Chapter 10
A/N: Hello! So this chapter has a lot of ballet terminology in it. It is somewhat explained in the text, but if you need more information or would like to understand the text more check out my Pinterest (logan9878)! It has some photos and an article with some videos explaining it as well as some photos to help give you the visual of what I'm thinking while I write. So check that out if you want to and enjoy! :)
Tris POV
I'm lying in bed thinking about everything that has happened in just a week. I started high school. Met Four. Then was completely embarrassed in front of him, which ended in him hugging me. I went to my first high school party and managed to stay in my clothes, even after not wanting to admit who I liked. Then I decided I would teach the JV football team ballet with Christina. What was I thinking?
I roll back towards my alarm clock and it reads 7:03. I decide to get up anyway. I walk into my bathroom, slip of my pajamas and step into the shower. I decide to take a longer, warmer, shower than I usually do because of the extra time I have. I clean my hair and turn off the water. I put my hair in a towel, while I get dressed and put on some light makeup. I finish getting ready and go downstairs for breakfast.
My mom is sitting at the table drinking a mug of hot tea.
"Hey mom." I say, grabbing a mug from the cabinet.
"Hey sweetie, I made biscuits if you want some." She states. I look over and see a pan of biscuits on the counter. I go to the pantry and grab a hot chocolate packet. As I pour my coffee into the mug, followed by the hot chocolate packet, I smile at the thought of Four. I take s small sip of the steaming coffee and grab a small plate and grab a biscuit. I finish my breakfast and go back upstairs to finish getting ready. Once I'm done I go back downstairs and wait on Caleb. He comes down soon and we head to Christina's house, then school.
In the car Christina and I go over the plan for what we want to do with the football team. We assume that most, if not all, have not been in ballet before so we really have to break it down to the basics. We decide on barre routine then some easy combinations. We only have an hour so we're pushing it with our schedule. We're about done as Caleb pulls into the parking lot. We all get out and Christina and I walk together, separating from Caleb. I glance over at him as he starts walking toward a girl. I think she was the same girl I saw him with last week. Hmm.
Christina and I meet up with Marlene, Lynn, Uriah, will, and Al in the coffee cafe. Uriah is talking to Marlene who is drinking coffee. They are sharing a couch. Lynn is listening to music and on phone sitting in a one-person chair. Will is talking to Al who are both sitting on separate 2-person couches. Christina quickly sits next down to Will leaving the only open spot by Al. Great. I sit down and Al smiles at me. Everyone else acknowledges Christina and me with hellos. I feel Al's eyes on me and I purposely look away from him focusing on something else. I know he's going to start talking so before he can, I decide to start a conversation.
"So football game this Friday!" I say trying to get everyone's attention. Christina and Will look at me but Uriah and Marlene are still in their own world.
"Uriah, you're playing right?" I say a little louder. He looks up at me smiling from something he just said to Marlene.
"Playing what?" He asks. He didn't hear me.
"Football game this Friday." I repeat.
"Oh yeah! Are you going?" He asks but looks back at Marlene.
"Um yeah I was planning on it." I look at Christina and she's nodding her head. Uriah looks back at Marlene and I decide to intervene.
"Marlene, do you want to come with Christina and me? Lynn too." I ask, looking at Lynn who still has her earbuds in, not noticing the conversation.
"Yeah, that'd be fun but I don't think Lynn is going to go. She said something about this band-cafe thing." Marlene replies. I see Uriah half smile. I turn my attention to the other couch to my right.
"Will, I forgot to ask. Do you play football?" I question, still trying to avoid Al on my right. Will nods his head no and answers.
"No I play lacrosse, but I'm actually one of the managers of the football team, so I'll be there on the field." He responds. I notice a wave of disappointment cross over Christina's face but is soon replaced with a small smile.
"I'll be playing." Al intervenes, smiling at me.
"Oh, you play football?" I ask Al, trying to look interested but not trying too hard.
