Chapter Three
PMakepeace98, hope this is soon enough?!
Guest, this loves you, sooo much!
DivergentFanCat, thankyou! I type everything on my phone and for some reason, words are erased or changed. Thanks for pointing it out.
Petite-yoyo, hearing aids and yeah she can, it just depends on the person, pace and pitch of their voice.
GerdyGertha, you'll know about her right now!
Stella Nite Wolfblood, chapter loved you. She meets him in this chapter. I could have made it funny but all the way to chapter 4 was prewritten.
EmoFangirlEaton, girrrrrrrl are you sure? And thanks!
ImagineFan, I'm not that great, there are other great writer's, but thankyou!
Hannah (Guest), loveyou!
By the way, this is the school timetable or whatever.
Form- 9-9.25
1st- 9:30- 10.30
2nd- 10.30- 11.30
Break- 11.30-12
3rd- 12-1
4th- 1-2
Lunch- 2-2.50
Form- 2.50-3
5th- 3-4
Prepare yourself...for quick escalation...
I am the 4th of September... 8 weeks and 1 day until the anniversary of the hatred towards Halloween. 10 weeks until her birthday.
Tris scooped her buzzing phone from underneath her silk pillow and dismissed her 6am alarm even though school commenced at 9. She rubbed her eyes and rolled off the bed, landing onto the floor with a thud. She grunted in pain and picked herself up. She stumbled to her door calendar and woke up when she realised that today is the day. She transformed into a whirlwind, pulling out her outfit for the day while brushing her teeth and ran the shower. You are probably thinking, 'why wake up at six?'
Well, this brings us back to Ivanka. Ivanka is her year and 3 weeks old daughter. I know, shocking, right? I did mention a Halloween night. Well, this is the time.
On the 31st of October 2013, Beatrice Prior was grieving over her brother who had died the day before; this news had spread like a forest fire throughout the entire school, thanks to her best friend, Peter Hayes. She sat in the emptied apartment and let tears stream down her face. Who is going to celebrate her 15th in 13 days with her now? She is leaving in five days.
A ring brought her out of her stupor and she crawled to the door. She composed herself and opened the door. There stood her best friend with a Minnie Mouse costume.
"I'm sorry for telling everyone. Come to my party? Please, I need you." The girl thought this over and nodded. After all, they are best friends forever. Right?
"Yes! I'll let you change and I promise you, it'll be fun." Peter was right. The whole of the 8th and 9th grade attended and the party was a blast. Each student apologised for teasing her over the social media she had, lightening her mood.
Beatrice left after helping clear up and walked the dark streets alone because Peter was unable to walk back with her due to a family emergency. Apparently, Al, his older brother, was missing.
She could hear the loud chatter of her schoolmates from afar and shivered under the hooting of owls. She detested the dark and decided to cut through an alley that goes to the front of the apartment. Halfway through, a man jumped out.
"Hey Bea, how you doing?" Oh, it was Al. Drunk.
"Dude, they're looking for you back home! What are you doing out here? Oh, you're drunk; you're going to get yourself hurt!"
"Waiting for you and I won't get hurt. What a beautiful costume you're wearing!" Beatrice waved her thanks confusingly and tried to leave but Al dragged her back.
"You are not leaving." Beatrice looked around anxiously with a 'what' look planted on her face. Al started feeling her on her chest area so she screamed and he clamped his hand down on her mouth.
"Be quiet!" He pushed her down onto the floor and played with her hem of her dress. Beatrice widened her eyes in realisation.
"Don't touch me!" Her cries for help were blown away by the howling wind, she was swiftly blindfolded and that moment on was forever scarred into her mind.
Her foster parents sympathised when she eventually admitted the reason for her mood swings and constant vomiting, and allowed her to continue her pregnancy. She gave birth on the 14th of August 2014, a week before Tori took her in. Hana was surprised to see a black bundle, which contained a sleeping form in the 15-year-old arms but offered to look after the baby. Up to this day, it was thought Ivanka Macy Prior's mother had given the baby up. All that is known is, she was left on the doorstep of the Pedrads.
