(LAUNGUAGE IN THIS CHAPTER! Just a warning, but this is a T rated fic. I think bad language is okay for that rating, but I really do not want to change it to M!)
Tris' POV
To say my father was furious when Caleb suddenly started shouting at me over the gossip is an understatement. The moment the words "Are you kidding me with this? I had to fight your corner all day long because everyone is saying you're having sex with this Four guy? What the hell Beatrice!?" left Caleb's mouth. My Mom started gasping and crying quietly. Dad on the other hand, practically flipped a table and demanded an explanation. That was when I hit breaking point. I sobbed into my arms on the counter, knowing my Dad only gets angry when he really, really has to.
They all comforted me for a while, but as soon as I stopped crying my father started again, demanding I explain why I was doing something so forbidden so young.
"I-It's not true...none of it is true. Four and I are barely friends, it's all l-lies! F-Four beat Peter in a f-fight today, and he started t-the rumors to get r-revenge! I swear, I don't like him like that. We only met a few days ago!" I plead, and I can tell they all believe me, even if I wasn't lying. I doubted if my Dad trusted me anymore.
"I believe you Beatrice. Excuse me while I make a very angry phone call to the leader of Dauntless." he says curtly before turning out the door with my mom. Caleb turns to me.
"You swear you haven't had sex with this guy?" he says with a doubtful expression.
"You really believe that Caleb?" I breathe, my words thick with emotion. A look of hurt and guilt crosses his eyes, but his words are sincere.
"Honestly, I did for a bit. But then 2 of your friends, uh...they had unusual names, something beginning with Z and Uriah I think? They came up to me and said it was all lies. They literally went round the entire Erudite cafeteria shutting it all down. Shouting at the top of their goddamn lungs it was all a load of crap. I believed them because they said Four was their brother and you were their friend and you literally hate each other. So yeah. Now I know you're going bowling tonight, but believe me when I tell you your chances are slim." he explains with complete Candor in his voice.
I smiled at him as best I could, but it was weak. What he didn't know, was that I had asked Mom before Caleb announced to the entire neighborhood what rumors were circulating. She said I could, as long as I was back by no later than half 7. Perfect, because that's the time Four said the bowling was going to finish. I did, however, make sure that I dressed modestly. I made sure my shorts were tugged down, and the black ruffled top not showing my collar bones. I didn't wear any make-up either, but I did sneak a small mascara in my purse, just in case.
When I left the house, my Dad was still angrily shouting into the phone in the dining room. My mom hugged me goodbye, and told me she would pick me up at half 7 and that she trusted me. I couldn't be happier in that moment that she was my mother. I slipped my phone in my pocket and called bye to Caleb, and left. I walked to the bowling alley by using the directions on my phone, and when I arrived, Shauna and Marlene were already there. I basically turned Candor, spilling everything my parents had said, my eyes getting teary. I certainly was glad I hadn't put that mascara on.
When a black Mercedes pulled up, Shauna started primping like crazy. Adding extra lip gloss, scanning all of her face in her pocket mirror, and touching her hair up. Marlene was creased watching her, doubled over in laughter. I laughed lightly too, but I was still being tugged down by the disappointed and furious look on my father's face not an hour ago.
When Zeke and Uriah got out the car, Zeke beamed when he saw her. He kissed her full on the mouth, Marlene still laughing. She smiled sweetly at Uriah, who smiled bashfully back at her. Four got out of the right side of the car, and made direct eye contact with me. Tears were already brimming in my eyes, but I tried to bat them away. A tall woman, with dark skin came rushing over to me. She looked so sympathetic, but I also saw she was definitely Zeke and Uriah's mom. She had their skin, the same hooked nose, wide forehead. Her features were a lot more feminine, but she was their mother for sure. Had she picked Four up? I remember Caleb saying Zeke and Uriah said they were his brother. Was he their adopted brother?
Before I get the chance to ask, she comes bounding over to me and hugs me. She obviously knows about the rumors, and mustn't believe them. When she lets me go, tears are flooding down my cheeks, and as much as I try to wipe them away, they keep coming back, and a chocked explanation of the tears escaped my throat. Four looks at me with, not pity, but empathy. Their mom ushers me into the car, insisting on talking to my parents. Instead of everything being blurred, as I thought bad situations were meant to feel, everything feels very realistic.
I quietly murmur directions from the backseat, until we pull up back at my house. I climb out the car almost silently, standing back next to Four when the woman, who told me her name was Hana, knocks on the door with her knuckles. My father answers, looking rather furious and upset. My mother is behind him, who gasps and pulls me inside when they see me. Once I'm behind my Dad, Hana introduces herself and asks to speak with my parents. My father agrees, letting both of them into our bland but homely house.
My mother offers them both cups of tea, but Four politely declines. They sit down on one side of the dining room table, my parents on the other. I sit at the head of the wooden table, between my mother and Four. We don't sit in silence for long, because Hana immediately starts addressing the situation.
