Welcome to my next long story! I've been working on this off and on for months. It's fully written, 39 chapters of 2,000-3,500 words each. I'll be updating daily when possible. Keep in mind that I do not own Divergent or its characters. This story is Modern AU, eventual Eris, and Eric is OOC. He's MY version of Eric - big, inked, and tough but tender. Four is a minor character in this story and a friend of Eric's. There's a Pinterest board to go with this story. Look for AnnLiberty (one word) on Pinterest to see the things that inspire me and the visuals that go with my stories.
While I love and appreciate each review that my stories get, I do not often respond to them. That's because more often than not my answer would just be "you'll see." But if you have questions or if something is unclear, please go ahead and leave a review or send a PM. I'll answer as I can.
Tris Prior, daughter of politician Andrew Prior, is a senior in the Dauntless program at Factions High School. She takes college classes through a dual-credit program, participates in multiple sports, and harbors a secret crush on one of her student teachers. One day Tris is out for a run when a piece of litter on the ground changes everything, and Tris and her loved ones learn the deep meanings of 'life' and 'hope'.
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"Mom, I'm home," Tris Prior called as she entered her family's middle-class suburban Chicago home.
"Just in time," Tris' mom, Natalie replied happily, popping her head out from the kitchen to smile at her daughter. "Lunch is ready."
Tris dropped her backpack in the foyer and walked into the kitchen, her blonde ponytail swinging happily behind her. She greeted her mom with a quick hug.
"How was class?" Natalie asked her daughter.
"Good," Tris replied before launching into a story about a group project she was working on in her child psychology class. Tris was in her senior year of high school, but took classes at a local community college in the mornings as part of a dual-credit program that allowed top high school students to earn college credits for free.
The two women nibbled on their sandwiches and soup as they chatted. Natalie enjoyed the way Tris' schedule allowed the two of them to have lunch together most days. Her husband, Andrew, served in the state legislature in the capital of Springfield, over three hours away, so he wasn't around a lot. On top of that, the Priors' older child, Caleb, had just started college, and was halfway across the country, at a prestigious university in Baltimore, where he was studying to be a doctor. The house was quiet, and Natalie and Tris had become closer than ever.
When the two women finished eating, Tris helped her mom with the lunch dishes, then changed into her uniform for her afternoon at Factions High School, a charter school in their Chicago suburb. Factions was a unique school. Students there started in five small middle schools, each with a different emphasis. Candor Middle School emphasized truth, honesty, and frank discussion. Dauntless Middle School focused on physical conditioning and bravery. Amity Middle School revolved around the arts and natural science. Erudite Middle School was the most academically rigorous. The fifth school, Abnegation Middle School, had a conservative culture, and focused on community and public service.
While their middle school enrollment was determined by their parents, students going on to Factions High School made their own choice of program emphasis. At the end of their eighth grade year, students went through personality and IQ testing, plus interviews with advisory staff. Their academic and personal records were closely examined, and advisors recommended which faction or factions would be the best fit for each student. Before moving up to Factions High School and starting their ninth grade year, the students attended a choosing ceremony where they each selected the faction whose course of study they would pursue in high school.
Most students had one obvious course of study that would be the best fit for them. Some had two of near equal possibility, a phenomenon called divergence. Divergent students were treated the same as everyone else, they just had a harder time deciding which program to pursue during their four years of high school. Once the freshmen chose their programs, they couldn't change. If a student decided that the faction system wasn't for them, or if they flunked out of a required class or got in too much trouble, they were kicked out of Factions High and sent to the regular public high school. Factions kids referred to the students at the regular school as the "factionless." Being made factionless was the ultimate punishment at Factions High.
Tris was an anomaly, the first student in history to test with equal aptitude for three of the five faction programs. At the end of her eighth grade year at Abnegation Middle School, Tris tested equally qualified for Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. The Abnegation advisors were so flummoxed by her results that they called in advisors from the other middle schools and the high school. They all came to the same conclusion - Tris was the most divergent student they'd ever seen.
