Chapter 17 (Uriah's POV)
How should I do this? Should I just ask her tomorrow? Should I ask her when we go ziplining?
I was very confused. I didn't, for once, know what to do. Uriah Petrad, the awesome Dauntless leader-to-be, didn't know what to do when it came to situations like this. I mean, how would growing up in Dauntless teach you how to ask the love of your life out? I'm sure Marlene would say yes, no matter what, since we have been together for a long time, but, you can't just asksomeone out in a boring way. Especially if you are Uriah Petrad. It has to be... spectacular.
But the thing is, I don't know how to do spectacular when it comes to asking someone to marry you. Nope. Not at all. For once, Uriah Petrad is stumped. To clear my mind, I started walking around the compound, not even noticing where I was going. I finally noticed that I was standing across the Dauntless-initiates' dorm. I remember when I officially asked Marlene out last year during initiation. Maybe, I should ask her after initiation. Or while we go ziplining. Yes, that would be good. I took notice that I was walking toward the transfer-initiates' dorm, but I didn't care. I just needed quiet, and walking around these hallways, during this time of the night, was always good for clearing someone's head. I had hoped to figure out an answer to my problem, but I guess not, because just when I thought I was getting somewhere with the ziplining idea, I notice someone- no, two someones- in the hallways, kissing. Ugh. Why is there so much love in the air now?
"Hey!" I yell, unsure of who those two are- they are definitely initiates though. No Dauntless member would kiss that... well, tamely.
The couple breaks apart, and I notice who they are for the first time (it wasn't my fault that the lights were so dim!)
Skye and Alyssa. Skye, who I grew up with. Skye, who was practically my younger brother. That Skye. Oh I will tease him about this forever.
"Does my little brother finally like someone? Aww..." I say, smirking. I was Skye's face flush crimson, and I laugh. That must've been how I looked like when Zeke caught me with Marlene last year.
"Shut up, Uriah," Skye says, standing awkwardly with Alyssa next to him (who is also blushing crimson). I can't help but tease him a little.
"How's your girlfriend? You never introduced me to her!" I say, even though I know who she is.
"This is Alyssa, or just Aly. Aly, that's my idiot friend, Uriah."
"Hey!" I exclaim. "I am an instructor, Skye!"
"Still an idiot!" he says, grinning. Whatever.
"So, what are you doing here alone, at this time of night?" he asks me. Crap. I am not going to tell him that I was trying to clear my head of plans on how to ask Marlene to marry me. If I tell him, he'll laugh at me forever.
"Nothing important. Such wanted to relive some memories of when I was an initiate," I say, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Sure..." he says, skeptic.
The silence becomes awkward, so I walk away. But before I can stop myself, I say what Zeke said to me a year ago, on this exact place. "Don't forget to use protection if you ever get to that stage!"
I turn away, but not before I see both Skye and his new girlfriend blush even harder. I can't really wrap my mind around the fact that my younger brother (ish) has a girlfriend. They grow up so fast... But then, I remember: I'm planning on marrying someone. Gah.
THE NEXT MORNING (Still Uriah's POV)
As I walk toward Training Room 1 for the Dauntless born initiates, I realize that Tris might not come to training today. I wonder if I should go up and see if she'll be at training in... I check my watch: 5 minutes... I wonder if she'll be there in 5 minutes. Maybe. Maybe not. I walk past Training Room 1 and turn into Training Room 2. The initiates aren't here yet, and neither is Four. But Tris is. Tris is punching and kicking at the punching bags, sending them swinging in different directions very swiftly and violently. She must be letting our her anger at what happened yesterday with Four. I can't believe that Four would do something like that. Christina told me yesterday what had happened.
I know I cannot say anything to her that would calm her down, so I walk out of the room, but not before seeing the glee on Hestia's face as she enters the room.
(Tris' POV)
I don't know what to do, as I lie awake at 4 AM. I woke up a few minutes ago on Christina's couch, and I have two more hours to kill before training starts. You know what? I'll just go downstairs and practice. And so I do.
I hit the punching bag as hard as I can, releasing all my anger into it. I kick the punching bag as hard as I can, releasing all my resentment into it. I elbow the punching bag as hard as I can, releasing all of my jumbled, messed up feelings.
I slept on Christina's couch last night. I couldn't bring myself to go to the apartment that Tobias and I had shared. I couldn't. I punch the bag again, not caring about the raw feeling on my knuckles/
I threw the engagement ring on the floor yesterday. I didn't check if it was still on the floor. I didn't care. I kick the bag again, sending it spinning around.
I don't know what to do.
I never thought that I would have to go without Tobias. But what happened yesterday confirmed by fears. I would never be good enough for Tobias. No, I wouldn't. Neither would Hestia, I suppose, but at least she had looks. I didn't. I may be slightly taller than I was a year ago, but I still have no curves, and I'm still as plain as Abnegation bread. It was no surprise, really, that Tobias kissed her.