This is why Tris was eager to get ready. She would leave at 7.20, giving her ten minutes to travel to Hana's then an hour with Ivanka before leaving at half 8 for the 20 minutes' drive to school. For Al, Tris never gave him away but drifted apart from Peter to avoid later heartbreak, which will probably happen.
Back to the present.
Tris was dressed in high-waisted black shorts, with a white off-the-shoulder top that had geeky glasses on it and wore her black Nike Blazers, with white ankle socks. She wore a black cami underneath because the weather forecast had said there might be hot weather, as summer has not quite finished its torture. Braces were clipped to her shorts and hoisted onto her shoulders, with her hair braided into a side fishtail, completing the geek-chic look.
She grabbed her hearing aids, barrelled into the kitchen with her shoulder and gym bag then greeted Hana.
"Hey! Ready for school?"
"I guess so." Hana smiled softly and served her favourite. Pancakes drowning in maple syrup and whipped cream with strawberries on the side. Tris gobbled it up like a truck driver and helped Hana tidy up.
"Ivanka's been 'mama-ing' all week." Ivanka started saying 'mama' about three months ago and took her first steps two months later. Tris smirked and jumped into her white Audi TT, driving after Hana in her Mercedes Benz. Ten minutes later, they arrived at the house and the first thing Tris saw, was Ivanka beaming at the Pedrad twins. Tris smiled internally, but panicked because the boys did not know. They had always been out of the house when Tris visited. Ivanka sensed her presence and set her sparkling grey eyes onto Tris.
"Mama!" The boys swivelled and practically fainted when they spotted the resemblance between the two. You could hardly see any of Al's features in her but the tufts of brown hair belonged to him.
"You're the mother? But? Dude, what the f*ck? Why didn't you tell us you had a daughter? I'm sure we were meant to know since we're the ones looking after her!" Zeke signed frantically. Tris bit her lip and hoped for a miracle.
"She'll tell us in her own time, I'm sure she kept this for a reason?" Uriah spoke and signed simultaneously. Thank you, Uriah!
"Okay," Zeke said sceptically.
"Right boys, eat your breakfast and go with Tris to school." Hana said, standing in Tris's line of view. Tris nodded gratefully at Hana's look of concern. The boys walked out but not without giving Tris a hurt look. Tris's heart sank but she shook it off.
"Hey there, little imp!" Ivanka had been playing with a little mini plush doll that used to be in Tris's possession.
"Mama." Ivanka grinned before waddling over to hug Tris's legs. Ivanka herself was deaf but had a cochlear and could understand a few phrases. She was set to learn sign language at the age of 2.
Tris pulled her up and threw her into the air, causing a musical laugh to echo through the room; she sat on the floor and played with Ivanka, enjoying her time. I know I said Tris never laughs but with Ivanka, it is like a personality switch. Tris couldn't stop bursting out with short giggles at Ivanka's clumsiness which sparked Ivanka's baby babble, creating an audience consisting of three people in the doorway, which of course, Tris was oblivious to.
"Ivanka is the only thing keeping her grounded," Hama murmured.
"Yeah, but why didn't she tell us? You knew and you didn't tell us. This whole time, we assumed that it was a teenage girl who trusted you to raise her baby but now we know who the teenage girl is-," Zeke rattled off.
"Dude, chill. It wasn't mum's secret to tell and I'm sure there's a big reason behind this." Oh yeah, it's big, you better listen to Uriah, Zeke.
"Yeah, okay. Now I know why Ivanka's always asleep when we return home. It is so damn hard for the three of us to just make her have a one-hour nap. The mystery behind the toys is finally resolved and I'm guessing the silver bracelet we found last week on her first was Tris's."
"She's been looking for that! The silver bracelet has the three Ravens, to represent the members of her family, she had the dates of their birthdays to their deaths engraved on them, and she recently added an imp to symbolise Ivanka also a rainbow for her life. She's been through hard stuff but at the end, she's managed to find some happiness with Ivanka."
"Deep ting man," Zeke remarked. Uriah chuckled.
"Tris!" The young mother spun her head round with a wide smile but replaced it with a straight face when she realised it was Zeke calling her.
"Don't do that face, I watched you the whole time. You're pretty with a smile." Cue the blush on Tris's cheeks.
