Ohmygahd. I feel horrible. It's been like, a million years since I updated.
I have excuses that don't really matter, but the point is, I'm back now.
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chappie- I apologize for not being up on responses. That'll all change now. Promise.
This chapter is more of a filler while I plan some things out (i.e deal with some Writer's Block... -_-) but I do like it...
Anyway, read, enjoy, accept my apology, and remember to leave a review!
No. The itches of curiosity had already blossomed into metaphorical poison ivy. She had to continue. Shaking her head to rid herself of the worries, Tris glanced down at the address, and then up at the web page.
They were identical.
What? Automatically, Tris's mind began to spin out explanations, rationalizations. Because there was no way it could be, and yet that was exactly how it had turned out. Somehow, Jeanine Matthew's mother ran a company that had a sent a letter that had terrified Tris's reasonable, unshakable mother.
"Bea?" There was a knock at the door.
Tris jumped about a foot, feeling silly to be reacting so strongly, but not quite managing to quell her feeling of terror. "Yeah?"
The door opened, and Caleb walked in. Well, "walked" wouldn't quite be the best word- he slouched in, or swaggered in, or sashayed in- but nothing as dull or pedestrian as "walked".
" I just thought I'd let you know that Mom texted me that she and Dad are both gonna be home late- some business dinner, and that we're on our own."
"Uh…cool," said Tris finally, after an awkward moment's pause while she tried to make her spazzed-out brain comprehend what Caleb was saying.
"Yeah, so I have way better things to do on a free night than sit around at home, watching…" he looked disdainfully in Tris's direction, " 'Gossip Girl' and like, painting your nails."
"So you're going out?" Queried Tris, doing her utmost not to react to his blatant condescension.
"Yup. Jeanine's picking me up in ten."
"Okay," said Tris, resisting the urge to add, "as long as she doesn't come inside." But she held back, every ounce of her being knowing that if Caleb understood the full depth of her issues with Jeanine, the terrifying girl would become a fixture in the household.
Caleb's phone buzzed loudly, and he glanced at it, a slow smile stretching across his face. "That's Jan- I better go."
And with that, Caleb left, leaving Tris alone in her room with her computer and the bitter taste of Jeanine's pet-name lingering in her mouth.
She sighed. As much as she hated Caleb, being alone in a new house in a new town was never fun. Her homework lay piled in her bag- a set of systems of equations she was supposed to graph, a set of irregular Spanish verbs to conjugate, and a chapter of To Kill A Mockingbird to read. Tris glanced at the clock. It was almost 7. She pulled out her book and began to read. At 7:30 she'd order a pizza.
Much to her surprise, however, she was interrupted from her reading by a loud ding! from her computer- the notification from her IM.
Sure enough, a chat bubble had appeared on a screen, from someone who's handle was "D4untlessFour".
"Hello," the IM read.
Five letters. One word. Tris already felt a tingling feeling coursing through her body.
"Hi," she typed back, her fingers quivering with… anticipation? Fear? She couldn't tell, and she certainly couldn't think straight enough to sort it out.
A second later (and yet also an infinity, it seemed), a reply zinged back.
"Nice handle."
In the glow of her computer screen, Tris blushed bright red. Her IM handle was "QueenBea", something she'd spent hours thinking about it.
"Why thank you," she sent back.
A second later, her fingers were flying across her keyboard once more. Her room was too quiet, the house to empty, the city too new.
"You wanna do something tonight?" She hit send.
Immediately, she regretted it. Shame rushed through her like a hot, sticky wave, burying her inside. How could she think he really wanted to hang out with her, a younger, awkward, not-pretty girl when he could have the pick of the school's girls if he wanted? He had been with perfect, rich, gorgeous Jeanine, for god's sake. Of course he wouldn't be interested in her.
But then her computer ding!ed again. Almost afraid to see his answer, Tris slowly turned back to face her computer screen. She was expecting the worst- rejection, mockery, outright rudness.
She couldn't have been more surprised.