Fortunately for Tris, there was room for a lot of overlap in Factions' programs. At her choosing ceremony she committed to the Dauntless program. That meant that she had her regular state-required general classes with a mixture of classmates from each faction, but she also had the special Dauntless requirements of extra physical education, first aid, and psychology classes.
Dauntless emphasized bravery, physical conditioning, and standing up for others. Dauntless graduates often went into demanding jobs like military service, law enforcement, or trauma nursing. Because of the physical aspect of their training, several Dauntless graduates had gone on to professional sports careers as well. Dauntless' most notable graduate was a war hero who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor, America's highest military award.
Recently, Dauntless was proud to celebrate local hero Zeke Pedrad. Zeke graduated from the Dauntless program at Factions High two years before Tris. From there he went through training to become a fireman. Over the summer, Zeke had risked his own life to rescue a woman in a wheelchair who was unable to escape from a burning building. For his efforts, Zeke suffered burns and smoke inhalation. But he also saved the young woman's life, and the two of them fell in love as they went through recovery together. What had been a nice local fireman-hero news story took on national attention as the love story developed.
Tris was proud of Zeke, both because he was a fellow Dauntless and because he was her friend. Zeke's younger brother, Uriah, was in Tris' grade, and their mom, Hana, was an old friend of Tris' mother. Tris had hung out with the fun-loving fireman and his brother many times over the years. She clipped all the news articles about Zeke's heroics and saved video clips of his TV appearances, too.
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Once dressed in the all-black Dauntless uniform of athletic bottoms, a top emblazoned with the copper-colored Dauntless flame logo, a track jacket with a smaller Dauntless logo on the shoulder, and athletic shoes, Tris gathered her things for the afternoon and left for school.
It was October, a beautiful month in Chicago. An earlier cold snap had given way to sunny days with temperatures near seventy degrees. The leaves on the trees were brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges, and they were just beginning to fall. Tris took advantage of what might be the last nice days by walking or jogging from her home to the high school each afternoon. She knew that if the weather turned she had plenty of friends who could give her a ride home.
Tris' first class each afternoon was weight training. This class was normally taught by the head football coach, but this year was a little different. Coach Amar was mentoring two student teachers from the local university. After watching Amar lead his classes for a few weeks, the student teachers, Four and Eric, had been given opportunities to teach with the coach's supervision. Now that they were a few months into the school year, Four and Eric were doing all the teaching, and Coach Amar just popped in now and then to check on them.
The female students especially enjoyed the two young trainers. Both were athletes, and it showed in their incredibly toned physiques. Four was tall and of medium build. You could tell he was strong and fit, but he wasn't bulky. His ocean blue eyes reminded one of a fairy tale's prince charming. One day in class he had lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face, and the girls nearly swooned at the sight of his six-pack abs.
Unfortunately, at least in their opinions, Four didn't seem at all interested in the girls - or the guys for that matter. He was aloof and standoffish. Jovial Uriah had tried valiantly all semester to get Four to smile or laugh, but the trainer was as stoic as they came. Some of the more aggressive flirts in the class called him an asshole behind his back because he didn't respond to their many - and obnoxiously obvious - attempts to seduce him.
The other student trainer, Eric, was about the same height as Four, but his larger muscular frame made him seem like a giant. He wore his blonde hair in a fauxhawk style, and had tattoos visible on his neck and forearms. His icy grey-blue eyes were piercing. Many of the students found him intimidating at first, but as they worked with him they found him tough but caring and fair.
Rumor around the school was that Eric, who graduated from Dauntless himself and had been a star football and hockey player at Factions and at the university, had been offered a spot in both the NFL and NHL drafts, but that he had declined to pursue a career in professional sports. The male seniors practically worshiped Eric as they remembered him playing for the school back when they were freshmen and he was a senior. They were always trying to show off in front of him and earn his approval.
