**Holy guacamole! This chapter took me a very long time to write. This is a BRAND NEW CHAPTER! So for anyone who read my original chapters 1-11, this is technically chapter 6.5. Well, I mean now it's chapter 7, but whatever :)
I realized that I skipped right over this wonderful holiday, and so I decided to add a Halloween chapter. It gives us some more FourxTris development and its a little tense here. Hope you enjoy!
I mention character ages in here, specifically Four. Just remember before you comment on it, this is a modern day story, so I decide his age and birthday. I'm keeping Tris and Four in the same two-year-apart in age. In this chapter it tells of Four being 23. Tris at the present moment is 20. Her birthday will come in the spring time of this story.
Reminder: If you had read this story when I first uploaded chapters 1-11 back in late 2014, they will be slightly updated now so I would recommend rereading the whole thing.**
Tris POV - Friday, October 31st
When Halloween rolls around everyone seems to be in the spirit. Not to mention it's on a Friday this year, and Halloween on Friday the 31st might as well be a Friday the 13th to a lot of people. Normally, people on campus just wear black, witch hats, capes, and masks. There have been a few people who decide to go all out in costume. They always make me smile.
I've always liked Halloween, ever since I was little. It was my favorite holiday for the longest time. But Thanksgiving quickly took over the spot of favorite holiday because the food was magnificent. Mom made the best turkey soup as leftovers and Dad's gravy was to die for.
All those cheesy Halloween movies never really scared me. I could almost always guess who the bad guy was under the mask, and it was really fun trying to guess who was going to die next. Caleb used to get so upset whenever I guessed the ending and turned out to be right. Mom just said I was very observant.
But another thing I loved about Halloween was dressing up and becoming someone I'm not. It was a way for me to express my inner Vampire/Witch/Gypsy/Princess/Pirate at the time. One time I went as batman. My dad thought it was a little weird and Caleb teased me about it, but my mind was set. My mom helped hem the cape for me and fixed my suit in place since it was meant for a boy. I loved having a secret identity. Now, I love it for a completely different reason.
Getting free candy was always a bonus. My dad would go with Caleb and me to different houses. Mom would stay home making caramel apples, baking pumpkin seeds and handing out candy to other children. She always dressed up as the same thing: a modest Marilyn Monroe.
I don't know what happened to the costume after she died. But I try not to think about it too much.
Christina also loves this holiday. She takes every opportunity she can to try out new looks and has an excuse to go shopping. That means I get dragged along with her. We hit up four different stores offering Halloween costumes and decorations. She bought herself a pair of bunny ears, tail and a leotard all in black. Then she grabbed a pair of $2 vampire fangs.
"Vampire bunny?" I asked her with a strange look.
"There's a first time for everything." She smiled right back.
"More like a sexy version of the killer bunny from that Monty Python movie." The pimple faced teenage boy said as he stocked the shelves with face paint and tights. Christina smacked him. I had to suppress a smirk.
I looked through the different costumes and was hoping for something a little more… well, less revealing. Since we wouldn't be dancing on Halloween, we would be at the diner all night. Max was more than okay with us dressing up. My first Halloween there I would have said he was more excited that we were dressing up than we were.
Christina held up multiple costumes for me to try on, but I turned them all down: Slutty Nun, Slutty Pumpkin, Slutty UPS girl, Slutty Alice in Wonderland, Slutty Firefighter.
Then I found it. The last one in my size and it was perfect. A Harry Potter costume. It completely satisfied my inner book nerd. It really looked just like a female school outfit. It came with a white button down under shirt, gray sweater, red and yellow striped tie for Gryffindor House, gray plaid skirt that came to my knees, and then black socks with an accent of red. There was an optional wand and glasses to buy, but no black robe. That's okay with me. I bought the costume with the wand.
Christina rolled her eyes at my choice, but was content that I had picked something with a skirt.
I didn't wear my costume to school, even though Christina said I should. I just wore a tasteful black long sleeved dress, denim jacket and purple scarf to hide my tattoo.
