Wow an update! Yay!
Gotta say, guys, I was kinda underwhelmed by the reviews and stuff on Chapter 3. I know, it was a shorty, but, like… All that drama with crazy Janine? You guys had nothing to say?
I mean, I like writing, which is why I post these things, but c'mon- I lovelovelove reviews. And there are a bunch of people following this fic, (ILY ALL, MY FOLLOWERS. KISSES AND CYBER OREOS TO YOU.) so I should be getting reviews. But then…. I'm not. Which makes me actually quite sad. So… More reviews this time? Yay. Thanks.
P.S- I've seen Divergent (the movie) twice. Who else thinks its really good? You can tell me in a… (Guess what?) REVIEW!
Yup, I've had a lot of sugar tonight.
Ok. Yeah. Go read this. And then… review.
Tris stood outside her house for a moment, inhaling gulps of cold night air and trying to calm her frantically pulsing heartbeat. Her house was actually pretty nice, she reflected, her eyes tracing it's cut-out silhouette against the dusky sky. Compared to some of the houses she'd lived in, it was downright heavenly. In a little town in Idaho, Tris's family had crammed into a one-bedroom, single story house, where the living room doubled as a second bedroom, and the bathroom had been the only private place. Indeed, compared to that, or to the tiny apartment in San Francisco they'd once lived in, their new house was a jewel.
It stood alongside the river, at the meeting place of a tree-lined residential street, and a wide, sunny avenue. The yard sloped down to the river, and huge oak trees surrounded the house. It didn't feel like home yet- and it might not ever, but it was pretty damn nice.
Tris slung her bag over her shoulder and strode up the walk to the front door. Where were her keys? Damn. In her rush to get out of the house for that first, crucial day, she must have left her brand-new house keys behind. She knocked, sighing in anticipation in the talking-to she was sure to get about being so forgetful and careless.
A moment later, the door was yanked open by someone Tris wanted to see even less than she wanted to see her undoubtably-cross mother.
Her brother, Caleb.
"Hello, Bea," Caleb said with a smirk. "Forget your keys?"
"Shut up," mumbled Tris, pushing past him into the front hall. Caleb was hands-down the most irritating person she knew. Not that anyone else felt that way- to the outside observer, in fact, to anyone besides his younger sister, Caleb was, well, perfect. He stood just over six feet tall, with blonde hair the same shade as Tris's, which somehow managed to look oh-so-glam on him, while it still looked dull and average on her. His dark gray eyes were always sparkling, and his naturally dark pink lips constantly turning up into a smile. But most of all was his charisma- unlike Tris, who didn't think she could command the attention of an empty room, Caleb could not only make conversation with four blank walls, he could also probably work his way into the room's will, and get invited back for another visit.
"Bea, Caleb- come sit down- we're just about to have dinner!" Tris and Caleb's mother, Edith, bustled into the room. She was dressed in her customary post-work outfit- dress pants and sneakers and a sweater over her silky blouse. She worked at the same bank as Tris's father, but she worked as a data analyst
"Coming," called Tris, kicking off her shoes and hanging her coat on a hook that someone had already hung up by the door.
She made her way into the kitchen, marveling once again at their good fortune to find such a nice house. The kitchen was light and airy, painted a buttery yellow color, and was furnished with stainless steel appliances and light wood furniture. A table, set for four places, occupied the far corner of the room, hanging between two wide windows.
"Bea-Caleb-" Tris's father, Andrew Prior, swept into the room from the living room just as Tris herself entered the room. He was not a tall man, but he seemed to radiate a kind of quite strength- Tris assumed that was where Caleb had gotten his charisma. Pity that gene seemed to have skipped her. "Ready for dinner, everyone?"
"Ready if you are, love," said Edith, sweeping into the kitchen. She made her way over to the stove, deftly picking up a steaming pot and a bowl of salad, balancing them as she made her way to the table with the unpretentious grace of a mother.
Tris sat down on one side of the table, Caleb on the other. No matter how many houses they lived in, how many tables they gathered around, chairs they rested in, the dinner table was and always had been the closest thing to sacred they had in their lives. It was over dinner that they shared their stories, their struggles and their triumphs, it was at the table that their life lines converged, like roads on a map, before carrying them off again in their own separate directions.
