Divergent UNIVERSITY ✅

chapter 9

Four looks up at the hillside from where he stands on the practice field. Over the past couple days he has liked the fact that when he looks up at the hillside, Tris has been sitting there with her friends. Today, however he is upset when he sees that she isn't there. He goes through practice like he always does but he can't help but think about Tris and wonder where she is.After practice he walks out of the locker room with Uriah and Zeke and find Marlene and Shauna waiting for them to walk home. On their way, Four decides to ask about Tris."Where's Tris tonight? She's been coming with you guys lately, hasn't she?"Marlene smiles realizing that he does like Tris. If he noticed her absence and he's worried about where she is then he must really like her, Four doesn't ask about girls."I'm not sure," Shauna says. "When she got home from class she just dropped off her books, grabbed her keys and left. She wasn't back yet when we left.""She probably went to see her mom. She usually only takes off like that when something's on her mind and she wants to talk to her mom. More than likely she'll come back with another tattoo," Marlene says."Why will she come back with another tattoo? She has more than one?" Four asks."Her mom owns a tattoo parlor and is one of the best tattoo artists around. Her shop has been featured magazines and word of mouth is she's the best. And yes, Tris has several tattoos. She has roses and butterflies on her side, a softball with flames on her upper thigh on one leg, stars on her thigh on the other leg, some kind of vine around the upper part of her forearm, flames on her back shoulder and clasped hands on her other shoulder. More than likely, if she went to see her mother, she will come back with a new one," Marlene explains."I had no idea that she was that into tattoos," Four says."I don't know if she is that into it or if it is just normal for her. She said that she got the helping hands when she was sixteen. Tattoos are just a normal thing in her family."When they reach the Phi Delta house Marlene and Shauna decide to stay for a while so Four goes up to his room to think about things for a while.He wonders why she would have just gotten into her car to go see her mother. Is there something wrong or did she just want to go for a visit?He starts to think about how things have been with her and what he really feels for her. He knows that he could easily love her. She is special and he knows she is special to him. Not seeing her there tonight made him sad and made him want to get on his motorcycle and go find her. But he doesn't really know anything about her. He didn't even know she had more than the one tattoo. There is a lot that they need to learn about each other, but does he want to let her into his world? There are some things about him that no one knows about, especially when it comes to his family. Would it scare her away?~oOo~Tris makes it home just after nine at night. She makes her way up to her bedroom to find Marlene, but she is nowhere to be found. Then she remembers that she missed football practice tonight. She hopes that Four didn't notice.She grabs her books and sits at her desk to go through her notes from class today. She's sure that her notes suck today and she is going to have to pay special attention to what is going on in Friday's classes.When Marlene comes in an hour later the first thing she says is, "Let me see the new tattoo.""How do you know that's where I went?" Tris asks."The only time you take off without telling anyone is when you go see your mom. And when you go see your mom like that you always come back with a new tattoo. So let's see it."Tris pulls the collar of her shirt over and removes the bandage revealing the tattoo underneath."They're awesome, what are they?""They're ravens. They are to represent my family. My mother, father, and brother.""You have a brother? I've never seen him or heard of him before.""He's kind of annoying. He's at Harvard studying to be God knows what. He's the reason that my father is always yelling at me. It doesn't matter that I'm getting a tryout for the Olympic team. All that matters to him is that Caleb has a 4.0 GPA and mine's only a 3.5. As if a 3.5 is that easy to get, especially with my sports and training schedule. He was furious when he found out I was dropping classes to train more. But I love my family and these are to remind me of that, especially the front one, which I decided is my mother. She is the guiding force in my life.""You know, Four noticed that you weren't there at practice today." Marlene says watching Tris for her reaction.Tris smiles, she can't believe that he even noticed that she wasn't there. "He noticed?""Yeah he noticed! He seemed a little upset that you weren't there.""Really? I wonder why.""Tris, come on. Isn't it obvious?""Isn't what obvious?" Shauna asks coming into the room."That Four has a thing for Tris.""Oh, that? Yeah it's obvious. He wouldn't workout everyday with just anyone. Besides, he seemed worried about where you were and what you were doing today since you didn't go to practice with us.""That doesn't mean he likes me.""Then what does it mean? He was curious about where you were. When I said that you probably went to see your mother and that you probably got a tattoo he had a lot of questions about that too," Marlene says."He's a lot more interested in you than any other girl that I have ever seen and I've known him since freshman year," Shauna says.Tris starts to smile to herself at the idea that Four might actually have feelings for her."Did you get a new tattoo?" Shauna asks."Yeah," Tris says moving her shirt away from her collarbone to show Shauna her new tattoo."Mar says you have several, can I see them?"Tris removes her shirt, revealing the sports bra she is wearing and her tattoos on her back and ribcage. Then she pulls the leg of her shorts up to reveal the tattoo of the softball and stars on her thighs."Boy, you like getting tattoos don't you?""It's kind of a release for me. My mother is a tattoo artist so this isn't a big deal in my family, at least not with my mom and me.""You should jog in your sports bra and running shorts tomorrow. Show off your ink," Marlene says."No, I can't that would be inappropriate.""Well how about this?" Marlene asks pulling out a tanktop that has a T back that would reveal both her shoulder tattoos and her ravens on her collarbone. "Thing is Tris, you have a beautiful body that most girls would kill for. You should show it a little more.""I just don't want to be perceived as a bimbo. I don't want him to think that I'm one of those girls that flaunts themselves to get his attention. I refuse to be one of those girls.""Tris, we don't want you to be one of those girls. But you need to let him into your world a little more than just softball. Other than that he doesn't know anything about you. You once told me that all of your tattoos have some meaning and they all have special meaning to you. He doesn't even know you have tattoos," Marlene says."And maybe if you let him in, he will let you into his world," Shauna says.Tris thinks about what they are telling her. She knows they are right. What could it hurt to wear the tank top that shows her tattoos and the shorter shorts without the sliding shorts to show her tattoo on her thighs? These things are important to her and if she wants him to know her then she needs to share a bit of herself with him."Fine, I'll wear the tank top," Tris says.