Forever and Always

Chapter 13

Tris POV

The rest of ELA was pretty much uneventful. When the bell rang for lunch, I hurried to my locker to put up my stuff. Four's locker was right beside mine, he was eyeing me but wasn't talking about it. Once again, I thought he would drop it, but the same theory was smashed twice today. When I was finished, I started to walk away but was quickly forced to stop when a strong hand grabbed my wrist. I quickly turned around, and there was Four. I was desperately trying to get out of his grip but it wasn't working. "I'm not letting you go until you talk to me." He says. "I can't." I say, still trying to loosen his grip. "Why not?" He asks. I bite my lip and stop struggling. I don't answer. If I say, 'because I don't want you to lie to me.' Then he will definitely pressure me to talk to him. "Tris. Just tell me what's wrong. If you tell me then I'll leave you alone. I promise." He says. So, technically that means that after I tell him, he won't lie to me, he will just drop it. A big part of me knew that he wouldn't drop it, that he'll still try to reassure me, but I know that I need to talk to him even though he hurt me. "Please. Talk to me." He says. I take a deep breath. "I'm not upset about what Mr. Langley said yesterday. I already knew that. I'm hurt because you didn't deny it!" A sob escapes my throat on the word hurt. He looks taken aback. He opened his mouth to talk, but before he could I continued. "I thought that all that stuff disappeared when I was with you. That you didn't care about it! I felt special when I was with you, because someone could overlook that and think that I was worth it anyway," Another sob escapes my throat in the word anyway, "But I guess that was all a lie." I finish, with tears streaming down my face. He was shaking his head. "No. It's not a lie! I didn't deny it because I thought that I didn't need to. I thought you already knew those words coming out of his mouth were a lie," I interrupt him. "They're not a lie." I say. "Tris. They are. To me. You are beautiful, and smart, and kind. You bring me joy, no matter what anyone says." I knew he would say something like that but he really seemed sincere. I can't say that he's lying because he said, to me. To him, I'm beautiful. He embraces me into a hug and pulls my head into his chest. I pull back after a couple of seconds and he wipes away the remaining tears with his thumb. "Let's go get lunch." He says. I nod.

We enter the lunch room, hand in hand, and as he goes to get food, I sit down at the table. I am special to him. But I know that others don't look at me the same way, including me. I'm nothing but a mistake. This is what my mom tells me every time she beats me. She's right. I know that I'm not pretty, and I know that eating will not help. That's why I don't eat. I get a light snack everyday so I don't die. But I make sure it's healthy. My thoughts are interrupted when I see a hand waving in front of my face. "Earth to Tris!" I shake my head. "Sorry, what?" I ask. "Aren't you going to eat?" They all ask. "Oh, no. I had a huge breakfast." I lie. They nod but I see doubt in the boys eyes. The girls are probably like, yeah she wouldn't lie to us. But the boys are probably like, we eat huge breakfasts and we're still hungry. Oh well.

Four sits down next to me. He gives me a questionable look. "I had a big breakfast." I lie. I feel a lot worse lying to Four. He nods but I can still see doubt in his eyes. He starts to eat and Christina starts talking to me. "There's a party tonight at my house and I want you there." She says. "Um, actually I can't go. Apparently we have company tonight so I have to be home." I say. Christina nods. "Okay. That's fine. Maybe some other time?" She asks. I nod. "Yeah. Some other time." I say. She nods again. They continue eating and all I can think about is my next class, Mr. Langley. Before I know it, the bell rings and it's time for science.

As we walk down the hall, Four keeps an arm around my waist, carefully avoiding my ribs. When we get to class, I take a seat and pull out my materials. "Hey, Beatrice." I hear beside me. But, it wasn't Four, it was on the other side. Peter. "Leave me alone." Is all I say. "Why? Is you little boyfriend gonna beat me up?" He looks at Four. "He can't always protect you. Just remember that. I better be careful what you say because I let you off easy last time. What you back." I start to tremble. Last time I got bruises and had to go to the hospital for surgery. What could he do that could possibly be worse. Four looks mad. He heard all of it. "You're not gonna lay a hand on her if you want to see tomorrow. Got it?!" He says. Peter puts his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I just her to know that you can't always protect her." He says. Then he turns around. Meanwhile I'm trembling pretty badly. Four wraps his arms around me and says into my hair, "It's okay. He'd be stupid to go near you." He tightens his arms around me, still careful to avoid the ribs. I put my head in his shoulder. "Guess what?" He asks. "What?" I ask. "Your dad's involved in government right?" He asks. I nod. "Well, my dad is too. We're the company you were talking about." I feel happiness invade my body. "You are?!" He nods, smiling. I smile to, and wrap my arms around his neck. "Great!" I say. Then he kisses me. When we pull apart, the bell rings and class begins.

