Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent
Marlene bursts through our door a few minutes after Christina texted her about the new plans for the night. Her hair is down and curled, her face is perfectly finished with make-up, and she's wearing a jean skirt with a fitted black long sleeve, that's cut low in both the front and back. Seeing her, I can't help but feel self-conscious and have the urge to change. I'm not much of a short skirt kind of person…but maybe a nicer top wouldn't kill me.
"I'll be right back," I blurt out to the two of them as I walk over to my closet. Cleary I'm having some slight anxiety. I didn't even need to tell them that I would be right back because we live in an open space…and they can see digging through all my clothes.
"Ok, what's going on here," Marlene says, and I hear her coming up behind me.
"Who are you trying to get dressed up for?" That was Christina.
"So, I looked at Uriah's Instagram," Marlene blushes as soon as I say Uriah's name, I'll have to ask her about that after this story, "and there was a picture of him, his brother, which was the sergeant at our obstacle course…"
"Uriah is related to that guy who was instructing us?" Christina interrupts me.
"YES, but this is the crazy part…the picture from literally an hour ago, is with Four too."
"Ok so when Uriah said we're all getting together, because his brother is in town, there is a really good chance that Four will also be there?" Marlene says this and cocks her head to the side.
"Uhm… I'd say it's definitely more than a good chance," Christina says, showing us her phone. On there is Uriah's Instagram story where he posted a quick video of Zeke and Four, they're drinking beer in, what looks to be, an apartment.
"This obviously doesn't matter much to me, but you…" Marlene glances at me, "Maybe we need to get these nerves out of you. Because you look like you're about to explode."
"I just want to change my shirt into something…I don't know. Nothing major, just something a little cuter? He doesn't seem like he'd even pay attention to clothes that much. It'll just make me feel better…" Now I'm rambling. Nervous habit.
"Tris, it's fine!" Christina pushes past me, looks at some tops and pulls out something. It's a black fitted short sleeve blouse but the back is only attached at the top of the shirt, with a cut exposing my back and then falling loose at the bottom. Then she pulls out a pair of knee-high black boots.
"See… jeans, cute top, knee high boots, that's all you need sometimes. Oh and…" She turns me around, pulls out my ponytail, and fluffs out my hair, "perfect".
"You're great," I pull her into a hug, and she laughs. As I pull away, Marlene puts her arms around both our shoulders.
"Ok, now that we're all pretty, are you two ready?"
"Wait, before we go…so… you and Uriah?" I look at Marlene with a big smile and lift up my eyebrow. I wasn't going to let her escape without saying anything. She turns red.
"Well kind of… I mean… HE doesn't know about it," when she says that we all laugh.
"Looks like I've got a lot of work tonight!" Christina claps her hands together, grabs her purse and waves her hand for us to follow.
We meet Al and Will in the common area of the dorms.
"Ladies! So, this is what you actually look like," Will says and Al has some big goofy smile glued onto his face.
"Incredible right?" Christina says, doing a subtle curtsy. He takes her hand and starts to lead her towards the front door. God, all of a sudden, I'm glad I don't have to hang around just these two tonight. Not that I'm against anything between Christina and Will, I just haven't spent much time around people who are so open with their feelings…and well…these two are quite blunt.
Outside is a minivan taxi waiting for us. I can't help but say, "Wow, feels like I'm back home!" as we climb in.
"Oh no, not a minivan!" Marlene laughs.
"Oh yes, and a broken down one with no air conditioning." This leads us into conversations about the cars our parents drove, and somehow, we all have at least one vehicle that devastated our childhood. After driving for 30 minutes, I look out the window to see where we are…even though I've never been off the training site since we arrived.
Al notices and says, "We should be there soon."
"Where are we going? Also, I thought Uriah was going to be with us?" Well, if Marlene is trying to hide her interest in Uriah…it's certainly not working.
"We're going to some 18+ funplex type deal. Bowling, arcade, drinking. That's how Uriah explained it at least, and he's meeting us there. I guess his brother is visiting and there will be a bunch of people," Will explains. Christina glances at me but I give her a look that says, don't you dare give anything away in front of these guys or I will smother you in your sleep.
The taxi slows down and we pull into a huge parking lot filled with cars. We're dropped off in front of the building and when we get out, I almost let myself gasp. I know I'm from a boring small town, but I didn't even know places like this existed. I'm looking at a huge dome that looks to be as big as a baseball stadium. There are bright lights around the front entrance and lit up posters that look like old movie advertisements but instead they have drink specials. Inside it smells like popcorn and fried food, and although I've only been to state fair maybe twice when I was younger, this is what I imagine it to smell like. The lights aren't as bright inside but with the lights from the "glow bowling" theme, arcade games, and few dim lights around the bar, I can see what's going on.
