Tris
"So, Four," Will says when everybody is seated at our lunch table. "What did you have to get rid of in my dad's ER?"
I nearly choke on the piece of lettuce in my mouth. I start coughing uncontrollably, and I have to take a long drink of water to calm myself. I feel how red my face is, not only from the scene I just made, but also from Will's question.
"What?" Tobias asks, sounding uncharacteristically nervous.
"Well, the walls are really thin in those exam rooms. My dad said you yelled about having to get rid of something and that Tris might want to look away."
I sneak a peek at my boyfriend and he looks redder than I have ever seen him.
"My dad said that when he came back in, you both were all red. Kind of like how you are now," Will says.
"Will," I say calmly, despite how terribly embarrassed I feel. "Shut up."
"Does it have anything to do with Four's hickey?" Christina asks.
I am about to tell her to 'shut up' too, when Tobias speaks. "No, it doesn't. My girlfriend gave me hickey at my house. And yeah, my beautiful girlfriend gave me a hard-on later in your dad's exam room. Obviously I had to get rid of it, and no, she didn't need to see it. You have problem?" he asks, glaring at both of them. Nobody speaks, everybody just stares at him. As if my face couldn't get any redder… I drop my head down on the table. I immediately feel Tobias' hand on the small of my back, and I know it's his way of apologizing.
"Nice," Zeke finally says.
"I don't have any problems," I hear Will say. "Good job, Tris."
I begin hitting my head down on the table. Maybe if I knock myself unconscious, I can wake up later and this will all have been a terrible, terrible dream.
I hit my head again, but instead of hitting the table, I hit something soft. I look up and Tobias is covering the table with this hand. I look up at him and smile; his sweetness is too much.
"You dirty kids are still the cutest," Christina says. I throw a glare at Christina.
"So, Tris and Four ended up with the dirty reputation. Who woulda thought?" Uriah says. I glare at him but he grins back at me.
"Take it as a compliment," Zeke says. Tobias groans. "I was starting to think you guys were just gonna be a couple of Stiffs?"
That sounds like a bad word choice to me. "Stiffs?"
"That's what all the other factions called the Abnegation," Marlene says.
"Why?" I ask.
"They had ton of super strict laws," she says.
"Yeah, and they thought that sex was just for reproduction," Uriah says.
"They thought it was bad because it's fun. Fun is bad in Stiff land," Zeke adds.
I think of everything they just said. "So, you thought we were Stiffs?"
"Well, yeah," Zeke says, shrugging.
"I get my boyfriend stiff for fun. What is so Stiff about that?" I ask him, giving him a pointed look.
Zeke opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. Everybody else just stares at me; including Tobias.
"That's what I thought," I say. I pick up my fork and resume eating my salad.
Finally, Uriah breaks the silence and bursts into laughter. "She told you!" he says to Zeke.
Zeke glares at his brother before picking up one of his fries and throwing it. It completely misses and we all laugh at him. Shauna covers her face with her hand and shakes her head.
"No, Zeke," I say. "Like this." I pick up one of Tobias' fries and launch it at Uriah; it hits him in the face.
"Ohh!" everybody exclaims at once. Zeke just shakes his head and Tobias looks at me.
"That was mine," he says, feigning hurt over his sacrificed fry.
"I'll make it up to you later," I tell him and then I wink. What the hell? I blush red afterwards and he laughs.
"Well, we did have a deal," he says quietly while the rest of the table is preoccupied with throwing fries at Uriah.
"Doctor said no strenuous activities until you can handle them," I remind him.
"I can handle it," he says, wagging his eyebrows at me.
I shake my head and try not to laugh at his juvenile behavior. "You are such a boy."
"Lucky for you," he says with a smirk. I smack his arm and he laughs.
"You are so dirty!" I scold him. He just laughs harder.
"We thought you knew that already," Zeke says. That's when I notice that they are all suddenly paying attention to our conversation.
"We really need to learn how to pay attention to what is going on around us," I say quietly to Tobias. He nods.
"Four's the dirtiest kid I know," Uriah says sarcastically. "A real pervert, that one."
Tobias shakes his head and chuckles. "Yeah, I am quite the pervert."
"Well, lately," I mumble. He just grins at me and I roll my eyes.
Tobias puts a hand on my thigh and then leans down and puts his mouth to my ear. The feeling of his hand creeping higher up my thigh and his warm breath on my neck brings on that, lately familiar, sensation deep in my stomach. "It's not my fault that my girlfriend is sexy as fuck."
I bite my lip to hide my smile and look up at this god-like slice of perfection who thinks I am the sexy one. Ha. I take advantage of the close proximity of his lips and I kiss him. I part my lips slightly and our kiss deepens. The feeling in my stomach only heightens. After what happened with Peter, I wasn't sure I would ever be able to feel this, and especially so soon. But Tobias brings this feeling to me all the time. It's relieving and scary all at once, but it's okay. I really feel okay. I feel protected and loved with Tobias. I feel amazing with him.
"Okay, pervs, I am trying to eat here," Uriah says. Tobias and I break apart and we roll our eyes at him, but we stop and eat instead.