"Yeah, a linebacker." He replies still smiling at me.
"Cool." I don't know what else to say but Uriah and Marlene are in their own conversation again as well as Will and Christina. I really wish I was Lynn, I think, sitting awkwardly on the couch. I look at the time on my phone and notice there are still a couple minutes left until the 5-minute warning bell rings. Great. I feel Al's on me again and I get up, grabbing my back pack and start to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Al asks getting up as well.
I'm about to say 'cafe' until I realize he'll probably want to come.
"Bathroom." I lie. His mouth forms an 'O' as he sits back down. I turn around on my heels and start walking away. I smile at myself thinking about my cleverness. I walk to the cafe and stand in line. I think of Four and our run-in last Friday in the cafe line. Why are thinking about him again? Two times already today? It's not even first period! I shake the thoughts out of my head and buy a blueberry muffin. As I pay, the 5-minute bell rings and I decide to just walk to class. I eat my muffin on the way to class and sit down. I'm the first one to get there so I pull out my phone.
"Um excuse me." I hear from a deep voice in front of me. I look up and see a tall guy with shaggy blond hair and blue eyes standing in front of me. He's cute.
"Yes?" I respond maybe a little too late.
"I was wondering what we did yesterday? I was gone." He asks. I don't recognize him but it is the beginning of the school year.
"We turned in the Mesopotamian worksheet that we worked on, on Friday and read Chapter 1 in class." I answer concisely.
"Thank you..." He replies pausing for my name.
"Tris." I fill in for him.
"Tris." He repeats. "I'm Edward. Nice to meet you." He says with a nice smile. I smile back and respond.
"You too." He gives another smile and turns away and walks to his desk. Uriah, Will, and Marlene walk in as the bell rings.
(-/-/\-\-)
"So in this problem, the recessive gene is short while the dominant is tall..." Mrs. Matthews continues with the notes. I hear laughing behind me and turn around to see Peter and his group of friends laughing while he is looking right at me. What is saying? I ignore him and roll my eyes, trying to focus back on Mrs. Matthews. As much as I try I still hear the small laughter behind me. Christina must hear it too because she quickly turns around and glares them down.
"Shut the hell up!" She exclaims. Peter's friends stop laughing but Peter doesn't.
"Why don't you make me?" He spits back.
"Why don't you grow up?" Christina retorts. She turns back around in her chair facing the board again. I hear her groan in annoyance and see her roll her eyes. I'm somewhat able to pay attention for most class but Peter and his friends continue making shushed remarks and laughs. I can't help but think they're about me. No, I know they're about me. Probably my height or my chest. The bell rings, and I pack up and start packing up with Christina. Peter and his friends walk by us.
"12 year old." He mutters with a fake cough, looking at me. His friends start laughing again and he just smiles at me with a devilish smile as they walk out.
"Don't listen to him. He's just an asshole." Christina tells me as we walk out of class.
"Yeah whatever." I mutter separating from her, walking to Spanish. I walk to Spanish quickly and out my head phones in trying to drown out my thoughts with music. It doesn't work out.
I walk into the classroom saying 'Hola' to my teacher as she stands outside greeting everybody. I find my seat and sit down. I put my backpack down and turn up my music as I put my head on the desk. This is better.
I feel someone shove my shoulder lightly and look up, opening my eyes. I see Zeke standing in front of me talking but I can't hear anything he's saying. I take out one of my earbuds and respond.
"What'd you say?" I ask with furrowed eyebrows.
"I asked if you were okay." He says loudly as he sits down.
"Yeah, just tired." I lie.
"Okay." I turn off my music and take out my head phones.
Zeke asks me another question about lasts nights' homework and I end up showing him mine, trying to explain how I got my answers. He says he understands it but I don't know if I believe him. The bell rings and Mrs. Roth walks in and hands out a new vocabulary sheet.