"I don't know you, but I can tell Tris isn't the sort of girl who would do such things at such an age. I can assure you Four wouldn't either, as I said, he isn't all that sociable and they only met a couple of weeks ago. I do apologize for all this rubbish however." she says kindly but with a tone that suggests she is livid.
"I appreciate you coming to talk to us. We've already spoken with the school, and they promise to shut down the stupid rumors. I apologize to you too, Four, for being dragged into all this mess." my mother says kindly, smiling at Four like she would me or Caleb. Four looks a bit surprised at first, but ultimately smiles a bit back. I sit there in silence, staring down at my hands. My father must notice this, because he suddenly tries to draw both me and a silent Four into the conversation.
"Beatrice, Four, I believe you're both late for your bowling. You're welcome to walk there now if you wish." he says kindly, but I can still see the hurt in his face. It must be a real experience to be told your 14 year old daughter is having sex with a 16 year old boy.
I say goodbye to them all and stand up with Four, tucking my chair in and walking out the door. When I hear Four shut the door behind me, I bury my face in my hands. I didn't expect him to say anything, but he, apparently, does care.
"Tris, it's gonna be okay you know. They'll sort it out. Come on, or we'll miss the Dauntless Cake." he says with a crooked smirk. I remove my hands from my face and follow him down the gray pavement, walking side by side with him. He doesn't say anything, but I do.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all this. I really am, you don't deserve to be dragged into all this...crap." I say, on the verge of saying my first swear word, but going against it.
"Tris, you can swear if you want. It might help." he says with a little chuckle. It echoes slightly in the silent streets.
"I-I've never sworn before. What would my parents say?!" I exclaim, laughing loudly towards the end. Four is laughing along with me. The streets get louder as we get further from Abnegation and closer to the bowling alley.
"Go on, try it." he says with another light laugh. He looks at me expectantly, but I come up blank, just staring at him waiting for him to go on.
"What do I say? I only know the s word." I say with a laugh. He looks at me with genuine surprise, as if he expected me to know the whole dictionary of cuss words off by heart. His expression changes, into a much more you have so much more to learn look. It makes me laugh once more. Most of the weight of today really has been lifted.
"Okay, try...fuck you Peter Hayes!" he exclaims, turning back to me with an expectant look.
"O-Okay...fuck you Peter!" I shout, clasping my hands over my mouth in shock at my words. Four breaks into a kind of laughter I never expected to hear from him, loud and long. I laugh along too, but I still worry somebody else heard me.
When we arrive at the bowling alley, I'm blown away by how amazing it is. There are bright, neon lights everywhere, the walls are just brick with no paper or paint, people are eating burgers and pizzas and ice cream sundaes like there's no tomorrow, I can hear the loud clatter of bowling balls hitting the pins, and I beam in response. I squeal in delight as I put the tiny shoes on my feet we were given, mine look so small as a size 2. We try to find the others, but they are sitting in a booth in the restaurant part of the place. They give us smiles and wave, but we end up just choosing a lane on our own because Four really wants me to have a go at bowling.
We choose lane 10, against the wall. I press a button on the little tablet thingy so the bumpers will stay up on my turn, so I actually have a chance at winning. Four furrows his eyebrows at this, but I just shrug. We enter our names and he lets me go first. I end up going for one of the heaviest ones, just because the weight feels right in my hand. I expected Four to make some kind of snarky "You're weak" comment at this, but he doesn't, he just smiles and gestures for me to have a shot. I do, and it hits the side a few times in a zig zag motion, before slowly hitting 4 pins. I sigh a bit, expecting a few more, but Four just nods and said I did good.
Four is really good at bowling, and wins, of course. I did hit a few strikes, but I wasn't really noticing. I was having way too much fun. I never stopped laughing at the stupid jokes we were both making, my bad shots, his bad shots, etc. The hour really flew, and before I knew it, we only had 15 minutes left to get cake, and I wanted a shot at air hockey.
Zeke, Uriah, Marlene and Shauna had come and watched us for a bit, but eventually left. I did notice that Marlene sat a bit closer to Uriah than what would be considered normal for friends. I would have to grill her on it later. We changed back into our normal shoes, before rushing to the restaurant. Four ordered just a small slice of Dauntless cake, saying his allowance money would cover it.
"How did Zeke and Uriah afford their burgers then? I thought Hana was your mom?" I asked, ordering 2 huge slices and 2 vanilla milkshakes to go with them. Four turns to me with a shocked and grateful smile.
"She is, and she gives us all 10 dollars a week, but I spent 5 of mine on coffee this week, and I put the rest into my master card." he explains as we carry our cake and milkshakes over to the booth.
We sit facing each other, and I suddenly realize how much this looks like a date. I'm quick to push that idea away.
"I just released how much this looks like a date! No offense to you Four, because you're nothing like imagined, but I don't like you like that." I explain with a blush, avoiding all eye contact with him for a moment.
"Hey, it's fine. I don't like you like that either. Just friends." he says, sipping his milkshake and basically inhaling his cake. I can tell he's trying not to be rude and eat like a pig, but I honestly don't mind.
