Chapter 2 - The First Day of School

Tris POV

I wake up thirty minutes before the alarm goes off. Not much point in lying here and watching the grey outside my window turn a lighter shade of grey, so I get up and take a shower. After my shower, standing in front of my closet in my robe, my hair is wrapped up in a towel still. I had planned to wear my favorite tee shirt today, it's an army green V neck with 'Hope' written on it in a script font. It reminds me of mom, and how I always feel good when she is around, because she is always so positive and hopeful. But now I am having a moment of doubt, what will the kids at the new school think of this shirt? Maybe I should just wear a black top with my jeans and chucks…. Something simple and unremarkable. I put off the decision and go blowdry my hair instead. Wearing jeans and a bra, I walk back to the jack-and-jill bathroom I would be sharing with Caleb if he were still in the house. He's already gone off to boarding school so there is no worry about being seen in just my bra. Dad is the only other person in the house and he would never come in without knocking. That would be disrespectful and lead to a potentially awkward moment he would rather just avoid. So, I get to work drying my long, very thick, blond hair and keep thinking about what to wear to school today. In the end I go with my original plan and head down to make breakfast. Why start out trying to be someone I'm not? Green shirt it is, and then I head back to the bathroom to put on a little bit of makeup, just a little concealer and powder, a few swipes of mascara and I am ready to go. I grab my backpack and head downstairs where I can keep an eye out for the mystery carpool man while I eat breakfast..

Four POV:

The alarm clock goes off at 5:45 a.m. and I hit the off button. No snooze buttons for me. I have to get up and get the coffee started, then shower and get ready for school. Once I am dressed, I head back downstairs to scramble some eggs and make toast. I never have much of an appetite on important days like this, but I don't want the inevitable lecture that Marcus would give about fueling the mind and body, or whatever point he wants to drive home today. When I enter the kitchen he is seated at the dining table drinking coffee. As I pass the room, I pause and ask him, "Would you like some eggs and toast with your coffee?"

"Yes, thank you." He replies, and I keep walking to the refrigerator for supplies.

Four pieces of toast pop up in the toaster when the eggs are about halfway done, so I butter them and place them on a plate, butter-side together so they'll melt but stay warm. When the eggs are done, I make two plates and walk back to the dining room to sit and eat. As he sips his coffee, Marcus regards me with speculation on his face. He looks me up and down carefully and says nothing, so I must have passed whatever test I didn't know I was sitting for. Breakfast is a quiet affair and quickly over so that neither of us are late for work or school. I rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, then go upstairs to finish getting ready for school.

As I climb the stairs I wonder how the day will unfold. I have about a half hour before I need to pick up Beatrice so I take my time double checking my bookbag and then brush my teeth and head for the door, grabbing my keys and phone on the way. It is only a couple minutes drive to the Prior house, they live a few streets away.

I pull up to the house and wonder briefly if it would be rude to honk, or if I should get out and go to the door. Beatrice saves me the trouble of deciding, because she must have been watching for me and is already walking out to the curb. The passenger side window is open, and as she reaches for the handle I suggest she put her bag in the back seat so it's not taking up space under her feet. She looks confused for a moment and then does open the back door to put her bag on the seat, then gets in and clicks her seatbelt then turns to me.

I am struck...I feel like I know her from somewhere. Where would I have met her and not remember.

TRIS POV:

I see the shiny dark grey jeep pull up to the house and call out a quick goodbye to Dad before grabbing my keys and heading out the door. The windows are tinted, so I'm not sure if there are other people in the car or not. Before I get all the way to the car, the passenger window lowers and I hear him say to put my bag in the backseat so it isn't under my feet - that answers my question I guess. Either I am the only one riding, or the first one he picked up. I hop in the front seat and click my seatbelt then look at him and my eyes go wide. It's the cute guy from the running path the other day, I can't believe it.

"Good Morning, I'm Tobias Eaton. Everyone calls me Four though." he introduces himself and smiles politely.

I can't get my brain to work just yet so I stare at his face and then it stutter starts and I manage to say, "Hi I'm…" I paused too long.

He raises just one of his eyebrows and asks me if "It's a hard one to remember?"

Fantastic, he already thinks I am an idiot, but I laugh it off and try to recover. "Haha no, my name is Beatrice, but I was thinking I might want to change that since I'm starting from scratch here...call me Tris. What does Four stand for?" I try to distract him from my own babbling while I get myself together.

"Ok, Tris. It's just a nickname. No specific meaning" he answers, still smiling and puts the car in drive.