"I'm texting Jas, Lynn, Liv, Bette, Zeke, and Uriah as we speak. Also, ordering a pizza. Send me your address and we'll all be there in half an hour."
Tris's fingers shook once again as she typed out her address, but this time, she knew it was with excitement.
The half hour passed surprisingly quickly. Tris did a quick onceover of the downstairs- already somewhat messy, despite having just moved in, before zeroing in on the upstairs bathroom. Of course Caleb's area was sleek and high end and looked ready for a men's-hygiene photo-shoot, all posh bottles of brand name bodywash and shampoo and deadly looking silver razors.
Tris's area- not so much. She shoved her makeup into her ratty pink-glitter case, and attempted to organize the gaggle of mostly-used up, brightly-colored Drug Store hair products. But after only managing to spill bright purple hair oil on her T-shirt, and with the clock ticking towards 7:30, Tris abandoned the bathroom in favor of the most important area to clean up- her bedroom.
She'd only managed a little unpacking, so there were still several boxes stacked by the wall, but otherwise her room looked almost presentable. She quickly made her bed, smoothing out the dark purple bedspread and arranging the pink, purple, blue, and silver throw pillows she'd only just unpacked on the bed in a way she hoped looked both cute and chic and not-at-all planned.
Tris barely had time to change- switching her jeans for a pair of dark grey cropped leggings, and her T-shirt from the day to a dark pink V-neck- and to run a brush through her unruly hair when the telltale ring of the doorbell rung out.
"Coming-" Called Tris as she dashed down the stairs, skittering to a halt by the door. She fiddled with the locks for a second (goddamn sticking locks…) before finally wrenching the door open.
Outside stood the entire crew, who had apparently all driven to her house in Jasper's beat-up, dark-green Ford.
"Hey," said Tris, suddenly awkward at the sight of her cool, dauntless new friends in her plain, conventional, suburban house.
"Well, are we supposed to stand here all night?" Quipped Uriah, earning a round of rumbling laughter.
"Mi casa su casa," said Tris, opening the door up wider. "C'mon in."
One by one, the group filed in- Jasper, is wavy hair slightly damp, grey hoodie hanging on his angular shoulders, and his hair looped around Liv's waist. Zeke, stepping aside to let Bette go ahead of him, her high-heeled black boots clicking on the wood floors. Uriah, flicking Lynn playfully on the arm as she elbowed past him, his dark eyes bright and laughing.
"Well, c'mon up to my room," said Tris, leading the way to her bedroom. It was both incredible and incredibly weird having her new friends in her house- it was like two worlds colliding- the cool, badass world of Four and the group, and the warm, familiar world of her home. Then again, thought Tris, her mind flashing back, unbidden, to that morning's strange events, it seemed as if the two worlds were not quite as far apart she had thought.
Bette perched herself on Tris's desk chair, kicking off her boots to reveal bright pink socks, and tucked her legs beneath her. "Nice room," she said, glancing around.
"Thanks," replied Tris, a little bead of warmth settling into her house.
Uriah sat down on the ground, Lynn next to him, and Zeke settled down on the edge of Tris's desk. Jasper and Liv both sat down on the bed, Jasper leaning backwards and shutting his eyes with a contented smile.
"He could fall asleep at a heavy metal concert," said Liv with a laugh, gesturing at her boyfriend.
"Got it," laughed Tris, trying to imagine what a heavy metal concert sounded like.
"Guess that leaves me the window sill," said Four, once again surprising Tris.
"Guess it does," said Tris with a smile. Was she flirting with him? She had no idea. The whole concept of "flirting" had never really come easily to her- or come at all. She had always figured that she was missing some piece of "girl DNA", but somehow, around Four, the pithy little teasing comments she'd never really known how to make were flowing freely.
Four gave her a half-mouthed smile and folded his lean body onto the windowsill, and Tris settled in next to him. He smelled like Vanilla and clean laundry and with the warm of his body pressing into hers, and the low swell of conversation bubbling up in the small room, Tris felt herself finally relax. The day had been crazy, but finally, she felt like everything was starting to fall into place.
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