Less than two minutes of us stepping inside and all of us soaking in this 'funplex type deal', I hear someone calling to us.
"Hey guys! Over here!" I look to my right to see Uriah waving to us and walking our way.
"Cool right?" He asks once we've met him halfway.
"Uh yeah… this is awesome," says Al… big goofy grin Al.
"It gets even better. They don't card here. So… drink up!"
"Uh… isn't their 'adults' here hanging out with us?" Christina asks, making sure to advertise her use of air quotes. I'm happy she said something because the idea of drinking around people who were in charge of deciding are fate, seems a little stupid. Which I guess depending who's all here… it might only be Four who's an observer and the rest could be nobodies to us. Which could just be worst for me to think about drinking in front of him. Oh great, here's the anxiety again.
"Oh, my brother? His friends? They don't care. Zeke and Four have always said, if something happens when they're around, then all I say is they had no idea, and then they just deny knowing anything. Not like they're old, they just turned 21," Uriah shrugs. So now I know he's only 21…why does he seem so much older. I guess that makes me feel less weird for wanting to stare at him all the time.
It feels like there's so much to do here, but we follow Uriah when he makes the call to start off with bowling. This is after he expresses that playing arcade games here, is way more fun after a few drinks. While we're getting set up in our lane, Christina is at my side.
"Ok I know your parents are missionaries and all and you were a nerd…uh…a good kid… but please tell me you've drank before…" Her eyes are intense, if I would say no, she'd probably fall over dead.
"Christina… I was still a teenager. Yes, I've drank," I laugh. I'm laughing at the look on her face and the memories I have. Susan's mom loved wine and her dad like collecting some ancient whiskey. While drinking the whiskey was probably the nastiest thing we could have choose, we did like the way it made everything seem funnier when we gossiped.
"Ok good…because I ordered us some drinks…and here comes Marlene!" Marlene is carrying two big glasses; they remind me of a wine glass, but the top part looks more like a bowl. I see a lime…and some salt… a margarita. Thank you, movies, for that knowledge. Uriah is right behind her with another one of those drinks and a pitcher of a beer.
"Strawberry margaritas, for my favorite ladies!" Marlene says as she hands us the drinks and takes the other one from Uriah.
I take a sip and the tequila taste is strong, but the sweetness balances it out.
"Wow, it's as good as I was hoping," I'm smiling, relieved that I'm not drinking whiskey from the 1900's.
"Be careful though, a couple of those and it'll hit ya fast!" Marlene says as she grabs her bowling ball to start her turn. I look around to see if Zeke or Four or any of their other friends. Act casual.
"So Uriah… where's your brother?"
"Most of his friends we're sitting around the bar still. Him and Four probably went outside to smoke." Smoke? I feel my nose crinkle up, I'm not sure what it would be like to be around someone that smokes because I haven't known anyone that does. Well Tris, you shouldn't worry about that considering you'll have to get yourself to talk to him, and then you'll have to see if he responds.
We play through a round and at the end of that, I've had two margaritas, which is starting to fill me with a little more life.
"Let's head over to the bar. They have a DJ and I want to get a couple more drinks before the action begins," Uriah says then makes finger guns and is making 'pew pew' sounds towards Marlene. She's laughing and calling him a nerd, but also saying she'll beat him at any games.
"Where did Al go?" I ask Christina as the bar comes into view.
"He's actually right over there! Talking to that cute short girl with the black hair," she makes a motion to Al and this girl, standing at a high-top table.
"Christina…don't you dare let me become the third or fifth wheel."
"Tris," she puts her arm around me, "I am not that kind of wingman. Plus, I see your man right over there. So, let's get this going." I see him standing at another table, talking to Zeke. He has on a black short sleeve, which now I can see how muscular his arms are, usually hidden by the dress shirts.
"He's going to come up to you, so don't worry about it."
"How do you know?"
"Because he already noticed you before you noticed him. I saw him looking…so when we walk by, make high contact, small smile, and then go to the bar with me," Christina links her arm with me and laughs, as if her whispering was her telling me a joke. This makes me laugh naturally because this whole situation seems ridiculous and goofy. But I guess when they make these scenes in the movies or write about them in the books, it's actually how it goes. I also have complete faith in what Christina says because her advice doesn't sound like too much effort…and from what she's told me, she dated a lot in high school.
On cue, as we walk by Four's table, I look in his direction and I catch him staring at me. Wow…she's good. I give him a small smile, and then look back ahead, and go up to the bar with Christina.