Susan was on the bus this morning as I left for campus. She was wearing her mother's old witch hat and robe. Both Susan and her mother loved Halloween. They held a party every year the weekend before. It included costume contests, bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving, karaoke, and at least one scary movie.
"Morning Susan."
She smiles at me. "Good morning Beatrice."
I haven't seen Susan dress up for Halloween since her mother died. I knew Mrs. Black would wear this exact outfit when she was escorting people in Abnegation. I'm pretty sure Susan doesn't know she wore this to work, and I won't be the one to tell her. I don't want to ruin every memory she has of her mother.
"You're not dressed up?" She asks me casually.
"No. I will be later."
Her eyes harden at me like what I said wasn't funny.
I roll my eyes. "I'm not doing that tonight. I'll wear a costume at the diner."
Her face softens. "Oh. I'm sorry for thinking otherwise."
I wave her off. "Susan you don't need to apologize for every bad thought you have about other people. You'll go crazy."
Rather than argue as any other human being would do. Susan smiled as though it were a compliment. "It's just who I am I suppose. I can't help it."
I only nodded, not really understanding her reasoning for always looking on the bright side of things.
Finally arriving at campus was a different story. There were a lot of girls dressed up in more revealing outfits, many of them Freshman. It was a little disturbing that they'd want to do something like that. Then again, I shouldn't be saying too much on the subject.
Thankfully Professor Thompson's eyes were on every girl in the class today. Lots of them were dressed a little sluttier than normal, especially with the cold windy weather we've been having. He stops at me occasionally, and it's almost as though I see a slight anger in his eyes. Almost as though he's upset I didn't dress up. What'd you expect?
English is a little more interesting. Amar has dressed up as a lumber jack. He says he's the huntsman from Little Red Riding Hood, but we can't really tell the difference.
To many of the girls' disappointment, Four the T.A. is not dressed up. He wears a simple black button down shirt and a dark pair of jeans.
Christina wears her bunny ears, but not the tail nor the leotard to school.
Amar gives extra credit to those who went all out.
We begin to engage in a class discussion about the most horrific Shakespeare story of all, at least according to Amar: Romeo and Juliet. Apparently with dump-truck loads of sarcasm, this is the scariest of stories. Two young kids not controlled by their parents go and have sex. Terrifying. Then they die, moral of the story: don't have sex because you'll die. Then Amar passed out black, orange, and pumpkin flavored condoms as our Halloween treats. Then he showed us a video of a group of kids who redid a version of Romeo and Juliet, but did it horribly and in a frighteningly funny way. Just about everyone in the class laughed until their sides hurt. Christina's laugh was the loudest by far.
I try not to look his way too much, really I do. But I know why all the other girls stare blatantly at him. He is a fine specimen of a man. Obviously built under his clothes, his angular jaw frames his face, and his spare upper lip is nearly invisible compared to his full lower lip. His hair has gotten a little longer since the beginning of the year, and it's starting to curl. I like it. I know I shouldn't. But I like it.
Then his eyes meet mine, and I tear my gaze away. My cheeks burn red.
Thankfully Christina hustles to get out of the classroom, but she wouldn't leave me. I think.
"What's the hurry?" I ask once we're on our way down the stairs and out of the building.
"No hurry. Why would you think that?" Her voice shakes ever so slightly. I narrow my eyes at her, but don't push it. Unlike Chris, I don't need to know everything that goes on in other people's lives.
Her eyes light up and there's more of a spring in her step as we get closer to her building. I feel Christina grip my arm suddenly, but just as quickly, she lets go. She looks nervous, which is odd. Christina is never nervous. Not even for her first dance at Dauntless. She was ready to go and ready to give it all she had. This is new territory for me.
"Beatrice!" Robert's voice finds me from behind.
"And this is where I leave you." Christina say with a smirk on her face. Then she turns and skips into her building. She's way too happy.
"Hey Robert." I say. I haven't seen much of him since the first few days of class. He's dressed like a complete jock.
