Her Secret

Making up

    "With the realization that I don't care," Tris says with a sigh. "Why are you telling me all of this?"
    Joanna rolls her eyes. "I thought you wanted to be faction leader," she mutters.
    "I do- I- I did," Tris says quietly.
    "Then what changed?" Joanna asks.
    "It seems like a lot of work. I've decided that's not something I'll ever be ready for," the shorter girl says with a shrug.
    Joanna looks her over. "Tell me the truth this time."
    Tris mutters a few words under her breath in which Joanna can barely make out. She decides they sound something like curse words.
    "You are just as bad as Jeanine. Did she like, train you or something? Like does she teach classes on how to detect lies?" she asks sarcastically.
    Joanna smirks. "Of course she does!"
    "Come again?" Tris asks, seeming slightly surprised.
    "No, you idiot, she doesn't. You are aware that I know this whole thing is about the Jeanine thing, right?"
    "Wouldn't be surprised. But honestly, how do you expect me to feel? For goodness sake, the woman walked up to me and said 'I have to talk to you' before pulling me into a secluded hallway and telling me she has to kill me!"
    "I never said Jeanine had the best social skills," Joanna mutters. "Please though, can you just try to talk to her? She feels terrible about the entire thing."
    "I would too if I knew I had to kill someone," Tris mutters under her breath.
    "She doesn't do it on purpose anymore," Joanna says quietly.
    "Yes, because hunting Divergents and killing them is an accident," she mutters sarcastically.
    "She didn't know what she was getting into! Plus, it was the way our entire family was brought up to believe! And not only that but what could she do with Norton trying to corrupt her brain every chance he got? That idiotic weasel. I swear I hate that fu-"
    "Joanna, calm down. I get the point," Tris mutters.
    "-With every fiber of my being," Joanna finishes.
    "I can tell that you are very passionate about hating him," Tris mumbles. "But can you-"
    "Yeah, I'll stop," Joanna responds with a slight eye roll. "Point being is that you should go talk to Jeanine. Please? She feels terrible and is totally crushed. She's acting like she just went through a break-up or something." Joanna says the last part with a small chuckle, and this causes Tris to smile slightly.
    "I'll think about it," Tris says quietly.
    Joanna grins. "I could honestly just hug you right now. I'm tired of receiving texts at three in the morning." Tris raises an eyebrow, but Joanna doesn't elaborate. "Either way, nice chat," the girl says with a grin. "See you at dinner!" Joanna proceeds to exit the commons, and Tris shakes her head slightly before cleaning up her things.

    Audrey sits down next to Tris, looking extremely glum. "What's wrong with you?" Tris asks, looking up from her food.
    "Well, you know how visitation day is on Saturday, right?" she asks. Tris nods. "I feel terrible because I realized my parents can't actually come to see me," she continues.
    Tris gives her a small hug. "If it makes you feel any better, my parents aren't allowed in the compound," she says kindly.
    "Not particularly, but at least I won't be the only one parentless," she jokes.
    Tris lets out a chuckle. "Plus then they won't know about me failing initiation," she jokes.
    This time, it's Audrey's turn to laugh as she knows that Tris is one of the best in the rankings.
    Tris looks up at her to see Jeanine staring at her from across the Dining Hall. Her look was pleading, and Tris read it to mean something like "Can we talk, please?"
    Tris sighs and stands up. "Excuse me, Audrey," she says before walking over to Jeanine.
    "I didn't mean now," the older blonde whispers as Tris walks up to her.
    "I don't care. What do you want?" she asks.
    "I want to apologize," Jeanine says with a sigh.
    "So, what? You can become friends with me and turn around and proceed to kill me?" Tris whispers sharply.
    Jeanine stares at her before slowly getting up and walking out. "Real mature, walking out like that," Tris mutters.
    Jeanine turns around and gestures Tris to follow her. She walks out and Tris follows her, jogging slightly to catch up. A few people stare at her as she walks out. She glares back at them to stop their glances.
    Tris follows Jeanine back to her apartment. "Really? Was all of this necessary?" Tris asks.
    Jeanine is quiet as she holds the door open for Tris. Jeanine shuts it. "Tris, I might have found a way to prevent everything."
    "Oh?" Tris asks, raising an eyebrow. "You do realize how confusing you are right now, right? Yesterday you said you'd have to kill me, and today you drag me to your apartment and say you have a plan. What am I supposed to think, Jeanine?"
    Jeanine sighs. "Tris, you know I'm a large part of the anti-divergent group. And I think we both know that despite this, I don't want to have plans to have to hurt you. And we both know why that is," she says, chewing on her lip. Tris sighs and slumps over in her chair as she sees Jeanine's pleading face.
    "What is your brilliant plan anyways?" Tris asks, seeming slightly interested.
    "Well, you see, you could honestly just join the anti-divergents to cover for yourself," Jeanine says. "I have already tampered with your aptitude test results. They no longer appear to be manually entered."
    "What if I don't want your help?" Tris asks.
    Jeanine watches her for a few seconds. "Did you know your grandmother's name was Beatrice Prior too?" she asks quietly.
    "I'm sorry, but in your mind, was that an answer to my question . . . ?" Tris asks.
    "No, it wasn't. I'm helping you because I- I lo . . ." she stops to look down at her hands.
    "Did you just almost say what I thought you were going to say?" Tris asks.
    "N- no. You didn't," Jeanine says quickly. Too quickly.
    Tris smirks. "You were about to say that you love me, weren't you?" Tris asks.
    "Tris, I can't tell you that. We both know that. However, I do really care about you." Jeanine smiles sadly at her. "I don't tend to fall in love. That's why people think I'm machine-like," she whispers.
    Tris looks up at her as Jeanine slowly walks over to her. "But yet you have," Tris says quietly. "Haven't you?"
    By this time, Jeanine was standing right in front of Tris. She leans down slightly to Tris' sitting height. "I think I have," she whispers before straightening up and slowly brushing something out of Tris' hair. "I think the paper is supposed to be used for writing, not as a hair accessory, dear," she says quietly. Tris gazes up at Jeanine before getting up. She slowly leans towards Jeanine and quickly plants a kiss on her lips before shrinking back.
    "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that," she whispers.
    Jeanine ignores her question. "Are we okay now?" she asks quietly. Tris nods and Jeanine awkwardly pulls the girl into a hug. "You know, I've never done this before," she whispers, flattening  Tris' hair with her hand.
    The girl looks up at Jeanine and smiles. "Glad to know I'm the first one you've willingly hugged," she whispers. Jeanine chuckles, refusing to let her go.

Jeanine Matthews was like a machine. And Tris Prior broke her. She broke her.