"How'd you know he was going to look?" I ask her as we lean on the bar, waiting for the bartender.
"Because you're Tris Prior and he's clearly attracted to you," she says, then orders us two long islands.
"These have a lot more liquor in them then the margaritas… so do not chug this or you will die. Just use it to carry the buzz," she raises her eyebrows and draws out the words "you will die".
"You got it. No dying here," I raise my glass up.
"Next plan of action, because I can sense him looking over here every couple minutes. I am going to go over to Will and leave you here alone. He's going to come up to you."
"Christina… I hate that plan."
"Calm down, I'm not abandoning you. Will is like 7 feet away. I'm going to talk to him for 5 minutes, tops, and if Four doesn't come over here, I'll come back."
"Ok fine," I roll my eyes. Christina smiles and then walks away, and then I'm left standing here at the bar, alone. Except, when I look around, there's a few other people sitting alone, so maybe it's not so weird.
"Did your friend leave you?" I almost jump when I hear his voice. How did she know he would do this!? Four is now leaning on the bar next to me.
"She just wanted to go tell Will something," I look over them at the perfect timing of Will giving Christina a kiss, "Or well... that." I can't help but laugh and I see the corner of Four's mouth twitch.
"I'm kind of surprised to see you out," I say because I don't really know what else to talk about.
"Ah yeah, it might be shocking, but I do try to have a life outside of work." Did I just offend him? He doesn't look offended.
"Well, I didn't mean it like that. I think what I really meant was…that kind of friendship…" as I say this, I look over at Zeke who just let out a loud laugh and is telling a story, using extremely exaggerated arm motions. Not hand motions, he's using his entire arms.
"It looks like he's telling a story about swimming…but I feel like he isn't," I add. This actually makes Four smirk.
"You know what they say, opposites attract."
"I guess so." The bartender walks up to us and Four gets a beer. I don't want there to be a weird silence, because then it'll give him an excuse to walk away. I take a sip from my drink for a little courage, and I can immediately tell Christina was not kidding about the amount of alcohol.
"So where are you from?" I look at him and can see his body tense a little.
"Are you going to start trying to figure out my life story?" I laugh at his response.
"I thought it was a pretty basic question. I could probably google your name if I really wanted to know," although as soon as I say this, I realize I don't actually know his real name. Oh well…he knows what I'm getting at.
"I'm from a smaller town, about 2 hours away from here. Zeke and I actually went to high schools that played in each other in football. We met through the recruiter and then went to boot camp together."
"Now the friendship makes a little more sense," now I'm starting to feel a little more courage.
"I'm going to guess you're from a city." I give him a ridiculous look when he says this.
"Ouch, no. I'm from a farm town, with not much going on there."
"Is that why you left?"
"Are YOU the one asking about life stories now?" He smirks again and sips his beer.
"Maybe I am. We'll skip that question now."
"It's ok I have nothing to hide. My parents are missionaries, they dedicate their lives to helping people, so we lived with enough…but not a lot… growing up. I like helping people but I'm not that kind of selfless, so I wanted to get out of there and this was one of the only ways how," I take a long sip after that. I don't think I said anything embarrassing, but it was enough to make an impression.
"You're doing one of the most selfless things right now. You gave up your comfort of home with your family to do something that most people wouldn't ever do. Don't sell yourself short," he turns to me and is now standing up straight. I stand up straight, so I don't feel so tiny compared to him.
"What do you like to do here?" I blurt out. I'm trying to figure out how to say, hang out with me longer, without actually saying, hang out with me longer.
"Like…in Georgia?"
"No, like in this building," I laugh. I wonder if I'm laughing too much. I mean it's not a stupid giggle. There's the overthinking everything. Take a few more sips of the drink, it'll be fine.
"I usually just sit in this area and have a few beers. Watch sports if Zeke and Shauna wander off. Talk to a couple of our other friends here."
"Well… do you want to go find something to do?"
"Are you asking me to go play some games with you?"
"We are in a building that makes their money off games… is it not cool enough for you?" I cross my arms. I really believe I can intimidate him and make him go play arcade games with me. But to my surprise, he smiles. Out of all the things I've said, that's what gets him to smile?
"Lead the way," he motions with his hand towards the arcade area. I know I smile ridiculously big, but I don't care now. I am also relieved right now, that the movie theater by my house had an arcade, so at least I have experience in this. I take him right over to a zombie shooting game.
"You want to play a shooting game?" He raises his eyebrow at me.