But the other part of my brain argues: But he loved me! He wouldn't have kissed a girl like Hestia if given the choice!
I punch the bag again, a searing, welcoming pain in my fists.
Ahem. Someone clears their throat. Turning around, I notice that all of the initiates, including Hestia, are here already, standing in line and waiting, anxiously. I could tell that they didn't expect me to be able to send those bags spinning like that- but they don't know me. And I guess I didn't know Tobias either.
I look around, and see Tobias leaning against the door, more than fifty feet away from me. But I don't care. He showed up, and he's going to teach the initiates no matter what.
"Alright. Since we didn't get to this yesterday" - I scowled at Hestia- "I'll go over it today. We'll do some fighting techniques. Simple ones. Punches, kicks, et cetera. I'm sure you all were watching me, so you should know how to punch. You do this." I push my fist against the bag. "Simple. Go find a bag and begin. When I feel you're ready for other techniques aside from the simple punch, then I'll stop you and show you them."
I walk to the punching bag at the end of the line and begin punching it myself, not caring about the blood that is left there from my knuckles. I leave the fixing to Tobias. After I get bored with the punches, I turn around and watch the initiates. They're not doing so badly. Only Hestia, Jose, and Clement are doing horrible. But then again, Hestia isn't even trying to pass initiation. And Jose, well, he's Jose. Good enough explanation. Clement was the twin brother of Snow though, so I expected better, since Snow was doing a fairly well job. As was Tesa. Their bags moved a good few inches, while the rest of the initiates' bags were barely moving any. Although that was to be expected- the bags were 90 pound bags, 20 pounds heavier than the average bag. But, Aly seemed to be doing rather well. Her bag was swinging fiercely, almost as much as mine did. I guess something motivational, whether it is good or bad, must've happened yesterday.
"Alright," I call, and all action stops, except for the bags, which are still swinging. "You all are doing rather well. Except for a few"- I glare at Hestia and Jose- "who I am embarassed about. But that's their problem. I'm going to introduce the front kick to you all. And I'm doing it once, so pay attention." I demonstrate the kick, and then turn to them. "Go. Your other instructor will go about and fix your techniques while I practice myself."
I don't bother checking if Tobias is for or against helping the initiates. I turn to my bag and start punching and kicking it with all sorts of techniques: round-house kicks, side kicks, hook kicks, spinning kicks, anything I can to take my mind off the fact that Tobias is less than ten feet away from me now. I block my mind off of him completely. I will not care. I will not dwell on it.
Perhaps I am overreacting, perhaps not. I mean, he was the one who was kissing Hestia yesterday, only a few days after when he... When he proposed. I think I have a right to be angry.
I am so occupied with kicking and punching the bag that I do not notice Tobias right behind me until he places his hand on my shoulder.
"Stretch this arm out more when you punch the bag," he says, before leaving.
What does that mean? Why does he do that? Why does he say and do such cryptic things? Come, put your hand on my shoulder, give me some advice, and then leave. Ugh.
I stop punching and kicking the bag, and turn around to face the initiates. I take the notebook out of the pocket in my jacket, and start jotting notes down about each initiate so I can teach them better after lunch, which is in ten minutes. And in ten minutes, I don't say anything to Tobias before calling out "Lunch" to the initiates and walking out of the room to the infirmary, where I can ask Marlene for some bandages.
I review my list, alone, in the training room of the initiates' fighting skills:
Alyssa- Very skilled at punches and kicks. Varying from left and right stances frequently.
Snow- Pretty fast, but not strong enough. Tell her about elbows and knees.
Tesa- Not very strong, but technique is good. Improve on both strength and speed.
Justin- Horrible kicks, punches need to be more precise with mroe force behind it
Jose- Horrible in both punches and kicks. Very slow. No strength; pushes bag more often than actually punching.
Hestia- Horrible in both punches and kicks. Was too busy examining nails half the time to practice. Pair her with Alyssa tomorrow for fighting.
Clement- No strength or speed behind punches and kicks, but good-ish technique. Very precise when punching the bag.
Michael- No speed, good strength, must work on precision.
I put the book away and stand up, waiting for the initiates to come back from lunch. In approximately 3 minutes, all eight of them are here, and so is Tobias. This time, he marches straight to me, and stands next to me, an unreadable expression on his face. But he doesn't say anything. Without acknowledging him, I say to the initiates, "You've had the whole morning to practice. Some of you did very well"- I incline my head to Alyssa-"others did slightly better than average"-I incline my head to Snow and Tesa-"some did average"-I look at Michael-"but some are a total embarrassment." I look at Jose, Justin, and Hestia. They all glare back at me, but I win the staring contest.
I walk to the nearest punching bag, and say, "Round-house kick", and show them the kick. Then, I say, "Hook kick", and proceed to show them that kick. I do the same for spinning back kick, back-fist strike, and a bunch of other attacks. "To block, use your hand to, well, block the punch. Simple. Or you can move away from the attack, if you're fast enough. Go practice. Continue until I say stop, which will be 10 minutes before the end of the class today."