"Hey!" He wraps me up in a big hug. He's always been friendly. "I don't have much time. Volunteering at a high school track meet." Oh. "Just wanted to wish you happy Halloween and tell you to not get into too much trouble tonight." He hands me a piece of candy and runs off.
I look at the candy in my hand. It's a Twix. My favorite. I look back to Robert's direction, but he's already heading down and around the block.
I don't normally eat candy, but today is the one day I make an exception. Valentine's day candy is okay, but this is the really good stuff. Because having a pumpkin on the wrapper rather than a heart makes all the difference.
The diner is not crowded when I get there. My costume was dropped off earlier by Christina. Shauna is a fortune teller, Matthew is a pirate (like every year) and David doesn't dress up. He never says much as it is, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't like holidays in general.
I go to the back room and change into my Hogwarts school uniform. I even braid my hair down my back and put the wand down my sock. It seems like a reasonable place for a witch to hide her wand. Can't exactly have a purse for it.
Shauna squeals at my outfit, like she always does. She's called me the grim Barbie before. Lynn would add "boobless" to the title. She's also excited because she can never get me to dress up usually. She and Christina both share this frustration. Halloween I make an exception.
I wrap my apron around my waist and set to work. The lights are dimmed in here and spooky music is playing over the speakers. Around 8pm the fog machine will turn on outside the front door and candles will be lit in the windows.
"There's a group coming in at six tonight."
"To do what?" I ask Shauna.
"Kids pumpkin carving." She smiles.
"Really? That sounds like something they'd do at Amity."
She nods. "I know. But we're having one here. I get to supervise." She smiles bringing food to a table. Supervising a bunch of sugar-high kids? No thanks. I'll happily leave that to Shauna. She's the one who loves kids anyway. Lynn mentioned that Shauna has been having a baby-crazy mind recently, I hope she's being careful with whatever is going on with Zeke.
Edward comes in an hour later and orders his usual. He's surprisingly calm tonight as far as the grabbing and sexual innuendos go. Maybe he's found another girl with which to lay on his attitude. Secretly I hope so. Unfortunately I have to give him a discount on his meal since he's dressed up; Max's policy. He mentions with a sly smile that he's an escaped convict looking for trouble. He wears an orange jump suit and hasn't shaved recently so he could pull it off. But then he leaves without any real antagonizing. Even Christina gives him a weird look when he leaves.
So far, it looks like my day has been pretty lucky.
Then the dinner rush happened. It was absolutely insane. The group of kids that arrived for Halloween activities was wild and out of control. Shauna looked like she was about to start pulling her hair out. Then their parent's started to send out warnings to the kids and they quieted down. The diner was packed even without the kid party. A line of ten groups waiting for a seat by the door and every table and bar stool was full. Harrison was on guard tonight and was considering calling Molly, but Cara stopped him and reminded him that Molly hated kids. She'd through a fit.
Lynn went around and helped light the candles in the window and Matthew dimmed the diner lights even more. Spooky music played and the fog machine was turned on outside.
As it starts quieting down, the group of kids leaving helped a lot, everyone had a seat and we were allowed to take a short break. Christina collapsed in the locker room and was snoring instantly. Shauna and Lynn were sitting at the counter, and Cara was sitting down by the register at the front of the building fanning herself with a menu.
I sat in one of the back booths sipping on a water and doing some homework.
The front door opened and two men walked in. Both in black, one dressed up. My heart beat sped up at the sight of the second one.
"Shauna. I vant to suck your blood!" The shorter of the two walked over to Shauna and poked her sides. She squeaked in alarm and turned around slapping him in the face. Then she got all embarrassed and obviously felt horrible when she realized it was Zeke. Vampire Zeke.
Soon they were laughing as Lynn gave them some space. I glanced over at Harrison worriedly, but to my surprise, he was smiling at them, got up and left the room. Maybe he's not so bad after all.
Christina is awake just moments later and out serving Zeke like she wasn't just asleep. She made some comment that embarrassed Shauna because soon Shauna punched her in the arm. We call it her "inner-Lynn" which only comes out in times like this. Zeke just laughed and threw an arm around her shoulders. Christina whined, but not in way that made others think she was just asking for attention. Shauna doesn't get violent often, but when she does, it hurts.
