Shout out to Topper123 for your review : ) Thankyou everyone that read chapter 2. In this chapter there is finally some FourTris action! Just want to say that everyone is acting like they do for a reason, you just have to wait and see why : P Please read and review. Next chapter will be in Four's Pov so that's something to look forward too!
P.S I forgot to mention in the first chapter but my fic is inspired by the fic Camp Counsellors by Livyroro. It isn't complete but it's an amazing read!
Chapter 3
Tris Pov
Our feet crunched loudly over the gravel path leading to the back of the hall. All around us people were talking excitedly with their partners, gesturing towards their maps and guide sheets. When the carts finally came into view I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, my arms were already cursing me for bringing so much stuff.
We passed a pale blonde woman with an erudite arm band who smiled at us quickly and stepped to her right to let the boy behind her help with her bags. Before today I never would have guessed Caleb would go anywhere but abnegation but the image of the blue armband on his wrist argued the contrary. I kept walking as Caleb put the woman's bag in their cart and wondered how well I really knew my brother.
Four tossed his bags in the back of the cart and slid into the driver's seat with practiced ease. Silently mocking his gentlemanly skills I set my bags down a bit more carefully before climbing into the seat next to him. He still hadn't said a word so I just grabbed the map and muttered under my breath, "Thanks for helping with my bags."
I felt his eyes slide sideways, assessing my comment, before he started the cart and lead us away from base camp. His reply, "No need to thank me", was so soft I would have missed it had I not been acutely aware of his every move. I absolutely refused to think about why I was aware of him.
ooOoo
I followed our progress with the map. We had the privilege of having the furthest site from base camp, but I guess we did need more room to do all our activities. We had been driving in silence for five minutes already and my mind was groping around blindly for any neutral topic that would distract me from the man sitting comfortably beside me. My eyes fell to the information guide in my lap and latched onto the first thing I saw.
"We, ah, it says here that we have a definite twenty-two and a possible thirty-four campers. Isn't that a lot for just two people to control? And what do they mean by possible?" My plan seemed to be working as my worried thoughts had shifted from the stranger beside me, to the overwhelming amount of work we had cut out for ourselves. "Is there always that many campers? I mean when I was here before there were only about twenty people in my group, although that could have been because it was abnegation. Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with abnegation, it's just not the most exciting faction is it?" I took in a deep breath of much needed air. Great start Beatrice, the only thing worse than uncomfortable silence is mindless babble. I shoved that voice away and turned to Four.
It's only then that I noticed he'd turned the engine off. He looked at me with something akin to amusement in his eyes before he shook his head and slid out of the cart. I followed him around and grabbed my first bag, hefting it onto my shoulder. I reached out for my second bag but he beat me to it, slinging it effortlessly onto his back. He began to walk to the leader's cabin and I had to jog to keep up with his significantly longer legs. He slowed his pace and when I finally caught up, he spoke;
"I'm not sure when you were last here but the camp has been gaining campers pretty steadily over the years. Dauntless and erudite always have the highest numbers, followed by candor and amity, then finally abnegation." His voice is deep and rough and sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. I just nod my head, not wanting to speak and risk him becoming closed off again. "There are only two of us because about half the campers will be in the sixteen to twenty-five age range so they are…trusted to not cause too much trouble for the leaders. Also it helps that if they are over sixteen that they take the test and choose where they want to stay, makes for a lot more fun if the campers actually enjoy themselves." He stops walking and turns to me with a slight smile on his face and takes in my confusion. "When was the last time you were at camp, if you don't mind me asking?" His tone is nothing but curious.
What is with this guy? I think to myself, one minute he's basically ignoring me the next he's chatting away like we've know each other for longer than half an hour. I answer him anyway, "I was thirteen when I last came here so… five years ago." God, has it been that long already? Seems like just yesterday I was in the car with Caleb and Mum and Dad…No. Not going there, not today.
"Hey, Tris, anyone home?"