(-/-/\-\-)
I get dressed, avoiding Nita. I don't feel like dealing with her today. I put my hair in a ponytail and walk to the bleachers. Four is sitting in his usual spot with Zeke. I walk over and sit down.
"Hey." Four says to me.
"Hi." Four looks over at Zeke as Zeke nods his head towards me raising his eyebrows. What was that?
"What?" I question.
"Nothing." Four says shortly. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion but Four soon changes the topic.
"So you're teaching the first ballet class today?" He asks me. I nod my head and reply.
"Yep. Christina is going to help me since there are so many guys."
"So what are we going to do, so I can like prepare myself?" Zeke asks me with a small worried look on his face.
"I guess you'll just have to wait and see." I joke. Mrs. Wu comes in and announces we'll be playing basketball again and she starts to split up the teams. We're all separated in different teams and I head to the assigned court. I see Four jog over to Mrs. Wu and starts talking. He looks at me and she nods her head. He starts jogging towards my court.
"What are you doing over here?" I ask with a small smile even though I'm pretty happy he is.
"I'm playing basketball, what does it look like?" He replies with a mischievous smile. I shake my head at him with a smile and we face off the other team. I recognize a couple of the people on our team but don't know their names. I also recognize people on the other team but again, don't recognize them.
Four tips off the ball, hitting it towards a guy on his right. We jog down as the guy dribbles down and makes a lay up. The other team retrieves it and my team jogs back down to the other side of the court. A different guy goes to guard the opponent who is dribbling the ball down. I start to guard a girl who doesn't look very interested in the game and decide to move to a different person. The guy passes it to another guy, who Four is guarding. The guy tries to dribble around him, but gives up and tries for the shot. As he tries, Four jumps up deflecting the ball and grabbing it. The teams start to jog down and he passes the ball to me. He smiles at me as I start to dribble down the court.
A girl comes up to guard me but I quickly pass her and dribble down the side outside the arc. I look for Four but he is on the other side of the court. All my other team mates look like they really don't want me to pass them the ball or are heavily guarded. I decide to try the shot. I shoot the ball and it barely goes in for 3 points. I smile as it goes in and Four catches my view and smiles at me too. The other team gets the ball and we all jog down to the other basketball hoop.
Our team ends up winning. Four and I worked together a lot from assists to just passing to each other. It worked well. When the game was over, he had a coating of sweat over his forehead but it just made him look even better.
"Good game Prior." He states as we walk out.
"You too Eaton." I respond. We split ways and get changed. I take out my hair and shake it out, trying to cool down. I run my hands through it trying to pat it down. I change into some blue skinny jeans and an olive green polyester button up with my sleeves rolled up to my elbows. I quickly lace up my combat boots and head out.
Four is leaning against the white wall, where he usually is. He is staring at the floor, looking like he is deep in thought. I stop in my place and just look at him. He looks different, calm, and thoughtful. I've never seen him like this. He looks up and sees me staring at me. I blush at how he just found me staring at him but his cheek become darker as well.
"Uh ready?" He asks with a hint of awkwardness.
"Yep!" I say. We start walking to the cafe in silence. I wonder what he was thinking about. It must have been important. We reach the cafeteria with no words on the way. We say goodbye and walk to our separate tables. I see Christina so we walk together to the lunch lines. We grab some food and elk back. Soon all of the seats are taken with our friends and we start in a conversation.
"Yeah she's three months pregnant." Marlene says.
"Wait, who are you talking about?" I ask in confusion.
"This sophomore in my study hall." Christina says.
"Sophomre?" I ask in disbelief. That's young.
"Yeah a couple of years ago, there was a freshman pregnant. I remember Zeke telling me about that." Uriah joins in.
"Wow that's really young." I exclaim, out loud this time.
"Welcome to high school." Lynn says. "Where dreams come to die and girls come to become pregnant." Lynn adds on coldly.
"Wow, feeling good today, Lynn?" Marlene asks in sarcasm.
"Very good." She responds back in sarcasm.
