A/N Sorry this took so long; I need to get better at not procrastinating and set deadlines to get these done. Honestly if I write another fanfiction, I'm writing the whole thing beforehand and then publishing it. Then I can put it off for as long as I want.

Chapter twenty-one

Tris' POV- One month later

I smiled at Zeke from my spot across the classroom. The teacher had moved us because last week our project exploded, and he said we couldn't be trusted together. He would soon realise it was better to limit the destruction to one project rather than two.

Zeke was mouthing something in couldn't understand and was waving his arms around like a mad man. I stifled a laugh as the teacher turned sharply in his direction and he somehow managed to stop everything and look perfectly innocent.

He turned to me when our teacher was facing the board again and mouthed 'as I was saying' and that was as far as I got. He really needed to work on the whole mouthing thing. I'd never survive around him if I were deaf. I turned my attention back to the front where there was a clock on the wall. I started counting down the last few minutes until class ended and was up out of my seat before the bell was finished ringing. Zeke was right behind me and explained his plan to be made partners again which is apparently what he was mouthing.

"So, we're going to wreck the projects we make with our partners until we're partners again. The next project is the car project with the ramp so I'm thinking we make the ramp collapse, or it explodes."

"You make it go boom and I'll make it go crash," I said grinning as we high fived and headed to P.E.

"Trissy?"

"What?"

"So are you and Four like telling everyone now."

"We decided to just act like we do with each other, but no-one has even batted an eyelid. I think we'd have to be making out in front of them for them to figure it out. Even then they might not get it. And by them, I mean Uriah."

"Ah yes, the most oblivious of all the Pedrads."

"There's only three of you."

"Technically there's four. You are officially an honorary Pedrad."

"Why thank you Zeke. So, what am I, the weird cousin or annoying younger sister?"

"Fun younger sister. Uriah's the annoying younger sister."

We both burst out laughing then and made our way to the gym. I walked in and saw an unusual sight. Nita and Christina were hanging from the bars people used for pull ups and all the other girls around them were yelling, either encouraging or insulting them. I walked up to them and stood next to Shauna who was screaming for Christina to hold on.

"Who started it?"

"Nita was being a bitch as usual and Christina tore her down in seconds and she somehow convinced her to take part in this little competition. It was honestly brilliant. Plus, Nita's a weak bitch, she won't be holding on much longer."

"What did Nita say?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Look I know Chris can get set off easily, but she usually has a fairly good reason. What did she say?"

"Let it go Tris."

"Shauna, why won't you tell me?"

"I'm going over to Lauren," she said stiffly and walked off.

I cheered then when Nita let go first and made my way over to high five Christina. She smiled at me and laughed when she looked over at Nita's face. She put her arm around my shoulder as we headed over to the teacher who had just entered the gym.

"So, what was the whole competition about?" I asked her and immediately felt her stiffen.

"Oh, nothing, just the usual bitching," she replied feigning disinterest, but I could tell she was hiding something from the firm line of her mouth and the tenseness in her shoulders. I decided to ignore it though because I didn't want a repeat of whatever happened with Shauna.

We ended up doing the climbing rope today which wasn't one of my strong suits. I did it at an average speed, but Tobias was amazing and did it in half the time of the next person. Zeke ended up getting tangled in the rope and was hanging upside down by his foot and trying to get up for ten minutes before the teacher intervened. I couldn't wait to tease him about this for the next week.

"Wow Zekey you were fabulous. I think you broke the record for the longest time on the rope."

"Aw thanks Beatrice, I think you left your speed on the ground though because you were a close second."

"Oh no you didn't."

"Oh yes I did."

"You think I was slow? You spent ten minutes swinging around like a monkey."

"Monkeys are very intelligent creatures."

"They pick their noses and steal peoples food, sounds an awful lot like you."

"I'll have you know it's Uriah who steals food."

"So, you admit that you pick your nose."

"I never said that."

"But you didn't deny it. I can't wait to post this very flattering picture of you on my Instagram. It will last forever that way."

"You're evil."

"Isn't it wonderful?"

"Yes, it is. Hey, where did everyone go?"

I turned to look around and noticed that everyone had left while we were caught up in teasing each other.

"We need to get them back."

I smiled back a wicked smile and said, "I've been waiting for this. Here's what we have to do..."

Twenty minutes later our gym bags were open outside our lockers, some books on the ground, Zeke's phone in his locker and mine had a fake crack on it and lay on the ground by my locker. It worked out well because our lockers were really close. We were hiding in the janitors closet nearby when our friends came back from lunch. We had bought food, so it looked like we never got to eat our packed lunches.