I snap my eyes to his and mutter an apology. Wait a second, "What did you just call me?"
Four rubs his neck and looks over my shoulder. He looks, well, nervous. He clears his throat and straightens his shoulders before answering, "Tris. You look more like a Tris than a Beatrice. It suits you." Before I can answer, or even think of one, he's started walking again, picking up where he left off.
"Anyway, the year after you left they changed the way campers were sorted into their factions." We walked up the steps to the cabin and he unlocked the door while still talking. "Before, if you were under eighteen, your parents would choose where you were placed and you stayed in that faction for as long as you kept coming. If you joined when you were over eighteen, they just led you around to each faction on the first day and then made you chose on the spot."
We were both inside now. I dropped my bag near the door and let my eyes explore the bare room. The floors and walls were hard timber and light fixtures hung at odd intervals around the room. There were two basic camp beds on either side of the room, with a plain wooden dresser next to both. In the middle of the room was a small table that had two mismatched chairs at it, I guess that was where we would plan our activities. In the back left corner was another room that I desperately hoped was a bathroom. Like any other camp there were communal boy and girl showers for the campers and even though they were cleaned regularly they still managed to house all kinds of insects and unidentifiable things. The thing that surprised me the most was what looked like a fully functional kitchen, complete with stove and microwave.
I heard a deep chuckle to my right and realised that my mouth was hanging open. I closed it with an audible snap and glared at Four, who raised his hands in mock surrender. I gestured to the bed and asked which one he wanted.
"I'll take the left." He said as he dropped his bags onto his bed. I put my bags down next to my dresser and plonked myself on my bed. I glanced towards four casually and saw he'd lain down with his eyes shut. The shirt he was wearing had ridden up and I could see part of his stomach, there were black lines that curved around his side, a tattoo maybe? I cleared my throat and looked towards the ceiling. Okay what were we talking about before?
"So, Four, how are people sorted now? Do their parents still choose for them?" Even if I am trying to distract myself, I still want to know how it could be different from before.
He opens his eyes and shifts to lean on his elbows. I certainly don't notice when his shirt rides up again and exposes more tanned skin than I've seen of any other boy other than Caleb. He ran a hand through his hair and began. "Up until the camper is sixteen their parents still choose what faction they join but once they turn sixteen, or join when their over sixteen, they take the aptitude test. It's exactly like the one the leaders take, just different questions. So the tests were sent out last week and as it says on our sheet we have a thirty-four possible camper number. This means that while thirty-four people got dauntless as their result they can still pick differently at the choosing ceremony on Monday. Although most people pick what they got on the test."
My mind is reeling and I think of what he just told me. It's a logical step, let people choose where they want to be and it's bound to create a happier environment. I wonder how many people choose differently than their results indicate. I know if I were still at camp with mum and dad when I was sixteen I would be hard pressed to pick between abnegation, where my parents where both leaders, and dauntless. Thinking about it, I would never pick erudite, I'm just not as knowledge hungry as Caleb apparently is… I shake my head; my thoughts are getting way too of track.
While I've just been sitting here, staring off into space like an idiot, four has put away what little clothes he had brought with him and has grabbed out two flashlights from one of the cupboards in the kitchen.
"Come on," he says gruffly, "We have to at least check the cabins tonight; there is heaps of stuff to do before the campers get here." He hands me a flashlight and waits for me just outside the door. I don't know if he's mad at me or just doesn't want to go out into the now dark campsite to check the camper's cabins. Either way I kept quiet and followed along beside him, checking bed frames and lights. I made a mental list of what needs to be changed tomorrow morning, I'm glad it's only a few light bulbs and one or two mattresses.
It's only on the walk back to our cabin that I realise I'm going to be sleeping in the same room as a man, that my mind seems to have decided is very attractive, for the next six and a bit weeks. I'm living every teenage girls dream right now, I realise. Just be normal Beatrice, be cool.
Be Tris.
