A Divergent Tale

Chapter Nine

 "I look dumb," I whined, looking in the mirror yet again. I am wearing a tight pencil dress that goes down to my mid thighs, and reveals my raven tattoos. My hair is now finally brushing just below my shoulders after I cut it last year.

Tobias walked up behind me, buttoning up his black dress shirt that he is wearing with dark jeans. I stared at him in the mirror as he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding my gaze. "You look good Tris," He said, causing me to crack up, remembering when he said that to me once, before we were dating, while he was slightly intoxicated. I don't know if he meant it at the time, but it still got my heart rate up.

"Shut up," I say, laughing.

"I am not kidding, Tris. You look so beautiful. You don't look dumb. You look... Sexy. I just have to figure out a way so that everyone knows you're mine."

I laugh, taking his hand, "Just wrap me in caution tape that says 'Property of Four'"

"That would work also."
We walked hand in hand across the large dauntless compound towards Christina's place. I started to hear booming music when we got closer.

"It's nice being able to hold your hand without any initiates seeing."

"Turns out it wouldn't have been much of a surprise if they had," Tobias says.

We walked through the open door into a crowd of people. The voices all around us are loud but the music is even louder. It is pretty dark here... There's no way Christina knows this many people... The word of a party spreads fast here in dauntless. I'm sure Uriah and Zeke invited plenty of people. Christina spotted me from across the room and ran over.

"Thank god you're here. I was getting bored standing with people from work." She tugged me away from Tobias.

I looked back to make sure he would be okay without me, and sure enough Zeke walked over to him.

"Tris, this is Danika, she works with minors in the hospital." She introduced me. Danika looks only a few years older than us, with long blonde hair, a tattoo sleeve on her right arm, and a nose piercing. I shook her hand, a dauntless greeting. "And this is Daloris, she works beside me." Daloris has bright dyed red hair and piercing blue eyes. I shook her hand also.

"Nice to meet you guys."

Christina handed me a drink, I sniffed it. Definitely some hard liquor, "I'm surprised there are so many people here," She said, "I didn't expect this many. I hardly know any of them."

She sounded excited. I look around at all the people talking and dancing. I haven't gone to parties in a while because they often make me depressed. Instead of noticing all the people there, I noticed all the people I wish were there. I think of Will, and how I wish he were standing there, smiling and dancing with Christina. I think of Marlene, wishing she was laughing goofily with Uriah and Lynn. So many of my close friends are gone. I felt the familiar wrenching feeling in my gut as I tried not to dwell on the loss of my close one.

I eventually put my cup down and danced with Christina and her work friends, laughing at their dance moves. My dance moves are pretty dull, one a Stiff, always a Stiff, I guess. But Chris is pretty tipsy and keeps making me laugh.

"So..." She says, in her mischievous voice that makes me raise my eyebrows at her, "Have you and Four sealed the deal yet?" Her nosy Candor side coming out.

"That's none of your business!" I say blushing.

"Is that a yes?"

"No!"

"I can't hear you," she says, cupping her ear.

I smack her playfully in the arm. She laughed, taking a sip of her drink.