A/n: Ohmygods, y'all probably HATE me! Anyways, here's chapter six. Check the bottom author's note for excuses and stuff. Before we get on with the chapter, I wanna say thanks to my awesome beta, CavyGirl1991. If you haven't checked her out yet, you really should; her stories are awesome.

Disclaimer: I'm feeling lazy today; I'm not Veronica Roth.

Chapter six:

The gang comes to visit me later the same day. I guess Caleb told them what was going on, or Christina got it out of one of the teachers somehow. Either way, it doesn't matter. I'm just glad they're here.

Christina gives me a hug and tells me that I'm not allowed to scare her that much again. Uriah, Marlene, Zeke, Shauna, Lynn, and Four all follow Christina. Will runs in a few minutes later.

"Hi, guys." I greet, readjusting slightly in the uncomfortable hospital bed. Shauna wheels up to the side of my bed, and Zeke grabs a chair for himself. The others stand, since there aren't any other chairs.

"We're technically breaking hospital rules." Will says. "No more than two visitors per room. You've got, like, ten." I laugh, knowing that the hospital staff shouldn't care too much.

Christina looks around in awe at the IV pole, the monitor that shows my vitals, and the oxygen tubing I was just taken off of.

"Damn, girl!" she says, shaking her head.

I smile ruefully, and nod. I briefly wonder whether or not the whole school knows my secret. I'm cool with my friends knowing, but not the entirity of Chicago High. That would be just a little too much for me to take.

Christina seems to read my mind. "We asked Caleb where you were and he told us. He made sure that we ddidn't tell anyone, though. Your brother can be kind of scary when he wants to be." Uriah shudders.

"What happened?" I ask, not sure I even want to know. The looks on Uriah and Christina's faces tell me that I probably don't.

"Don't ask." is all I get before Christina changes the subject. "So when do you get to bust this joint?"

"Hopefully tonight," I answer. "I'm so over hospitals."

Christina laughs. "I bet you are. The one time I was admitted, I couldn't wait to get out."

"What were you in for?" asks Will, clearly curious about why bubbly Christina was ever put into the hospital.

"When I was in middle school," Chis begins, looking around to make sure no one is in the hall to hear her, "I was going through a lot. Mom and Dad were going through a divoce, and I was getting bullied because people said I was fat. So, I went on a diet to try to lose weight. I skipped breakfast, and ate only a certain number of carbs a day. It got to the point to where I could go up to three days without eating at all. I lost about twenty pouds in three months. Eventually, Mom discovered that I was starving mmyself and put me into the hospital. I'm better, now, though."

Part of me feels honored that Christina chose to confide in me. Well, technically, the whole gang, but whatever. Still counts, as far as I'm concerned. Part of me wishes that my close friend never had to go through that. But it's the negative experiences in life that shapes a person's character.

A nurse comes in, and tells me I have too many visitors. I give her a pleading look, and she relents, telling us to just keep it down. When she leaves, Zeke says, "I gotta go. I have football practice in about twenty minutes. Shauna and Lynn are hitching a ride with me. Four, don't you have wrestling?"

"Yeah. I'm skipping today, though. I have a big history project. Besides, I'm giving Uri a ride to work, so yeah."

Zeke shrugs and leaves, wheeling Shauna in front of them. I'm kind of surprised they're not dating, to be honest.

Lynn rolls her eyes, sticks two fingers down her throat, and runs after them. I have a feeling that Lynn is picking up on it, too.

"So, what'd I miss?" I ask Chris. "And where's Al?"

"He had to babysit his little sisters. You'll meet them soon enough." I nod, and readjust myself in the bed. "As for what you missed, Four dropped wrestling practice to come here."

"No way."

"Yeah." Four says, shrugging. "We were coaching today, anyways. I always get stuck trying to teach Drew Blackman how to do a double-leg takedown, 'cause he still doesn't get it."

I laugh out loud. It's not like Four to blow off wrestling practice; in fact, I've never seen him do it before. Another wave of gratitude for my friends sweeps over me, and I can't help but feel like the luckiest girl alive.

"Drew deserves to be ditched." Will says, laughing. "Heree's not the smartest, and he's friends with Peter."

"Ugh." I mutter, shuddering.

"Oh no. Please tell me he hasn't gotten to you, too." Christina says, face going pale.

"Other than a few snide comments in the hallways—which, by the way, I can handle—no."

"You shouldn't have to handle it, Tris." Uri says, all pretense of joking gone. "It's not cool. I'm gonna fucking kill him."

Marlene nods, and Four says, "Count me in." They won't listen no matter how many times I tell them not to beat the shit out of him.

Like being called a slut isn't something I'm used to. When you move a lot, you don't tend to make that many friends. More often than not, you get picked on. It's just a fact of life. You accept it, you move on, and you put it behind you.

Uriah winds up hitching a ride with Marlene, so Four stays behind. Will leaves next, promising to text me to see how I am tomorrow. That just leaves Christina and Four.

"I'd better go," Christina says finally, getting up to leave. "Let me know when you get home. We'll stop by." With that, she's gone. I've noticed that Christina never says "goodbye."

Four and I talk about random shit for awhile. It's easy to talk to him. He's quiet, but he can also make me smile without even trying. He also seems to get me, which is something that rarely happens. He leaves about thirty minutes later.

"See you soon."

"Yeah."

That's it. No drama, no more talk of Peter and his two ugly minions, no talk about my diabetes or asthma. He knows these things, but he's not gonna pressure me. I remind myself that I owe him for that, then close my eyes, and drift off, put to ease by the drama-free day which is so out of the routine.

A/n: Okay, so if you wanna know why I haven't updated in over a month, feel free to read this. There's a lot of information here, so if you don't care, just skip down to the line break, where the review responses and stuff are located. So, yeah, here we go.

So, as you may have seen if you read my profile over the summer, or up until November, I've been going through some shit, and it kind of all came to a head. Please don't ask me to say more, because it's really hard for me to talk about. I was also being basically bullied by a teacher in my school, and it really threw me off my game.

Also, I had finals, one for psychology, and one for English. Then, we went on a cruise, and I didn't have wifi. I also managed to break my computer in the process, and literally just got it back.

Then, school started the day after New Year's, and just to give you an idea of what classes I'm taking, I've got Medical Terminology, Biology, and Geometry, and it's killing me!

My grandmother had surgery on January 3rd, and has been staying with us since November, but she's going home Monday.

Lastly, I wanna sight a lack of motivation to do more than the bare minimum for the last few months. I'm getting back to myself, though, so I'll be back on my game very soon, y'all.

And so that's it. I haven't had time, motivation, or energy to update. I feel like shit, but there you are. So, see you Saturday, hopefully. Audios, amigos!

Bianca.

PddS: Posting a new story today, too. It's called Dauntless Treatment Center. Check it out!

Review responses:

Welp: Um... that a good thing or a bad thing?

Charms22: LOL; one of my IRL friends is addicted to that, too.

CarissaCampbell: thanks for the vote of confidence. I know what it feels like to feel isolated, and I used Tris's flashbacks partly out of my own experiences.

QOTD shout-outs: Charms22

QOTD: Do you write, read, or review more fan fics?

AOTD: write, definitely.