Tris POV:
The Monday before Homecoming, Four tells me that he still needs to get a tuxedo.
"Four, it's Homecoming, for goodness sake's. We're not going to the Grammy's," I tell him, for about the twentieth time today.
"Yeah, but I still need to look nice," he says flirtatiously.
I roll my eyes, and walk along to P.E.
Four follows.
"Where are you going? AP biology is the other direction."
"Oh, I got excused from that class. Mr. Amar's letting me do my senior project in teaching P.E."
I nod and continue walking.
Once we get to the gym, I change into a black shirt and black shorts. I put my other clothes in a locker.
Then I see Four yelling at Peter and telling him to run five extra laps for disrupting the class. Mr. Amar stands off to the side, nodding and approving of Four.
"Okay, class! Let's take two laps around the track," Four says.
We start running, and I finally feel free.
I take a lap around and start on the next.
I finish first.
Then Mr. Amar comes up to me, "I know it's the first week of October, but I'd like you to join the Cross Country team. You keep a steady pace and know what's going on around you. Those are two key concepts to running and with those and a little leadership skills, you could easily be a captain," he says. Then he hands me the form and tells me to put it with my stuff.
When I get back, the class is doing push-ups. I squeeze in between Uriah and Christina.
Four is counting off numbers, and I start.
Uriah is staying quiet next to me, and I look at him funny.
"I took medication to calm my asthma," he says.
I nod and keep pushing.
Then I look to my right, where Christina is.
She's looking at this cheerleader in front of her, and trying to go faster.
Once we've done 20 push-ups, Four tells us that we will be playing Capture-the-Flag.
He makes the captains Peter and Edward.
This should be fun...
After school, Four takes me home before he has to go to football practice.
I kiss him goodbye and walk past the driveway, where Marcus Eaton is.
I slowly back out and look into the street. Marcus' car is parked up against the curb.
"Four!" I shout, as he drives away.
But it's no good. He can't hear me.
I sulk and walk up to the front door. By the time I get there, Marcus is shaking hands with my parents and smiling. I roll my eyes and walk past them.
But my mom calls my name, "Beatrice, come say hello to Mr. Eaton," she says.
I groan inside and put on a fake smile.
Marcus grins when he sees me. He pulls my hand up and shakes the feeling out of it. I smile uneasily and pull it back.
Then I dash upstairs to 'work on homework,' as I tell my parents. They nod and I listen to Flyleaf and think about life.
"Beatrice? Did you go see Mr. Fesler today?" my dad asks, about an hour later.
I cuss under my breath, yank out my ear buds, and open the door.
"No," I confess.
"I'd thought you got home early," he says.
"So...are you mad? I thought it was only for one week," I say.
He shakes his head, "I just wish you'd remember. This is an awfully big deal. The grade on your next test goes on your permanent record."
I bite my lip. I bet my dad wishes that I was just like Caleb.
"Well, you go back to your homework. I will email Mr. Fesler," he says after a while.
I nod and thank him. Then I shut the door once he leaves and bury my face in pillows. This was not a good idea to get the boxing teacher mad. But when my dad knocks on my door an hour later, he seems fairly happy. Apparently Mr. Fesler also forgot.
I thank my dad again, but this time, I go downstairs.
I show my parents the Cross Country sheet and they look at each other.
"Isn't it too late to sign up?" my mom asks.
"Well, normally, but Mr. Amar gave it to me and said he could make an exception. And he thinks I could easily be a captain," I say.
"Look, Beatrice. I think it's a great idea to engage in other sports, but why don't you wait until your grade in math goes up?" my dad asks.
I huff and walk past them, back upstairs.
This time, I switch the soundtrack on my iPod to All Time Low. Then I throw my fluffy pillow at the wall. It bounces beck to me and I throw it at the wall again, letting a tear flow down my face. There's no point in wiping it away right now.
A few minutes later, someone knocks on my door. Uggh, again...
I open it hastily, and my mom smiles at me. I smile nervously back.
"Beatrice, your father and I know that sports are important to you. We learned through your grade school soccer years. And so we are allowing you to do Cross Country-on an agreement that you hold a B in math," she says, before handing me the form, which is completed with all the Emergency and Medical information.
"Thanks," I say, before hugging her.
My mom seems startled, but seems to melt into the hug.
"Now let's go set the table and make a salad," she says.
I pout, and then smile. If my parents let me join the team, the least I can do is make a simple salad. Now all I gotta do is get a B.