Devil Takes the Hindmost, chapter 24
A/N: God, that was mean. I'm sorry, everybody. That was mean...but it was still hilarious. I've got a few things to tell you:
1. This story is coming to a close soon, though it isn't as obvious as it may seem.
2. I'll try to make this end as smooth as possible, but I expect of myself to have it done by Spring Break.
3. I have taken suggestions from reviewers to incorporate to the story, and please, continue! Tell me how I can improve!
4. I love all reviews and reviewers, even you haters. That way, I can improve!
Please enjoy this apologetic chapter, and once again, I'm sorry!
TOBIAS' POV:
I sigh, just pressing my forearm against the locker for a moment. The sound of students chattering and talking around me seems unreal, as if I was still in jail. I remember, those lonely, cold and stuffy nights in the cell with those two thugs, longing for the chance to be with Tris. Uriah. Marlene. Any of my friends. I never knew how much they really meant to me, until they were ripped away from me. I close my eyes, and for a moment, I'm back in that cell, silent tears running down my unshaven face. How much I wished that I would be free, and be with the ones I love. But now, Tris avoids me, even after our night together, and the way I can never exactly catch her long enough to talk to her.
Without her, I try to distract myself by talking and flirting with the students who come up to me. Allison, Rita, Edward...they all greet me and welcome me back with handshakes, hugs and in some cases, kisses on the cheeks. Not exclusively to the girls, of course. I never mind those people, but pain erupts in my chest, like my heart is being ripped, when I see two girls together, holding hands. For a moment, I remember Marlene and Lynn, and I still cannot believe they're dead. Marlene had been one of my best friends, and that I never got to see her happy kills me. She had struggled with being happy for years, and now, she was happy for only a day. I blink the tears away, as I retrieve some binders from my locker. Next class with 's, and now that I've missed nearly three months of classes, he said I would have to see him again to catch up on work. Now that my Dad is pretty much disgraced by my trial, he refuses to talk to me, even look at me. It wouldn't be polite to ask him to pay off for my grades.
Heading to his classroom, I sigh for a moment, remembering the first time I had seen Beatrice. The first day of school, the way she had been so innocent and sweet. How she had been so afraid of me. Avoiding me after that incident. But now, it was similar. She was no longer innocent, as I have taken that from her, the last thing she had before arriving in Chicago. Beatrice Prior was no longer the girl we once knew, as she is truly Tris. The world had changed her, and for a moment, I wish I could have Beatrice back, that I could tell her how much I really did need her...but she doesn't want that. At all.
Arriving in 's room, I set my binder down on the desk directly in front of him, as he straightens his leather coat. He no longer looks at me as though I was a precious gem, which he did when my father paid him off for my grades, but as if I was something to be pitied. Which I was.
"Ah, Eaton!" he exclaims, crossing his arms, "How very nice to see you. Enjoying freedom? I knew you weren't guilty, I always knew it wasn't you."
"Sir, you don't need to lie," I say under my breath, staring at my binder. Though it was new, it was dirty, and bare of any notes, "It's alright if you thought I was guilty. Half the school did, right?"
"Well, if you mean students crying during my class when it was broadcasted, I am aware that there were students that did think you were guilty."
"I never thought I was that important to the student body, sir."
He leans forward, raising his eyebrows, evident he was surprised by my words. He beckons me closer, and I lean closer, as though he had a secret.
"You, Tobias Eaton, are absolutely fantastic."
I crack a smile, looking up at the teacher. Though science class was not my forte, I always knew that doted on me, not only for the money, but he saw I might be an alright person. I suppose, these days, I'm somewhere in the middle of an ocean of not being alright. Opening my notes, he begins to recount what we had learned the past few months, between genetics and hereditary traits.
We're half an hour into the revision, when we both hear students screaming outside of the room. We look at each other, understanding between us two, before we both race towards the door. He gets there first, and stands there, stunned for a moment. I push past him, and am shocked by the sight I find.
Allison, the one I had previously dated to make Beatrice jealous, lay on the ground. Blood lingered at the side of her mouth, and her nose leaked blood as well. Her limbs were twisted in terrible angles, and her eyes were closed. Blood stained the stone tiles and the lockers, and there were a circle of students, staring in awe at the sight. Moaning softly, I can see Uriah, yelling angrily and fighting, pushing through the crowd, trying to push her perpetrator back. And I'm shocked to see who it is. His arms were wrapped around the skinny arms of a teenage girl in our grade, still screaming and swearing against his arms. And I am shocked to see who the bully was, that beat Allison like this. Blonde, blue eyed, her hands curled into fists, hair wild and uneven. Tris.