~oOo~The next morning Tris wakes and gets ready to go train with Four. She had called Brian on her way back to her sorority house from visiting her mother. He wasn't happy about having to meet her with Four to see what she has been doing and how much she has progressed without him, but he agreed. Sometimes she thinks that he believes that he should own her and what she does. He has been good for her though and without him she never might have gotten the tryout for the Olympic team. So she decided that she needs to find a way to combine her workouts with Four with working with Brain also.She puts on the tank top that Marlene gave her to wear and the shorts that Shauna told her she should wear. It took a lot of self-control for her to not put on her sliding shorts, although she packed them in her bag with her glove so that she has them for when they do fielding practice.She goes outside and begins to stretch and wait for Four to come. When she sees him running down the street she begins to walk over to the sidewalk so she can start running with him when he gets closer.Four sees Tris stretching in the yard of the sorority house like she does every day, but today she looks different. When he gets close he realizes that she is wearing a tank top. He has never seen her show this much skin before. He sees what Marlene was talking about. She has tattoos all over.He runs up and she meets him by the street and starts running with him without saying anything. They never talk first thing when they start running. Both just focusing on the running and nothing else. But he isn't really focusing on the running today. He is focusing on her. The tank top is formfitting and the shorts are short enough that they show the tattoos on the upper parts of her thighs. She has a perfect body. He knew that she was fit, but her body is perfectly proportioned for her size. He has never seen a more perfect girl.They run until quarter to seven like they do every day. They get to the training facility and start to make their way into the building."Brian is going to come around seven this morning," Tris tells him. "I talked to my mother yesterday and she said that I could stop training with Brian completely if I want to, but then she reminded me that it was his connections that got me the tryout for the Olympics and that I should keep him around, at least a little.""Is that where you were yesterday? I missed you at my football practice."She looks at him shocked, part of her didn't believe Marlene and Shauna that he was looking for her."Yeah, I just had some things on my mind so after class I got into my car and went to see my mother.""I never knew you had so many tattoos.""Yeah, it's kind of a thing with my mom and me. She owns a tattoo parlor. I got my first one when I was sixteen and have been addicted ever since.""Did you get a new one yesterday?""Yeah, the ravens on my collarbone are new.""Do they have meanings or do you just see something and just decide you want it?"It's an honest question that she doesn't think anyone but Marlene has ever asked her before."Actually each one has a specific meaning. The ravens are my family, my mother, father, and brother." She points to each raven in turn, and then she turns so he can see her back. "The helping hand was my first tattoo and it is a reminder of home and where I come from. The flames represent me and my desires, drive, and where I'm going. The flaming softball is self explanatory, the stars are my hopes and dreams, the vine around my forearm represents determination and strength, and my tattoo on my side," she lifts her shirt enough for him to see the intertwining vines with the roses and butterflies, "that represents growth and change along with love for myself and those around me that I hold dear.""Wow you really do put a lot of thought into your tattoos," Four says smiling. He feels himself reach out as though he wants to touch the tattoo on her ribcage, but he thinks better about it and casually moves his hand back to his side."Well, my mother believes that you should never put anything on your body unless it has special meaning to you. It doesn't matter if it no one else understands it, so long as it means something to you."He looks at her astonished. In the past five minutes he has learned more about her than he has all week."Well, we should start lifting," he says. He plugs in his ipod and starts playing the music, heavy metal as always. Tris doesn't mind though, she loves this music. She doesn't think she could workout to anything else."I forgot," he says. "There were some new weights I wanted to introduce you to. They are designed to build lean muscle, which is what you are going for, not the bulky muscle like me."He takes her hand and leads her to a machine that she has never seen before. He has never held her hand before, she likes it. "Where did this machine come from?""Let's just say that I convinced someone that we needed this machine so they bought it," he yells over the music.He sits on the machine and begins to show her what it does. She watches intently for a few moments, then he gets up and she starts to use the machine. She loves how it stretches her body but it makes her feel like she is working every muscle.He watches for a few moments then he goes over to his machines so he can start on his workout.Ten minutes later the door opens, but neither of them hears it over the music. Four is on one of the bench pressing machines while Tris is still on the new machine. A man walks into the room. Tris sees movement out of the corner of her eye expecting to see Brian, but she sees the man that was yelling at Four on Monday while he was doing his play drills.