"Let's go, you need your schedule, locker key and form room number." Tris nodded and planted a tummy fart on Ivanka's belly before placing her in Hana's outstretched arms.
"Thank you for not making a scene and I regret hiding this from you but there's a huge reason for this."
"That's what I said!" Uriah exclaimed, earning a scoff from Tris, as usual. Zeke handed Tris the bracelet he picked up from the lost and found basket the Pedrads owned, Tris thanked Zeke repeatedly and detoured to her car, after receiving a slobbery cheek kiss from Ivanka, with the boys in tow. The boys had a red convertible BMW and led the way.
20 minutes later, the trio arrived at the castle like school and guess what Tris's entrance was?
Imagine Fast and Furious, but in a school setting. She accelerated, shooting through the school gates and skidded into a parking space next to the door, leaving skid marks. Many passer-byers witnessed the whole thing and whispered eagerly to their friends, craning their necks in the forming crowd to see the 'boy' who had done this. Surprise and awe rippled through the large growing crowd when Tris stepped out of her car.
"IT'S TRIS WRIGHT!" A mocha-skinned girl squealed.
"No sh*t, Sherlock. And your voice is too high, Chris," Uriah mumbled while striding over to Tris with Zeke behind.
"That was an epic entrance, innit?" Tris smirked and signed.
"I swear your ego's as huge as Uriah's now," Zeke complained in sign, leaning on the bumper of Tris's Audi. Uriah punched his shoulder playfully.
"Wait, how do you know Tris?" A senior asked.
"My mum's her maid and is a mother figure so we've known each other for the last year."
"She's using your mother as her personal cleaner and housewife?" The same senior spoke.
"Erm, no, not exactly. Yeah, sure, that's the first thing that would come to mind but trust me, she's far from an actual maid."
"And you never said anything?" Chris raised an eyebrow.
"You wouldn't have believed me." Zeke pointed out.
"Touché."
"Ur, guys. Nice reunion and everything but I need to check in at the front office. Wherever that is. FYI, just because I am deaf, does not mean I'm mute," Tris interjected.
"Of course. Follow us." The crowd parted like the Red Sea and let the trio, now quartet due to Chris, have a clear path to the door.
"TRIS!" A male voice yelled.
"Oh great. Another fan to deal with," Uriah groaned. Tris turned to the direction of the voice.
"ROBBIE!"
"You know him?" Uriah said in shock.
"Yeah, he's Bud's nephew. Didn't you know?"
"We thought he was making that crap up?" Zeke laughed. Rob bounded over from his black Audi and grabbed Tris into an embrace. Tris pulled away awkwardly.
"Dude. I'm not a hugger."
"Don't deceive yourself." Tris snorted and returned the gesture reluctantly.
"Going to the front office?"
"Yeah, with the twins and a new member of the gang, I guess?" Tris shrugged while looking at Chris, who smiled sheepishly.
The group of five made their way to the front office, attracting plenty of looks and Susan caught up with them.
"Heya!" Susan greeted the group.
"Hey Suse," Tris nodded before turning back to the receptionist.
"Hello, I'm assuming you're here for your things?" The receptionist signed. The school also had signers, just predicting that a deaf student would attend. Seems like they got lucky.
"Yeah," Tris replied.
"Here's your timetable, locker and there are 7 forms which you might know about, 6A, 7B, 8C, 9D, 10E, 11F and 12G. There are other students. You are in 11F, Mr Kang. You will not need to interact with the freshmen and years below. You're meant to socialise with only sophomores but due to some of the subjects, you'll know some of the seniors."
"Thank you."
"I'm your music teacher for Thursday, Evelyn Johnson."
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Miss Johnson. See you around." Tris waved and walked out of the office.
"Read out your schedule for today," Rob signed.
"Oh, I have Gym, Advanced English, Woodwork, Advcanced French and Drama."
"What's up with the advanced subjects?" Uriah asked incredulously.
"I was taught by top tutors."
"Damn girl." Susan fist bumped Tris.
"Okay, I have 1st, 3rd and 5th with you." Rob smiled.
"So do us." Zeke pointed at himself, his twin and Chris. Tris rolled her eyes at the 'us'.