"So, have you boys all gotten your suits?" Christina asks. Uriah, Zeke, Will, and Tobias all shake their heads. "You guys! The dance is in five days!"
"I was just going to buy one on Friday night," Zeke says. Christina's mouth drops open and she looks at him like he just grew another head.
"Same," Uriah says. Tobias shrugs.
"You boys are ridiculous! You'll never find decent suits that way!" Christina exclaims. The boys all look equally annoyed and frightened.
"Is it really that big a deal?" Uriah asks.
"Of course it is! You guys have to look nice! It's a dance!"
Zeke rolls his eyes, "Whatever, everybody just ends up taking off the jacket part of it anyways." Will nods in agreement.
"Well, duh. You have to look nice for the pictures!"
"Why? Nobody is going to care," Zeke says.
"I'll care," Christina says.
"Okay, I tell you what," I say to Christina. "I will go with Four to get his suit some time before Friday. Marlene and Shauna can do the same with Uriah and Zeke, and then you and Will."
"Okay," Christina nods. "Make sure they look as stunning as you will, girls."
"You guys all have fun," Lynn says. Everybody turns and looks at her. I kind of forgot she was here; I feel terrible.
"Are you bringing a date?" Christina asks excitedly.
"No. I'm not going to some stupid dance," Lynn grumbles.
"Come on! You would have so much fun with us!" Marlene says.
Lynn rolls her eyes. "Dresses aren't really my thing."
Shauna huffs out a breath of air. "You don't have to fight everything, Lynn."
"I don't fight everything. I just don't like the whole dresses and heels and makeup and hair and blah, blah, blah," Lynn defends, rolling her eyes.
"It doesn't have to be a big deal," Christina tries to encourage. Now it's everybody else's turn to look at her like she has two heads. She is the one micromanaging how we all look. "Okay, okay, chill people," she says, holding her hands up in front of her. "I'm just saying that she doesn't have to do so much."
"It's just not my thing," Lynn says. Her tone leaves no more room for discussion, so the conversation awkwardly ends there.
Tobias and I leave a boring Chemistry class and make our way downstairs together.
"When should we go look for that suit?" I ask him.
"Doesn't matter to me," he says.
"Do you want to go tomorrow after school?"
"Sure."
"Okay, great. I would go today, but I have a lot of homework," I tell him.
"I know, babe. We have almost the exact same classes," he chuckles.
"Oh, yeah."
"How's your math grade?" I sigh in frustration as my reply. "You need help?"
"Desperately," I groan. "We could have a study date."
"When do you want to do that?"
"I would do it tonight, but right now math is the least of my problems, amazingly. I have so much History homework," I complain.
"That's why I took Government instead. Mrs. Kerr is the easiest teacher in the world," he says.
"Congratulations," I say flatly.
"Sorry, babe," he says as he wraps an arm around my shoulder.
"It's fine. I'm more interested in History anyways. Cause of my dad and everything; I hear all I need to about government at home."
"That's the reason I took Government; I already know all the stuff from my dad."
"He talks that much?"
"I don't know. He complains about it a lot. It's an easy class because it feels like I've been taking it for seventeen years."
"I think it's boring."
"It usually is. It's an easy A," he shrugs.
By now, we are walking out into the parking lot. "So, mall tomorrow for your suit and then Wednesday we will do the study date?" I ask him as we walk to his truck. It has sort of become a routine for him to drive me home instead of Caleb.
"Yeah," he confirms. "I don't know why Christina is making such a big deal out of this whole thing," he says as we climb into his truck.
"I don't know either. I guess she is just really excited."
"She does this every year. And there are four dances every year if you count Senior Prom," he says as he starts the truck.
"Four?" I ask in a joking tone.
It takes him a second before he gets it and then he laughs. "I love you," he says.
I laugh with him, usually he is the one making the stupid four jokes, but I couldn't resist. "I love you, too, Four."
"But yes, there are four. Homecoming, Winter Formal, Spring Formal, and then Senior Prom. It's kind of excessive, and Christina always tries to make everybody go to all of them. Even Senior Prom," he says.
"Have you been to a dance before?" I ask, suddenly realizing that I have no idea.
"Nope. Never had a girl I wanted to bring," he says, winking at me.
"You're so sweet sometimes," I tell him.
"Sometimes?" he asks, feigning being hurt.
"With me," I clarify. "And sometimes with Zeke," I say frowning, suddenly realizing that that is so true.
"Zeke?"
"Yeah. You two have a bit of a bromance."
He laughs and shakes his head. "Whatever you say."
The rest of the ride is pretty quiet. Talking to Tobias is one of the things I love to do, but I appreciate that we don't feel the need to fill every second that we spend together in constant conversation. Sometimes it's nice to just be there with each other; we don't always need words.
We pull up in front of my house and he parks the truck.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he says.
"Yeah." I lean over and press my lips to his. "Love you."
"I love you, too," he says with his gorgeous smile plastered across his face.
