A/N- I do not own Divergent or any of its characters, rights go to Veronica Roth.
August 8th
It's been five days since I ran away from Four. It reminded me of the shouting that used to happen at my house, and I've been in a foul mood ever since. I haven't even seen Lynn, I've just stayed in my bedroom watching movies on my laptop. The only human contact I've had is when my mom comes in and hands me a plate of food, which I don't eat much of. I've been sitting in my room all morning, as per usual, when there's a nock on my bedroom door.
"What is it?" I sigh.
"Lynn's here to see you, can she come in?" My mom asks, politely.
"Of course I can go in I don't need her permission," Lynn says, not so politely. She barges in my room and stands at the foot of my bed, her arms are crossed and she's tapping her foot. "Where the hell have you been?" She screeches. My mom shuts the door behind us, obviously wanting to avoid being caught up in a teenage row.
"I've been in my room."
"I can see that. Why haven't you been answering your phone?"
"I don't know where it is. I think it's over there somewhere," I reply, pointing to the other end of my room and then rolling sideways on my bed, trying to get comfy again. Lynn walks over to my dresser and large armchair, which has my jacket and back slumped over it. She rummages in my bag and picks out my very dead cell phone, then carries it over to my bedside table and reaches for the charger, plugging it in. She sits down on my bead heavily which makes me bounce up a bit.
"That thing is so dead it's probably going to take an hour to come back on," she laughs. All I do is grunt in reply and pull the pillow over my head. "You stink, when was the last time you took a shower?" Lynn and I are very comfortable with each other so I'm not even offended by her question. I know I stink.
"I dunno, a few days ago?" I reply, but it sounds more like a question.
"Come, on, we're going out!" She tries to pull me off the bed but I flop my body, making it incredibly difficult for her to move me. She groans as she pulls on my arms, my body smacks onto the floor.
"Hey! What did you do that for!" I'm rubbing my arm, which I'm sure is now going to bruise.
"Because you need to get your ass up and in the shower! We're going to Faction Ave for a few drinks."
"Lynn, I still look like a twelve year old, no way would they serve me drinks."
"Oh shut up, we'll just get one of the other's to buy us a few."
I stand up, earning myself a head rush. I grab my towel and robe and head into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. When I look in the mirror I almost scare myself. My skin is paler than usual and I have dark circles under my eyes. My hair is messy and greasy, and I look like I could do with a good scrub. I turn the shower on and strip my clothes off, grabbing the nicest smelling shower gel I have. I spent about fifteen minutes scrubbing all the grime off me, I must admit I feel a lot better. I brush my teeth and wrap my hair in a towel, and then shrug on my robe and head back into my bedroom.
"Much better!" Lynn sighs, she's reading one of my books. "I had to open the window because it stinks of sweat in here. If I didn't know you any better I would have thought you'd just had sex." She sniggers which earns her a punch in the side. I push her off my bed and into the armchair, then I start to strip my bedding.
I take my time getting ready, trying to make myself look more awake. My hair looks tousled and I'm wearing a loose black silky cami top with light wash skinny jeans. I put on my black biker boots and leather jacket.
"Don't you scrub up well," Lynn wiggles her eyebrows. "Showing off your new ink too! Lookin' good Prior."
"Gee, thanks," I smile at her.
As soon as the clock strikes six, we head on out the door and into Lynn's van. We'll probably end up getting a cab back, or knowing Lynn, she'll camp out in her van in the parking lot.
…
We arrive at Faction Ave, and it seems a lot busier tonight, probably because it's a Friday. I don't usually like drinking alcohol but I might have one glass of something weak. We find the group that was here last time easily, except there are a couple more people sat with them. I notice Four isn't here, maybe he isn't that friendly with them. Everyone says hi to us as we sit down, until a boy who I've never met before sneers and opens his fat mouth.
"Oh look, it's Lynnie the lesbian! And she's brought her girlfriend with her!" He laughs at his jokes, and a girl who resembles a tank laughs along with him. Everyone else just keeps their heads down. Me and Lynn sit in silence and I squeeze her leg, trying to reassure her. I don't know this guy but he looks like a total jerk.
"Quit it Peter," Christina says to the boy.
"She's not my girlfriend," Lynn sneers.
"What's your name," the boy, Peter, asks me.
"Tris," I reply a little too quietly.
"Well, Tris, I can try and set you up on a date with Christina here."
"Ew, Peter! You know I don't bat for the other team."
I'm starting to feel extremely uncomfortable, Peter is pounding on Lynn and I, and everyone else stays quiet. How can they just let him be a jerk like this? I want to defend myself, I want to tell him that he's wrong. But I don't want to offend Lynn by being too quick to deny his assumptions. It shouldn't matter whether he's right or not.
"So," Uriah says awkwardly, "did anyone watch the game the other night?"
The guys quickly spring into a deep conversation about football, and I can feel Shauna glaring at me from the other end of the table. If looks could kill.
"We can leave if you want to," Lynn whispers in my ear.
"No," I reply firmly, "that would just be giving him what he wants. You wanted to come here tonight, right?" She nods her head. "Well then, we're staying here. If he has a problem with us then he can leave."
"Thanks. You're amazing do you know that?"
"You are too. Thanks for dragging me out here. Even though I could have done with out seeing that dick of the week, I really needed to get out of that house."