OK…. so that subject is a dead end, I think. I reach down and rummage in my purse, pulling out a $20.00 bill to hand it to him. He looks at the money and then back at me with a confused expression, even after I explained it was for gas. He mumbled a thank you and stuck the bill in the center console. So I guess this carpooling isn't a money making venture for him, which also explains why he didn't pick anyone else up on the way to school. It only takes about twenty minutes to get to school from our neighborhood so we are spared from having to resort to much idle small talk. When he parks, he twists to face me after turning off the car and asks if I want to take his phone number in case I will be delayed after school. I agree and give him my phone number, which he then calls so that I will have his number in my phone too. We plan to meet back at the car at 3:00 p.m. and walk into the school building together then divide at the lobby to go to our respective home room classes.

FOUR POV:

After I leave Beatrice, no it's Tris, I correct myself...after I leave Tris and turn towards my homeroom I see my best friend Zeke leaning against a set of lockers and smiling at me. As I approach he pushes off and falls into stride next to me as we walk to homeroom. Normally homeroom is after the first period, but since today is the first day of school we have homeroom first and we will get our official class schedule with room numbers, locker assignment and any other updates here before we go to classes. Zeke and I aren't in the same homeroom, everything is alphabetical and Eaton and Pedrad are too far apart, but we walk together anyway as far as we can and compare what we know of our schedules. We have Physics, English and Study Hall together, well for now. I know I'll be dropping Study Hall for whatever Marcus approves. I turn to leave Zeke and go down the branch hall to my own homeroom when he stops me and leans in conspiratorially, "Hey man, who was that girl you walked in with? You holding out on me?"

"Who? Oh, her. No, that is Be, um, Tris Prior. She lives in my neighborhood and her dad works with my dad. She is going to be riding to and from school with me."

"Oh, ok" he says brightening, "So she's not spoken for, then?"

"Er, well, I don't know. We only met this morning." How could I possibly explain that my dad wants me to woo this girl I just met and lure her into a relationship with me to satisfy his twisted idea of what is necessary to keep up appearances? I can't, so I just shrug and tell Zeke I will see him in Physics, then go to check in with the homeroom teacher.

Tris POV:

I leave Four in the lobby and make my way to my homeroom class. It is almost the only place in the school that I know how to find. They did give us a tour at the New Student Orientation last Friday, but the student leading the tour was clearly bored and didn't much care whether we retained any of the information. The boy spent the whole time flirting with us girls and ignoring the boys. It was a mixed group of new students from all four grades, so I don't even know who else is new in my class that we might lean on each other. I just have to take a deep breath, walk into my homeroom class and hope there is an open seat and the class schedule includes room numbers.

I walk into the room and step to the left out of the doorway so I don't block it for the people entering behind me. I see several empty desks, but first I walk toward the front of the room and introduce myself to the teacher, "Hello" I say, as he is shuffling through some papers and hasn't looked up to acknowledge me yet. He looks up after a moment and I smile politely, then say, "My name is Tris Prior, I am new this year. Are there assigned seats for homeroom, or do we just sit wherever is open?"

Mr. Parker smiles back and introduces himself, then says the seats are in alpha order and I'll be either in front of or behind Pedrad, he can't recall.

I waited a moment more for Mr. Parker to elaborate, but he went back to his papers. I must have had a lost look on my face as I turned to survey the classroom and the few open seats. One dark skinned boy looked up at that moment and must have decided to take pity on the new girl because he waved me over to him. When I got within earshot he asked me where Parker put me, I told him what Mr. Parker had said, "In front of or behind Pedrad, whatever that is." I add with a slightly sarcastic eye roll. The boy laughed and his smile spread wide to show very white teeth. He said, "A Pedrad is a who, not a what, and you happen to be in luck, because that who is me. Uriah Pedrad, very nice to meet you…..?" he extends his hand and gestures to the seat behind his.

"Tris, Prior. We just moved here over the summer." I added unnecessarily. He could probably care less about any specific details of my life. Turns out I was wrong, and Uriah did politely ask me about where I came from and how I liked Chicago, until Mr. Parker called us to order for announcements and to hand out our official class schedules. Uriah snatched mine away just a second after I had it in my hands to compare them.

"You're in luck again!" he said, "We have the same schedule except for first period and the last two. Stick with me kid and I'll show you the ropes! Hey, how did you get into Spanish 2?"

"Oh, well, I had Spanish last year, so I guess they put me forward in it. I didn't think much about it" I shrug.

"Ok, we only started languages this semester, so you will be with Juniors most likely. But I will see you in Geometry after."

"Great, thanks Uriah." I smile and feel a little better. It's not that I can't make friends, it is just that it would have been much easier if we had moved a year before and I was starting as a Freshman. There would be a lot of people who were starting fresh here, not just me.