"First of all, ouch! That hurts my feelings," I'm smiling while I say this, to make it clear that he's definitely not hurting my feelings, because we know what he's getting at is the truth, "and second, I'm actually very professional when it comes to killing zombies to save the earth." Before he responds I hand him one of the plastic guns, grab my own, and push the game to start. I then become more than satisfied that not only am I destroying him in this game, but he sucks.
"Four, you're terrible," I'm laughing as we get to the last round.
"Sorry, I'm only trained for humans…not zombies."
"How morbid," but I'm still laughing. We finish the game and he's still smirking, which makes me assume that he's not having a terrible time.
"Ok, you pick next, maybe you can redeem yourself."
"Easy pick," he walks over to the air hockey table.
"Why do I feel like this is a typical man choice? Are all men skilled in the art of air hockey?"
"I haven't played in a while… so we'll see." Some more sips of my drink. After a few rounds of air hockey, I can really feel the alcohol buzzing in me… not enough to keep me from being aware that I'm awful at this game. I somehow convince Four into playing a couple more random games, and while I expect him to complain or even say no, he just follows me. I also think that maybe it's the beer, but he's only had two since I've seen him, and he seems just fine. Although, I hope I seem just fine to him too. The few games we played only killed about 45 minutes of our time, so we had back to the bar to see if our friends are hanging out in the same spot.
Everyone is at the high-top tables and the bar, and I don't miss some of the looks we get. I might be slightly tipsy from the drinks, but I see some raised eyebrows and a couple whispers. Four doesn't seem to notice, and if he does, he doesn't acknowledge it. My friends and the friends at his table from earlier don't seem to care. Other than Christina and Marlene marching right over to us.
"We need to know who won the most games," Christina demands. Four raises an eyebrow at her. Christina has told me over and over again how scary she thinks Four is, but I guess she's had enough to drink, because she just raises her eyebrows back at him.
"Not sure if Four is going to agree, but I would say I won more. Why?"
"Because Christina beat Will, I beat Uriah, and Shauna beat Zeke at most games… except air hockey. We're just making sure the trend is consistent," Marlene says nodding, as if she's just figured out the cure for some unknown disease.
I gasp and look at Four, "I KNEW it was a male life skill." The corners of his mouth twitch, but something tells me if my friends weren't standing directly in front of us, he would have let himself smile.
"Hey man, smoke break," Zeke says walking up to all of us. Four nods at him.
"I'll be right back," he says, but it's almost a whisper, and then he touches the small of my back. The spot tingles still, even as I watch him walk out with the guys.
Christina and Marlene wait until they are out of sight before speaking. It's a jumble of both their voices, "how's it going?", "he is so into you,", "have you guys kissed?", "you should just make the first move!"
"Alright alright! Slow down… let's get something else to drink," I raise my empty glass to show them, and then walk towards the bar.
"First…water," says Christina, and before I can protest, she orders three waters.
"Don't give me that look, I'm not trying to die tonight or wake up feeling like death."
"Fine," I have no argument to that, so I chug my glass when she sets it in front of me.
"So…" I hear Christina whisper, and they're both staring at me.
"I don't have details. I really don't. I mean, it's going good. He's actually smiled and laughed a little. But we haven't talked really."
"That means…no kiss?" Marlene asks.
"Marlene, I don't think my pacing is as fast as yours and Uriah's," she gasps when I say this, and I can't hold in the smile.
"How did you know!?"
"I didn't, but now we do!"
"Ok so…details!" Now Christina is looking at Marlene and I'm glad the attention is off me. I don't mind telling my friends things, but I want more to tell, and so far, I don't have much. As much as I try to pay attention to Marlene, reliving her details of Uriah kissing her somewhere in the arcade area, I keep looking to see if the guys have made their way back inside.
About fifteen minutes pass and we each order a seltzer. It seems like the best choice to avoid getting too drunk. Then we hear Uriah's excited voice.
"Who's ready for some shots!" He's in between Marlene and Christina now, his arms around both their shoulders. The three of us look at each other, but we don't say no. Not that we have much of a chance because he's already ordering shots of tequila.
Everyone else appears, coming from behind us. Will wraps his arm around Christina's waist and gives her a kiss, I instantly feel jealous. Not in a malicious way, but where I genuinely wish it could be that easy for me. It doesn't take more than few seconds before I feel the calloused hand on my lower back again. His touch sends a chill through my body, and it takes everything in me not to physically shiver.
Everyone around us seems to be paired up and into their own conversations.
"Hey," I smile at him.
"Hey," he says back, and he might not smile but there is a softness in his voice.
"You don't smell as bad as I was expecting," as soon as I say the words, I put a hand over my mouth. I'm embarrassed but the tipsy feeling makes me laugh about it because it seems better than falling over and dying.