Christina arrived first with a smile on her face until she saw our lockers. Her face morphed into a confused expression as she turned back to the others. They all came rushing forward and started looking through our stuff.

We heard a gasp from Shauna as she noticed the call from Zeke. We chose her seeing as she always kept her phone on silent. Then they noticed the fake blood on the ground hear Christina's locker and started to panic.

They started running down the hall and calling our names then as they freaked out. They probably felt guilty now for leaving us at the gym. Once they were all out of sight, we ran to clear everything up and put everything away. By the time they came back they found us leaning against our lockers chatting away as if nothing had happened.

They all stared in shock as we turned to greet them. They were all sweating and their hair and clothes were a mess.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked casually.

"B-bb-but t-there w-w-was b-blood and your b-bags and books w-were everywhere, and y-your phones were cracked and and…" Christina stuttered in confusion.

"What do you mean. We just got back from the gym fifteen maybe twenty minutes ago and hung out here. There wasn't any blood, and everything is in our lockers."

"But we saw it!" Shauna said in confusion.

"Well we've been here for ages and haven't seen anything weird, have we Tris?"

"No, we have not."

They all started talking over each other at once, trying to figure out what happened. All except for one person who stood in the back grinning at us. Tobias stepped forward and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"It seems to have escaped your attention that we are dealing with the best and most elaborate pranksters known to man. They set us up dumbasses."

At this point we couldn't hold in our laughter any longer. We were rolling around on the ground with tears in our eyes while everyone else struggled not to join in. Eventually they did and congratulated us on our acting skills.

We all headed to class then and prepared for the torture of figuring out what the hell our teacher was saying. Christina was actually amazing at Spanish but always lied about what she was saying so we had to trust our limited knowledge of the language. Four focused on grammar structures and that shit, and I learned random words. We never failed but we weren't top of the class either.

"Look, everyone's opening their books," I whispered and scrambled to find the right page. We eventually found it and worked together to finish it and did it fairly quickly. Christina had to contain her laughter though when I thought azul meant whistle. I mean come on, anyone could make that mistake.

We eventually escaped from the torture and ran to maths. Will was already there, punctual as usual as we waited for the teacher to arrive. She came ten minutes late but made up the work by going twice as fast as normal. It was a relief to head to track. It was a Thursday so I didn't have work and would be hanging out with Tobias.

Track practice was insane. We ran so much that most of us threw up. I barely managed to keep my food down and I never throw up. Will's the same. Ever since that practice meet two weeks ago Tori had been pushing us harder because only Will and I won anything. Everyone else came forth and below. So now she's pissed and making us train harder, so it doesn't happen again.

I stumbled into the locker rooms and got showered and changed painstakingly slow because my muscles were killing me. I managed to make it out to Tobias' jeep without collapsing though so that was a plus.

"Hey there zombie girl, what happened to you?"

"Tori. Laps. Threw up. Exhaustion. Pain."

"Ouch, Coach went easy on us today because we're playing some crap team called Factionless. Apparently, they barely have a team because no-one wants to go there."

"No wonder. I've never even heard of them."

"This is the first time they've been able to field a team in ten years."

"Wow. That's insane. You'll beat them though, ye're amazing."

"Aww you really think so?" he asked mockingly. He was never going to let me forget that I said that.

"Nah, you're shocking. I just wanted to boost your confidence."

He grabbed his chest and mock gasped. "How dare you?"

"I'm sorry but it's the truth."

"I've never been so offended in all my life."

"Better get used to it then," I replied, grinning.

"I guess I'll have to live with this forever."

"Guess so," I said as we hopped out of the jeep and walked up to my house hand in hand. I was so focused on Tobias though that I didn't notice there was another car in the driveway. I opened the door and stood there in shock when I smelled spaghetti bolognaise. I realised who it was then and ran into the kitchen.

"Dad!" I yelled and launched myself at him. I hadn't seen him since the start of the summer. He rarely came back from New York but when he did, I cherished every moment.

"Hi sweetie, how was school?"

"It was alright, but Tori made us run so many laps nearly everyone threw up."

"She always was insane," he said fondly.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Four was going to come over to study, is that ok?" I asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Not at all, you can stay for dinner if you like Four."

"Thanks Mr. Prior but my dad will be expecting me home for dinner."

"Ah well, maybe another time. You kids go study while I try to figure out how the hell you make this edible."

We both laughed as we headed down to the basement. For once we actually did have to study because we had a Spanish test tomorrow and if we failed, we would have to have a parent teacher meeting and that was definitely not an option for us. We spent an hour down there, revising and testing each other until we were confident that we would pass.