"Alright class! We will be talking about..." I completely zone out. My ribs are hurting really badly. Way worse than they were before. I feel like something's wrong with them. They burn, sting, and just about everything else you can imagine. Think of your worst injury you've ever had, think of the pain, then multiply that times 20. That's the pain I'm feeling. Apparently I looked like I was in pain as well because Four whispered to me, "You okay?" I shake my head. He gives me a questionable look. "Ribs." I say. He nods. A few minutes later, Mr. Langley says my name. "Beatrice!" I snap my head up. "Are you dying over there?!" He asks. This brings laughter and make my face get hot. "N-no" I answer quietly. Well, let's get real. I'm always quite. Unless I'm screaming. Then it sounds like I'm talking at a regular volume. "Then why do you have that terrible expression in your face!" He says. "N-no reason." I say. "Then wipe it off, your face is already horrifying enough." This brings lots of laughter. Before he turns around, I raise my hand. "What, Beatrice?" He says. "May I use the restroom?" I ask. "That's fine with me! Then maybe with you out of the class we can teach something more advanced." The class laughs again, and I speed walk to the restroom. I don't need to use it, I just don't want Mr. Langley to have that satisfaction of seeing me cry. I close the door to my stall and let the tears fall. I end them quickly and wipe the rest off my face. I'm stronger than this. I step out and put water on my face, then I walk back to the classroom. Four gives me a concerning look as I sit. He mouths the words you okay? And I nod. The bell rings a few minutes later.

Math was boring. Finally the bell rang for gym. I was supposed to sit out but I didn't. I change and then Coach blows his whistle. "Okay! Today we have coach Tori with us! You guys might know her as the music teacher but she also coaches. So! She is going to speak with the girls and guys I want you to run the whole time! Go!" The guys take off, leaving the girls with Tori. "Hey girls! So I coach cheerleading and I would love to have you all try out for the team! Try outs will be today, at 3:10 until 4:30 so if you would like to try out then you may call home and make arrangements and start on a routine! If not then you can go and join the boys! Let me know if anyone has questions!" She says and walks over to the side of the gym. I started to walk over and join the boys, but I am stopes by Christina. "Tris, I'm trying out! You HAVE to!" I shake my head. I hate how the outfits are so small. And I don't want people to know I'm flexible. "Tris, I've seen you do a split! I know you're flexible! Please!!" Bye now all the girls from the gang are over here begging me. They're causing a scene. "If I say yes then will bugging me?!" I ask. "YES!" They all say. "Okay. I'll do it. I gotta go call." I pull out my phone and call Dad. He picks up after the third ring. "Hey, princess! Are you okay?" He asks. "Yeah. Um, you know how we are having company over tonight?" "Yes."
"Well, I'll be there in time but do I want to try out for cheerleading, do you think you can pick me up at 4:30?" I ask. "Yes, princess. I can do that."
"Thank you Daddy!" "Your welcome, princess. Bye." "Bye." Then we hang up. "Daddy?" Someone says, laughing behind me. I turn around and see Peter. "Yeah. You got a problem with that?" I ask. "No. It's just that it proves my point that you've got the brains of a 3 year old." Peter says, then walks away. Oh, well. I walk over to the girls. "I got a yes." I say. They jump up and down. Then I plan my routine in my head. I put it to the test, in the gym. Back bend into kick over, cartwheel, 4 back handsprings, handstand into a split in the air, then I bring it into a limber. Finally, I push up real fast, forcing my feet to leave the ground, do a summersault in the air, into a split. The end. I have a group of people watching me when I'm done. I feel my face get hot. They clap and Four comes out from the crowd and puts an arm around my waist. Then he kisses me and the bell rings. I walk to my locker and get my stuff, then I head back into the gym and wait for practice to begin.

*hi guys! Did ya like it?! Anyway...peace!✌

-Stay sparkly✨