A/N: Yep, here's the truth or dare chapter that we have all been waiting ages for. Also, I hate my Eric. Which means I've done a good villain.
CONTENT WARNING: General creepiness, mentions of drug use, old music.
"What's your favorite animal?"
Peter took a strawberry from the bowl sitting on his bed and pretended to look pensive. "A chihuahua puppy." His enthusiasm and the tone of his voice were fake.
Caleb scoffed. "Favorite thing to do when bored?"
"Read Seventeen magazine, of course!"
They both laughed. Caleb's lips still tingled from the kiss. He wanted to do it again.
"Hey, catch this," said Peter. Caleb nodded, and opened his mouth while Peter tossed a strawberry. It landed on Caleb's neck.
Peter shook his head.
"Watch this."
Using an intricate routine of movements of the head and body, Caleb moved the strawberry to the tip of his chin. Then he stuck his tongue out and gathered the strawberry into his mouth using it.
Peter laughed. "What else can you do with your tongue?"
Caleb shrugged. "It's getting late. Maybe I can show you tomorrow."
Caleb returned home later than usual.
Tris heard him come in, shivering from the current of evening wind that followed his opening and closing the door. He was smiling, looking down at his phone.
"It's seven-forty-five," she said.
He looked up, seeming only slightly alarmed. "Have you already had dinner?"
She nodded. "Mom and Dad worked late, they'll be home any minute now."
Maybe she should get a tutoring job. She could see Tobias on weeknights. But then again, his dad was apparently a douchebag.
The only sounds in the house were the running TV and Caleb's shower water when their parents returned.
They both bid her goodnight without a word, which normally would have alarmed Tris, but ever since it happened, she had been paying less and less attention to them. They seemed quieter, but she had no time for silence. Certainly they'd noticed the change in her clothing and her demeanor, but they made no comments about it.
Tris realized then that her life was very different now than it was two weeks ago. So much happened in that short period of time from the party to now. So much happened to Caleb, as well.
She had noticed changes in everyone. Even Eric. She had seen him grab hold of Peter in the cafeteria the previous day.
Everything was changing. But maybe, it was good.
"Okay, everyone, truth or dare."
They ate lunch outside that day. It was hot and stuffy in the cafeteria, anyways. Tobias sat next to Tris, who sat next to Christina, then Will, then Caleb, then Peter, then Uriah.
"You know the rules," decreed Christina. "You ask the person to your left. If you pass, you have to remove a piece of clothing."
"I'll ask first," Will volunteered. "Christina, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Who was your first kiss?"
She gave him a disbelieving look, then rolled her eyes. "It was Robert McVeigh. In sixth grade. He kissed me by the monkey bars."
Peter clapped. She glared at him.
"Tris," Christina began, "truth or dare?"
"Dare," she said proudly. Tobias smiled. She was fierce.
"I dare you to... cartwheel across the cafeteria."
"Okay," she agreed. "Come and watch."
They all got up and stood outside the window, watching Tris complete the dare. She attracted some strange looks, but when she cartwheeled back out, everyone clapped. She curtsied, blushing. It felt good to be praised, thrilling even.
They all sat back down on the grass. Their order was somewhat screwed up. Tris now sat next to Caleb.
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to read your last text that you received."
"Fine." He pulled out his phone and pressed the screen a few times - a few too many times to be believed. "'You're cute.'"
"Who's it from?" asked Peter, smirking. Tobias noticed something different in Peter's air - he asked a bit too quickly. Like he was planning it.
Caleb rolled his eyes and set his phone down. "Just some girl in my P.E. class. She said she wanted homework help, but apparently not."
Laughter broke out. Uriah catcalled.
"Peter, truth or dare?" Caleb asked.
"Truth."
"Who was your first?"
Peter smiled. "This girl in eighth. Her name was Kayla. She goes to Truman now. But she was really good, and she smelled nice."
"How old were you?" asked Christina, bewildered.
He shrugged. "Like, fourteen. And lonely."
Peter had lost his virginity at fourteen? Tobias felt embarrassed. He was eighteen and still a virgin.
"Uriah," Peter said quickly, "truth or dare?"
"Dare," he said proudly.
"Um… I dare you to teabag that nerd," he said, pointing to someone in the distance.
She was a small girl of about Tris' size with blonde hair and square glasses. She looked down as she walked.
Tris looked hurt when she stared back at Peter. Caleb was staring at him too, but with admiration, even curiosity. Tobias shook his head. Strange.
"Fine," Uriah agreed. They watched him walk up to her, take her hands, and swing her between his legs.
Laughter erupted from across the field.
Tobias remembered how he had run into Tris on the day of his party, and how everyone had laughed then. It was exactly the same, he realized.
Peter high-fived Uriah when he came back.
Tobias looked back to the girl, who was still walking off, looking at the ground. Tris looked down in the same way.
He felt terrible.
"This one's 'Turn Blue', it just came out last week."
Peter, chewing on a piece of gum, handed Caleb his headphones. They were hooked up to his computer, which was on iTunes. Caleb sat on Peter's bed.
