Chapter Fourteen:
A/n: I managed to find some inspiration for chapter fourteen, so here I am. I noticed my author's note from chapter thirteen was somehow moved into the middle of it, so I'm sorry for that. After this chapter, we've only got six more, unless you want me to write a sequel. If so, cast your vote via review, so I can start planning for it. While we're on the subject, thanks to Potatobaby, Charms22, and Anonymous Girl Gamer for reviewing, and 2fast4u2 for favoriting and following. Now, on with the chapter.
Disclaimer: I'm not Veronica Roth; Divergent doesn't belong to me.
Chapter fourteen: Returning To Reality
When I'm finally discharged from the hospital, Mom drives us home. By us, I mean Tobias and I. Apparently, Marcus and Carol went on a business trip and didn't want him to be home alone, and he wanted to keep an eye on me, so to speak, so Mom offered to let him stay over, much to Caleb's dismay.
Caleb is doing outpatient rehab at the Sunnybrooke Rehabilitation Center, and has mostly recovered his intellectual ways; the ones he lost after his junior year. He's concentrating on being able to go through his Freshman year of college without drugs or alcohol. Along with his intelligence returning, so has his overprotective streak. But in the end, his dismay over Tobias staying with us was overshadowed by my parents.
When Mom pulls in, I slide out of the backseat, and wait for Tobias to join me by the car door. When he finally does, we make our way up the porch steps, and through the doors. The dogs pounce on me and I pet them, before heading upstairs, followed by Tobias. He drops his suitcase off at the guest room and meets me in my room, where I'm staring at a photo Tori snapped a few weeks ago. Shauna and I are in the front, with Lynn, Will, and Marlene behind us, and Zeke, uriah, and Tobias, Zeke, Uriah, and Christina in the back. We're all smiling at the camera, for once at peace with our fates. Another photo is the group chat, and I click it, unsure what exactly it is. The new photo shows what's left of the group, minus me. Christina looks like she's been crying, Tobias is five shades paler than he was when I woke up, Marlene is sobbing into Uriah's shoulder, Shauna looks pissed, Zeke is trying to comfort her, and Lynn's face betrays no emotions. The caption under it reads: Picture Taken by Tori Wu. After a student's father orchestrates a school shooting, killing three, injuring ten. The message under it is from Christina, and it reads, She's just like him. I'll bet five bucks on it.
Tobias a-es into the room to find me losing it. He rushes to me, and takes me into his arms. He gently pries the phone from my grasp, and stares at it for a minute before locking it, and dropping it next to him. "It's not your fault." he whispers.
"Yeah, it is." I say, voice shaking.
"Did you tell your father to shoot that gun?"
"No! Of course not! But..."
"No buts, Tris. You didn't cause this. And Christina's wrong. She's wrong. Do you hear me? She's wrong."
"How do you know?"
"Because," Tobias says, forcing me to look him in the eye, "if you were, you wouldn't be crying over it right now. You wouldn't blame yourself for it. You wouldn't have stood up to him. And I wouldn't love you."
His last statement draws me up short. It's rare for my parents to say that, because they believe actions speak louder than words, and Caleb never says it. I've been taught that the words "I love you" have serious connotations, and shouldn't be taken lightly.
"I love you, too." I say, leaning my forehead against his shoulder. His hands run up and down my back, helping soothe me.
"We have to go back to school tomorrow." I say, remembering the dreaded fact.
"No, we don't. If you're not ready, we don't."
"I don't want to, but I feel like I need to."
"Okay. We'll get through this, Tris."
"Thanks, Tobias."
"No problem, Tris. I'm have for you, no matter what."
"Thanks."
The rest of the day passes in a blur, from meeting up with Bianka and Isis for coffee, to having a screaming match with Caleb over the bottle of beer in his hand, to the awkward and forced dinner conversation, and before I know it, I'm getting ready for bed. This is the part I always dread; my nightmares haunt me, like ghosts hell-bent on making my life a living hell. It's like I'm a prisoner to my own mind, and I can't escape it. I don't have to ask Tobias I know he has them too, just not as bad.
