Fourtris Now and Forever: Divergent No War

| c h a p t e r 53 |

Tobias and I lead the initiates through the familiar hallways, showing them their basic necessities. The cafeteria, the Pit, the Chasm.

I stand behind Tobias, interjecting a sole comment when I feel necessary. I step back and let him do most of the talking.

"If you'll follow us, we'll show you to your dorms," Tobias announces. We start down a hallway I haven't walked in months.

Madison has moved closer up in the group; I hear her smooth voice behind me, whispering. Obviously, her whisper isn't exactly a whisper, because I hear every word she's saying. Tobias, who's two steps ahead of me, probably doesn't.

"What do you think about Four?" a girl asks quietly.

Madison giggles. "He's so sexy, I'd take him to bed right now."

The other girl snickers. "What about that Tris?" she asks.

"Pfft. I didn't know they were letting Santa's little helpers be initiate trainers now. They probably should've chosen a better representative to welcome us. Maybe someone a little more attractive and less fragile. She looks like she would snap in two if I poked her."

The two girls laugh quietly and anger rages inside me. I clench my fist and grit my teeth, keeping it in check.

"I don't understand why his name is Four though," the other girl comments.

"Because that's how many minutes it would take me to get him to bed," she snickers slyly.

I abruptly stop and turn around, facing the group. I take a deep breath and try to compose myself in front of the initiates. Then, I smile. My eyes spit poison at Madison and the girl with brown hair beside her.

"Madison," I say, glancing behind me at Tobias who has found something was wrong and stares at me with confusion. "Would you mind telling everyone what you just said?"

My voice is hard and callous and my stare is less forgiving then that. She's taller than me, but I don't let that deter me. I cross my arms and keep my expression calm.

"N-no," she says, stuttering. Her eyes meet mine quickly.

"What's going on Tris?" Tobias mutters to me. I shake my head, indicating I won't talk to him. Not yet.

"Okay," I say, cocking my head to one side. "Then let's continue to the dorms and we'll let you go until lunch."

I turn around, not bothering to look at Tobias or any of the other faces in the crowd. I can already tell that she's going to be trouble. I'll fail her as soon as I can.

If I have anything to do with it, she won't be getting into Dauntless.

I throw open the doors to the dorms and latch them to the side walls.

"This will be your home for the next few weeks," I announce, taking charge. "You'll be sleeping here. Both boys and girls."

"Are you kidding?" Madison's friend asks, her voice laced with bitterness.

"No," Tobias answers. "But if you hate this, you're going to love bathrooms."

We gets some sighs of disgust as we enter the room.

"Get changed," I announce. "Your lunch is in ten minutes in the cafeteria. Be there or don't eat at all. You'll have forty minutes for eating and then we'll be releasing you for the day. Adjust to your new faction. We're your home now."

With that, I walk away, stranding Tobias. I walk out the doors and once I'm out of sight, I run. I run to drive away the tears. I focus on my heavy footsteps and the beat as they pound against the ground. If I focus on them, I won't be weak. My eyebrows furrow as I stare down at my feet. I have no idea where I'm going. I just run.