Tobias had to leave then so I kissed him goodbye and walked him to the front door. We waved at my dad as we passed and when we were out the front door, he pulled me to him. It was a desperate heated kiss and I could feel his hesitation to leave. We only pulled away when we ran out of air but still held me close.

"I don't want to go back there," he whispered.

"We could run away. We'd get out of the Spanish quiz that way."

He let out a strangled laugh and pulled me closer. "I wish we could run but I can't take you away from this and I couldn't bear to leave you."

"I'd come in a heartbeat."

"But it wouldn't right. I can last two years, besides, I avoid him most of the time anyway."

"I wouldn't blame you if you left," I whispered as I cupped his face in my hand. He closed his eyes at the touch and turned his head to kiss my palm before walking away. Just as I was about to go inside, I heard him say, "But I would."

. . .

I sat at the island and watched my dad continue to mess up the sauce. There was tomato juice everywhere, water on the floor, spaghetti stuck together, and half burnt meat in the pan. I laughed and took the ketchup from his hand and gave him some passata. Within ten minutes I had partially saved the food and laughed when my dad realised all the things he got wrong.

"Who would have thought I would raise a culinary master. This is edible!" he announced in delight.

"How do you survive in New York without me?"

"Take away is the greatest invention known to man."

"Ah yes, take away has saved my life many times. So how are things outside of work going?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, no girlfriends or anything?"

"What? No!"

"Dad it's been nearly four years since she died. You know I love mom, but I think it's time you put yourself out there again. She would want you too"

He gave a sigh and smiled. "She would, wouldn't she? Alright, I'll try. But if it goes badly, you're to blame."

"Ok, I'll take all the blame. By the way, are you around Saturday because the Pedrads are having a barbeque?"

"Sure, I'll be there. I'll be looking forward to it."

We chatted on for a while longer and watched a movie before I went to finish my homework. I was so happy he was back. I had always been closer with mom, but I still loved spending time with him. We both loved football and used to sit in front of the tv with our matching jerseys every time the Bears were playing. We would yell at the TV while my mom would make dinner and laugh at us. It's what we've done since before I can remember.

Caleb used to be more into books than football but that all changed when my mom died. For some reason he started playing football. He was on the team with the guys but hung out more with Peter and Drew. I would probably have been more suited to play than him, if I'm being honest.

I headed to the basement and finished my homework an hour later. I grabbed my phone then and texted Zeke.

ZEKE

Is your mom still dating that guy?

Nah that ended a while ago. Why?

I was thinking seeing as my dad and your mom are both painstakingly single, we could try and set them up with each other.

Ooh yes because that sounds like something I would do.

Do you want to see them happy or not?

Okay, okay. I'll help, but we made need back up.

Don't worry, she'll jump at the chance to help us.

See you then Trissy.

Night Zekey.

I turned off my phone then and went to bed, hoping to god that I passed the Spanish test tomorrow.

. . .

I couldn't help but hope that my Dad was going to stay for longer this time. Each visit lasts a maximum of a week and is more often than not two days. So, as I walked downstairs, I prepared myself for the inevitable answer to my question.

"Hey dad," I said and gave him a kiss on the cheek before going to grab some toast.

"Hi sweetie, I have some good news."

"Really? What is it?"

"I'm staying for a week!"

I tried not to let my disappointment show as I returned his smile. "That's great Dad, we can do tonnes of stuff together."

"Yes, and we might even convince your brother to come too." My expression soured as soon as he mentioned Caleb. "Now Beatrice, I know you and Caleb don't get along but give him a chance."

"Dad it's been a month since he's said a word to me and before that it was four years! How can you expect me to forgive him?"

"Give him time Beatrice, he'll come around."

"No offence Dad but I'm done wasting my time on assholes like him. I've got to go, or I'll be late. Bye," I said and hurried out the door to Tobias' jeep. He smiled at me as I hopped in and we drove away from the house. We couldn't leave fast enough in my opinion.

We arrived at school and stood in shock when we saw the front of the school. Someone had spray painted 'You're going down you Dauntless Dicks'. I turned to Tobias and saw the tension in his shoulders and his jaw was clenched. No-one messed with us and got away with it. I immediately knew we were going to come back harder because they hadn't accounted for Zeke and me. We would come with something that would make them rethink pranking us.

