Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment and read the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well. I don't own Divergent. Happy Reading!
Chapter 9 Confessions
I wake the next morning, feeling like a train has run me over. I have no energy. I find myself in bed next to Peter. I flinch as my eyes adjust to the morning light, feeling swollen from all the tears last night, wondering how the hell, I got here. I know, I fell asleep in the locked bathroom, feeling safe from him, for once, for a few short minutes.
Peter is still here, staring at me, a smile on his face, as his eyes meet mine. "Good morning, Tris." He says sweetly, attempting to kiss me on the lips as I move my head so he misses. "I'm sorry about last night. It won't happen again. I promise. I will try harder, but you just seem to know how to push every button that I have." He sits up on the bed, shirtless, as he pushes a cup of juice towards me. An apology, something that is always too late for him. When I was younger, I use to lose my mind when Peter was shirtless, now all I can think is, that I wish he would put a shirt on. I take the juice, my throat scratchy from the salt of the tears, as he stares at me with remorse written all over his face.
"Morning Peter," I say, those are the only words that I wish to say to him. I hate him. I hate that he gives me bruises when he gets angry. I hate that he is only nice after he is abusive to me. As I put the cup on the nightstand, I silently ponder what has gotten into him, and why he is being so nice. This isn't good. Peter is never nice, which means he is up to something.
"I'm leaving for the next three weeks, Tris." The news is like a breath of fresh air to me. "I'll be leaving tonight. Stacy is home next door, in case you need anything. You shouldn't need anything, though. I did all the grocery shopping yesterday. Oh, I called your work, told them, you had gotten the flu this morning, and that you would be out for the next three weeks per your doctor's orders."
"You did what? Why!" I say flabbergasted.
"Because it is safer this way. Don't worry though, Drew will be watching the house. You will be safe." I shiver at the thought of being watched for three whole weeks, but I am secretly happy about Peter being away for that long.
"Peter, I can't be out of work that long!" I say, frustratedly.
"Your supervisor Tori, didn't seem to have a problem with it." He says as he crosses his arms over his chest, daring me to argue with him.
"What do you expect me to do for three weeks while you are gone, without going to work?"
"You will figure it out." He smirks at me, as I walk away, shaking my head to go sit on the front porch steps. As I am sitting there, Stacy walks outside. "Hey!" I say, an idea popping into my head, that maybe I can befriend Stacy while Peter is gone. "Hey." She says as she looks at me with accusations in her eyes. "Peter is leaving for a few weeks, and apparently, I will have a lot of free time now because I'm not going to work. Do you want to hang out or something?" I ask, unsure what I'm doing. Stacy looks at me, like I am diseased, as she says, "Bea, let me just get this over with. Me and you, we will never be friends for as long as I live here." She runs to her car as I sit there deflated. What a bitch! What does Eaton see in her?
Peter packs his suitcase, leaving later that day, and as he walks out the door, I feel like I can finally breathe for the first time in years. I take a walk around the neighborhood, not caring that Drew is watching or following me on foot. After my walk, I call work to let them know that I am feeling much better, and Peter was over-reacting with calling me out, that there was never a doctor's note. After Tori hears that, she asks if I want to work at all, I agree to work the following day and resume my work schedule as it stands.
Time Skip
These past two weeks without Peter have been the best years of sleep of my life because I don't have to worry about anything that deals with Peter. These nights of sleep have been peaceful and restful. Every morning, I wake with a smile on my face. A knock sounds on my front door, breaking the silence in the house. I peak through the door to see, Stacy, standing there on the porch, looking nervous. I take a deep breath as I swing open the door, wondering what she wants.
"Hey," I say, a fake smile, plastered on my face.
"Hey, can I come in and talk to you?" She asks.
"Sure," I say as I step aside, letting her through the door. She stops in the foyer suddenly, she turns as I am shutting the door, and says "Sorry, I was such a bitch to you the other day, but I need to know. Did you and my boyfriend sleep together before he left?"
I laugh because her statement is stupid and ridiculous. "Are you crazy? Why would I do that?"
"He stayed over here later than I did after we had dinner, and he was acting weird when he got home before he left before I tossed him out. That is why I tossed him out. He wouldn't tell me why he was acting weird. I know that he came over here after our argument. I heard him talking to you. The walls aren't that thick. Peter said something happened between you two. He told me that he caught you two together, that night in the den, kissing."
