Chapter 2

Beatrice quickly ran into the bathroom, locking herself in one of the plain white stalls as she pressed her wrist to her mouth, trying to muffle her cries. Her salty tears ran down her rosy red cheeks and she sniffled. She was so embarrassed, all she wanted to do was shrivel up in a ball and cry.

"What was her name again?" someone whispered outside the bathroom stall, making Beatrice stop crying.

"Beatrice." Another voice whispered.

"She's in here, I think." A third voice said.

Someone knocked on the door and Beatrice pondered if she should open the door or just wait until they left.

"Beatrice? My name's Marlene. I'm here to help you out. I got you some spare clothes."

Beatrice stood up shakily, wiping away her tears and unlocking the door. She pulled the door open to see three Dauntless girls standing in front of her. She recognized two of them as freshmen like her and the other one must have been a sophomore.

"Hey, I'm Marlene. I'm in your English class," the girl in the middle said.

"This is Shauna and Lynn. I got you some spare clothes." Marlene said kindly, handing Beatrice some black clothes.

Beatrice eyed them, admiring how the Dauntless dressed. They were always so brave, they took 'Faction before Blood' very seriously and Beatrice had to admit—she always admired how they lived without a care in the world, literally living as if every day was their last.

"Dauntless clothes? I can't wear this, I'm sorry." Beatrice muttered, stepping back from the three girls.

Lynn rolled her eyes at Beatrice and muttered something to Shauna who rolled her eyes at the younger girl.

"It's fine, Beatrice. Really. You're not going to get in trouble. We promise. If you do, we'll take the fall for you."

"Why are you giving me this?" Beatrice asked, still confused as to why Marlene was so nice, so kind. It wasn't in Dauntless nature for them to be so patient, friendly and generous. They were always so sarcastic, snarky and spunky even though they're friendly... sometimes..

"I guess there's a little Abnegation in everyone. Well, maybe except Peter." Marlena replied with a grin. Beatrice nodded and took the clothes from Marlene before stepping back into the bathroom to get changed. She stepped out of the stall dressed in a black shirt, black skintight pants and a black jacket with red lining.

"You look great!" Marlene smiled. Beatrice thanked the three of them before Marlene led her back outside.

As soon as she walked outside, everyone stared at her in shock.

Four, who was sitting with Zeke and Uriah, stopped talking to stare at Beatrice who was timidly walking back to her seat. His eyes looked her up and down as his tongue jutted out to lick the corner of his lip.

"Getting choked up, Four?" Zeke joked, throwing a grape at Four's head.

Four narrowed his eyes at his best friend before continuing to eat his lunch though he couldn't resist taking a few sneaky glances at Beatrice who looked completely different wearing Dauntless black. She didn't look timid anymore, she looked dangerous.

He liked it.

After all their classes ended, Beatrice found Marlene and changed back to her soaked Abnegation clothes and grabbed her backpack. She was still shaken up and all she wanted to do was go home.

As she was walking towards the front door, Four stopped to look and her and he smirked.

"Nice clothes." He muttered loud enough for her to hear.

She looked down at her outfit, which now had a huge stain on it. She turned back around and glared at him. She was about to open her mouth to shoot a snarky comment at him when her brother showed up.

"Hey Bea – whoa. What happened to you?" Caleb asked, his mouth agape as he stared at his little sister.

Four tried to muffle a laugh from beside Caleb but failed miserably. Beatrice's lip quivered as her face grew red in anger and embarrassment. She hadn't known Four for more than ten hours and she already loathed him more than anything.

"Let's just go home." Beatrice whispered, her voice cracking.

Caleb nodded and wrapped his arm around Beatrice's shoulder and led her home, ignoring Four who was leaning on the wall for support after his laughing attack.

Caleb didn't ask what happened. He didn't say anything. And that was why Beatrice loved him so much. He never hovered, he never complained. When Beatrice wanted her privacy, he respected that.

As soon as they reached the small, modest Abnegation house, Beatrice quietly dropped her bag by the door of her room and sat on her bed, fisting her hair and tugging on it.

"Why me. Why me. Why me?" she chanted over and over in her head, her heart beating so hard that she could hear it.

She kept thinking about Four. There was a certain mysterious vibe towards him. It left Beatrice curious. Why was he the way he was? Most Dauntless have a certain playfulness towards them. They were always mischievous, looking for something to meddle in, looking to cause trouble. But Four? He stayed quiet in class, his jaw clenched as he grasped his pen tightly, jotting down notes on his notebook.

She was going to get to know him, she guaranteed it.

-A.