Okay, so I suggest you read the last chapter again. I made a slight change. If you don't prefer reading the whole thing again, which I don't mind at all, at least read the part during Tori's class. I thought I had changed that part but then when I was reviewing it and it had already been posted, I saw I hadn't changed it. By the way, FanFiction was down...well, not the reading part, but the place where you would normally sign in wasn't working. Anyway, this part of the story is divided into sections. Without further ado:
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Part 1:
I rush down the stairs, into the kitchen, where my parents are.
"Why are you so excited?" Caleb narrows his eyes at me as he walks in.
"Oh, nothing," I reply dreamily. "Anyway, I need you guys to sign these papers," I say, handing them over.
My father's eyes skim over them. My mother appears behind his shoulder, and when she sees the paper, she smiles. "Oh, this," she says, grabbing a pen. My father looks at her and hands her the paper to sign.
She signs and then hands it to me saying, "here you go."
"Thanks," I say a little awkward.
I know I should apologize, but every word I uttered was true. She has always been the better parent but that doesn't mean she's been the best.
"Caleb, shouldn't you have one, too?" My father asks.
He scratches behind his ear. "It just isn't the thing for me, honestly. I know it's school tradition but I can participate in other traditions," he replies sheepishly.
"Ya, nerdy traditions," I mutter, rolling my eyes.
"There's nothing wrong in participating in more academic rather athletic traditions," he exclaims.
I hold my hands up in defense. "I never said there was."
"You implied it," he says, exasperated.
"I'm heading to school," I announce, wanting to end this conversation before it gets serious.
Realization dawns upon his face and he rushes out the door. I stare incredulously and then start on my own journey to school. When I get outside I see his car gone. He didn't even bother to offer me a ride! Whatever, I'm used to it. It's just now I can't hope it's because I'd make him late, because he made it pretty clear that he just enjoys avoiding me.
+++
When I make it to school, I see everyone huddled outside. I wonder why. I weave my way through the crowd and someone grabs my arm. I pull, thinking it was probably tugged on accidentally, but their grip only tightens. I look at them.
"Tori, what's going on?" I ask her, brushing the hair that keeps falling in front of my face away.
"Do you have your permission slip?" She raises her voice so I can hear.
I nod my head and reach into my bag for it. "Why? What's going on?" I shout, while handing it to her.
"Wait here. The trip, it's starting," she explains.
"Right now?" I ask incredulously.
She nods her head. "You're friends are over there if you want." She points over to a little more secluded section...well, as secluded as it can get in a moment like this.
I nod my head in thanks and make my way over there.
"Hey," Christina says to me. I nod my head.
"I wonder how this'll fit in with the famous Pedrad party..." Uri scratches his head.
"I'm sure Zeke can find a way," I assure him.
He nods his head deep in thought. "You're probably right. Planning and time management is his thing. Partying is my thing. After all, I am the more awesome Pedrad."
He said it all so seriously as if he truly believed it and was actually deep in thought that I can't help but laugh. And when he gives me a confused glance, I can't help but question if he really was deep in thought.
"What's so funny?" he asks.
"You were kidding before, weren't you?" I stop laughing when he doesn't seem to catch on.
"What would I be kidding about?" He's still confused.
I nod my head a few times, reprimanding myself in my thoughts that I really should have expected this. I pat him on the back. He's still confused but then we hear a noise and he becomes ecstatic again.
When we look towards the sound, I see a bus. My brow furrows. I didn't think we'd be getting on a bus. Hm.
"Ya ya ya, you didn't expect a bus. Nobody does at first. Now get on," Tori demands. She gestures us all forward onto the bus.
We all start towards it, each one shoving another to get on before the other. I really never understood why people do that. We're all gonna make it there one way or another...it doesn't depend on what order you're in. Once I enter, I see black, leather couches blending in with the wall and carpet flooring. I guess this is one of those fancy buses used for long trips. I was one of the last to get on the bus so only a few others get on after I'm seated. Now that I look around, I realize we aren't as big of a crowd as I had assumed. Maybe it's because we're all cramped together, or maybe it's because only a few were selected from the school. All I know is that the latter is an assumption.
