A/N For that one reader out there: I'm sorry, but I'm not from Oregon, I just included it in the story L You guys finally made it to 3 reviewers! I was beginning to get worried. (Worried for 3 reviewers, people? That's just pathetic.) As your reward, here's a new chapter, fresh off the press!

After some incredible worship and an insightful lesson, I'm pretty sure I'm in love with this youth group. And then the youth pastor says something about a small group. I have no idea what that is, but hopefully it's as amazing as the rest of the night.

Everyone starts gravitating towards the doors of the youth room and I realize that I don't have anywhere to go. Then Christina grabs my arm.

I yelp. "Hey, you scared me!"

"Sorry!" Christina smiles apologetically and drops my arm. "Do you want to come to my small group? Max usually just lets new people go to whatever group they want."

"Max?"

"Oh, Max is our youth pastor. You know, the guy who spoke tonight. So are you coming or not?"

I smile. It's a nice feeling, being wanted. "Of course! Um, so where do we go?"

Christina grins and takes my arm again, dragging me through a maze of hallways into a room with a glass wall facing the outside. It's beautiful. Then I feel Christina's fingernails digging into my skin.

I try to pull my arm out of Christina's hand. "Okay, Christina, you can let go now!"

Christina looks at me sheepishly and finally drops it. "Sorry. I got excited."

"It seems like you're always excited." Everyone in the room laughs, and an adult in the room speaks up. Besides Pastor Max, I didn't realize that there were other adults in the youth group.

"Hi, I'm Tori Wu. It's very nice to meet you...?"

"Tris," I finish for her. "My name is Tris." I don't know why I said my name twice, but oddly enough saying it gives me more strength, unlike Beatrice which made me want to hide.

"Hey, Tris, let me introduce everyone to you!" Christina squeals. She goes around the room, telling me their names. Lynn was the girl with the buzz cut playing bass tonight. Shauna's a blonde who seems to talk to Zeke a little too much, if you know what I mean. Will has bright green eyes behind square black glasses, and Christina smiles at him for a second longer than everyone else. Interesting. Marlene has long wavy brown hair and dark eyes that compliment her pale skin. Uriah was the guy playing drums and is brothers with Zeke, who is sitting next to him. Finally, beside Zeke is Tobias, with those mysterious eyes that intrigued me before. So he's in this small group.

"Why don't you sit down and join us, Tris?" She smiles at me as I make my way towards the empty seats, both of which are near Tobias. Christina seems to be heading for the one on the edge so I sit between her and Tobias. Just sitting next to him makes me realize how tall and built he is, but it doesn't make me scared, like with Peter; instead, it makes me feel protected and safe.

"Well guys, today's lesson was about how even when we can't trust our own family, we can trust God. What are your thoughts on this?" Tori leans forward and I piece together that in these small groups we're going to be doing a lot of discussions.

I also put together that while I'm going to be able to trust this group with a lot of my deep feelings, family is one I'm going to have to hide. My mom is amazing, and my brother is someone I can rely on. But my dad…not so much. He's a politician, and though he lives under the same roof with me it doesn't feel like it. I haven't spoken a word to him in six years, that's how bad it is. When I do see him, he's usually just yelling at Mom, as if she's the one who needs to be yelled at. So all the daddy-daughter dances at school? Nope, didn't happen for me. Father's Day wasn't celebrated, because though Caleb and I had a biological father it didn't seem like we had a real one. No one taught me how to play sports, because Mom was, well, Mom, and Caleb always had his nose in a book. The list goes on and on.

That's probably why the lesson today hit me so hard. It was incredible to hear how I could depend on someone else for my strength. But then my bubble burst.

"I personally don't think this lesson was one of Max's best. I mean, it's safe to say that all of us have perfectly great families who care about what we do and love us to the max (A/N no pun intended!). I just don't think the lesson today was applicable, really." It's Marlene. She looked nice enough at first. Is she really this ignorant? My vision begins to blur with tears. I hear Tobias taking deep breaths; I wonder why. Tori glances in our direction, her face full of alarm. She opens her mouth to say something when Lynn speaks instead.

"Yeah I know, Mar. Through the whole thing I was just thinking about how no one in our youth group had really experienced what he was saying, and even if someone 'did', quote on quote, they're probably just being huge drama queens."

There's a deafening silence as quiet tears run down my cheeks. They didn't have to go through what I did, and I'm happy for them. But can they really be so oblivious to the rest of the world? Don't they have a thought for the people around them? I sniffle a little, and Tobias looks at me in surprise. I'm embarrassing myself. I have to get out of here, fast. "E-excuse me," I whisper, and run out the door.

"Tris!" I hear Christina's voice bounce off the corridor walls as I run. I have no idea where I'm going. I just need to be alone.

I reach a door at the end of a hallway and turn the doorknob. I walk into a library and I immediately feel calmer. I wipe the tears off my cheeks with the back of my wrist and take a deep breath. The scent of old paper and leather bound Bibles fill my nose. I plop down onto a couch and pick up the nearest book, which happens to be a Bible, of course. There's a passage marked in it.

"John 16:33," I read aloud. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world." I sigh. Everything about this verse applies to my life right now. I run my finger over the words as peace takes over me. This world is full of things that tend to get in your way, but you can just bust through them if you have the strength.

I will have the strength.

No.

I already have the strength.

A/N This was a pretty depressing chapter, so I just wanted to assure you guys that there will be some great FourTris and some hilarious Uriah/Zeke action in the upcoming chapters! HOWEVER I am going to wait until I have 3 more reviews before posting the next one. So if you want to read the next chapter, it's in your hands. Thanks for reading, hope to post again soon!