"I mean... I didn't mean to say that out loud." And luckily, somehow, Four finds this funny. Because he lets out a chuckle and says, "I just go to accompany Zeke and some of the guys. When they smoke, it's usually when they have their emotional talks. I don't do much talking, so I'm just there for the support."
"That's really thoughtful."
"I do try sometimes." He's giving me this look that makes me think he's not just talking about him going outside to listen to his friends talk about their feelings.
Before I respond, here comes Uriah. He's saying, "one for you, one for you", while handing everyone their shot of tequila with a lime resting on top of the shot glass. Then I see some people dumping a little salt on the top of their hands.
Once we get our shots, I look at Four, and it's like he can read my mind because he says, "you haven't taken a tequila shot before."
"No, I havent."
"You put a little salt on your hand, and then when we finish the cheers, you lick the salt, take the shot, and bite the lime," he explains.
"Does that make it taste good?"
"I'll let you decide that one." I'm about to ask what he means, but then Zeke is talking loud enough for the whole group to hear. This is the first time I notice that the group here with us is about 15 people, of course I don't know the majority of them.
"I'll make this short and sweet. Congrats to my bro and his friends who got through boot camp and now they're onto bigger and better things." There's a small cheer throughout the crowd, "and to that I say, there are good ships, there are wood ships, there are ships that sail the sea. But the best ships, are friendships, and may they always be"
With that, him and everyone around raises their glass and they say cheers. I copy what Four told me; lick the salt, shot, lime.
My face puckers and I look at Four, his expression completely unchanged.
"Oh wow... gross"
"Guess it's safe to say you don't like tequila"
"You're telling me you like that stuff?"
He shrugs, "learn to appreciate the taste I guess"
"I think you're lying."
Everyone's conversations are buzzing around us again. I try to think of what to say, but he talks first.
"It's still early in the night, especially for some of these guys. I'm not sure how long you and your friends planned on staying out, so I was just going to ask," then he pauses. Of course, this ignites a mixture of anxiety and adrenaline in me.
"Go on…"
"If you wanted my number. Just you know, in case something happens," he clears his throat as he finishes his sentence. Not sure if it's just me, but he seems nervous.
"Are you volunteering to give me your number as an emergency contact?" Deep inside me, I'm shocked that I'm trying to be bold. I feel this self-confidence that's telling me, 'if he wants to give you his number for you two to talk, then he needs to say it!' I'm also hoping this self-confidence mixed with alcohol doesn't fail me.
"Well no. You can text me… we can talk. Maybe go out another time. I mean, it can't be anything really public because you're still in training and although it's not against the rules for me to talk to you, I don't want it to look bad on you."
"I'd really like that," I smile, and I swear I hear him let out a breath as if he's been holding it, although he doesn't make it very noticeable. I could be imagining these things, but he's not some superhuman. I pull out my phone and he tells me his number, followed by me texting him my name so he has mine.
After that, I'm riding some kind of high. Uriah suggests another round of bowling that most people participate in, and we take up four lanes. To my surprise, after an hour, Uriah is the one who calls it a night for us still in training.
"Alright guys, I'm not going to force you to go home, but maybe we shouldn't test our luck," he says sitting on the booth like bench.
"I cannot say that I expected you to be the responsible one tonight," Zeke laughs. I do agree with him though, and it seems like so does everyone else as they finish their drinks and gather our things.
"I'll call the taxi," says Will.
"Well, it's like you knew it would be an early night for us," I look at Four.
"I had this feeling you guys weren't going to try to go onto base, wasted, underage, at like 4 in the morning. This seems like a more reasonable time for you to be coming back." Zeke and Shauna walk over to us, and they're making small talk. Shauna seems nice, but she's seems to be close to Four as well, so she doesn't go out of her way to make conversation with me.
"Tris, our taxi's here!" Christina calls out to me.
"Ok!" I yell back to her. "Gotta run," I say turning to Four. I'm not sure what the next move is here, it's obvious to me that he's not like Uriah or Will, just like how I'm not like Christina and Marlene. This means, a kiss is not happening tonight. He makes the first move though, and gives me a hug, it's not too short but doesn't last too long.
"Alright, get home safe. Let me know when you make it." I smile up to him, with all the butterflies going in my stomach.
"I will." Then I turn around and make my way to the front where everyone is waiting, emotion glowing out of me.
I really did not expect getting this chapter done so fast, but I got really into writing it last night and finished it up this morning. Please leave reviews! They make it even more motivating to write, even though I enjoy writing this storyline. Also, I hope everyone enjoys the long chapter. I really debated splitting it into two, but then didn't see the point in that. Anyways, let me know what you think!