Thanks so much for the reviews, everybody! I love knowing there are people out there reading this. Here's another chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Divergent or any of these characters.
Christina
As I walk home from Zeke's, I hope I did the right thing. I really think this could help Tobias. When I talked to Zeke about finding Tobias a job, he had sounded as if it would be difficult to find something for him that didn't involve fighting. He didn't seem to have too much trouble finding this one, though.
I find myself missing Tris almost as much as Tobias seems to. Her death came as such a shock, but it really should not have. After all, we were all in almost constant danger.
I guess she just started to seem kind of invincible to me. Throughout everything, Tris was always there. The challenges of initiation, and then when Will died, once I forgave her. She stayed strong when her parents died for her, and then when Caleb betrayed her. When life was hard, I could always go to Tris.
But now I can't.
I go to Dauntless headquarters the next day. I practice with a gun in the shooting range, but I spend most of my time not actually shooting, just thinking.
The shooting range is a good place to think. There weren't many people in Dauntless headquarters, and I have the room to myself for a little over half an hour.
But when someone does come, it's Mariah.
"Christina!" she exclaims, like we're all of the sudden best friends since she met me two days ago.
"Hi," I say, looking at her. She seems less tense than she was when we talked on the Hancock Building the other day.
"I've been looking for you; Zeke said you might be here. Mind if I practice with you?"
"Go ahead." Mariah gets a gun from a shelf in the corner. It's a type I haven't used before. As she gets set up, I turn and shoot twice at my target. The first bullet lands a bit to the left, but the second is almost dead center.
I hear a gunshot, and I panic for a moment, then see the new bullet hole in the middle of Mariah's target. Why am I so antsy? I don't know why I have such little trust for this girl.
She shoots a few more times. I watch as each bullet goes straight into the hole left by the first one. Some widen it a little, but not by much.
"Wow. You can shoot." I'm impressed. I wonder what else this girl can do.
"Yeah. I had to learn, where I'm from," Mariah says, a touch of sadness in her voice. I know that I will never be able to fully understand the life in the fringe, or what it's like transitioning from that to Chicago.
Almost against my will, I feel myself beginning to feel sorry for Mariah. I still don't fully trust her, but I could give her a chance.
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Nothing important, really," she says, adjusting her stance. "I guess I just wanted something to do, and I remembered you." This strikes me as odd. I don't know why she would have come looking for me instead of one of the other Dauntless - one who was friendlier to her, I think a little guiltily.
"Alright. Do you want to go do something?" I smile at her, and she looks relieved.
"Yes. I do."
I have a lot of fun with Mariah. More than I would have expected. We went to all sorts of new restaurants and shops all over Chicago. It was really nice to do something just because it was fun. It helped take my mind off Tris.
I caught myself laughing quite a few times, more than I have in a while. Mariah seemed to be enjoying herself, too. She was so relaxed the whole time, just focused on the present. Just based off the couple days I've known her, she can seem like two different people sometimes.
As we're walking out of our last shop - a Dauntless-style clothing store where we each bought a few new shirts - Mariah says, "Can we do something like this again? I want to see everything there is to see here! And hang out with you, too," she adds. I laugh.
"Sure, that sounds good. When were you thinking?"
"Well, I have to work most of tomorrow . . . Does Friday afternoon work?"
"Okay," I say. I make a mental note not to spend so much next time - I was thinking of saving up for my own place, just from the odd jobs I've been doing. I told Tobias to get a regular job, but I'm not ready for that yet.
Mariah stops where a side street meets the one we're on. Her home must be that way. She asks, "Do you live in the old Candor sector of Chicago?"
"What makes you think I'd live there?" I feel myself getting defensive again.
"Zeke said something about you being Candor before the rebellion, and I know what Chicago used to be like, with the factions." She says this casually, but I notice that she stands unusually still. Her hands are unmoving, positioned carefully.
"Alright," I say, letting it go for now. "Yeah, I live over there with my mom and sister. But why don't we just meet at our first stop? It would be easier." We decide to meet at the tattoo parlor where Tori worked.
Mariah turns down the street and I continue towards my apartment. As I lug my purchases along, I decide to give Mariah a chance. She doesn't seem to be telling the truth all the time, but maybe she just has a secret she doesn't want anyone to know about.
That's why I left Candor - because I didn't want to have to reveal my secrets to everyone during initiation. I shouldn't expect Mariah to reveal anything to me, a complete stranger.
Please review - criticism welcome! Read on to discover Mariah's secret!