Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent
Tris POV
I wake up the next morning smiling. I don't know why, but I feel as if a weight has been lifted off of me. The only reasoning I have is that I told Four part of my past. I haven't finished, and he doesn't hate me yet, but it's nice to have someone you can trust, even if it is just for a little while.
The smile continues as I get ready, and walk downstairs for breakfast. I pick up a muffin from yesterday morning, and turn around to find Caleb.
"What are you so happy about?" Caleb asks. Someone's not in a good mood.
"Am I not allowed to be joyful?" I retort.
Caleb doesn't continue the conversation, he just sighs and leaves for school in his car. I go soon after him.
Christina finds me in the halls that morning. "Where were you?" she asks me.
"What?" I ask her, confused.
"I texted you, like, twenty times last night. The girls got together after school, but you weren't there," she says.
"I was at the gym, sorry, I didn't check my phone," I say. I was also with Four… but I don't tell her that part. She would probably do cartwheels down the hallway if she found out.
She eyes me suspiciously, and says, "I don't think you're telling me the whole truth." How the heck did she know that?
"I'm not lying to you," I say honestly. I was at the gym, for a period of time.
"Okay," Christina says warily. She must know something is up, but it's honestly no big deal. She doesn't need to know, it wasn't a date or anything. We're just friends.
"Hey do you want to go shopping later?" Christina asks me.
"Shopping isn't really my sort of thing…" I start, trying to get out of it. I don't particularly enjoy it, I never have. I like to keep things simple.
"Oh c'mon, you have to come," she pleads.
"I don't really have a choice, I'm assuming," I say.
"Nope! I'll pick you up at five, okay?" Christina nearly squeals, and I sigh.
"Alright," I say.
We walk to Tori's room, and sit down. We chat for a while until I see Four walk in, and comes over to sit by us today. That's different.
"Hi Four," Christina says. She looks at me, wiggling her eyebrows. I shove her playfully.
"Christina, Tris," he greets us.
"How are you?" I ask him.
"Great," he says, leaving it at that.
Tori gives us the class period to work on our drawings. I take out my picture, and continue working. "What are you drawing?" Four asks me.
"A bird flying out of a cage," I say.
"Does that mean anything?" he asks. Christina looks up, inquisitive. I didn't give her much explanation for my drawing yesterday, she must be a bit curious.
"I'll tell you later," I say, and Four nods. Christina looks at me, as if trying to ask a silent question. I don't know what she's trying to say.
"What are you drawing?" I ask him, getting off the subject of my drawing.
"Just a lake," he says.
"Does that mean anything?" I ask, mocking him.
"Nope," Four says. Well, that's cool, I guess. Not everything has to be symbolic, I like the simplicity.
I continue to work for the remainder of the class period. I got the outline done yesterday, and today I started on the details of the cage, shading as I go. Something about art calms me; I like the idea of expressing yourself in this manner.
At the bell, I say, "Goodbye Christina, see you in Spanish."
She doesn't respond with a goodbye, or a see you later, but she says, "We'll talk later." I look at her confused, but I am pushed out of the room by the flow of traffic and Four and I walk to Government together.
"The cage represents my old life, the bird represents me escaping it," I say, "That's what I was doing, coming to this new school I mean."
Four nods, and says, "I like that, it's creative. You're a good artist."
"I'm alright, I guess," I say.
I barely finish my statement when Lauren, the girl from yesterday, trips me and causes me to fall and drop all of my books. I hadn't even seen her there. I scurry to pick up my books and papers before they get carried off by the feet of highschoolers, and stand up as Four is confronting Lauren.
"It's okay, I'm sure it was an accident," I say, calming Four down. I in no way believe that it was a mistake, Lauren clearly meant to trip me, but I don't want him to kill her. I don't know what he had already said to her.
"Exactly, it was an accident, Four," Lauren says, acting sweet. She moves closer to Four as he moves away.
I put on a fake smile, and say, "Sorry to bother you, Lauren, but we should probably get to class." I drag Four behind me.
"Thank you, for saving me again," he says.
"It's no big deal," I say.
"It wasn't an accident," Four says.
"Again, it's no big deal," I say. I don't want to think about it, Lauren reminds me of Katie. Except Lauren really has no reason to hate me.
"I think it is," he says as we walk into the classroom, "I don't want her to hurt you."
"I can handle myself," I say, "I've done it before."
He knows exactly what I am talking about as I say it, and nods after that. The conversation is over. It really was sweet, though, how Four tried to stand up for me. Maybe he actually cares about me, I think about it for the rest of the period.
Four POV
I go asleep thinking about Tris, and walk up in the same state. I can't get my mind to focus on anything else, everything is irrelevant. I don't know how I got so captivated by her; I've only known her for a day. But she makes me feel like every day before then that I had not known her doesn't even matter.
It all happened accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment. It was when she looked at me for a second, no, less than a second, in the hallway. It was her eyes, her gorgeous eyes. But it's not the only thing beautiful about her. It is also her hair, her smile. In her smile I see something more beautiful than the stars. Her bravery and strength. I don't think I've wiped a smile from my face since I've met her.