The conversation continues on and changes. I stay quiet and continue to ponder the things previously said. The lunch bell rings and we all get up and throw away our trash.
I walk with Four to study hall again in silence. We both decide to actually work on homework since we both have practice after school. I finish my Spanish and English and decide to listen to music for the last 5 minutes of class. Four is working on his Chemistry homework I think. Again I see his focused face. He is writing and reading in complete focus and concentration. I look down before he notices I'm staring at him, again. The bell rings and we gather our stuff.
"I guess I'll see you at... ballet." Four says uneasily.
"See you." I say with a smile. I'm actually kind of excited to see Four try do ballet. I laugh at the sight I have of him in my head and continue walking to geometry.
(-/-/\-\-)
The last bell rings and I say good bye to Uriah and Christina and I walk to the girl locker rooms to get changed. It actually took me forever to figure out what to wear. I quickly decided against the 'leotard and tights' which I would usually wear. I ended up bringing some athletic cropped dark gray leggings and a lighter gray razorback tank top that covers my butt. It was the best I could think of. Christina is in a similar outfit but is wearing a hot pink tank top with longer leggings that reach her ankles. I put my hair up and we grab our water, music, and notebooks.
We walk to the dance room which is used by the dance team and sometimes cheerleading squad. I was surprised to hear there was a designated room, but apparently it used to be an old weight room. The room is large and rectangular with the front wall covered in a long full body mirror. The other three walls are furnished with wooden ballet barres. I go to the stereo and hook in my phone for the music. Christina looks over the notebook again and we hang out for a couple minutes until I see Mr. Max walk in.
"Hello girls." He says, then meets Christina.
"So I'm going to watch this first time to see what you'll be doing and to make sure the boys behave." He states. I become a little nervous, partly because all of the attention will be on me and then because he said 'to make sure they behave'. I knew they probably wouldn't be too thrilled at the thought of ballet, but it can't be that bad, can it?
Suddenly groups of boys start filing into the room. I see s group of older guys (probably sophomores) come in talking and stand to the far right. Then I see Uriah and Edward? Come in with Al trailing behind. The group gives Christina and me a wave and we wave back. Al is smiling at me so I turn around and mess with my phone. Mr. Max is talking to Christina so I pull up a song.
"Tris!" I hear a familiar voice call me from behind. I turn around to see Zeke coming towards me with Four close behind him. There are a couple guys behind Four that I recognize who sit at their lunch table. Four smiles at me as we meet eyes and I smile back.
"Hey guys." I say as a cross the distance between them.
"Are you excited for ballet?" I joke.
"Very." Four answers. Before I can respond I hear a guy groan as he walks in the room with some guys behind him. I look around Four and see Peter with Drew and a couple of guys behind them. I quickly move back in front of Zeke and Four, out of Peter's eyesight.
Four sees my movements and furrows his eyes in slight confusement. I shrug my shoulders trying to brush it off.
"I forgot Peter was on the football game." I say.
"Yeah he's a cornerback. Real dick." Zeke adds.
Soon the room is full and I excuse myself and go back to the front of the room. Christina and I stand next to Mr. Max as he begins talking.
"Okay guys. Today you'll be here for an hour then we'll go out to the fields for another hour. Do good now, and I won't prolong practice on the fields. I will be watching." He pauses as he stares down the entire team. He then gestures to Christina and I and begins again.
"This is Tris and this is Christina. They will be the ones in charge for the next hour. If you give them any trouble, I assure you, you will not play this Friday." He states seriously. He then sits down in a chair in the front of the room. I decide to step forward and begin my own spiel.
"So my name is Tris and Christina and I will be teaching you ballet today." I say nervously.
"If everybody could take a place at the barre, we'll begin." The boys stand there, very confused. They don't know what a barre is, do they?
"The barres are the wooden barres on the wall." I add. They all move to the barres on the three walls. I hear Christina laugh under her breath, which isn't helping. I notice Zeke, Four, and his friends move to the left and Uriah, Edward and Al move to the middle wall. Once all the boys all settled by the barres I start talking again.