Everyone around the school knew that Coach Max's promotion from teacher and hockey coach to head of the Dauntless program left an opening for another trainer. Coaches Tori, Lauren, Amar, and Max had shared the teaching and sports coaching duties under Harrison for years, but when Harrison found out he had a heart condition and suddenly retired right before the start of the school year, it left the Dauntless staff short-handed. Max had taken over the leadership role, but he still had his classes to teach and the hockey team to coach as well. With two student teachers, they were able to offload some of his responsibilities and get a good look at a couple men who would soon be entering the job market.
Tris hoped that Eric would get the job. As a former hockey player, he could take over coaching that sport, which was needed. Plus, he had gone to Factions, and Tris thought he was easier to work with and learn from than Four. She also very much enjoyed looking at him, but that was something she kept between herself and her diary.
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Tris arrived in plenty of time for her weight training class, already warmed up by her two-mile jog to school. She entered through the main doors, presented her student pass, and stopped by her locker just long enough to drop off her backpack before heading to the weight room. As usual, she was the first student to arrive.
"Hey Tris," Eric greeted her. "Did you run in today?"
"I did," Tris replied. "I'm all warmed up."
"You do gymnastics," Eric said, referencing Tris' role on the Factions High gymnastics team, "but do you also do yoga?"
"I do," Tris replied, unsure where the conversation was going.
"I'd like to ask for your help with something in class today," Eric said.
The student and trainer spoke briefly about the day's lesson as more students trickled in to the training room. Four and Coach Amar entered just before the bell rang, and Eric began the lecture portion of their class.
"Today we're going to talk about balance," he announced to the students, who had assembled on the rolled-up wrestling mats against the wall.
He hit a button and the screen behind him displayed a meme of a cartoon man with a big, bulky upper body and skinny chicken legs. "Friends Don't Let Friends Skip Leg Day" it read.
"A lot of people, especially guys, get into lifting weights because they want to see gains. They want big arms," Eric said as he flexed his impressive biceps. The guys in the class hooted and some of the girls whistled their appreciation. Tris blushed as Eric caught her gaze.
"But weak legs are a sign of a weak will," Eric continued. The class quickly quieted. Weakness was a dirty word in Dauntless. "Skipping leg day is lazy. It shows that you're only lifting to show off, not to be truly strong. True strength is about total body and mind conditioning."
Eric continued his lecture, talking about the importance of working opposing muscle groups, doing the workouts you don't enjoy, and mixing in cardio, weights, and flexibility/balance work for total body fitness. He hit the clicker again, and the screen behind him displayed two photos of very different looking men. The man on the left was a competitive bodybuilder, bronzed and oiled for competition. The man on the right was extremely thin and dressed in short shorts and a tank top with a running number pinned to it.
"Which one of these men is in better shape?" Eric asked. No one replied at first. The students recognized the trick question.
"The one on the left is in better shape to get my attention," said Nita, one of the flirty popular girls, in a not-so-subtle loud whisper that Eric ignored.
"Which one of them would finish a marathon?" Eric asked. Students mumbled that the guy on the right would.
"And which one could lift a car?" Eric asked. Again, the students mumbled the obvious answer in response.
"How you train your body is a lot like how you dress for the day," Eric said. "You don't wear a parka in the heat of summer, and you don't wear a prom dress to go grocery shopping. Your clothes have to fit the life you live. Your physical conditioning is the same way. You train for what you need your body to do. Football players train differently than ballerinas. Extreme training programs are for extreme situations, like professional athletes. Most people need a well-balanced all-around training regimen to give us the cardiac health, weight management, strength, and flexibility we all need."
"Now," he said, shutting down the projector and grabbing some papers off his desk, "here's what we're doing for today's workout. Lynn has announced that she's planning a future in the Marine Corps, so she's going to lead a group on a run. Tris does gymnastics and yoga, so she'll be leading a group through some basic yoga and flexibility poses. Uriah and the football team lift a lot, so he'll be leading a group through leg day."