I stare at her thinking, of course, this is Peter's doing. She has been avoiding me for these past two weeks since Eaton and Peter left. Also, That is the reason for her odd behavior that day on the porch, when she said, what she said to me about us never being friends for as long as she lives. It was all because of Peter. "Stacy, I'm going to tell you what happened that night. Your boyfriend said goodnight, then left, there was no kiss. I know you don't know me well, but Peter is a jealous guy. Your boyfriend, he wouldn't be alive if he had kissed me. He knocked on my front door. I was in my PJs. He said you tossed him out of the house, that his cell phone was dead, and that he needed to call someone to come pick him up. He made his call on the house phone, and then I told him to wait outside by the curb."
"Oh God Bea, I'm so sorry for judging you. I thought you were trying to move in on my man. I'm sorry, I have been such a bitch to you. Come to my house tonight. I want to make you dinner, to make up to you for how I have been behaving towards you. I would like to be friends." She says hugging me. This girl's moods give me whiplash, one minute she hates me then the next she likes me?
I smile thinking, maybe I can finally have a friend who lives by me as I say "Sure."
At dinnertime, I head next door glancing at the dark car parked across the street, and wave at Drew, knowing that the news will get back to Peter. It will piss Peter off because this is the happiest I have been in forever. I glance down at my appearance, dressed in skinny jeans, a flower top, with converse sneakers. I even took the time to straighten my wavy hair for our dinner get-together. I knock on the door. "It's open, come in." Stacy yells through the door."
I open the door, feeling slightly uncomfortable, for some reason, having a feeling of premonition, as soon as my feet step onto the wooden floor. The setup is like Peter's house. Stacy has finished decorating, since the last time I was in here. I see several pictures of her with her friends on the walls and pictures of her with Eaton, of him in his normal everyday clothes, and of him in his military uniform. Then, I notice Eaton's Air Force graduation picture, he looks angry at it, but he looks almost identical to Four in it, except for the haircut and a few years younger. I shake my head thinking, that I must be dreaming. Maybe I really don't remember what Four looked like. After all, I was tired. There is no way that Eaton lived next to me for all those days, and I never realized the resemblance to Four that he had. "You ready?" She asks, coming up behind me as I shake my head, coming out from la-la land
"Ready?" I ask, not sure that I have heard her correctly.
"That's what you're wearing Bea? We are going out to paint the town red, just us girls. We have some celebrating to do. I got a call from boy-toy today, and he will be home in three months with reassignment permanently in California for at least two years. I can't wait! Will you let me dress you up and do your makeup please?" She asks as she jumps up and down. The sight reminds me of Christina, making me giggle.
"Okay." I sigh. "On one condition."
"Yes! Name it!" She squeals.
"Stop calling me Bea. I hate that name. Call me Tris, please."
"Absolutely Bea. I mean Tris! Let's go! We have a lot of work to do." She says, glancing down at my appearance as she yanks on my arm. "What's wrong with how I look?" I ask as she pulls me up the stairs into a bedroom, and she starts doing my hair.
"Nothing."
Stacy arranges my hair into a simple ballerina bun and does my makeup dramatically. When I look in the mirror, I don't even look like myself anymore. My eyes are covered with a bronze smokey smudge and my lips are dark red. The first dress, Stacy pulls out of her closet, she sticks me in, is black and lacy. It is short, with a neckline that goes almost down to my bellybutton. It is cleavage revealing, to say the least. It is just the thing that Peter would kill me for wearing.
"No," I say as soon as I see myself in front of the mirror.
"You look hot." She says winking at me, taking the dress from me, putting it on herself.
Dress number two, is a plain black strapless minidress with a boat neckline is sheer in the chest area and stomach area with just strips of fabric over my breasts, upper arms, upper abdomen, and then from the top of my belly button down is fabric. I laugh as I shake my head. Stacy pouts and says, "Fine, Tris. You have to wear this one. This is the most conservative one that I own." She throws the last dress at me.
I roll my eyes, from the hanger, the dress doesn't look too bad. When I put it on though, I realize how short it is. The black dress is skin tight, hitting two inches below the top of my thighs with peek-a-boo shoulders, and long sleeves. When I exit the bathroom, Stacy's eyes light up, and she says "This is the one. You have to wear my boot with it too. That will complete the outfit"
She grips my hand, dragging me out of the house. I can see Drew's window roll down on the car, he is talking on his cell phone. He must be giving status updates to Peter, as I wave at him. He nods at me "Let's go, Tris." She says as she opens the door to her sleek black Audi with red rims. The red leather seats are soft and they feel amazing against my skin, they immediately pull my body into them. She smiles a wicked smile at me as she speeds down the road toward downtown.
