Friday, 29th August 2014

"So, now that we've had the bonding week, does anyone want to share any anxieties they have?" Tori asks. I raise my hand slowly. "Go for it Six…"

"Hi, um, my name's Tris, and uh, I'm anxious about, uh, moving to my new school, I'm starting there next week, and I guess with everything else going on too, I'm freaking out a bit…"

"What school is it?" Christina asks.

"Uh, Faction High…" I reply. Christina smiles, as does some of the others in the group.

"We all go to Faction High, except for Four…" she explains.

"Actually, no, I'm switching to Faction High for my Senior year…" Tobias says, smiling shyly.

"Well, that's great! I'm sure the rest of you guys will help Four and Tris out, right?" Amar asks. Everyone else nods and he smiles at us. "Tori and I both work their, too, so we'll be around if you ever need anything…" I can feel most of the anxiety flood out of me, just leaving excitement in it's wake.

Later, when I get home, I get a text from the number I saved as Tobias'.

- Can I walk you to school on Monday?

- I don't see why not…

- Great, I'll look forward to it…

- And why would that be?

- How long have you got?

- Pretty long…

- Well, where do I start… You're funny, smart, gorgeous, you understand me, I understand you, and you're the first person I've felt comfortable around since my Mom died…

- Oh wow… that's something…

- So, I can walk you to school?

- I'll look forward to it…

A warm, bubbly feeling grows in my stomach at the possibility of something between us, but so does fear. I haven't been even remotely intimate with anyone since the incident with Robert, so I'm still very wary. Maybe, on Monday morning, I'll introduce Tobias to my Mum, she said, ever since we first met Robert, that something seemed off about him. I'll see if she can feel it with Tobias too.

I don't stay awake much longer after the texting session with Tobias—the meeting finished at 9 o'clock in the evening and by the time I had washed and helped clean with my Mum, it was pushing 11 o'clock.

Monday, 1st September 2014

There's a knock at the door, Mum has gone out shopping so I'm home alone… I walk down the stairs of the new house in Chicago and open the door to be met by the menacing eyes of Robert.

As I try to slam the door shut, his foot stops it… 'Hey, Bea, why so upset, huh? You wanna do some Maths Revision?' I scream out for help, but no-one is around. Robert pushes me up the stairs, holding onto my hips with bruising force. When we get into my room, he rips my clothes off and shoves me down onto the bed. I scream out again, even though I know it's useless. 'Don't worry, Bea, it won't hurt a bit…'

I sit up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily from the intense nightmare I've just had. After gulping down the remains of the pint of water on my desk, I heave myself out from under the covers and into the shower. I don't know how long I stand there, letting the water glide over my body, but I know it must be a while because it starts to turn cold, Mum will not be happy about that… I turn off the faucet and step out of the bathtub that serves as our shower. The new grey towel I wrap around myself is large, and soft, and it dries me quite fast.

After drying off and blowdrying my hair, I plait it down my back in a simple braid, and pull on a pair of old jeans, knees scuffed from years of clumsiness. The tee shirt is old, my brothers, the NASA logo plastered on the front on top of the dull, blue back canvas.

When I get downstairs, I turn on the hob, making myself and my Mum a batch of porridge—cheap and effective. She trudges her way down the stairs ten minutes later, hair ruffled, and picks up the mug of porridge I set out for her. The bell dings as she chews on her first mouthful and I walk over the get it whilst pulling on my old Doc Martens. Tobias' smiling face meets me as I yank open the old door, and then he catches me as the momentum of the act send me nearly on my ass.

"What is it with you and falling over?" he asks, smiling cheekily at me.

"It's a side effect of falling from a tree aged seven. Head injuries will do that to a person…" I smile at his shocked expression, then groan as my Mum butts in.

"You're down playing it immensely, you were in hospital for three weeks."

"That may be, Mother, but you do love to hyperbolise." I reply, dragging Tobias into the house and shutting the door behind him. "Four, this is my Mother, Natalie. Mum, this is Four, the boy from the Support Group I was spending time with last week, you remember?"

"Yes, I remember, I'm not senile yet, Beatrice."

"Mum, it's Tris now, remember?" Four steps in between my Mum and I, offering a hand to her and introducing himself as 'Tobias'.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Mrs…"

"Prior," I supply.

"Actually, no, I'm going back to my maiden name. Ritter," Mum says.

"You didn't tell me that!" I point out.

"Well, now I am. You two should get going, or you'll be late for school," she says, a sly smile on her face as she looks between the two of us.

"Bye then, have a good day, and don't get into too much trouble," I say, hoiking my backpack up onto my shoulder, nearly hitting Tobias in the process. 'Sorry', I mumble, shoving him out of the door and away from my Mother.

"Your Mom seems nice…" Tobias says, as we walk down the street towards the school.

"Oh, she's lovely, a joy to be around, as long as she's not your Mum," Tobias laughs at that, a joyous, boyish, childish laugh that I should hear from a teenager our age, like Tobias, but never do. "You should laugh more, it suits you…" I say, he smiles at me and we continue walking in silence.

"I like your tee shirt," he says as we turn a corner.

"It was my brother's, he gave it to me before we left, said it was so I would remember him, like I could ever forget him…" I smile down at the geeky tee and pull it slightly, stretching it away from my body. "I like your tee shirt, it's very you…" Tobias looks down at his 'Green Day' band tee shirt. He smiles, shrugs and looks back at me.

"I like Punk Rock, what can I say?"

"You don't need to say anything, I'm on the same bandwagon," We smile at each other, but they're wiped off when the school comes into sight. I catch sight of two teens making out against a car and freeze. My palms start sweating and my mind races.

"Are you okay, Tris?" Tobias asks, stepping in front of me.

"I-I"

"Listen, it's okay, you've gone through something terrible, you're entitled to minor freak outs every now and again," he takes hold of my hands gently, and I feel my body relax.

"I'll protect you if you want?" I nod my head and he smiles slightly. "Then, let's get going…" he turns back to the school and starts walking, keeping hold of my hand. As we walk onto school grounds, people look at us, we are the new kids after all. The receptionist at the desk gives us a bored 'Good morning' and two clipboards. We fill them out with our personal information and when we hand them back in, she gives us timetables and locker codes.

"Mine's locker number 103…" I say as Tobias grabs hold of my hand again. We pass another couple getting hands-y in the corridor and I feel myself tense up, but Tobias just whispers caring words to me and pulls me along.

"Mine locker is number… 107, they should be a few away from each other."

After finding our lockers and picking up the textbooks left in there, we make our way to Homeroom. As Tobias is a Senior, he's in a different Homeroom to me, so he says goodbye, pushes a smile onto my face with his thumbs, and walks off. I take a deep breath and open the door to my class.

"Ah, you must be the new student…"