"So today we are going to be working on the basics. Is there anyone who has taken ballet before?" I ask with hope. No one says anything so I continue.
"Okay then. I will be talking you through what we are going to do and Christina is going to help demonstrate. Before we begin, we're going to stretch. You can either follow my stretch or stretch on your own." I turn on some a calm piano song and head to the portable barre in the middle of the room. Christina does the same and situates herself on the other side of the barre. I begin the stretching routine on the barre, trying to lessen the intensity for the boys who aren't very flexible. And looking around the room that would be all of them. I move to the ground to do some of the easier stretches like the L-stretch and butterfly. All of the boys follow watching Christina and me. I try to focus on the stretching and not the 30 something guys staring at me. The song ends and I get up, as well as the boys.
"Now that we're stretched, I'm going to go over some of the positions and moves." I exclaim. I quickly teach the five ballet positions, repeating myself multiple times. I see Four in very bad fourth position and try to hold back a laugh.
"We will be incorporating these positions into the combinations so please try and remember them. Ballet is French so most of the terms are French." Christina follows me to the barre and I start demonstrating and explaining the different terms.
"At the barre, the first thing we will do are pliés. Plié means to bend or fold and that is what you are doing with your legs." Christina and I show the move and I further explain the different between a Demi and grande plié.
"Next we will go tendus. A tendu is when you stretch your working leg and point your toes to either the front, side, or back along the floor." I explain while demonstrating. I continue demonstrating and explaining different terms like dégagé, rond de jambe, and grande battement.
"Okay so now we are going to put those moves into a combination. First we are going to do pliés. You are going to start in first and do a Demi then grande plié. You will continue this and do it in second, fourth, and fifth position. Don't worry, Christina is going to be showing you, so watch her and I will be coming around and fixing those who need fixing. Christina moves to first position and I move to turn on the music. She begins the combination and the class tries to follow her. I walk over to the left and start evaluating the boys. The walk down the barre fixing a couple of hands and feet then reach Peter and his stupid group of friends.
"This is so fucking stupid." I hear him try to whisper to his friends. I roll my eyes and deliberately skip over him. I then move to where Uriah, Edward, and Al are.
Four POV
So I'm standing behind Zeke trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing. I'm trying to watch Christina but every time I catch up, she switched positions and it totally throws me off. Zeke looks as stupid as me. I look over at Tris and she's walking along the wall in front of the boys, moving their hands and sometimes feet. She looks so good right now. Those leggings will be the death of me. During her little explanations earlier, I kinda zoned out and just stared at her. I hear her whisper something to a blond guy next to Uriah and they both smile. Who the hell is he? And why is he talking to Tris? Wait why do I care, we're not dating, and I shouldn't care. I roll my eyes me out my attention back on Christina.
I don't even remember what these are called. I see Tris in the mirror, making her way closer to the wall where I'm at. I shape up and focus more on Christina's feet trying to replicate mine. I then hear Tris' soft voice behind me talking to Haiden.
"Make sure you are straightening your legs." She says gracefully. She takes a couple steps and stands to the side of me.
I smile when she sees me and she gives me a small smile, biting her lip. She takes my wrist and moves it a little in front of me. She moves my fingers into a more relaxed look. I feel bursts in my stomach as she holds my hand, fixing it. I think I might just make deliberate mistakes if she gets to fix them. She looks back at me as I continue the routine and I mouth,
"How stupid do I look?" She smiles and holds up her hand pinching the air with her thumb and pointer finger, indicating only a little. I playfully roll my eyes, knowing I look a lot worse than she is saying. She laughs quietly and moves on to Zeke. I still smile as she glances over Zeke's shoulder at me. She fixes his shoulders and moves to the stereo. The song ends and she goes to the center of the room.
