirks at me.
"Yes, my dear Six, that is two for me. Glad you can count, Tri—Six." He hurriedly corrects himself. I told him last week that I wanted the initiates to call me that, so he too must practice. I laugh and toss a chunk of my breakfast at him. The muffin hits him in the eye. He catches it and pops it into his mouth. I give him a smile and turn to look at the clock behind me. It reads 7:03. I say to Tobias,
"Hey, hurry it up! We're gonna be late!" He only smiles. I rush past him, brushing muffin crumbs off my pants and briefly pressed my lips to his. Before he can deepen the kiss, I leave the apartment wait for Tobias to follow me out. When he reaches me at last, we start to walk.
"So, Tobias, I've been thinking, maybe we shouldn't, you know, let the initiates know we're dating. Because letting them see a softer side of me that likes people instead of scaring the crap out of them, which, of course, I plan to do, scare the crap, not like people, would make them think less of me. Not that you make me seem soft just, oh, come on, you know what I mean!" I stumble past the words, afraid I've hurt his feelings. So I breathe a sigh of relief when he says, "Okay." We arrive at the cafeteria, where we had planned to meet Christina and Uriah to discuss training tactics before the initiates arrive at 11:00.
"Tris! Four! Over here!" I hear a familiar voice and turn to see Uriah waving his arms energetically, next to Christina, who is laying her head on the table, whining.
"I can't stand morning people! It's not natural! Uriah, snap out of it. Its 7 in the morning, no one's allowed to be happy!" I hear her say from her mound of black curly hair.
"Let me guess, Chris. No coffee yet?" I ask her grinning. She only groans in response. For the next few hours, we ask for advice on training from Tobias and gradually force Christina to wake up and eat. The next thing we know, it's time to be at the net to welcome the new initiates to Dauntless. We make our way to the net and talk. Tobias whispers in my ear, "I hope there's an Abnegation."
"Me too." I say back to him.
"How common are they here?"
"Rare." He replies. I feel disappointed, but I shouldn't. Maybe Abnegation kids are wired to disagree with Dauntless. Maybe—my thoughts are interrupted by a scream.
"They're here!" Christina shouts. A streak of red and blue is caught by the net, and Tobias pulls her out. She is a pretty, red-headed Erudite, and I feel a pang of jealousy. She would be taller, but my boots increase my height. Still, she is small.
"Name?" I ask. She looks at me like I'm crazy.
"Excuse me?" she asks.
"I said name. What would you like to be called?" I say, putting it simpler.
"Elle, no, um Ella, Ellen, no, no, no, not right..." she mumbles.
"Look, its not that hard." I sigh.
"Got it! Em."
"Well, Em. Welcome to Dauntless. FIRST JUMPER, EM!" I shout the last part to the small crowd at our backs. They cheer, Dauntless-style, banging their arms against walls and other people. She looks in awe for a moment, then opens her mouth to say something.
"Are they always this excited?" Before I can answer, a wail rips through the air. Someone lands on the net with a thump. I help him off and see that he is wearing black and white. He's got short brown hair and he's tall. He opens his mouth.
"I'm Jonathan, hello, you're the instructor I guess, and that was a good scare tactic, clever, only the bravest jump. Kind of weeds out the more cowardly ones, right? It's dark in here. You should get better interior lighting. It makes a huge difference. Matter of fact, I know a place where you can get the best deals on the-"
"SECOND JUMPER, JONATHAN!" I interrupt. Tobias smirks at me, and I give him a look that makes him stop.
"Not nice to interrupt me, instructor. But you're pretty so I won't get mad." Jonathan says from behind me. Tobias stiffens. I elbow him and ignore Jonathan. I point him in the direction of Em and say,
"Go tell her she's pretty and leave me alone. I have work to do." He walks to her, sullenly, and Tobias grins at me. I step back and let him handle the next jumper. It's a pair of Amity, friends that jumped together. Still holding hands; they need to let their Amity sides go. Their names are Olivia and Clare. Olivia has long blond hair that stops at the small of her back and has huge green eyes. Clare is a brunette with sparkling eyes the color of cider and freckles sprinkled around her face. They are both tall. They giggle behind their hands, pointedly looking at Tobias. I usher them along, putting them far from Tobias. He announces them just as the fifth jumper arrives. He is another Candor, and he is big and reminds me of Al. Painful memories dance behind my eyes, so I have to ask him to repeat his name. It is Ethan. He has brown hair and, like I said, is big. I announce him, and direct him to the other initiates. The next initiate is an Erudite, a boy who has lemon colored hair and big blue eyes. His name is Rudy. (Book Thief, anyone?) Tobias helps the next jumper, an Erudite named Jack, who has dark hair and dimples. He flirts shamelessly with me, and Christina, and Clare, and Olivia, and Em. (Doctor Who's Jack Harkness, anyone?) The final initiate falls into the net, and climbs out, refusing my hand. Her name is Mary, and her bobbed blond hair shakes as she climbs out, and her hazel eyes pierce me. Unlike the other Candor, she is silent, but I get the feeling she's deadly. (Mary Watson from Sherlock, anyone?) After all the transfers have jumped, I know the Dauntless-born will jump, their whoops of joy echoing throughout the chamber. The transfers look intimidated, even scared by the way they welcome danger, and Christina's voice nearly gives out, she;s had to yell at them so much. I nudge Tobias and he claps his hands together to gather the transfers. I say, with as much intimidation as possible,
"Welcome to Dauntless."
I know, I know, I butchered it. Sucky writing, bad plot, boring everything. If you have sense, ditch this story now. If you're a rebel... well, I'll leave it up to you... dun dun DUN the pressure (and game) is on! Referencing the whole day long and having to deal with the fact that 1) I am alone in my multimultimultifandomness and 2) I have no life.
SAD TRUTH. BUT BYE.
