I am so sorry for taking forever to update! Work has been hell lately and any time that I got to write was spent staring at a blank document coming up with nothing. Anyway in this chapter Four is beginning to realise how much of an impact Tris is going to have on him and he doesn't seem the least bit worried! I have the next chapter half written so the wait shouldn't be too long…like half a year tops : P As always thanks for the reviews/favourites/follows and I wouldn't be adverse to anymore : ) Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 5
Four Pov
The sun was just rising as I woke the next day. The light filtered in through Tris' window; thankfully it hit just above my bed. I had let my eyes adjust to the morning glare before glancing at my watch, 6:37 AM it read. My sheets had been flung onto the floor in my sleep and my pillow was somewhere I couldn't see right now. With a deep groan I pulled myself up out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, my hand blindly groped for my toiletries bag I had set on the bedside table as I passed it.
Once in the bathroom I showered quickly, the cold water bringing some life back to me. I brushed my teeth and cleaned my face, I was eager to spend the day with Tris. I wonder how she'll do; she doesn't really look like a seasoned adventurist. I opened up the small case that rested in my hand. Without flinching I put in the dark brown contacts, the deep colour easily masking my own striking navy blue eyes. Part of me wanted to stop wearing these stupid things but another, stronger, part of me wanted…no needed to be as different as possible from that monster. Another deep sigh and I was out the bathroom door. I stripped quickly and changed into fresh clothes, breakfast became the next important task when my stomach rumbled loudly.
It was about fifteen minutes later that Tris awoke to the smell of bacon, eggs and instant coffee. Four watched with unmasked amusement as Tris stumbled groggily out of her bed, her nose seemed to be leading her as her eyes weren't fully open yet. Looks like neither of us are morning people, Four thought at the sight of Tris literally falling into the chair opposite to him; her hand greedily stretched out for the coffee he had just made for her. Breakfast continued in an easy silence, occasionally broken by low murmurings from Tris or grunts from me.
After her second cup Tris seemed to have reconnected with the land of the living and had set off to the bathroom to get dressed, subtly leaving me with clean up duty. I smirked. You wouldn't have guessed she was in abnegation before, how did she survive? I put away the last dish as Tris skipped, skipped, over to her bed and slipped her shoes on. When she raised her head her face held an almost childlike expression of excitement. I leant back against the kitchen counter and quirked an eyebrow at her.
Her smile grew wider still and she spoke in a rush of words, "I didn't mean to freak you out or anything but I'm just so excited. I mean today is my first 'official' day as a leader. We'll be going around doing leader stuff, getting everything ready for the campers. Our campers! I was so worried yesterday but today, I don't know, I feel ready to take on the world and I know you've done this before but aren't you a little bit excited, just a tiny bit?" she held up her hand and pinched her thumb and pointer together, a curious expression coming to rest on her face.
I shook my head and walked over to my dresser where I had put the keys last night. "I think I might revoke your coffee privileges if you're going to be this…happy after drinking your weight in it." I saw her glare at me and flashed her a smile. "To answer your question, I am excited; I can just hide it better than you. The first year as a leader is always the best, the freedom; privileges; privacy." We were both outside now; I locked the door as she headed over to the buggy. I started the engine and asked casually "So, how do you think you'll go with the campers?" I had seen a few leaders break down when faced with the overwhelming force of hungry, tried and/or restless campers. The sight wasn't pretty.
I saw her out of the corner of my eye biting nervously on her lip. We sat in silence as she thought to herself. I had just shifted into park when she finally turned to me. "That's what I'd been worried about since I got here yesterday. I mean I must be somewhat capable if I was picked to be a leader but what if I completely flake out as soon as something goes wrong. I used to babysit in junior school but that was like four kids max." Her face paled and her eyes sparked with realisation. "At least a quarter of the campers are going to be older than me! How am I supposed to lead someone who could possibly be seven years older than me?" It didn't take a genius to see that she was one breath away from hyperventilating. Without thinking I pulled her across the seat so that she was pressed up against my chest and my arms were around her back.
"Hey, it's okay. Just take some deep breaths yeah? You're fine now." My hand had unconsciously started to smooth her hair, the fine blonde strands falling easily through my fingers. "It's perfectly reasonable to be worried about all that stuff. When I first started I was the same age as you but unlike you I had no experience with looking after anyone. No babysitting skills here." I felt her chuckle softly against my chest. "And who cares that some of the campers are older than you? If they bug you it is fully within your power as a leader to punish them as you see fit. My favourite punishment is to make them run through the mess hall at lunch time in just their underwear." I laughed when she pulled back and hit my chest.
"Four that's horrible! How many people have you made embarrass themselves like that?" While she sounded angry I could see amusement flickering in her eyes.
"Only two guys, one each year. For some reason no one else tried to piss me off after those guys were 'punished'." I tried my best to look confused as to why this was but one look at her and I broke out into an easy laugh that matched her own. We both settled down and I reached out to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. "One thing that you were forgetting before: you don't have to do this by yourself. I'll be here every step of the way and if I haven't left yet then I must be doing something right." Her answering smile reassured me that we would both be fine.