TRIS' POV:
"Beatrice Mary Prior, do you have ANY idea how much trouble you are in?"
"I'd say a lot."
I sit on the bench outside of the principal's office, staring at the face of my parents. Dad, who's eyes are glaring with fire and hatred against me. My mother's, who has more sadness, but maybe a glimmer of...pride? Was that pride in my mother's eyes? To know her daughter was to be suspended for days, for beating a student. My consequence for beating Allison was three days suspension from school, and my brother was to stay home to watch me, make sure I didn't cause trouble. As he was taking home courses for his college, he usually stayed home in the first place. But the aspect of staying home with a potential murderer was definitely terrifying.
"You beat her!" My father exclaims, crossing his arms, tension in his shoulders.
"She stole my backpack!"
"You shouldn't have let it get to you, Beatrice. I'm very disappointed in you. I'm calling your brother." My father gives one last look of disgust at me, before walking out of the office, leaving me with my mother. I didn't care what my father had to say about me, but my mother, I was concerned. I loved her, and she always understood me, but disappointing her was always more heart breaking then disappointing my father,
"A...Are you mad at me?" I ask, falling timid now that my father left our side. I hesistate to meet her eyes, and am surprised when she kneels in front of me, my blue eyes meeting her own. In them, I see the shadow of the girl I used to be, and realize she still saw me as Beatrice as well, not Tris. I am both, but it is times like these where one will always win over the other.
"No."
"Y-You aren't?"
"No. I suppose she did more then steal your backpack in the past few days, huh, sweetie?"
"Yeah."
She ruffles my hair, and for a moment, I feel like the little girl who wore braids and only loved vanilla ice cream who lived in that tiny town in Maryland, oblivious to the world, "I love you, sweetie. Okay?"
"Yeah, Mum..." I kiss her cheek softly, and she wraps her arms around me, holding her close in her embrace, "You aren't going to tell Dad, right?"
"If he asks, I took away your cellphone."
"I'm allowed to keep it?"
"Not your cellphone. But you can keep your laptop."
I giggle softly, as she straightens up, all tension leaving her body. She walks out of the office, and I relax, knowing there was someone by my side while I investigate the suspicion against my brother. Honestly, he could do it...I was just skeptical to believe it was him. My brother, Caleb, who kissed the wounds on my knees and bought me ice cream. Who had been turned down by girls, and I was the one to crawl on his lap and hug him tightly when we were kids. He had taken me to the street fair, and to the park back when we were only country folk, and now, I am hesistant to believe my kind brother could have been a cold blooded murderer. He was clever enough, indeed, but I didn't want to believe it, but sometimes, I had to.
"You Prior's sister?"
I turn to the side, the voice arriving from the bench beside me. This girl had been there for awhile, but I am sure I recognize her. Long black hair, probably of Asian heritage. She wore a simple black tank top that dipped down her back, revealing the image of a beautiful hawk tattoed on her back. I have always envied those who were brave enough to withstand pain to create something beautiful. Heavy rings decorated her fingers, and she stares at me with suspicion, as though I had already done something wrong. I am careful with choosing my answer.
"Yeah. You are?"
"Tori. Tori Wu. And you should probably know now, there is something terribly wrong with your brother."
"How do you know him?" I ask incredulously. She couldn't have been my brother's age, probably younger. 12th grade at the very least.
"I get in the wrong crowds. And I hear things. My brother, Georgie? He goes to school with your brother. Always talks about how he's a complete maniac."
"Maniac?"
"Yeah. You think Caleb Prior still really goes to college? He was booted a couple of weeks ago. They just never told your parents, cause he's of age. Been planning revenge ever since. I don't know the exact details, cause my pain in the ass brother still refuses to tell me what he's planning, but I do know there is something wrong."
My blood is chilled to the bone, as she turns away, and is hauled into the principal's office as well, and the yelling begins. But I can't help but realize how much of a liar my brother was, how this began to make sense. My brother is planning something terrible...but how can I believe this from such an unreliable source? I do not know Tori Wu. I refuse to believe her information, but there was sometruth underneath her lies...my brother was planning something terrible. How long has he been planning, though? But now, I realize, I must figure it out, before it's too late. And a three day suspension will definitely be given to my advantage, not just to as a consequence.