"Okay. Everyone, eye's to the front," Tori yells. Everyone quiets down. She claps her hands. "You guys will arrive at a hotel in a few hours. We will be staying there for barely a day so don't start obsessing over the fact that you didn't pack. You will be sharing a room with someone and there will be one outfit in the drawers for each one in the room. You don't necessarily have to change into that outfit, what you prefer to wear is what you can wear, but if you would like to change there will be an outfit for you, as I said before. Who you will be sharing a room with will be revealed later. Now, you may continue what you were doing."
"What were we doing?" Uri asks.
I smack him upside the head. "We weren't doing anything." I stick my tongue out at him.
"Well then what are we going to do?" he asks.
I shrug. I look around the bus, not exactly knowing what I'm looking for or why...just knowing that I'm looking for something.
"I'm still curious as to how Zeke will pull the party off," Uri tells us.
I sling an arm over his shoulder. "Don't worry. Tori said we will barely be there for a day. I'm sure we'll have enough time to make it to his party," I reassure, while rubbing his back.
"I guess you're right." He smiles at me in thanks.
"Hey, when am I not?" He snorts at my comment.
Will starts, "well, there was that time — "
I cut him off. "William, now is not the best time for your smartass ways to come out."
He holds his hands up in defense. "You did ask. And no need to call me 'William'."
"No need to defy me," I smirk, which earns me a roll of his eyes.
"Who do you think we'll be sharing a room with?" Christina asks, changing the subject.
"I don't know, but Tori knows who we're comfortable with and who we're not comfortable with." Will shrugs. "So, I'm most likely going to be paired up with Uriah."
"Well if you're going to be paired up with Uri, then me and Marlene will most likely be paired up," Lynn adds. I see her eyes glint at the end.
"So, me and Trissy are being paired up then?" Christina clarifies.
"If the rest are correct, then yes, most likely," I add. She nods her head at me.
"Let's not jump to conclusions, especially you, Tris," Marlene says. "After all, you have just as much a chance as being paired up with Four as you have with Chris, maybe even better."
I don't even have to look to know she has a smirk on her face. And I won't look because I'm too busy with my hands pressed to my face — cheeks in particular — trying to cool it down and hide in order to get rid of the flushed feeling.
Once I finally cool down, I reply, "he's a member of the opposite sex. School policies will ensure we don't meet up, especially alone in a hotel room on a field trip."
Her exact response is a shrug. Just a shrug.
Well, at least she isn't doing or saying anything else blush-worthy.
"Hey, Stiff!" I wince at the voice that could only belong to one person.
"What the hell do you want Peter?" I snarl.
He makes a tsk noise and scoots in next to me. A little too close for my liking. "Feisty, I see. I like it. So, anyways, I figured I may have given you too long of a time without me, and seeing how you're a faithful little slut — "
I scoff. "You may have to expand your vocabulary, Peter. I know you're in ninth grade like myself, but that gives you no excuse to associate the meaning of slut with the meaning of prude. They mean two very different things. It's not like saying Peter and idiot because those two actually have the same definition," I smirk.
He points a finger at me. "You little asshole," he seethes through his clenched teeth.
I just stare at him and smirk, defiant.
"Watch your back, pipsqueak," he tells me whilst standing up. He goes back where he was before. See, I would normally say "he goes back where he came from" but he's not in Hell right now so...
I roll my eyes at his threat. But even though I seem alright on the surface, I actually feel like puking.
+++
"Everybody off the bus. Now. Come on," Tori yells, gesturing us all off. She thanks the driver and heads to the front of the group. She starts leading the way and we all follow without question.
Once we enter, I see a not-to-shabby hotel lobby. You can tell at first glance it isn't a five-star hotel, but it's not like I mind. As long as it's secure and clean, it'll suffice. Tori marches towards the front desk and everybody suddenly gains smirks. All the people who've done this before, Tori, and the receptionist.
"So, I see you're back. Let me know how the tradition goes, okay?" The lady at the receptionist says, handing Tori a lot of room keys.
"We will, don't worry," Tori replies, accepting the keys.
The woman smiles and waves at us all as we head away from the front desk and further into the lobby.