I head off to school a bit earlier than normal. Hopefully I can catch Tris alone in the hallway before classes start. I just want to talk to her, it doesn't matter what we are talking about. She makes me happy. No, happy isn't strong enough of a word. She fills me joy just at the sight of her, the closer I get the stronger the feeling is.
As I search for Tris, I find Zeke and Shauna. "Hey man, what's up?" Zeke says.
"Nothing," I say, distracted. I don't really want to get caught in a meaningless conversation with him, I want to find Tris.
"Where were you yesterday?" Zeke asks.
"Huh?" I ask, confused.
"They guys all were at my house afterschool," Zeke says, "I texted you about it."
"I was at the gym," I say. It's true, I was at the gym for a while.
"I know, after that. It was later," Zeke says. Now he has me, but I don't want to tell him I was with Tris.
"You know, Tris wasn't with the girls," Shauna says. Crap, she knows. It must be some sixth girl sense she has.
"Oooh," Zeke says.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I say. They know about how I feel for Tris, I'm not trying to keep it from them. I just don't want them to ask questions.
"You 100% know what I'm talking about," Shauna says, "You know, you two are cute together."
"I have to go," I say, and head off to homeroom.
Tris and Christina are already there, oh well. Unlike yesterday, I sit by them.
"Hi Four," Christina says.
"Christina, Tris," I say.
"How are you?" Tris asks me.
I'm not going to lie to her. "Great," I say. Christina eyes me suspiciously, man I forgot about her for a second. She knows that I'm never great, maybe fine or okay, but not great. She totally knows, totally and completely knows.
I am about to say something else to Tris when Tori starts class. I see Tris take out her drawing, and get sucked into it. I can't see what it is over her shoulder, so I ask her, "What are you drawing?"
"A bird flying out of a cage," she says, looking at me. Her eyes are trained on mine, I love how I have her full attention even though she has her art in front of her. I have a clear view and it's good so far, it really is.
"Does that mean anything?" I ask. Tris isn't one to really do something without a purpose, there must be some sort of reasoning or symbolism behind her drawing.
"I'll tell you later," she says. I nod, remembering Christina. It must be something she doesn't want her to hear.
"What are you drawing?" she asks me.
"Just a lake," I say. I wish mine was meaningful, but I was stuck and distracted when I was deciding what to make.
"Does that mean anything?" Tris asks. She is so cute.
"Nope," I say, without any further explanation.
I work for the rest of the period, stealing glances at Tris. I don't want to full out stare at her the entire time like I did yesterday. Christina is paying attention, every time she catches me looking at Tris, she smiles. Tris doesn't seem to notice at all, she is so focused on her drawing.
The bell rings, and Tris says to Christina, "Goodbye Christina, see you in Spanish."
Christina says, "We'll talk later." I wonder what that's about, Tris looks confused as well. A part of my mind tells me that it is about me.
We walk to the next class together, and Tris says, "The cage represents my old life, the bird represents me escaping it. That's what I was doing, coming to this new school I mean."
That makes sense, it's a smart idea. She executes it well. I nod, and say, "I like that, it's creative. You're a good artist." I mean it.
She shrugs, and says, "I'm alright, I guess."
Tris then suddenly falls down, and I turn and see that Lauren tripped her. Lauren looks amused as Tris is picking up her books. I walk right up to her, and yell, "What the hell was that for Lauren!"
Lauren shrugs and says, "I'm just helping you out." Gosh, she's annoying. I hate her, I hate how she throws herself at me, I hate how she did that to Tris.
Tris then stands up, and says, "It's okay, I'm sure it was an accident." It was no accident, I know it. I'm still steaming, but I can tell that Tris is trying to calm me.
"Exactly, it was an accident, Four," Lauren says, twirling her hair. She doesn't get it, I don't want her. She takes a step closer to me, and I step away towards Tris.
"Sorry to bother you, Lauren, but we should probably get to class," Tris says with a smile. She grabs my arm and drags me away, saving me yet again.
"Thank you, for saving me again," I say. I'm mostly concerned about her.
"It's no big deal," she says.
"It wasn't an accident," I say. I'm still mad, so mad. I wanted to slam Lauren into the lockers, beat her unconscious for doing that. I know I can't, but I wanted to.
"Again, it's no big deal," Tris says. She is so strong, she doesn't even looked fazed by the encounter.
"I think it is," I say as we walk into the classroom, "I don't want her to hurt you." If something happened to Tris, I don't know what I would do.
"I can handle myself," Tris says, "I've done it before." She doesn't want to look vulnerable, she doesn't want my pity. She is so amazing, so brave and beautiful.
I don't say anything else, I don't know what to say. I spend the class period thinking about her, I wish she was mine. I watch her hand as she takes notes, I want to wrap it into mine. But I don't, I don't because I can't. Yet.