I grab by backpack and open the door. I jump down from the truck, a skill which I have recently perfected, and then walk the small walkway to my front door. I use my key to open it, but turn to wave at Tobias before going inside. I see him smile at me and then his truck goes down the street before it turns.
I smile to myself, grateful to have him. He truly loves and cares about me, and sometimes in random moments like these, that hits me and I smile like an idiot.
I walk inside and close the door behind me. I take my jacket off and put it in the coat closest by the door. That is when I hear a girl's giggle. What the hell? It's coming from upstairs so I take my backpack and go upstairs to drop my backpack off in my room and investigate.
I climb the stairs and I hear it again. And then I hear Caleb laugh.
CALEB HAS A GIRL IN HIS ROOM?!
I practically sprint down the hallway and begin banging my fist on his door. "What?" he says demands as the door yanks open, leaving my fist in midair.
I look past him and I see a girl sitting on his bed.
"Well, well, well," I say, crossing my arms over my chest. "You guys are up here alone?" I repeat the question he asked me a few weeks ago when he found Tobias and I in my room.
"Yes, Beatrice." I narrow my eyes in suspicion the same way he did. "We were doing homework," he says.
I peer into the room again. "So where are all of your books?" I ask when I see his empty desk.
"I said were. We finished," he says.
"How did you manage to finish your homework already? There's no way you've been home very long," I tell him. "Unless you skipped."
"Fine. Just don't tell mom and dad?" he finally admits.
"Wait, the Caleb Prior skipped school with a girl?" I ask, disbelieving that the model child of the Prior family would do something so juvenilely disobedient.
"Come on. I helped you sneak out to that party and now you should help me. You owe me."
The nerve of him! "I owe you nothing! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been grounded and there wouldn't have been a need for me to sneak out!"
"I'll owe you then. Please just do this for me," he begs. I look at the girl behind him.
"Who is she?"
"Cara," he says.
"Ooh, is she your girlfriend?" I ask in a teasing voice, I begin laughing.
"Yeah," he says seriously.
I stop laughing and look at him; there are no signs of joking on his face. "Wait, really? When did this happen?"
"A week ago. Look, it's none of your business, Bea," he sighs.
I lean against his door frame. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
He sighs, but he goes into his room and I follow him. Cara stands up when she sees us approaching.
"Cara, this is my sister, Beatrice. Beatrice, this is my girlfriend, Cara," he says.
Cara smiles at me and holds out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Beatrice."
"Please, call me Tris," I say, taking her hand and shaking it. "It's nice to meet you, too."
"Alright, bye, Bea," Caleb says. He puts his hands on my shoulders behind me and leads me out his door. "Have fun doing whatever."
"You too," I say. "But not too much fun," I say a little lower. His eyes grow wide and I smirk. I go to my room and I hear his door slam behind me. I smile to myself; that was fun.
A solid four hours later, I am finally done with all my homework. I am hungry and lonely and going stir crazy from being in my room. I close up my books and zip them into my backpack before leaving my room to find some food and social interaction.
I immediately make my way to the kitchen where I can smell dinner being cooked. My mother stands at the stove stirring a pot of something.
"What're you making?" I ask, peering over her.
"Stew," she says.
"It smells really good."
"It will be done in a minute. Would you please set the table?"
"Of course," I tell her. I go to the cabinets and collect all the bowls, cups, and silverware I need. Then I go and set the dining room table.
By the time I am finished, my mother is entering the room carrying a serving dish with the delicious looking stew in it.
"I'm going to go get your father. Will you go tell Caleb?" my mom asks me.
"Sure," I say. I use the stairs in the kitchen to go up and knock on Caleb's door.
"Dinner is ready," I say through the door. I go back do the stairs and into the dining room. I take my usual seat and wait for everybody to get here before I eat.
My mother comes in, followed by my father and they take their seats. A second later, Caleb comes in and takes his seat. I wonder where Cara is. She must have left while I was doing homework.
Supper is nice; the stew is delicious and four of us have a nice conversation reminiscing about a vacation we took a few years ago to New York.
Supper finishes and I tell everybody that I will handle all of the dishes. There aren't many so I finish rather quickly.
I head upstairs for a shower and an early night. I am kind of exhausted from the boat load of homework I did.
I head to my bathroom and brush my teeth. Then I turn on the shower and strip while it gets hot. The hot shower relaxes me and gets me ready to sleep.
I get out of the shower and wrap myself up in a towel and head to my room to put on my pajamas. Once I am dressed, I grab my phone from my desk and crawl into bed. I check for any messages before plugging it in for the night.
Author's Note: Ooh Caleb and his scandalous ways. Ha, joking.
I have some stuff going on outside of this story. A new story idea that I would love if you guys would check out in a spare moment (it's on my profile), and the poll asking for the next actual story (on my profile and the bottom Author's Note on Chapter 30).
Leave me a review and let me know what you thought about everything. This chapter was a bit on the boring side, but sometimes in high school, there's just days with a shit-ton of homework. I mean for Tris, not me; I'm on summer vaca, whoop whoop!
-GerdyGertha