Right before I climb into bed, there's a light tap on my door. "Come in." I call out. The door opens to reveal Tobias.
"Hey." he says, coming into the room.
"Hi."
"I wanted to see if you were okay."
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"Okay. Night, Tris."
"Night, Tobias."
He closes the door behind him as he leaves, and I take a sleeping pill from the bottle on the nightstand. I fall into bed, and prepare for it to take effect.
I'm back in the gym, facing George, do's hellbent on killing everyone I love. Mom, Dad, Caleb, Christina, Shauna, Zeke, Lynn, Uriah, Marlene, Tori, and Tobias. Will already lies dead, a bullet embedded in his stomach. George shoves me out of the way and fires point blank at Mom, then Dad, then Caleb, then Tobias...
I jerk awake, gasping. I've never had a nightmare so bad in my life. I check the time only to see that it's 4:20 A.M. I get up anyway; I can't go back to sleep after that, and head downstairs to watch TV. I find a rerun of Survivor, and settle in to watch, because I need some normalcy in my life.
The school looks almost the same as when I was dropped off here. The gates are open, welcoming new students, except now, there's a metal detector by the gates. The gym is closed, and Mom had to give ID to a police officer by the gates, patrolling who enters. Tori's in the front office, and she looks really happy to see me, enveloping me into a hug. She does the same to Tobias, then tells us of a new policy the school has in place. Basically, anyone effected by the shooting, both boys and girls, gets a floor of the dorms, since nightmares and emotions are bound to run high. Roommates have also been switched out. Christina is now rooming with Shauna, Uriah with Zeke, Lynn Marlene, and and Tobias with me. Mom isn't so thrilled about it, but she lets it go, making me promise to be careful. Of course I promise, rolling my eyes. How could my mom think I'd have sex in a time like this? How could she think I'd go against my own beliefs about that?
After Tobias and I unpack, we make the rounds to see our friends; to check in on them. Lynn isn't in her room, but Marlene is. Her face is red from crying, but when she sees me, she rushes to give me a hug.
"Tris! I'm so glad you're okay." she says through her tears. I hug her back, I'll be it a little awkwardly.
"I'm glad you're okay, too, Mar."
"Can y'all get out of the doorway?" Lynn says, coming through with a suitcase.
"Yeah, sorry." I say, stepping into the room, with Tobias right behind me.
"Welcome back, Tris." Lynn says, smiling at me.
"Thanks." I say, leaning against the doorframe.
"Look who's back." Christina says coldly. "Honestly, I wouldn't let you back here; you've caused enough damage."
I take a deep breath and turn to face her. "Look. I have no association with George, so don't even think about calling him my family. Secondly, even if he were my family, which he's definitely not, I am nothing like him, so don't even go there, either. I understand you're upset; I'm upset, too. Will was my friend Christina. I understand you're grieving, but you ho right to take it out on me. None at all. Got it?"
Christina turns on her heel, gives me the middle finger, and storms off. I take several shaky breaths, and try to compose myself. It's going to be a long six months if this is the type of hostility I'm greeted with.
A/n: okay, so I also noticed that chapter thirteen didn't have a title, so I'll go in and fix it. Okay, so I know I left off in a really bad place, but I ran out of inspiration... writer's block sucks. While we're on the subject, I'm thinking of tackling another story, but it probably won't be any of the others on my page. I want to do something different, because I can't think of anything for the others, hence the reason I haven't started updating them again. Okay, so do you think we can get to seventy reviews? It's only six more, so I think we can. Also, review if you have ever had surgery. I've had ear tubes, and I'm getting foot surgery soon, so I'll be able to write a little more, hopefully. Okay, I'll see you later. Audios, amigos!
Bianca.