"The advanced subjects are actually the senior lessons Miss Johnson mentioned so we'll be together then!" Susan giggled as Tris did a fist pump in the air.
"Good. I don't wanna be a loner in any of the lessons."
"Nah. You'll meet the rest of our gang in form. Marlene's my girlfriend, Shauna, her twin is Zeke's girlfriend, Lynn is the tomboy so you two will get along well, Will is Chris's geeky boyfriend-"
"He's not geeky!"
"-and Four, who's the eighth wheel."
"Four? I like this guy."
"Why?" Susan.
"I'm Six." The gang chorused an 'oh' except Chris.
"I don't get it."
"You'll find out." The gang had migrated to DT5 and Susan waved her goodbye before going to the other building for SC1.
"What about Lynn though? She's single?"
"She's a lesbian."
"Yay, a homosexual friend!" Everyone chortled and Tris was ushered into the room that had four rows of four desks, meaning 15 other students were in this room too. She was then dragged to an empty desk next to Rob who sat next to the window, with Uriah in front of her, Zeke behind her and Chris on her right. The last five members of the gang poured in with the other classmates and made their way towards them.
"OMG! IT'S TRIS! I'm Marlene." A girl with flowy black hair up to to mid back shouted. Well now, we know who Uri's girlfriend was. The whole room froze and turned to inspect the newbie.
"Welcome to DHS. Hope you like it here, I'm Nita." The blondie smiled.
"Ur, thanks." Tris nodded.
"Loving the outfit, girl!" Chris snapped her fingers and Tris smirked.
"Okay. All of you sit down." Mr Kang clicked his fingers at exactly nine. The class obliged.
Shauna sat behind Rob, Marlene, sat in front of him, Will sat in front of Chris and Four behind her. Lynn on the right of Chris. So there were three rows and three columns filled by the gang and Tris was exactly in the centre of them.
(Four random students consisting of two girls and two boys sat in the front row, Marlene, Uriah, Will in the second with a random dude, Rob, Tris, Chris and Lynn in the third, back row had Shauna, Zeke, Four and Nita.)
Tris could not shake off the feeling of a stare so she turned to the right and caught striking blue eyes. Obviously, this is Four.
He had a chiselled nose, full bottom lip and a hint of stubble on his chin. He wore a black skin tight t-shirt that exposed his defined abs and muscles.
Tris saluted with her right index and middle finger then faced the front, not waiting for a response. She glanced round the room, seeing that on the other side of the room were cookers, with a double fridge behind Shauna, Zeke and Four and Nita. Again, they made eye contact and his eyes twinkled. Tris smirked and bit her lip before turning away.
"As you have realised, we have a new student. Miss Wright, would you like to introduce yourself up here?" Tris exhaled heavily and strolled to the front, as Kang sat on the desk's surface.
"Hey guys, you know me as Mrs Wright's niece. Well, one, she's actually my late mother's best friend, two, I may be small but I have skills I'm sure Uriah, Zeke and Robert would like me to show off."
"Damn right!" Uriah backed up.
"Alright, alright." Mr Kang rolled his eyes.
"Three, I'm profoundly deaf, I do both BSL and ASL. Four-"
"Present." Four's voice rumbled to the front and everyone snickered.
"As I was saying, you may call me six. Five, I am 5 ft. That is all I'm divulging for now. Any questions?" The whole room shot their hands up.
"If there's any about me being single, yes I am." A vast majority of the boys dropped their hands, planting a smirk on Tris's face.
"What happened to 1 through to 5?" Robert smirked, knowing this pissed Tris off.
"Nita." Tris ignored Robert.
"If you're deaf, how can you talk?"
"Oh God. How are you so dumb?" Zeke grumbled.
"Next." Tris shook her head amusedly.
"Hi, I'm Myra." A girl stood up. She had blonde shoulder length hair and dull blue eyes. She was 5 ft. 3. She was the first on the front row.
"Why do you have Six as your nickname?"
"She knocked out six fighters in six minutes on the sixth of August." The class swivelled to see Amar, he bodyguard in the doorway, opposite Myra.
"Hello Amar. May I ask why you are here?" Tris cocked an eyebrow.
"I am your bodyguard, am I not?"