"You can eat as fast as you want. I eat like a horse 24/7 anyways, so go ahead." I say with a smirk as We both continue scoffing our cake down. I slurp my milkshake, but I get the nerve to ask my mom for another 15 minutes.
Tris: Mom, can I please please please please have another 15 minutes? We ended up getting milkshakes and I wanna play on the air hockey!
Mom: That's fine honey. I'll be in the parking lot waiting for you at 7:45 x
I beam as I show Four the text messages. That gives us time for air hockey.
"So, Hana's your adoptive mother?" I ask curiously. I see him tense up and go rigid. This must be a sensitive topic for him. I quickly change the subject. "I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." I blurt out. He relaxes a bit, but he doesn't seem to mind my bringing it up that much.
"It's okay. Yeah, she's my adoptive mother." he says bluntly, avoiding eye contact as well. It's not awkward, more respectful silence.
"That's amazing. To take someone in like that, that's really amazing." I say meaningfully.
"Yeah, she's great. She's not too thrilled with me at the moment though, if I'm honest. She loves me, and she is proud of me, but I'm completely failing math and Chemistry. They say those good at IT and Computer Science are good at those subjects, but I'm good at IT and bad at Math and Chemistry." he explains, swirling his straw around in this milkshake glass, like I am.
I feel sorry for him. Tutors are damn expensive, and the school doesn't offer extra classes. Suddenly, an idea pops into my head.
"I-I...um, if you wanted to, I could tutor you. I have a A- in math currently, and an A in chemistry. if you wanted help with anything." I murmur timidly. His head suddenly snaps up in surprise. A grin curls on his lips.
"Are you serious?" he asks in disbelief, running a hand through his hair.
"Yeah, I'm serious. Just text me if you ever want me to help you with math or Chemistry." I say with a hopeful smile. I always like teaching people things. Makes me feel useful.
"I-I'd really appreciate that. If you don't mind, I'd really like to get this Chemistry homework done by tomorrow...would you mind doing it in the training room tomorrow morning?" he asks with a doubtful look in his eyes.
"Nah, I don't mind. What's it about, the homework?" I ask, standing up to walk towards the air hockey, checking my plain watch to see we have another 10 minutes left.
"Alka...uh, Alkila metals or something? I don't know how to pronounce it." he says with a bit of a blush on his cheeks.
"Oh, the Alkali metals! Yeah, I'll help you with those. Come on, air hockey!" I squeal, practically sprinting towards the table. I insert a few dollar bills, before the game starts up. I played this once with my childhood friend Robert when our parents were in a meeting for work.
I chuckle as I score again, and again, and again. Four scores occasionally, but I beat him 13-6 after I put in more and more of my small allowance. I end up in hysterics after he almost falls on the floor trying to block one of my shots. I cluth the table, my shoulders shaking with laughter. I stand up, but I'm still laughing, and tears are actually streaming down my face. It's then that the timer dings, signalling I'm actually almost 20 minutes late to meet my Mom in the parking lot.
I panic, say a hurried goodbye to Four and rush out, only just remembering my little handbag after Four reminds me. Before I get out the door, I hear somebody clearing their throat and saying "Beatrice!" with a laugh. I spin on my heel to see my mom leaning on the counter and smiling at me.
"I'm so, so sorry! I just got caught up in air hockey, and I promised Four that I'd tutor him and-" I blubber, spewing out words. My mom holds up a hand to stop me and smiles with her lips.
"It's okay. I've been watching you for about 15 minutes. You were enjoying your teens, and that's what I want. I'm proud of you, for choosing Dauntless, making your own way in the world. That's no easy task, your father and I both know that. You can tutor Four as much as you want, under one condition. It's in our house, nowhere else. I trust you dear, but we just want to be on the safe side. Is that okay?" she says. I beam back at her and hug her in response, nodding my head furiously in response.
We let go and walk to the car. I see Four getting in the back of Hana's car with Zeke and Uriah, so I give them all a little wave before getting in the passenger seat of my family's little silver Corsa. On the way home, I get curious about the conversation that went on after I left my house.
"So, what did you and Dad and Hana talk about after we left?" I ask carefully. I hope I'm not being rude or anything.
"Mostly about you and Four, your friends, Dauntless, the school, etc. She seems like a nice woman, and a good mom. Four seems like a nice boy, as do his brothers. I don't think you should pay any attention to these rumors, don't let them get in the way of a growing friendship. I heard Four was pretty cold and mean to you at the start of the year." Mom says, with a curious look in her own eye. She's very rarely curious.
"He was, but I think that's because he expects the worst. Mom, almost every girl flirts with him every second she can get, and it just annoys him. He's nice now because he knows I'm not like that." I explain. My mother nods, and we keep driving. When I'm getting into bed that night, my phone pings with a text from Four.
Four: My mom said thank you for the tutoring. I really appriciate it.
Tris: It's totally fine we just have to do it at my place
F: That's fine with me
T: Yeah how about tmrw night? Only if u want to
F: No that's fine. See you tomorrow then Tris
T: See ya
I click my phone off and fall asleep, no where near as worried about school as I was this morning.