"How was your first day at North-Central, Tris?" Edith ladled pasta coated in a spicy-smelling red sauce onto the plates, while Andrew poured water from a cut-crystal tumbler that they brought with them on every move.
Tris stabbed at her pasta with her fork, taking a bite and slowly chewing it before replying. In truth, she wasn't sure what to say. North-Central was like every other school she'd been to, and also completely unique. She thought of the fiery feeling of Four's fingers on her wrist, of Liv's quick laugh and Uriah's grin and Bette's flaming hair, and then of Janine's icy smile and trance music in her James-Bond car.
"It was…interesting," she said, finally.
"As it should be… It is school, after all." Andrew smiled, and then turned to Caleb. "And you?"
Unlike Tris, Caleb seemed to have no problem deciding what to say. As always, thought Tris, rolling her eyes discretely.
"It was pretty great. My advanced Trig class isn't nearly as challenging as I'd hoped, but AP chem lab is shaping out to be outstanding. The teacher has a degree from MIT- you know, where I plan to go…" Caleb fell into his usual collegiate- name-dropping game, and Tris zoned out. She was well used to his glitzy ambitions, by now. Thankfully, her parents had no interest in where she wanted to go to college, despite only being a grade behind her brother. She had no idea what she wanted to wear to school the next day, let alone where she wanted to go to school.
"Anyway," continued Caleb, his voice taking on a distinctly… satisfied note, "I met this girl in Trig, and she's pretty great. Smart, gorgeous, interesting… The whole package."
A girl that lived up to Caleb's standerds? This, Tris needed to hear.
"What? You already met a girl?" Edith smiled, and shook her head. "Oh, Caleb…"
"That's my boy," smirked Andrew. "Just what I would have done."
"Sure, honey. Like you weren't off doing you Physics Club in 11th grade." Edith swatted Andrew playfully. "Anyway, stop encouraging the beast!"
"What's her name?" Asked Tris, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Oh, jealous I found someone so quickly, little sister?" Caleb arched an eyebrow, his lips curved into a distinctly smug smirk.
"No, just wondering who'd be dumb enough to actually want to spend time with you and your ridiculous ego," retorted Tris, stabbing her pasta with a little more force than might actually be needed.
"Janine Matthews, maybe you've heard of her?" Caleb's voice took a tone of careful calm, the voice he used when he wanted to annoy Tris the most.
Tris set her glass down slowly. Memories of the terrifying way Janine had looked at her in the car rushed forward, unbidden, and she clenched her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. She would not, would not get emotional, not here, not now. She wouldn't let Caleb have the satisfaction of knowing that she was so bothered by what he was saying.
Apparently her acting wasn't as good as she had thought.
"Something wrong, Bea?" Caleb peered at her around his glass of water, his face infuriatingly placid.
"Oh, no, just, uh, tired." Tris mustered up the best fake-yawn she could, her heart still racing. "I think I'll actually go upstairs, start getting ready for bed, you know- long day."
"Alright, you get some sleep honey." Edith smiled. "I'll come up and say goodnight to you soon."
Tris nodded, waved a quick goodnight to her father and brother, and then, as calmly as she could, walked upstairs to her bedroom.
Her bedroom here was on the nicer side of things, but also the plainer. Ah, well. When you'd lived in as many places as Tris had, you kinda got over the whole personalization thing. A bedroom was a place to sleep, maybe do work, get dressed. Nothing more.
Speaking of getting dressed… Tris scanned the neatly labeled boxes stacked by the wall. There it was- she pulled out the box labeled "home clothes", and pulled out her favorite PJ's- fuzzy purple leopard print pants, and a faded gray T-shirt. As she pulled the familiar shirt over her head, Tris suddenly inhaled a gulp of lemons and vanilla, the smell of her last home.
Just like that, a wave of homesickness washed over her, tears stinging her eyes and a lump rising in her throat. She wasn't even really sure what she was missing, but she wanted to go back; back before she met Janine and Four and her life got so, so much more complicated.
Her number-one rule to getting through switching locations was not to get involved with anyone or anything In one day at North-Central, she'd already abandoned that.
SO? THOUGHTS? Please, please review. It may only take a short few seconds, but reviews mean the world to me. Really, they make my day. And I will not only dedicate the next chapter to my reviewers, but also send you a very nice PM and check out your stuff. So c'mon. Make my day. Write a review!