"Before I hand out the room keys and you delinquents find out your assigned partner," Tori chuckles at her tease to us, "I think a few of the newbies should be introduced to someone." She grabs a guy's arm and pulls him to the front of the crowd.
A young man walks up, and it is quiet enough that I can hear his footsteps. His face is pierced in so many places I lose count, and his hair is long, dark, and greasy. But that isn't what makes him look menacing. It is the coldness of his eyes as they sweep across the room. Finally, they land on me. He looks from me, to Four, then back at me.
"Ooh, the Stiff," says Eric, smirking at me. His smile pulls at the piercings in his lips, making the holes they occupy wider, and I wince. "We'll see how long you last."
I mean to say something—to assure him that I will last, maybe—but words fail me. I don't understand why, but I don't want Eric to look at me any longer than he already has. I don't want him to look at me ever again.
He cracks his knuckles. His knuckles are scabbed over, right where they would split if he punched something too hard. He strides towards Four.
"What have you been doing lately, Four?" he asks.
Four lifts a shoulder. "Nothing, really," he says.
Are they friends? My eyes flick between Eric and Four. Everything Eric did—striding toward Four, asking about him—suggests that they are, but the way Four is, tense as pulled wire, suggests they are something else. Rivals, maybe, but how could that be when Four is probably everything our shallow generation strives to be? And gets all the girls he wants? I think bitterly.
The rings in Eric's eyebrow catch the light. Maybe Eric perceives Four as a potential threat to his position. My father says that those who want power and get it live in terror of losing it. That's why we have to give power to those who do not want it.
The only thing I'm not sure of is, what is his position? And for whom?
He claps Four on the shoulder, a little too hard, and gets up. When he walks away, I slouch immediately. I had not realized that I was so tense.
I walk over to where Four is standing. "Are you two...friends?" I say, unable to contain my curiosity.
"We were in the same initiate class," he says. I raise my eyebrow, questioningly.
He isn't sure as to what I'm confused about at first, but then he seems to realize. "Over here, we call the first year of high school, ninth grade, the 'initiate year', and since Eric and me were placed in the same homeroom, and had most classes together, we were in the same initiate class."
"Oh."
+++
After chatting and just hanging out for a half hour, Tori finally decides to give us our room keys and reveal our assigned partners.
She has a sheet in her hand and is calling out names and pointing all at once. "Okay, so Will...you have been assigned with Al." She looks at them with the sheet still raised to her face.
Ha. Funny thing. We all totally forgot about Al. I feel so guilty...
As if being able to read my thoughts, Al speaks, "Ya. You guys all forgot about me. Well, unfortunately for you, I'm still here." His voice is monotone, and it doesn't help with the immense guilt stabs being thrown at me. It also gives me an eerie feeling. It's like he's insinuating something.
Will claps him on the shoulder. "Sorry, Al. But, hey, we're going to have a blast in the short span of time we are here." Will grabs Al's arm and drags him to their room, I'm guessing.
Tori's eyes scan the room. They finally settle on Marlene. She looks back down at her paper. "Marlene and Lynn, you'll be sharing a room." She hands them the keys. I look towards Lynn and she has that previous twinkle in her eye. Marlene just keeps saying how they're going to have so much fun together, which really doesn't help conceal the obvious glint in Lynn's eyes.
"Tris and Christina," Tori says, barely looking at us, and only because she needs to hand us our keys.
I grab them and Chris and I start to head to our room.
"So, what should we do first?" I ask her, trying to make small talk.
"I don't know about you," she jumps onto her bed, "but I really just want to sleep."
I have to agree with her on that one. I head to the bathroom to change into my pajamas, hoping I'll wake up before Christina and if I don't, she will not pull my blanket(s) off of me. Believe it or not, I actually had spare pajamas in my school bag. Don't know why, really, but it sure came in handy. And I really don't understand why I'm taking this chance with my pajamas, but all I know is I won't be able to sleep if I'm not in them. I make sure to wear sweatpants and not just the shirt this time, though. Not that it helps...
Once I'm finished changing, I dive straight under the covers and let my head hit the pillow...