"Urgh. I will talk to Tori about this."
"You wouldn't though." Tris huffed and Amar grinned in triumph, strolling behind the desk to sit on the neglected spinning chair, fuelling Kang's annoyance.
"Wait, she beat six fighters in six minutes on the sixth of August?" Four asked with a shocked expression. All of the girls (all 7 of them) stared at Four with a confused look and the boys shared looks. Tris made a mental note to ask the gang about that.
"Yeah she did. The time and date was just a coincidence," Amar boasted.
"Next question." A girl on Myra's right stood, she had brunette hair with sharp hazel eyes, was 5 ft. 7 and she was a bit bulky for a girl.
"Hi, I'm Molly. What skills do you have?"
"It's a long list of about 10 or more. Karate, tae kwon do, boxing, shooting, fighting, fencing and others. Including tattooing, gymnastics, painting, singing and playing a few instruments, like the guitar, drums, piano and ukulele." The whole class was speechless.
"That's my girl!" Zeke hooted.
"Any more questions?" A boy with strawberry blonde hair and familiar bright green eyes, on the end of the front row, stood.
"Is there any chance you're Beatrice Prior?" Amar spluttered on his Lucozade. (Really, it was Kang's from a drawer and this added to Kang's annoyance.)
"Urm, what?" Tris couldn't believe this.
"It's Peter Hayes. I'm pretty sure you remember me."
"Whoa, whoa. Tris, what is this guy talking about?" Rob stood up.
"Robert, sit down. Peter, elaborate on your assumption," Kang interrupted.
"Really?" Rob crossed his arms, not sitting down, despite Shauna's protests.
"She has the same blonde hair, the same sharp grey eyes, she has the same pink hearing aids and if I remember correctly, there's a scar on her left calf from when I shot her with a paintball." Tris stood there with her mouth open and Mr Kang checked her left calf.
"He's right." Tris did a perfect imitation of a fish while flashbacks of her friendship rolled through in her mind.
"Why did you leave me? The day after my Halloween party, I went to your brother's apartment to see if you made it home safely and I find out foster parents took you in. You never said bye. You told me you were not due to leave until November 5th. You managed to change the date of your departure so we could celebrate Guy Fawkes for the last time. What happened that made you leave early? In addition, you cut off all contact. Changed your email address, deleted your Blogger account, and left your phone in the apartment." Tris scratched her neck nervously as she glanced at Amar, who clenched his jaw, knowing he could not intercept unless Tris was attacked.
The whole class sat there in stunned silence and watched the interaction between the two.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that." Tris whispered.
"And why not?" Peter stepped out of his desk and walked up to Tris, towering over her at the height of 5 ft. 11.
"Dude. If she can't tell you why she broke off your friendship, leave it," Robert interjected, prepared to step between the two.
"Fine. However, I will get it out of her. We are best friends anyway." Peter mumbled, keeping eye contact.
"We can't be." Tris shook her head frantically. Peter tilted his head but raised his hands in surrender and stalked back to his desk. Tris glared at Mr Kang.
"How could you just let that happen?" Amar put both his hands on either side of his head and flicked his hands away in a 'are you stupid' gesture.
"I'm sorry if this affects you but I believe it's good to speak the truth," Kang says, eyeing Amar's legs on the desk.
"Who cares what you believe? This is high school. Not a stupid counselling session. What kind of teacher are you?" Tris scoffed and strode over to her seat, ignoring the twins and Robert's concerned looks.
Form was silent for the remaining 5 minutes and the bell rang at 9.25, snapping the awkward atmosphere.
Tris dashed to her car, receiving her gym bag, thankful for the fresh air.
"Are you okay?" Amar asked behind her.
"Yeah I guess. It is hard, facing the brother of your rapist after two years. Who was also your best friend." She snorted and headed to the Gym with Amar on her heels. Amar continued into the hall while Tris walked into the changing room.
"Tris!" Chris waved her over to a bench.
"That was really weird in Form. Want to explain?"
"It's complicated." Chris gave her a side look and shrugged with a 'you will tell me' stare. Tris smirked, knowing it was the beginning of a good friendship.
"Hi, I'm Lynn, the one next to Chris."