We are dismissed from homeroom to go find our lockers and drop off books, etc. before starting our classes for the day.

Four POV

I have a top locker this year, which is a significant improvement over last year. No more books falling on my head daily. I make my way to my first period class, Spanish 2, after putting my lock on my locker since I was in that hall anyway. I walk into the classroom and am shocked to see Tris sitting in the third row about halfway back in the classroom. She looks a little lost. I walk over to her and sit in the next row over, one more seat towards the back. "Tris?" I ask quietly, so she could hear me, but not loud enough to draw attention from the other students arriving, "Are you supposed to be here in Spanish 2? I can help you find your class if you're not in the right room."

She turns and recognizes me, she smiles, and I feel my stomach do a sort of twist to see the relief on her face. I'll have to think about that feeling for a bit to work out exactly what it means. Right now I want to know if she needs my help.

"Four! I'm so happy to see a face I know. Thanks, but I am supposed to be here. I had Spanish last year at my old school so they put me forward into Spanish 2. I'll probably be the only Sophomore in the class."

While we talk, a tall girl with curly hair and a dusting of freckles sits down in front of Four and next to me. Four introduces her as his friend, Shauna, and she smiles and shakes my hand. She has on a gold necklace with letters that look like initials but are greek. Shauna sees me trying to read the necklace and reaches up to turn it so I can see the letters, "It's my TZR necklace. I am president of the Theta Zeta Rho club this year, it is like a women's club/sorority hybrid."

Four chuckles, and Shauna turns to smirk at him. He turns to me and stage whispers, "It's a popular girl club. Anyone who's anyone is a TZR!"

Shauna's mouth pops open in mock offense and she turns back to me to explain, "Yes, it is like a sorority in a lot of ways, but we also make a point of talking about women's issues in our meetings too: body image, women's rights, bullying, networking, it's not all lip gloss and gossip you know, Four! You should check it out when the club fair happens in a couple weeks, Tris."

The class is filling up and we turn our attention to the teacher, la professora Velaz, and the hour passes quickly.

When we are all back in the hall Shauna says she will see me tomorrow and walks away, but Four walks in the same direction as me, and asks what class I have next. I tell him that I have Geometry next, and that a guy from my homeroom has basically the same schedule as me so I'll have a tour guide today. He smiles and nods, asks who it is. I tell him that it is Uriah Pedrad and he breaks into a wide grin. "I take it you know him?" I ask.

"Yes, I do. His brother Zeke is my best friend. Uriah will take good care of you I am sure. I'll see you later" he waves and heads down a branching hallway toward his next class and I make my way to Geometry. The next couple of classes pass by in a blur of faces and names of people that Uriah kindly introduces to me as we have the chance to talk before or after a class, or in a hallway. He is true to his word and acts as a tour guide - not just how to get from class to class, but also fills me in on bits of gossip and back stories and connections between the people that I meet. I am sure it will make it easier to keep them all straight while I am getting to know so many new people all at once, but today it just makes my head spin.

At lunch, Uriah leads me to a table in the cafeteria with several faces I have met this morning. I am relieved that everyone is being so welcoming and friendly. I was not sure how today was going to go, but it seems to be just fine. I have a sack lunch, and it seems an even split between people who buy lunch and bring it. I am relieved again, to not stand out as different.

After History, Uriah glances at my schedule again and directs me toward Art with a smile and a promise to see me later. I make my way to the outer wings of the school and into the art studio. I find an empty seat at a table in the middle of the room. The class fills up but the only face I recognize is a big guy who was at our lunch table. He has a friendly face, and I think he said his name was Al. He shuffles towards my table and asks if he can sit here too. I shrug and say sure, unless the teacher moves us around. I introduce myself just in case he doesn't remember me from lunch. "I remember you. I'm Al Copan, I met you at lunch today. Uriah introduced everyone at the table to you. I'm not surprised you don't remember me." he said.

"I do remember meeting you at lunch." I respond quickly, "I just am not great with names, and wanted you to say yours again so I can get it right. Please sit. Do you like art? It's an elective for everyone, right?"

"It is, yes. I do like it; both art and music, which is my other elective. I play the piano and the trumpet." Before we can talk more, the teacher calls the class to order.

My last class of the day is Anatomy & Physiology, probably a strange choice for a second elective, but I like knowing how things work, and I don't have to take Chemistry since I had it last year, so I had a space in my schedule and didn't want to waste it. Will Hansen, who I have a few other classes with, is also in my Anatomy class, which is a relief. I was thinking it would be me and upperclassmen again like Spanish.