"And what are you supposed to be?" Lynn asked looking over at Four. He was wearing black jeans, and a black long sleeved shirt that made his chest muscles stand out like crazy. I had to try really hard not to look too long.
"Nothing." He said almost sounding annoyed.
"Shocker." She replied quietly. He didn't even acknowledge her.
"He's not here for Halloween." Zeke says happily. "He's here for birthday cake!"
Shauna looks over at Four quickly. "It's your birthday?"
"No." He says, looking like he would be anywhere else besides here.
"It was yesterday, little man turned 23!" He smiles brightly. Four looks annoyed.
"Who you calling little Zeke? Four is older and taller than you." Shauna laughs.
Zeke straightens out. "One, he's only older than me by three months. Two, he's less than half a foot taller than me… so I can't really argue… I don't really know where I was going with that." He looks confused up at the ceiling as though it held the answers. Shauna laughed and Cara chuckled.
"Zeke, you just need some cake. You'll feel better." Shauna says almost lovingly and sits him and Four down at the counter.
He smiles. "Absolutely. It's not Halloween looking cake today though right?"
"What do you mean?" Lynn asks from behind the counter. "Halloween cake?"
"Like orange and black frosting, pumpkins, witches and stuff on the cake." He says using his hands to help shape the invisible cake he's talking about. Four grunts.
"No, just regular cake. Chocolate or vanilla?" Shauna asks.
"Chocolate for sure!" Then he leans in close to her, and nods towards Four. "He doesn't like Halloween that much." Zeke offers.
"You don't like Halloween?" I find my voice rising in question. Everyone looks over at me. Four looks surprised.
"No." He says, his eyes holding mine.
"Why not?" I challenge. "You get to dress up and be something you're not for a day."
He doesn't answer me this time. He just holds my gaze, hard and almost sorrowful. Zeke quickly changes the subject which makes me think he knows why Four isn't answering me.
I get up from the booth as Zeke goes on talking about classes and absurd homework given out over this weekend.
Matthew is waiting in the kitchen with two slices of cake ready in each hand.
"Does he want a candle?" He teases.
I smirk. "I don't think he's a candle kind of guy."
Zeke smiles at me when I bring out the cake and dives into his when I set his down. Shauna laughs and tells him to slow down before he chokes.
"Have you ever stolen something?" I hear Christina ask.
Four glares at her. "No. Why?"
"You could be a burglar?" She offers a little quieter.
He grunts and continues to scowl. What is his deal?
"You don't have to be such a dick you know." I say standing in front of him, holding his cake in my hand. Everyone looks at me and seems to all take a step back at the glare fest going on between the two of us.
"Why I am the way I am is none of your business."
"You're right. It's not. But when you take your attitude problems out on my friends, don't expect me to stand by and watch you get away with being a jerk." I snap.
He doesn't break my gaze, which is intimidating, thrilling, and terrifying all at the same time. I can feel my blood heating up, for more than just being angry with him. Angry with myself, confused, and a little turned on if I admit it. Which I won't.
Shauna clears her throat, and Zeke looks at me with a small frown, like a puppy frown. I look back at Four and see he has hung his head now. His hair looks soft. Stop looking at it.
I take a deep breath and will myself to calm down. "You could be a shadow." I offer as I set his slice of cake down in front of him.
"A what?" His brow furrows in confusion.
"A shadow. You're dressed in all black. It's something rather than nothing." I take a step back. "Happy birthday by the way."
Before he can answer I turn and walk back to the kitchen.
About an hour later, Zeke and Four are about to leave, as group of three guys come in clearly drunk. One is dressed as a police officer, another is a surfer dude, and the third is a banana. They sit down at a booth and I go to take their order.
"You're like the chick from the Harry Potter stuff." The surfer slurs.
"Nah she had brown hair." The banana offers. "Curly too."
"Wasn't there a blonde though?"
"She was crazy hot!"