We pull up to a dive bar, the music is pumping out the door, with a line wrapping around the building. "This place has the best wings in town. Zeke told me about it."
"Who's Zeke?"
"Oh, he and Four are in the Air Force together." She says, smiling at me, as she pulls me to the front of the line. It feels like my heart stopped beating at that moment. My breath catches, my eyes tighten, and I ask, "What did you just say?"
She glances at me like I have gone crazy for a second. She says more slowly "Four and Zeke are in the Air Force together. He told me, the wings in this place are the best on the west coast. He is actually the one who found us the apartment that you and Peter had to rent."
My mind starts to spin. Four, he lied to me. Why did he give me his phone number at the airport, and tell me to look him up, if he had a girlfriend? Why did he tell me his name was Eaton before he left, and not just tell me that he was Four? Maybe there is more than one Four, there has to be in the Air Force. But, I asked Eaton, if there was more than one in the Air Force, and he said no, which means Four is nothing, but a liar. Why? Why didn't he tell me who he was? My mind continues to spin in a million different directions as the room spins for a few short seconds. "Tris?" Stacy asks, throwing a worried glance at me as we sit at a table.
I smile tightly at her and ask, "Is there more than one Four in the Air Force?" My voice tight with emotion.
"I don't think so. Four is a legend in the Air Force because of how young he was when he was made Captain. He was one of the youngest in the history of the Air Force to make Captain."
"How young was he?" I ask.
She shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. To frankly be honest with you, Four's whole military crap bores me to death. Actually, I don't even know what Four does in the Air Force, all I know is he likes it, but I hate it. I hate that he deploys so much. When I was younger, I use to get upset when he would tell me that he got his order, but now I adapt to the situation. I don't care that he flies a fancy plane, builds buildings that the Army then comes along only to blow up two hours later after his men just got finished building them, or whatever it is he does overseas. You don't know how many times I have had to listen to that complaint. Yet, he doesn't want to help me pick out what color to paint my nails next. Four, after all these years, he is just a convenience to me, it is just easier to stay with him then it is to be without him. He makes my life easier, he gets a good paycheck, he is away from me the majority of the time, and he takes care of me. I never have to deal with him or see him. Most of the time, I am a free woman to do with myself as I please. Speaking of which, Tris, do you see that hottie over there. He is a co-owner of this place. We have been talking back and forth for about two weeks now via text, and I promised him that I would quickly see him about something tonight. He keeps looking at me, do you mind if I leave you here for a few minutes." She asks, leaving her cell on the table before I can answer her.
Stacy leaves then quickly returns a smile on her face. Since we have gotten here two hours ago, Stacy has had six beers, and she hasn't stopped talking. It has been easy to get information out of her about Four and her. They have been dating on and off for the past three years. Normally, they break up when Four leaves for a tour overseas which is what she wanted to do this past time, but he told her if she broke up with him this time again, then he was done with her forever, even when he came back. I roll my eyes internally, thinking about how if Four was my boyfriend I wouldn't go dumping him every time he was gone risking his life, just because I wanted space and didn't want to be tied down while he wasn't around. It makes me question if Stacy really loves Four, or if she is using him.
I turn around to signal for the bartender for a glass of soda, when three things happen at the exact same time; one I see Stacy go over to the co-owner again, run her hands up the man's arms as he leans down to whisper something into her ear, making me think that this isn't the first time that she is meeting him. Then, he starts to kiss her, and he pulls her into a back room. Two, the game on the tv gets interrupted for breaking news about the increase in the number of murders that have been happening in the state where whole families have been being killed. There doesn't seem to be a link between the killings yet. And third, Stacy's phone starts to vibrate against the table with Four's name on it.
Please review! Thoughts on Stacy? Also now that we all really know that Eaton is Four, not that everyone didn't know it already, what do you think about Four/Eaton? Any guesses on what is going to happen next? Anyways if anyone wants to see the inspiration for Tris's dresses that Stacy dresses her up in, those can be found on my Pinterest board, the link is located on my profile. The next chapter will be up the weekend of September 15. Until Next Time.