Divergent UNIVERSITY ✅

chapter 35

Chapter 35I own my ideas, but I don't own the characters. Just in case you weren't sure.Chapter 35Four returns home and begins to pack up his room. The feeling he has right now is very bittersweet. He's graduated. He's made it through four years of college playing two sports and managed to graduate with honors, he has a wonderful girlfriend and he has the possibility of being able to play professional baseball. But looking around the room that has been his for the past two years, he feels sadness. This was his first real home, the first place that he found people that actually care about him and what he says. They cared enough to make him captain of the football team and baseball team and president of their fraternity. They cared enough to be his friend, to convince him that he needed to open his mind. Next semester life will continue for those that are staying. Uriah will live in this room and take his role as the fraternity president. He will make it his own, much like Four did when he moved in.After about an hour, most of his belongings are packed away, only his baseball equipment, some clothes to get him through the next couple days and to take to Omaha, and the bags he's packed to go to Bud's for the summer with Tris remain. Everything else is packed away in boxes waiting to go into storage until he figures out what is going to come next for him.He moves into his bed and gets comfortable. Tomorrow night, Phi Delta will host their final party for the graduating seniors. They will bid farewell to the seniors and wish the baseball and softball teams luck in their World Series games. It will be the last time he sees Tris until they meet at Bud's house in about two weeks.As he is overcome with exhaustion, he feels pleasantly contented for the first time in his life. Even though he is going to miss this place, he feels good knowing that he has something special with Tris. No matter where the future takes him, he knows that he will find a way to be with her no matter what.~oOo~The next morning Tris wakes to her phone ringing at quarter to six. She knows by the ring tone that it is Brian calling her."Brian this better be good. I had five more minutes to lie here.""Tris, I need you to come to FBI headquarters downtown, we need another statement from you," he tells her. "I'll be there to get you about ten this morning, is that okay?""Sure, that gives me time to run with Four and get some swings in before practice.""What time do you have practice?" Brian asks."Noon.""I'm going to change that meeting to nine instead. I don't want to make you late for practice.""That's fine, I'll meet you at the sorority house."Brian explained that his superiors needed her to give another statement about what happened when Al and Eric kidnapped her. It has become an FBI case because the situation with Eric spans across two different states. She was kidnapped in Kentucky, but the stalking and the altercation at the softball game that lead to the restraining order all happened in Illinois. They will both be arraigned on kidnapping, false imprisonment, and terroristic threats. If they are convicted, they will be spending some time in prison. Not enough time as far as Tris is concerned though.She decides to get up, she puts on a sports bra and some running shorts, grabs her bag with her glove in it and goes outside to stretch and wait for Four to come running down the street. She usually doesn't run in a sports bra with nothing covering it, but it is already seventy degrees at six in the morning. It is too hot to wear too many clothes.Four comes running down the street and sees Tris stretching in the yard. He is taken back to their first training session. The feeling he gets when he sees her stretching and getting ready to run with him hasn't changed at all in the past nine months. Everything about her and this relationship still feels so new and special, and he loves how that feels. He also loves that over the past nine months she has become more confident in herself. He's happy that the trauma that she went through in January with Peter and recently with Eric hasn't completely beaten her down. This is the first time that she has ever run in just a sports bra.Her heart still flutters when she sees him running down the street toward her. It used to be that she got butterflies because she had feelings for him that she was too afraid to tell him about. Now she gets butterflies because she loves him so much that the sight of him makes her heart race.They run and then go to the batting cages to take a couple swings then the return to Phi Delta and stand in the side yard warming up their arms and talking. Tris tells him about her meeting at the FBI offices at nine and Four invites her to the final party of his college and Phi Delta career."So are you actually going to socialize at this party because the last party at Phi Delta that I attended, you never stepped foot outside," Tris says sarcastically."No I stepped outside, you just didn't see me because you were too busy dancing.""Really? You saw me dancing?""Yeah I saw you. Before we bumped into each other, I came outside to check on things and saw you dancing.""You noticed me? Why?""Because you are beautiful and I'd never seen you before."She smiles and just continues to play catch with him. This is the first time he's told her about the first time he saw her. She's surprised to know that he was looking at her before he even met her, before she had even seen him.~oOo~Later that evening, Tris arrives back at home to get ready for the party. Her meeting at FBI headquarters in Chicago was uneventful. They asked her some questions and told her what to expect in the months to come. They are hoping to allow Eric and Al's offences to speak for themselves, but they anticipate having to bring Tris in to testify at some point. Until that point, Brian and Tori will continue to be around. Practice was uneventful, they were given their itinerary for their trip to Oklahoma City, they went over some game plans and that was about it. As far as the coaches said, there is little more they can do with us to make us better. We are the best team they have ever coached and as long as we perform to our ability, everything will be fine.She walks up into her room and Marlene is standing there staring at herself in the mirror."Hey, what's wrong?" Tris asks."What? Oh, hey Tris. Nothing, just looking, that's all.""Expecting to see something new?""No," she says distractedly. "So what are you wearing tonight?""I don't know. I guess I just figured you and Chris would dress me like you always do.""Really? You are going to let me dress you without complaint?"Whatever was bothering Marlene seems to have disappeared at the prospect of a makeover.She starts going through