"Now we are going to do tendus." She states. What the hell are tendoos again? Ugh this is annoying. She starts to explain a combination with them and I space out. She turns the music back on and moves to the barre and starts with Christina.
Class continues with me becoming frustrated with what Tris and Christina are doing. There are only a couple guys who look like they are doing it right and I am not one of them. Mr. Max is staring down the class, which is not helping anything. After 20 more minutes, Tris calls us to the center and has us spread out in front of the mirror.
"After the barre, we will move to the center to do jumps. We will start with simpler jumps. First you are going to do 8 jumps in first position." As Tris says this, Christina starts jumping. She stops and Tris continues. "Then you will do eight jumps in second position, then eight in fifth position. You're going to repeat this, so a total of 48 jumps." I internally groan. I do not jump. I already know I'm going to look stupid. I start to inch back behind Haiden and Mykel as Tris continues.
"When you jump, you want to use your plié and spring back up. This will make jumping a lot easier and you'll be able to jump higher."
"Remember to point your feet and keep your hands in second position." Christina adds. Tris moves to turn on the music and the guys look apprehensive about this. Tris starts counting down and suddenly Christina starts jumping. Everybody starts jumping and we all honestly look stupid. No one is in sync and Christina is the only one who knows what she is doing. She switches positions and we all follow. After the first round, I notice most of the guys are slowing down and barely getting off the ground. Once we finish, all the guys are breathing heavily and trying to catch their breath. Christina is standing there like she just woke up from a nap.
"Harder than you think, huh?" Mr. Max exclaims, getting up from his chair.
"Okay guys, hours up, we're moving to the field. Please thank Tris and Christina for doing this, we'll be doing this every week on Tuesdays and Wednesday's." Great two times a well I'll be making a fool of myself in front of Tris.
All the guys mumble 'thanks' and head out to go get changed. I walk up to Tris.
"Thanks Tris." I say with a small smirk. "You too Christina." I add as I see Christina staring at me behind Tris waiting for a 'thanks' too.
"Your welcome Four. You did good." She exclaims with a laugh as she retrieves her water bottle and phone.
"I feel like you're lying to me Prior." I reply as we walk out of the room, following the rest of the football team.
"Maybe Eaton." She says with a smile. God, I've never had a larger urge to kiss someone right now. She waves as she walks into the locker rooms and I just laugh to myself.
"Told you guys." Zeke yells in front of me. I look up and he is walking backwards laughing at me with Haiden and Mykel walking forwards with their heads turned towards me. They're laughing too.
I flip him off and return my face to the blank face that Zeke says is intimidating. He controls his laughter and turns around. We walk to the football locker rooms and get changed for the fields.
Practice goes slow, as I'm already tired from the ballet class. That was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Peter was complaining about it again and even said some shit about Tris. It took everything in me to not go over to him and slam him into the locker rooms. Zeke saw this in my face and shook his head at me, silently telling me not to do what I'm thinking. I get dressed and head out.
Tris POV
After I say goodbye to Four, I get by dance shoes and drink some water. I can't believe how well I did that. Christina even mentioned how she thought I did well too. She knows I don't like attention on myself. Seeing Four helped calm my nerves, especially watching him jump. That was funny.
Christina and I hurry back to the dance room for the call-backs of dance team. There are already a couple girls there stretching. I sit down and stretch again. Shauna comes in with a friend and we say hello. Soon the coach and assistant coach come in and we begin.
A/N: So there it is! Somewhat long chapter with changing POV during the story! I've been wanting to do that forever. I just realized that I started this story exactly one month ago! With 5,600 views, 40 followers, 20 favorites, and 10 reviews… thank you all! I honestly didn't start writing this for the hobby of writing but because I wanted to give my own twist of FourTris. I can't wait until they get together, and thanks for sticking with me! I'll be updating soon (I finally have a break)! So review, follow, read, and stay awesome!
Disclaimer: Wouldn't that be cool if I owned the Divergent Series?