Dauntless High School

Chapter 56

I've been away so long I'm kind of afraid you're all going to throw tomatoes at me or something. But a very, very late update is better than no update at all, right? I've got a good start on the next couple of chapters too. Updates may continue to be kind of random. If anyone is still even bothering to read, thanks for your support. :)

TRIS

I can feel my heart pounding, but Tobias is utterly panicked; his whole body is tense and there is a wild look in his eyes, like a trapped animal. He stands abruptly and spins in a slow circle, his hands tugging at his hair.

"Tris, I can't get caught. I can't! Marcus ―" he snaps his mouth shut and shakes his head, unwilling to give voice to his fears.

I look around me, searching for an exit, but the only man door would take us straight into the line of the police search lights. "We won't," I assure him.

"Okay, how?" he asks. "We can't just stay here, we'll be sitting ducks! You know they're going to come down here." He eyes the dark water through the gap between the dock and the boat. "I think we have to swim, Tris."

"That water will be awfully cold, and it might be awhile before we can change into dry clothes."

Tobias crouches at the window again, looking through the clear spot we wiped in the condensation, and tugs at his hair again. "A couple of them are starting to come down toward the water." Tobias starts gathering up our discarded jackets, pulls up a corner of the boat cover, and tosses them into the boat. He tugs at the black waffle-knit shirt he had tugged back on just a minute ago. "We'll hide our clothes in the boat," he says, "and swim for it. As soon as it's safe enough we can come back and put our dry clothes on."

I watch him shove clothing into the boat. It's a twenty-one-foot cruiser with two cabins. The Phillips have had it for years; the summer before freshman year, Peter went on a week-long trip with them. He told me all about the trip on our first date, even described the layout of the boat. There was a cabin with a bigger bed for Ben's parents to sleep on, but Ben and Peter had to crawl through a low, narrow hall (more accurately, a tunnel) below the deck seating to reach their narrow bunk beds in the tiny second cabin. The boys were able to sneak liquor on board, because there was no way Ben's parents were going to bother trying to get into that little cupboard of a room.

"Stop," I tell him as he unbuttons his jeans. "We're not going to swim."

"We're not?"

"Nope," I say. "We're hiding in the boat."

-o-o-o-o-o-

URIAH

This is not how I ever pictured this night. My team won the state championship tonight. I have imagined it a million times, but never like this.

I dreamed of scoring the winning touchdown. Or at least playing a key role in winning the game. I thought this year I would be a starting wide receiver, first string. And apparently I was, before the accident. Instead I had to watch Ben Phillips take my place.

I imagined Tris running up and throwing herself into my arms. I would spin her around and kiss her in front of everyone. And maybe she didn't run to me... maybe I couldn't hold her above the ground or spin in circles, but I was still holding out hope for that kiss. I know she says we're broken up and have been for a while, but her rejection hurt like a punch to the gut.

Instead of driving myself to the party, I rode with a guy who is named after his jersey number. He and Zeke are good friends, and I am told that I was friends with him, too. He seems like a decent guy, but all I really know is, he spends his evenings at my girlfriend's and may or may not be the asshole that knocked up my friend.