The three student leaders joined Eric at the front of the room, and watched as he divided the class and put each of them into the discipline that he deemed their weakest. Lynn's running group consisted mostly of girls with lower stamina - girly girls who didn't like to get sweaty, but also a few of the linemen who were carrying too much weight. Four was sent along to chaperone. Tris ended up having to teach some basic yoga and stretches to a group of male students, mostly football players, with Coach Amar looking after them. Eric accompanied Uriah as the student led a leg workout for some of the weaker kids or those more likely to skip leg day in favor of their biceps.
Tris enjoyed teaching, in spite of the football players' attitude about yoga. Coach Amar's presence helped a lot as he kept the boys from giving her too much trouble. Tris started her lesson by showing them some of the deceptively easy-looking poses that actually required a lot of core strength. When they grumbled about how that didn't look like much of a workout, Tris had the students try the poses. It was funny to see the big football players struggle with side plank, their arms shaking as they tried to hold their large bodies in position.
"Yoga isn't just about flexibility and bending into weird shapes," Tris told her classmates. "Think of it as a divergent Amity-Dauntless exercise. Yoga is about controlling your movement to follow the pattern of your breathing. It's about building strength with flexibility, and it's about mindfulness. You have to clear your mind of everything else to get the most out of it. You have to listen to your body and sink deeper and deeper into the pose slowly. You can stretch farther and hold on longer than you think you can. You just have to get there slowly. You can't force it. That's how you get hurt."
As time was winding down, Coach Amar asked Tris if she could show them something more advanced, just to show off a little and increase the boys' appreciation for yoga. Dauntless love to show off, so Tris carefully positioned herself into a crane pose, her body rolled up tight and suspended upside-down above her arms, her whole body weight balanced on her hands. She held it for several breaths before releasing and moving into a forearm stand scorpion. That position had her upside-down but balanced on her forearms as her body curved around backward, with her feet hovering just above her head.
As she carefully maneuvered her body back to her hands and knees and then to a seated position, Tris noticed how quiet it had gotten in the room. She looked up and saw that several of the boys in her yoga group were staring at her, their mouths agape. Coach Amar sported a knowing smirk. Across the room, some of the weight training group with Uriah had also stopped to stare in awe. Tris watched Eric swallow hard and shake his head.
"You boys still don't think yoga is much of a workout?" Coach Amar asked, breaking the spell.
Suddenly everyone was talking at once and laughing as they exclaimed over what Tris had showed them. The bell rang, and everyone hurried to their next class as Tris stayed seated on the mat and reached for her water bottle.
"You okay?" Eric asked from the leg press machine, where he was taking off plates. For a brief second Tris watched the muscles in his arms as he put the weights away. "You're all flushed."
"I was just upside down," Tris replied with a smile. "I'm good."
"That was quite the demonstration," Eric said.
"Coach Amar told me to show off a little," Tris explained. "Peter and some of the football players were giving me crap about yoga not being a real workout. He wanted me to show them what I can do."
"You sure did," Eric replied in a husky voice, making Tris blush even deeper. Shaking his head again, Eric told Tris to hurry so she wouldn't be late to her next class.
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The weather was still nice at the end of the day, so Tris enjoyed a cooling walk home after volleyball practice. She ate dinner with her mother and worked on homework. She also texted back and forth with her brother about the different college and career options she was considering. Tris wanted to work with young kids, she knew that much. Part of her wanted a fun nurturing option like teaching preschoolers. But part of her craved a bigger challenge, like being a child psychologist or teaching kids with special needs. She hoped to stay close to home for her studies, even though she knew many of her friends would be going far away and that her dad had been talking about running for national office, which would take her parents to Washington DC much of the time. Texting with Caleb gave Tris a chance to mull over her options and what she really wanted out of her college experience.