Uriah and Marlene go to the bar, buying a massive pitcher of some kind of cocktail. Uriah always gets served here because he looks older than his age. I only have one small glass, buying soft drinks instead. Marlene makes small talk with us, and I can see that she's a nice, polite girl. Every so often Uriah's arm drapes over her though, and I can see Lynn's fists clench. I'm guessing that Marlene and Uriah have a thing for each other, and that's the reason why she won't commit to Lynn. I wonder if anyone even knows about her and Lynn except for us three. I'm guessing probably not. Eventually, I decide on taking a bathroom break, and excuse myself from the table. I walk past the bar, out of the crowded seating area, and walk down the short hallway that leads to the bathrooms, when I feel a cold hand clamp around my upper arm. I twist around immediately and come face to face with Peter.
"Don't fucking touch me," I try to yank my arm away but he's too strong, he overpowers me.
"What's the matter?" He leans in too close to me, shoving me against the wall. I can smell cigarettes and beer on his breath, it makes me want to vomit. "Don't like being touched by men?" I spit in his face but all this earns is a sinister laugh. "I think I could change that, Tris." He keeps me held against the wall with his forearm against my chest. His other arm starts to lightly touch my leg, before he grabs it with his hand and drags it upwards, towards my hip. His hand feels more like a claw on my bare skin, his nails digging in painfully. Then, he starts to press his lips against mine. Not in a passionate way, in a forceful way. This has gone too far, I bring my knee up sharply and jam it into his groin. He groans loudly and instantly lets go of me, I jab him again a couple more times until he's crouching on the floor, holding himself. I kick him against the wall and kneel down, close enough that I can whisper in his ear.
"I told you not to fucking touch me."
I head into the bathroom feeling dizzy and nauseous. I splash cold water onto my face and use the bathroom. When I come out I try to compose myself, smoothing down my hair and readjusting my clothing. I stare at my reflection in the mirror, wondering what to do next. I decide to stand in here for another five minutes, giving Peter a chance to clear off and get the hell out of my way. I know that I defended myself pretty well, which was surprising, but I'm still shaken up. My lip still trembles and my hands are clammy, I hate boys touching me even if it's not in a malicious way. I soon realised that it's because I've learned to not trust men, and I don't like making myself vulnerable to them. I eventually decide to open the door to the bathroom, seeing if Peter is still lying on the ground. Thankfully, he's not. I make my way back over to the table and sit down like nothing had happened. I don't want to make a big scene, and I wonder if they noticed where Peter went.
"What took you so long, you feeling okay?" Christina asks me.
"Um, yeah I'm fine," I reply.
"You sure? You don't look too good," Uriah says, looking concerned. I wish they would back off my case before I break down.
"Yes, I told you all I'm fine."
"Looks like someone can't handle their drink," Shauna taunts, a few people snicker.
"Come on," Lynn grabs my arm but it makes me jump and recoil from her touch. "Tris, I think it's time to go." Her brows are furrowed and she's staring down at me, like everyone else. I nod my head and follow her out.
…
We sit in her van in the far corner of the nearly empty parking lot.
"What the hell happened to you? You haven't stopped shaking since you came back from the bathroom!" Lynn rubs my back.
"It's nothing, forget about it."
"Peter? I saw him go to the bathroom shorty after you, did he say anything? Damn it, I knew I should have gone with you."
"He didnt say anything! He tried to force himself on me, that's all. And I don't need you to walk me to the bathroom, I can take care of myself."
"That's all? He tried to force himself on you? Tris that's disgusting, you shouldn't shrug it off!"
"Well it's okay because I took care of him! Honestly, I'd rather just forget about it."
We sit in silence for a moment sat on one of the couches in her camper van, contemplating the many events of the night. "He's such a dick. I don't know why they hang around with him."
"Well they don't all seem that great either. I mean, they didn't defend us and Marlene was cozying up to Uriah in front of you the whole night!"
"Don't talk to me about Marlene! I don't want to hear it! The others are nice once you get to know them, it's just that they've known Shauna the longest and she's being a bitch about the whole thing. They probably just want to stay out of it."
"Yeah," I whisper and clear my throat. "You're right. It's just, I'm not used to it. You know, being around a group of people. I haven't had a group of friends like that since I was about thirteen. You've been my only friend for the last few years, even when I wasn't living in Chicago."
"I know. But this is for the better, you'll get used to it. And who says that you have to like all of them? You might just find a couple more close friends so that we're not bugging each other all the time," she laughs and nudges into me.
"Yeah, okay. What time is it? Shouldn't we be getting back?"
"I'm going to crash in here tonight. Can't be bothered dealing with parent one and parent two. Stay here if you like?"
"I've never camped in a parking lot before," I giggle.
"You'll love it! As you can see, we have a great view of the industrial sized trash can. Come here, get up, I'll set the bed up. I have PJ's in here and everything."
"I'm starting to see why you love this van so much. It's kind of a home from home, isn't it?"
"Actually, I see it as my only home." She starts to convert the two sofas into a double bed, putting on sheets from the tiny overhead cupboard. Her comment saddens me, I wish she enjoyed living at home. She'll move out as soon as she can afford to, no doubt. She may even just decide to live in her van until then, it wouldn't surprise me.
When Lynn has the bed set up, we crash on it and make ourselves comfortable, talking about random things that only we understand. She can tell that I still feel anxious about before, so she grabs my hand and squeezes it reassuringly. We eventually fall asleep, hand in hand. I can't imagine not having a friend like her.