The morning passed quickly with Tris and me setting up a majority of the activities with minimal setbacks. All that we had left to do today was the ropes, honestly not my favourite activity. I put the keys into the ignition and we sped away from the makeshift football field we had just tided up. "You good to just head straight to the mess hall or do you need to pick something up from the cabin?" A rumble from her stomach stopped me from going any further.
Tris smiled sheepishly. "No, I'm good. I wish we weren't so far away, as you can tell I'm starving!" I agreed with her and we laughed heartily. God it felt good to laugh. Even with Zeke for a best friend I still didn't laugh around people often, however laughing around Tris just felt natural, easy. If it kept on going like this I don't know how I'll be able to say goodbye to her when camp ends. I really need to talk to Zeke and the gang.
ooOoo
The conversations of the other leaders could be heard even before I opened the doors to the mess hall. I followed Tris in and took the last seat available, with Tris on my right and the female leader from Candor on my left. We quickly served ourselves and tried to pick up what the general conversation was about.
After a while the chatter around us died down as the Candor head, Jack, stood confidently. "Now that we have all eaten a bit I think we should play a game to get to know one another." His statement was met as usual with mixed emotions and as usual he continued on as if he hadn't heard them. "This year we are going to play two truths and a lie. Who here hasn't played this before?" A few people looked around and raised their hands timidly, including Tris. "Good, now the game its self is fairly simple. When it's your turn simply state your name, how old you are and then tell everyone three facts about yourself. The catch is that one of those 'facts' is actually a lie. Then it's everyone else's turn to try and guess which fact is the lie. Sound fun?" We all nod and he gestures to the boy to his right to start.
He blushes under the stares of everyone at the table, a true Abnegation. "Hi everyone, my name is Albert or just Al. I turned 19 a week ago. Um, my three truths. One – I'm at Chicago Uni for psychology because I want to help people get past their problems. Uh Two – I still live at home and Three – I, uh, have had ten girlfriends in the last three years." His face is bright red and I am almost certain that everyone knows which one is the lie.
Everyone (pretends to) ponders his truths for a while until the Candor girl leans down the table and states rather bluntly, "Hey I'm sure you're a great guy but I think it's fair to say that the last one is the lie." She says this as if it isn't going damage his already fragile ego; it's tough to be friends with a Candor. He nods slightly and the girl next to him begins.
"My name is Susan and I'm nineteen too. Truth number one – I once dyed my hair red while at camp here. Two – I tutor primary school students when I'm not busy and three – I knew Beatrice and Caleb before this year." Well, I thought to myself, it's probably not the last one because Tris was in Abnegation when she was here before. The second one isn't unbelievable but I don't think she would dye her hair, too self-attracting for someone in Abnegation.
The woman from Erudite explains that logically it has to be the first one and asks the group to raise their hands if they agree, everyone but Tris, Caleb and Al raise their hands but they are out-voted. Susan looked at Tris and smiled before turning to the wider group. "The lie was that I tutor primary school students, I actually tutor high school students when I can." Everyone looks shocked to have been beaten by Susan, everyone except Max.
"That was pretty sneaky, didn't think a stiff would have it in them." Max told her while sipping on his drink. He meant it as a compliment but I could tell that the word stiff got to her. "Come on, next victim, Tris!" I think max had something other than water in his cup, it's happened before.
She unconsciously straightened her back and squared her shoulders. She took one sweeping look at everyone and began, "Hi, my name's Beatrice but I go by Tris now, and I'm eighteen." I feel a small smile twitch on my lips as she says this. "Truth one – I still haven't decided what I'm going to do at college. Two – I talk continually to fill the silence when I'm nervous and three – I am deeply in love with cauliflower." Caleb and I both snorted out loud at her third truth, which caused everyone at the table to give us odd looks.
The Candor girl spoke again, "I think going off these two goofs reactions we can say that Tris isn't really 'deeply in love with cauliflower', am I right?" Tris smiled over my shoulder and nodded her head at her; she seemed to be enjoying this game.
Thankfully I was spared a turn because Jeanine declared that we had gone over the lunch hour and we 'needed to spend the day being productive.' Johanna vowed that we would pick the game up tomorrow at lunch and dismissed us all back to our campsites.
ooOoo
The drive back to our campsite went by quickly and was full of playful banter. I wished the drive would have lasted longer. Not just because I was getting on with Tris but because once we got to camp we would have to trek out into the middle of the woods to put up these stupid bloody high ropes. What's fun about being on a thin piece of rope, ten metres off the ground with about fifty other people watching you?
"Hey, are you okay? You've gone kind of pale." I blink quickly, my eyes shifting from her hand on my arm to the concerned look on her face. If we're in this together we have to be truthful with each other right?
I swallow audibly. "Would this be an appropriate time to tell you that I'm afraid of heights?"