Divergent: Unleashed | ✓

Chapter 8

Tobias hits the net hard, his heart pounding. Thank God Ashlyn went first.

He climbs out and stands with the others, watching as Zeke falls from the sky and bounces in the net, laughing like a lunatic. "That was awesome!" He exclaims as he climbs out. Speak for yourself. Tobias thinks.

They all walk into the Dauntless compound, laughing and shouting and just being crazy. When they near the Chasm, however, they notice that there's no one there. His stomach clenches- where is Tris? Ashlyn looks around, awestuck and confused. She cocks her head to the side and walks right up to the railing. Now everyone is watching her silently. What could she be doing?

Ashlyn then turns and starts walking, placing her heel right in front of her toe. Now they're really confused. But no one questions her as she walks slightly unbalanced towards the Pit, then turns and scans the compound.

"Tris left." She informs everyone.

"What the heck were you doing?" Shauna asks before anyone else can.

Ashlyn shrugs. "Figuring something out." Tobias knows that she's being vague for a reason, but he doesn't question it.

"Well, at least someone's smart here."

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Tris can't help but smirk at everyone's startled reactions as they turn around. Marlene, Christina, Lynn, Shauna, and Cara hug her, and Tris laughs. She didn't expect Lynn and Cara to miss her. Maybe Marlene and Shauna, and definitely Christina, but the other two?

The girls pull away and Zeke and Uriah pull Tris into a hug. She smiles and says hi, and then Al apologizes. She responds by hugging him and saying that it's fine, that she understands. Then Will hugs her, telling her that he doesn't blame her, which lifts her spirits. Thank god.

She walks over to the brunette girl, the only one she doesn't know. She walks right past Tobias, wanting to know who this girl is. The girl is about a head and a half shorter than Tris, with long, dark brown hair pulled into a high ponytail and olive-ish skin. She's about 13, wearing plain black skinny jeans, a black T-Shirt, and black engineer boots.

When she looks into the girl's eyes, Tris is surprised. Her eyes are a mix of colors. Green, gray, blue, yellow, and hazel, to be exact. Now, though, they're the same flat blue-gray that Tris's are, the only difference being the gold ring around each of her pupils.

"I'm-"

"Tris, I know." The girl smiles and shakes her hand. "I'm Ashlyn Leason. Four's cousin."

Tris smiles at Ashlyn. "I can see the resemblance."

Ashlyn analyzes her for a minute. "You're a lot prettier than I thought you'd be. Four's told me that you think that you aren't pretty. I don't see how. I wish I was as pretty as you."

Tris is stunned- no one has ever really told her that she's pretty, much less that they want to be as pretty as her. "Thank you. I-"

"You don't think you're as great as you are, either." It's an obvious observation. "But truthfully, you're the best of all of the factions combined. I'm okay with honesty, I'm sorta selfless, I'm not too stupid, and I guess I'm sorta brave, but I struggle with kindness. You're like, literally a Divergent. I'm surprised you didn't have aptitude for every faction."

This catches Tris off guard. How can this girl think that she is all of these things that she isn't? "You seem Divergent enough." she says.

"Yeah, right." Ashlyn snorts. "But anyways, Four has really missed you. He's told me a lot about you."

"Ashlyn!" Christina calls. "Get over here! We need to talk!"

"Nice meeting you, Tris." Ashlyn hurries over to Christina and the other girls, and Four steps in front of her, his eyes glinting.

He's exactly as she remembered, wearing black jeans and a short sleeved black V-neck, his boots knotted tightly. Tall, strong, and handsome, just like he was when they were last here. Just like he was when she left for Erudite all that time ago.

"You've been avoiding me?" The corner of his mouth creeps up in a smirk.

"Saving the best for last is all." She sighs, trying to hide the fact that she's swiping off her palms on her black skinny jeans. Her V-neck feels oddly tight around her throat, and her black jacket feels like a heavy weight on her shoulders.

His eyes move up and down her body, and she has the urge to cross her arms over her chest. He takes a few steps closer, moving so that they're just inches apart. She sucks in a breath; she'd almost forgotten the effect he can have on her. "Did you move on?" he asks quietly.

She can only manage to shake her head a little. She brushes her blonde wavy-curls back behind her ear nervously. She has been dreading the fact that she'd have to ask this question. "Did you?"