Forever and Always

Chapter 3

Tris POV

After I go to my locker, I wait in the pickup line with Caleb for our dad. "So how was your day," He asks. "I saw you sitting with some people at lunch." He finishes. "Um, it was good actually. How was yours?" He thinks a minute before responding. "Good. The only problem was finding my classes." "Same here." I say. Then our dad pulls up.

"Hey guys! The rest of you day good?" He asks after we get in the car. "Yeah." We respond. Then Caleb goes on about something that happened today and I zoned out thinking of Four. I only snapped back into attention when Dad pulled into the driveway. Oh, yeah. I need to ask him something.

"Hey Dad?" I asked. "Yeah?" "Um, is it okay for a friend to pick me up tonight. So we can work on some homework together?" I ask. "Sure. Who is this friend?" He asks. "His name is-" I'm cut off by Dad. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. He?" Dad asks. "Uh yeah. Is that okay?" I ask. "Yes princess, I just don't want you to get hurt." I smile. "Don't worry Dad. He's not like that. He was helping me around all day." I say. He nods. "Okay. What's his name?" Dad asks. "His name's Four." I answer. "Four?" Dad says. "Yeah. I think it's a nickname." I answer. He nods again. "Alright, you can go. What time?" "Three thirty. But we're gonna walk together." "Oh, okay. Let's get in the house." So we do.

About ten minutes later I find myself sitting on my bed, bouncing my knee, waiting. At 3:30 on the dot, I hear a knock on the door. I grab my book bag and zip it up as I hear Four introducing himself. I walk downstairs and see Four. "Hey." I say. "Hey." He replies.

When I reach the bottom of the steps I say, "Bye, Dad. See you at...." I wait for him to give me a time. "5:00 at the latest." He says. "5:00. Got it." I say as I leave the house.

We walk silently to his house, which is a couple blocks away. When we get to his house I introduce myself to his father, Marcus, and then we go upstairs to his room. "So, which subject do you want to do first?" He asks when we get upstairs. I glance at the homework. "Uh...Math? So we can get it over with?" He nods his head. "Agreed." We have 15 problems so that's not that bad. I finish first and I realize that he is stuck on the last problem. I look at it. 15•(63+54)-89+1.452+17•23+54
"Need help?" I ask. "No. I just can't remember how to reduce the decimal." I nod and show him. Then we're off to ELA.

We both finish quickly and soon we are done with homework. We talk for a little while, but are interrupted by Marcus when he comes in. "Four. Can I see you downstairs." "Uh...sure." He says. I wonder what's up, he looks worried. He leaves the room. Man, I hope this isn't what I think it is. I take a deep breath. No, it can't be. Marcus seems so nice. But then again so does my mom in front of people.

After two minutes I decide to go see what was happening. I was to worried that Four was getting abused like my mom does to me, even though the odds are low. When I get downstairs I hear the sound of a belt hitting skin. An all to familiar sound. Then I see a door opening from the basement and I press against a corner so I am not seen. I hear another door slam and a car go down the driveway. Then I run to the basement door and open it.

I see Four on the ground in a pool of blood. "Oh no." I say under my breath as I run to him. "Where's your first aid kit?" I ask. "Under the sink in my room." I hear him mumble. Okay so this means I'm going to have to show off my strength. I lift him up and carry him upstairs to his room. I lay him down on the floor so no blood gets on his bed and I go to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

"Okay, this is going to sting a bit." I say when I get to him. I put rubbing alcohol on his wounds and he tenses in pain. "Hold on." I say. I then lather Neosporin on his wounds and put big, thick bandages on, then I wrap his wounds in ace wrap.

"How do you know what your doing?" He asks. I put my lips together. "Lets just say I'm in this situation often because of my mother." I say. He nods and I help him on the bed because the bleeding has stopped. "Does he do this to you all the time?" I ask. "Well, only when I forget to do things. It's normally like once or twice a week." He says. I nod. "What about you?" He says. "What about me?" I ask. "Does your mom do this to you a lot?" I swallow hard. "Um, she doesn't really have a usual range, but normally it's just when I forget something, or I'm home late. But the amount of beating really depends on her mood." I say. He nods. "Yeah, he does that too."

I give him a small smile and look at the clock, 4:35. I sigh. "You should go to bed. You need rest." He nods. "Okay. But can I ask you one thing?" I swallow. "Yeah." I say. "Will you be my girlfriend?" I was surprised at this question. But I definitely liked it. I smile. "Yes." I say. Then he leans up and gives me a soft kiss on the lips. "See you at school?" I nod. "See you at school.

When I arrive home it's 5:00 on the dot. "I'm home." I say as I walk in. "Hey princess! You get your homework done?" I nod. "Good. Dinner should be ready in about 30 minutes. "Okay, I'll just be upstairs taking a shower." With that I went to my room and put my book bag on the floor. I sat down on my bed before getting my stuff for the shower. I'm not going to tell anyone about Marcus and I know he's not going to tell on my mom. It wouldn't work anyway. They'd just put on an innocent act and then at home things would get worse. I sigh and go get in the shower.

When I'm finished I pull my wet blonde hair into a loose braid down the side of my head. Before I have time to do anything else, I'm called for dinner.

The dinner table was silent and afterwards I went straight to bed after my devotion was done.