"Crazy weird too."
The police officer finally says something. He's not as drunk as the other two. "I don't think you're that bad looking. Pretty. Hot even if you'd let your hair free. I bet it's soft."
"My suit is soft." The banana feels his costume with a look on his face as though he just discovered the universe, and starts laughing.
The police officer doesn't look at his friend. Just at me.
"What can I get for you?" I ask politely.
"Three coffees, black for me." The police officer says. Banana wants crème and surfer wants two sugars.
"Be right out." I say to them and walk back to the kitchen.
Christina is smiling at me. "You've got an admirer Tris." She nods towards the table. I don't turn around. "He's cute. Just saying."
"He's also drunk."
"Not that drunk." She says.
I can sense eyes on me as I walk to and back from the kitchen with their coffees. But it's not just the police man looking at me. Zeke and Shauna are whispering to each other while their eyes steel quick glances at me.
"Here are your coffees." I set them down on the table. The banana now looks like he's ready to pass out.
"Do you have a wand with that outfit?" The surfer asks.
I put my hands on my hips. "Yes." Not exactly sure where this was going.
The policeman smirks. "Want to see my wand?" The surfer barks out laughing. I can feel my cheeks turning slightly red. "Better yet, mind if I Slytherin to your bed?"
I can hear Zeke snort with laughter and murmur to Shauna, "I like this guy."
I'm not really in the mood to play along. "What's your name officer?"
His smile widens. His aviators lift slightly as his nose crinkles. "Anthony Harkin, and yours?"
I forgot for a moment that I didn't have my name tag on my costume, and was briefly thankful. "I'm afraid that's privileged information. You don't have a high enough clearance to get that."
"I have handcuffs in my car. They're good for more than just locking people up."
My eyes roll so hard it hurts.
"No thank you." I say as politely as I can. "Is there anything else I can get you?"
"You've already put a love spell on me." Anthony says leaning a little closer. "What's the name of the spell?"
I can't contain my snort. "If you knew anything about Harry Potter, you'd know it was a love potion, not a spell. Now if you'll excuse me." I walk away with a more than normal swing in my hips. Banana is still howling with laughter feeling up his own suit. Surfer is dead in his coffee. Police officer Anthony is quiet.
"Hmm girl you're passing up an opportunity." Christina says watching them behind me.
"You go for it." I offer.
She shrugs. "I would if it weren't for…" Then, her beautiful chocolate skin turns pale.
"Chris?" I ask quietly. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah." Her voice shakes a little. "Perfect." More even now. She bites her lip hard for a moment as if that's the only thing keeping her from talking.
"If it weren't for what Chris?"
"You're right, they're too drunk." She plays it off easily.
I frown at her. That's not what she was going to say. "That's never stopped you before."
She snaps. "Jesus Tris leave me alone. It's not that big of a deal anyway." Christina pushes past me and goes back to the locker room. No one asks me what it was about.
"Well I think it's time for us to go." Zeke says finally making his way over to the door. "Gotta party to hit up tonight."
"Wish I could go." Shauna says sadly. Zeke's mood changes instantly as he sees her in a non-happy state. Without even thinking about it, he throws his arms around her and hugs her. I was surprised he didn't ask her why she couldn't take the rest of the night off, but maybe Shauna has told him a little about what her life here entails.
Four stands up and walks over to them at his own pace. "No parties for you?" Lynn almost sneers at him as he walks by her.
"No." Is all he says, and then walks out. Zeke follows shortly after.
The banana, surfer, and police officer don't stay after their coffee is gone. Some party and chicks to bang they claim. Officer Anthony winks at me on his way out. I pretend not to notice. Shauna is in a good mood the rest of the night. Christina seems to have forgiven me, or at least she has forgotten that it happened. I know she'll tell me in time. She can't keep much a secret.
I can't decide how I feel about Four. He's handsome, mysterious, and smart. But he's also a dick when he's grumpy. Half of me wants him to take his shirt off and be a fucking dancer for Halloween, but the other half wants to punch him in the neck.
Boys are stupid.
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