I sat through first period and couldn't keep my leg still; I was so excited. I hadn't noticed until Tobias put his hand on my leg to halt the movement. I smiled apologetically at him and focused until the end of the lesson. I wouldn't be able to talk to him during Physics, but we would discuss tactics in P.E. I practically leapt out of my seat but slowed down when I saw Tobias grinning at me.

"What?"

"You really can't hide anything, can you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're going planning with Zeke, aren't you?"

"Maybe…"

"And you're thinking about the best time to tell him the plan you've already formulated and want him to tweak it," he continued as we walked out of the class.

"Okay so maybe you know me a little too well."

"So, what's the plan?"

"You want to help?"

"Obviously."

"I haven't fully figured out the extent we're going to go to, but I'll tell you when I've completely figured it out."

"Ok, bye Shorty," he called as he walked down the hall.

"Bye Number Boy," I called back causing him to grin.

I headed into art and listened to Christina go on about some fight she had with this other girl which ended with Christina using her nails to scratch up the girls locker and some secret she had told her years before getting leaked. I'm glad she's my friend because she'd be a scary enemy.

"So, what happened with Nita yesterday?"

"Oh nothing," she said and if I didn't know her as well as I do, I would have believed her.

"Oh come on Chris. It can't be that bad"

"Oh trust me, it is," she said a dark expression crossing her face. "Are you sure?"

I nodded and she continued. "Nita was just bitching as usual but then she raised her voice and said, 'You know what I think? I think Tris was asking for it at that party. We already know she's a slut, so it doesn't surprise me that she'd be slumming it with Peter. That bitch is probably dating both Pedrad brothers and Four all at once, the whore.' I got really pissed and started shoving her. Shauna pulled me back and I suggested we do the hanging challenge. I'm sorry Tris."

I sat there feeling angry but not shocked. This had happened too many times before for me to be shocked anymore. That didn't mean I wasn't pissed and hurt but I couldn't find it in me to be surprised. Sure, it was the worst thing I'd heard so far, but I heard a lot of it.

"There's no need to be sorry Chris. Thanks for doing that for me," I said and pulled her in for a hug almost squeezing the life out of her.

"Hey guess what?" I asked, wanting to change the subject

"What?"

"My dad came home yesterday."

"That's great Tris. How long is he staying?"

"A week. It's not long but it's better than nothing."

"Wait, did you ever tell him about Peter?"

I hesitated but decided to tell the truth. She is my best friend after all. "No, I didn't want him to worry. Besides, what he would have done?"

"Tris, you should have told him."

"I tried! I really did! I'd go home and pick up the phone and dial his number. Then it would go to voicemail and I'd hang up. I did it twice every day for a week before he answered, and I got nervous and said I'd been calling because I missed him."

"Oh. Maybe it'll be easier in person."

"I doubt it. Can we talk about something else? Please."

"Sure, but we will be coming back to this. So, how are we getting back at Factionless?"

"How'd you know I'd have a plan?"

"You're Tris, you always have a plan."

"Okay, it depends how many people are willing to help out. But let's say they all agree. Marlene, Will and Lynn would be the distraction by being very loud and obvious about trying to prank them and then they'll get in the car and drive as far away as possible while the Factionless chase them. You, Will and Lauren will be spray painting their lockers and putting paint balloons in their lockers. Zeke and I have fifty ready at all times, so you come over and pick them up. Then Four, Shauna, Zeke and I will put slow drying glue on the opposing teams' bleachers so they all get stuck. And we'll pour oil on the ground outside the entrance to the field so they're slipping and sliding all over the place."

Christina gaped at me as I smiled proudly at my idea.

"You've really thought about this, haven't you?"

"That's not even the best part. I payed a group of Freshman to sneak in and steal their spirit stick so they really don't expect our attack. If they get caught or escape it works out well for us. They're leaving during lunch, so we'll find out if they managed it during Spanish."

"I'd hate to be your enemy."

"So would a lot of people yet there's a surprising amount of people who manage to do it."

"Yes, there is."

We continued working on our sketches of random objects and headed to physics where I told him quickly that I had a plan. He nodded and said we'd talk about it later and we headed t our spots at opposite sides of the classroom.

We mouthed random shit at each other throughout the lesson and partially focused on our teacher. We got up at the exact same time and ran to tell each other the plan. He suggested switching up the groups to make sure Lynn and Lauren weren't left doing everything while the others made out. So now it was Uriah, Lynn and Lauren, Will, Marlene and Shauna and Christina, Zeke, Four and I.

I couldn't wait to tell everyone the plan during P.E. but we ended up playing basketball so there was no chance to talk. We were going to destroy factionless for doing this and they were going to regret being born.