I sit on the table by the edge of the room, quietly scribbling down notes about each initiate. I can clearly see that Aly would score well in Stage One. It's just a matter of how well she'd do in Stages Two and Three. And since I'm pretty sure that she's Divergent, I don't need to worry much about her scoring badly- I just need to worry about her being dead. Both are bad, but the second is worse. But it's inevitable.
Next is either Snow or Tesa. They both show a decent amount of skill in combat, and one is better at knives than the other, while the other is better at guns. It'll be decided later on.
Before I can contemplate whether Clement or Michael should be fourth (since there's no way Justin, Hose, or Hestia would be fourth), Tobias interrupts my thoughts.
"We need to talk."
I turn to him, anger suddenly, mysteriously, bubbling up inside me. "What for?"
"Tris, it's just a misunderstanding! It wasn't what it seemed!" he pleaded. I turn my face away.
"How is it not? I saw it myself!" I say quietly, but fiercely. I try to blink back the tears as I replay that horrid moment in my mind.
"She kissed me, I didn't kiss her! You know that I really love you, Tris. I've loved you since the moment I saw you at Evelyn's funeral. And I still am in love with you."
I almost said that I was going to forgive him, but then I realized something. "You're a Dauntless prodigy, Four." I purposely don't use Tobias. "I'm quite sure you would have been able to push Hestia off of you. She's a Candor, and she's an initiate. If she was someone who grew up in Dauntless and is tough, like Lynn, or Shauna, then fine. But a weak little initiate like her? Please." Even as I said this, I knew that there was a flaw in my statement.
"You only glanced at me for a second! You didn't really see what happened. I'll show you the footage if you want me to! She was just there, and then you turned around. It was less than a second. I didn't even have time to push her off, Tris!"
I turn to him and say angrily, "I'm sure of what I saw, Four. I saw you two kissing, and I'm pretty sure that you had enough time to push her off." I turned away, but not before I saw the angry expression on his face.
I stood there, leaning against the wall, occasionally scribblings notes down onto the notebook that I clutched in my hands, but the whole time, all I could think about was how, maybe, Tobias was right. He wouldn't have purposely kissed Hestia. But he definitely had enough strength to push her off, which he didn't do.
I kept glancing at my watch, waiting for this day to end. Approximately 12 minutes before dismissal for dinner, I showed the list that I created, depicting the standings so far, for Tobias to approve.
Standings So Far:
Alyssa
Snow
Tesa
Clement
Justin
Michael
Jose
Hestia
He glanced at it and nodded curtly before handing it back to me. I walked to the chalk board leaning against the wall, and wrote down the rank neatly in order. called for the initiates' attention, all of them stopping immediately, apparently exhausted. "Here are your standings so far. If you are the last two initiates on this list, be warned: If you do not perform well tomorrow during the fights, you will not pass Stage One. Dismissed."
I jogged out of the room without saying good-bye to anyone, and on my way to Christina's apartment, I couldn't help but plan out exactly what I was going to do to Hestia tomorrow.
A/N: I know it's a little late to be updating this but... it has a about 2,870 words, so is it okay, then that I updated a week later?
NotJustAShadow: Oh well, the instructor isn't Tris, because I have something planned for Uriah and Marlene, but I hope it's okay. Christina won't fight Hestia, but she'll get back in her own ways. And of course, Tris is. Oh yes, Tris won't easily forgive Tobias, no no no. Not after she witnessed Hestia and him kissing.
partymouse: So while you ship Skylyssa, you hope that it will be very hard for them to be together? What kind of troubles do you think they will face?
Booklover4610: Lol, thank the gods (PJO, yes?). If you didn't like Skye, I don't know what to do anymore. He is after all, my OC :) Yes, Uriah is one of the best Divergent charactersever. Tris will beat the crap out of Hestia, when she needs an "assistant". Well then how do you think Four should make up to Tris, if any chasm or Ferris Wheel ideas are out?
CJ potter rider jackson: Oh, okay, good- If the characters were too similar, then I may have to tone down reading PJO books so often :P Thank you so much!
mahomiefresno: Oh Four better fix this :P I have an idea, but I'm waiting for Booklover4610 to tell me their idea, because I love using the ideas of my readers. :) How do you think Four will make up to Tris, I'd really like to know!
divergentoverblood: Well, who doesn't like Uriah and Skye? Uriah's one of my favorite characters too :) A 5 layer Dauntless cake? Wow- Now you made me hungry! :P But... he might. Maybe. You don't really like Harry Potter? Well, I can respect that. Do you like reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus? I love them, but it's okay if you don't. I'm just curious if you do or don't like them. :P
QOTC: What do you think Tobias will do to earn back Tris' trust and love? (Because there is no way that I will make it easy for Tobias, since I'm evil. Don't tell anyone :P)
~myperfectionismyimperfection