"Yeah, I heard! I love your hair." Lynn had the right side shaved with the left side full of beach blonde hair flopping into her eyes. It was dip-dyed dark blue.
"Thank you. I'll wait for you outside." Tris nodded gratefully and changed into her kit with black Air Forces as her trainers. She walked out with Chris, who was chatting animatedly about their coach, Eric Lewis. He was really strict but buff with lots of muscle and visible tattoos on his forearms.
Lynn pushed herself off the wall she was leaning on by the changing room door and walked in step with the girls, joining their conversation.
"Ur, Tris, why are you wearing a jumper? It's like 28 degrees." Chris noticed.
"Oh, well, urm, there's something on my back I don't really want to show."
"Is that why you walked into the toilet?"
"Yep."
"Well, what is it?" Lynn interjected.
"Tattoos." Tris whispered shyly.
"Serious? Girl, don't hide them!" Tris glanced between the two girls and mulled over what Chris said.
"Hide what?" Uriah asked when the girls joined the circle of the form.
"She has tattoos on her back."
"Really, Tris? Another secret you kept from us?" Zeke whined.
"What's the other?" Chris bounced a little.
"I swear Zeke, you don't know when to shut up." Tris facepalmed.
"Sorry." Zeke rubbed his cheek. By now, the whole form was listening in.
"So you're going to take the jumper off?" Lynn encouraged.
"Urgh. Fine." Tris yanked off her jumper, leaving her in the sports bra and she turned reluctantly after Chris's ten seconds of begging. Gasps flew through the group.
Her back was inked with chains breaking down the middle of her spleen with the names of: Caleb James Prior, Andrew Caleb Prior on the left side of the chains. The names: Natalie Beatrice Prior, Ivanka Macy Prior with I.M.P next to it, hence the imp nickname, were on the right side, all of which had dates of birth to deaths next to them. She also had two hands clasped together as someone helping the other up in a nude colour, a red orangey tree, a black scale, a blue eye and a fire with the combination of the three colours: red, orange and yellow. Those symbols were placed between each chain break. She then had, at the bottom of her torso, in a blood red colour the date she was raped, the day I.M.P was born and the day Tori took her in.
"What do they mean?" A boy she had not officially met asked. He had black hair and turquoise eyes. He was the same height as Peter.
"I'm Drew, by the way." Tris nodded and looked over at Amar.
"They are confidential."
"Oh come on. First she can't tell Peter why they ain't 'besties' and won't even tell us why she has tattoos all over her back." Drew gestured with his hands wildly.
"Leave her alone, dude. People have secrets. Get over it." Again, cue the confused looks the girls sent to Four.
"Shut up," Drew sneered. Four scoffed and looked over at the door Eric should have come out of. The lesson began at 9:30 and it was now 9:40.
"Fine. You wanna know?" Tris huffed. Drew nodded and a chorus of 'yeah's erupted.
"If I see any of the information on social media, I won't be very happy, depending on what is said. Capiche?"
"Capiche," The group said in unison.
"The symbols, in order, represent selflessness, peace/kindness, honesty, knowledge and bravery. The last date on my lower back is when I joined Tori's family. Caleb, Andrew and Natalie were my brother and parents. The dates are when they were born and when they passed." Chris looked at Tris with tears in her eyes. The girls sniffled.
"Your brother was only 18?" Will quipped.
"Yeah. Lung cancer. My parents passed from a house fire and Caleb's symptoms showed up late." Tris was now bluntly glaring at Peter.
"You remember?" Peter nodded, ashamed.
"You killed my parents. Yet, I forgave you. You were my best friend. Again, I forgave you. You thought it would be funny to pour water on my PlayStation, while I was outside, looking for the cat that you claimed to be an orphan. You then ran out and kept me from entering the house. Well guess what, it wasn't. You then told the whole school I lost my brother and they soon discovered I had to go into foster care. Nevertheless, I still forgave you. Why? You were the best friend who stuck by me, no matter how shy, weird or nerdy I was. I stuck by you, no matter how spoilt, arrogant and selfish you were. You were the only person left in my life I loved. Wow, some first day this turned out to be." The whole group was now staring at Peter with mixtures of emotions evident on their faces.
