I own nothing!

Chapter 26

We walk to the dining hall and I can see that Tris keeps looking at me. I'm not sure what she is looking for, but I wear the smile on my face proudly. I have never been happier than I am right this moment. We spent the last two hours kissing, talking, cuddling, and sleeping. It was wonderful, so wonderful that I didn't really want to leave.

She looks happier too and I think I was able to convince her that she could trust me. Nothing happened that she didn't want to happen, so she was in complete control.

We reach the dining hall and she enters the room first. About a minute later, I enter and sit with Zeke, Shauna, and Lauren. Zeke tries to hand me a bottle of beer, but I wave it off.

Lauren asks, "Where were you for the past two hours?"

"Yeah," says Shauna, "someone can't hide his happiness."

"Tris and I just hung out together alone, that's all. It was nice to be with her and not have to worry about people being around." I say.

"You should bring her to my party after this!" says Zeke. "What better way to break it to the world that she is your lady!"

"I don't know man. See I've decided to let her take control of this relationship to a certain degree. So when she is ready to go public, that is when we will go public."

"What do you mean by 'letting her take control'?" Shauna asks. "You don't want to have any control at all?"

"No, it's not like that," I say. "I just realized that most of her fears centered around one specific theme, and that is not being in control. Her fear was so deep, that the idea of having sex with me was in her fear landscape. I just want her to know that nothing is going to happen unless she wants it to happen. I'm not pushing anything."

"Oh my God, Four," says Lauren. "You have got to be the best boyfriend ever!"

I smile, but say nothing more because Eric is on a table ready to talk.

"We aren't big on speeches here. Eloquence is for Erudite," Eric says. "So I'm going to keep this short. It's a new year, and we have a new pack of initiates. And a slightly smaller pack of new members. We offer them our congratulations."

The cafeteria erupts in shouts and fists hammering on the table.

"We believe in bravery. We believe in action. We believe in freedom from fear and acquiring the skills to force the bad out of our world so that good can prosper and thrive. If you also believe in those things, we welcome you."

More pounding and shouting.

"Tomorrow, in their first act as members, our top ten initiates will choose their professions, in the order of how they are ranked," Eric continues. "The rankings, I know, are what everyone is really waiting for. They are determined by a combinations of three scores- the first, from the combat stage of training; the second, from the simulation stage; and the third; from the final examination, the fear landscape. The rankings will appear on the screen behind me."

As soon as Eric stops speaking the results pop up on the screen. And in the top spot is Tris' picture. I can't control my smile. I look across the room to her, she is hugging her friends. Uriah goes over to her and they hug and he runs back to Lynn and Marlene. I look back at the screen to see the rest of the names.

1. Tris

2. Uriah

3. Lynn

4. Marlene

5. Peter

6. Will

7. Christina

8. Angela

9. Wayne

10. Reed

11. Molly

12. Drew

Molly and Drew are factionless, and Tris and Uriah, the Divergent, are the top two.

I look over towards Tris, I want to congratulate her, but I don't know if it would be appropriate. Shauna grabs my arm and pulls me down so I can hear her, "Go to her!" she says to me. I smile at her and I make my way across the hall to where she is standing. Will and Christina kiss off to the side. I tap her on the shoulder. She turns to me, she is absolutely beaming.

"You think giving you a hug would give away too much?" I ask, smiling.

"You know," she says, "I really don't care."

She stands up and goes up on tiptoe to kiss me. I'm surprised, but happy and lean in, and slide my fingers up the side of her neck.

She breaks away from the kiss and she stares up at me. She doesn't look upset or embarrassed, but a little worried and something tells me it has nothing to do with the kiss.

"Tris?" I say.

She shakes her head. "Not now." I look down at her, confused. "Later," she says "Okay?"
I nod, there is something going on in her head, but I have no idea what.

XXX

After the rankings are announced, it is impossible to get her alone to see what she was talking about. Between people congratulating her and her friends, and the gawking stares from her friends because of the kiss and the fact that I am now holding her hand and staying by her side it is not possible to talk.

We socialize for a while. Christina drags her away for a moment, probably to ask her about us. Then I take her to my table and officially introduce my 'girlfriend' to my friends. The Pit is full of music, people, and parties. Every time I try to drag her away to my apartment so we can be alone, someone stops us. By the time it starts to settle down, I realize that I'm going to have to carry Zeke home or he may never get there.

I kiss her and tell her to meet me by the chasm in an hour. Then I drape Zeke over my shoulder and take him to his apartment. Once I get him settled in, I'm tired and I decided to sit on his couch for a minute and relax. I don't have to be down there for 20 minutes so I decide to enjoy the silence.

I wake to Zeke walking around his room in a daze. He is getting dressed and putting on his shoes very mechanically.

He looks like he is in a simulation. Then it dawns on me. Tris must have figured this out last night; the injection Eric gave everyone was for a simulation. This is how Erudite is going to control us.