The room smelled like marijuana and lavender, two strange smells that mixed to form the one he associated with Peter.
The other boy twirled around like Stevie Nicks, strangely in time with the song that he couldn't hear.
He walked up to Caleb and leaned in. Once the song ended, Peter changed it, his chest centimeters from Caleb's face.
He unhooked the headphones and the boys sat down on the bed. The song changed from an escalating psychedelic track to hard-rock madness.
"What is this?" Caleb asked.
"Technically, it's Jeff Beck," answered Peter. "But it's a studio collaboration between Jeff Beck and all the other famous rock stars of the age."
Peter's eyes lit up when he talked about music. Caleb liked that.
"Like who?"
"Uh… Keith Moon on drums. Maybe John Paul Jones on keyboard or bass. Jimmy Page is playing guitar. Yeah, some early members of Led Zeppelin."
Caleb leaned in and kissed Peter. He kissed back, hard.
"It's hot in here."
Tris looked at the clock. It read "9:24".
She crossed her arms in front of her and began to pull off her shirt, leaving her in just a black bra and panties. She wished, secretly, that Tobias could see her.
She flushed all the way down to her stomach. How silly she must have looked, blushing all alone in her room, in her unmentionables. Good thing no one could see her.
But her window was wide open. Tris was suddenly overcome with the feeling that she was being watched. Shaking, she shuffled over to the window.
She heard a laugh, familiar and menacing.
A shiver ran down Tris's spine. She saw a pair of binoculars, the reflected light of her window being the only thing she could see. But she looked closer, and she saw the Peeping Tom's figure.
Pale skin, black clothing and greasy black hair.
Pain shot through her, and her heart was beating uncontrollably. She stammered back, tears forming behind her eyes. He saw her.
She had never felt so exposed. No, that wasn't right. She had felt that exposed before. During the party.
Tris sank to the floor and let herself cry. She didn't feel shameful this time. Sobbing lifted a weight off of her shoulders, a weight that had been there for nearly two weeks.
Tobias awoke to the clatter of dishes striking each other. He heard water running, felt the plumbing in the house resound.
He listened to the sounds of his father's odd three-in-the-morning chores. He heard the TV running, and some hushed voices. Occasionally he'd hear the noise of a club hitting a ball, and someone yelling "PAR!". Golf.
He clenched his teeth, awaiting eagerly the moment when he would hear the sound of the door slamming, the sound of his father leaving. That was his favorite part of every morning.
The sound of his phone vibrating caught him off guard. It was a text from Peter.
we need to talk
Tobias rolled his eyes. Knowing Peter, he was probably just high out of his mind and wanted to tell Tobias how much he loved him.
Don't text me when you're high. Stop listening to Arctic Monkeys.
The response came a minute or so later. im straight. actually its kind of about that. but mostly its about eric.
Tobias sighed. Where should I meet you?
outside the cafeteria doors. like 730.
AM, Peter clarified a few seconds later.
Tobias' phone told him it was 4:13. Why are you up this early?
im a paranoid teenager and im thinking about someone. id ask the same about you but im not nosy.
You're an idiot.
i know
Tobias smiled and set his phone down.
Peter was standing on his tiptoes, shifting his weight nervously when he saw Four coming toward him.
"What's up?" Four asked him, digging his hands into his pockets.
Peter coughed nervously and surveyed the area, making sure Eric wasn't around. "It's about Eric."
"He's a douchebag, what about it?"
Peter coughed again, breathed deeply to keep his composure. He lunged toward Four, grabbing the other boy's hand with one of his, and taking his shoulder with the other. He pressed Four to the wall and looked around again, his breathing speeding up inevitably.
Four's eyes narrowed. "Are you high?"
"I wish."
"What is it about Eric? Did he say something to you? Did he threaten Caleb or Tris?"
"Four, I'm… I'm kind of…"
Four nodded, encouraging Peter to go on.
"Caleb and I are kind of… going out. Okay? But you can't tell anyone. Haze me or call me a fag or whatever, I like him a lot."
Four just nodded again, not even saying a word about it. "And what about Eric?"
"He… basically, he wants me to 'pay' for ditching his little douche-gang. He said if I don't, Caleb and I will pay. I think he's going to hurt…" Peter paused. "He's going to hurt Caleb, or me, or Tris. I don't think he's going to hurt you. He'll probably just hurt Caleb, because it'll make me miserable and Tris miserable, and her being miserable will make you miserable. He probably wants to see you cry or feel suicidal or something. He thinks that's payment."
Peter said this all without skipping a breath. Four stared at him, his mouth wide open.
Peter struggled to breathe again, his throat closing up like he was choking. He coughed again and suppressed his tears as best he could.
He felt Four's hand on his shoulder.
"What if he already started?" Peter hated himself for how needy he sounded, like he was pleading. He and Four were on the same team, or so he thought.
A/N: Don't you just ship Peter and Caleb so hard? I know I do.
QOTC (Question of the Chapter): If given the chance, how hard would you punch Eric?