"I'm not going to reveal Ivanka's identity. I am pretty sure you have a clear guess of who she is. Look at the first date then the second. See how many months is in between. There's your hint." Will inhaled sharply. Tris shook her head subtly, knowing he had figured it out. He nodded and discreetly ignored Chris's pressing glance.
"Why do you even have the date of Halloween?" Myra pointed out.
"Two reasons. One of which, I left my best friend," Tris whispered.
"Second one?"
"I may be the 'niece' of the First Lady of America but even I have my own secrets." Groans were elicited but any further questions were interrupted.
"Alright! 11G! Apologies for being 15 minutes late but I was being informed about our new student and I know what we are doing today. Gymnastics, shooting and fighting." Coach Eric interrupted, breaking all of us from our reveries.
Zeke and Uriah stood on either side of me protectively. Amar placed himself in front of me.
"That was brave of you. But does Tori know that's how they died?" Tris shook her head.
"I was too angry so it just came flying out in the form of words, not punches. I'm usually good at keeping my emotions to myself, you know that, but seeing his face just set something off." Amar went round and hugged her from behind and Tris leaned back into him. Amar nuzzled his face into her hair and Tris let a tear slip down her cheek.
"I want them back." Amar nodded mutely. Tris pulled away and felt Zeke grab her hand, giving it a light squeeze, indicating that he heard the whole the thing and so did Uriah.
They stood in the middle of the gym, watching each student do the running back roll into a round off, double back flips and a front roll ending with a back handspring.
All of them did it well but kept stumbling in the double back flips onwards, and had slow starts except Marlene who stumbled in the front roll, so did Shauna, Lynn, and Will. Zeke, Uriah, Four and Chris's back handsprings were not on point. Rob executed it perfectly but his cartwheel was not up to standards. Molly was the only one who stumbled the whole way through, due to her slightly big build.
"Miss Wright. You're up."
"It's Tris or Six, sir," Tris corrected.
"Whatever, just do the routine." Tris sucked in a breath and went to one end of the gym. A murmur went through the crowd but Zeke, Uriah, Rob and Amar smiled, knowing what would happen.
Tris sped towards the midpoint of the gym, pushed herself into a back roll, straight round off then the double back flips were identical. In the end of her front roll, she jumped into the back handspring and completed it with a straight body with arms up. Coach Eric did a slow clap.
"Excellent. Best performance I have had since the beginning of my ten years of teaching. It should be done that way. You see that fast sprint? Best build up for a back roll. Thank you very much, Tris."
"You're welcome." Tris smirked.
"I expected better from you, Peter. I mean we attended the club together, didn't we?" Tris commented.
"I stopped when you left," Peter said plainly and it was obvious the subject should be left untouched. Tris shrugged and went over to the shooting targets, everyone else following.
"Right. Just watch my actions. Feet should be shoulder length, arms stretched out fully." Coach Eric demonstrated and shot five bullseye in a row. Everyone took their turn and again, Molly fell behind but everyone did good, achieving at least three bullseyes. Four executed it perfectly, as well as Tris.
"Tris. You are going to be blindfolded. There's a reason why I chose these three activities." Eric beamed. Tris went into shutdown mode, recalling the night she was blindfolded. She hated being blindfolded and Amar knew this.
"Sir. She is forbidden from being blindfolded."
"Oh really? But I want to test her."
"Yes, I know. I'll put my hands over her eyes," Amar suggested. Eric accepted and Tris allowed Amar to cut off her sight.
"Shoot." Tris obeyed.
"Again." She obeyed.
"One last time." Tris obeyed. Laughter rippled through her classmates. Amar removed his hands and Tris was shocked. She had shot the heart, abdomen and private area.
"Well Tris. You clearly are talented. Explain your actions."
"Inhale, aim, exhale and shoot. It's basically focusing your mind on the target and merging yourself with the gun becoming one."
"Try it." The whole class took her advice and ameliorated dramatically.
"Thank you, Tris. Now let's see if you deserve that nickname of yours."
Yes yes, I know, bit fast to reveal her secret but who cares? Probably most of you. This actually is an asset for my plot in future chapters. Till later, BooksLover2000...