her clothes as Tris goes into the shower. Every now and again she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror, but doesn't dwell there. She focuses on finding the perfect outfit for Tris to wear.When Tris comes out of the shower, Marlene is standing there wearing a pair of tiny jean shorts and a halter top that hugs her breasts but flows out at the bottom. Lying on the bed is a jean skirt with frayed edges and a halter belly shirt."Always have to make my tattoos show, don't you?""You know it. If you have them, you might as well flaunt them. They are too awesome to hide."Marlene puts some makeup on Tris and they walk out of their room together. They make their way down the hall to find Shauna, Chris, and Kenzie. Since the end of the semester, most of the girls are gone. The only ones left are the softball players, Chris, and Rebecca who is on the swim team.They walk to Phi Delta together and Tris can tell that there is something up with Marlene that she isn't sharing. She's distracted and seems worried about something. She hopes everything is okay with her.They walk around to the back of the house and find Uriah and Zeke. Zeke has Uriah in a headlock."Tell me I'm the best brother in the world," Zeke tells Uriah."Man, let me go," Uriah complains. "This is bull.""You tell me that I'm the grand pooba of brothers, and I'll let you go," Zeke continues.Uriah growls, "Fine, grand pooba. Now let me go!""I don't know, what do you think Will? Was that good enough to let him go?"Will snickers, "Since the ladies are here, I'm going to say yes.""Hello ladies, what do you think? Should I let him go?"Marlene walks up to them, "Can you breathe?""Mar, get him off of me.""I don't know. I think I like you this way. Maybe you should reconsider what we talked about earlier.""Marlene, don't do this right now. Zeke, let me go."Zeke looks between them, "What's up with you two?""Nothing," they say in unison.Zeke releases Uriah and then looks between the two of them. "You two are acting weird."They ignore Zeke's curiosity and everyone's stares. Uriah takes Marlene and drags her into the house."Mar, what are you doing saying things like that in front of everyone? What we do is our business.""Uri, come on. This is like torture. I just want to tell everyone.""Not yet. Just give it some time. Please?"She breathes out heavily, "Fine. Let's go before they start to question.""They are probably already questioning."They walk back outside to find their friends getting ready to play a pick-up touch football game.Four and Zeke have already been chosen captains and have each picked their girlfriends as their first choices."You two playing?" Zeke asks.Marlene looks at Uriah, "Yeah, we're playing." She goes to stand with the other girls and waits to be chosen for a team.Uriah looks at her with frustration, but doesn't say a word. She is trying to force his hand, to get him to do something that he's not ready for.The group of friends spends the day playing games, grilling, and just hanging out. This is the last time that they will all be together in this place. After today, their lives change drastically. No one talks about that though, today they are together.~oOo~The next few weeks pass with the baseball and softball teams going to their World Series. Uriah moves into the apartment that he will share with Zeke, Shauna, and Marlene for the summer. Will stays with him for a couple days to help him get the place ready for the others to return.Will and Christina decided to stay in the area. While Will was staying with Uriah, he managed to find an apartment in the same building that he and Chris could afford. Uriah and Will also found summer jobs working for the local school district as summer help for their grounds crew. They will both spend their days working outside cleaning up the grounds of all of the schools, cutting grass, planting flowers, and other things like that. Christina found a job in a retail store.The girls left for Oklahoma the day after the party at Phi Delta. Their series begins on June ninth but they had to leave on June forth to get there and get settled. Four, Zeke, and Uriah met the girls' bus at the airport to say goodbye. The boys have a week before they will be leaving for Nebraska.Four and Zeke left for Omaha with the baseball team on June eleventh for the College World Series. Their series was set to begin on June fifteenth and just like the girls, their series was best of three.The girls went on to became national champions in the best of three series, winning two games to none. They swept the other team defeating them by three runs in the first game and two runs in the second game. They returned to Chicago on June twelfth.Marlene and Shauna went to the apartment with Uriah upon their return. He had already moved all of their things into the apartment. Tris and Shauna noticed that Marlene was still acting weird, and that weirdness extended to Uriah too. Something was up with them, but they weren't sharing.Kenzie immediately gathered her things after returning to Chicago. She said goodbye to her friends, packed her car and started on her journey to New York to be with Lynn.Tris' mother and Bud were on campus when their bus from the airport arrived. She said goodbye to Kenzie and told her other friends that she would see them soon. The three of them gathered her belongings and Four's things that he was taking to Bud's. They made their way to the beach house in Evanston, Illinois where they would be spending the summer.The baseball World Series was set to begin on June fifteenth and for the first time, Tris had the opportunity to see Four play baseball. She only wished that she could see him in person instead of on television.They day after she arrived home from Oklahoma, her mother came and knocked on her door. "Hey, I have something for you," her mother told her."What?" Tris asks.He mother hands her an envelope. Tris opens the envelope and sees three tickets to Omaha and three tickets to the College World Series. "We're going to Omaha?" Tris says excitedly. She stands and throws herself into her mother's arms. "Thank you so much mom.""I figured after how hard you played in Oklahoma, you deserved to be able to see your boyfriend play in person instead of on television."The next day Natalie, Bud, and Tris travel to Omaha to see Four play. Tris didn't tell him she was coming. She arranged with Zeke to find a way to surprise him. Zeke told her what hotel they were staying in. Zeke convinced Four to go to the hotel weight room early on the day before they played. Then he pretended that he forgot something and said he'd be right back.Waiting outside for Zeke to leave was Tris. They waited until Four was occupied on one of the machines and wasn't paying attention. He had his back to the door sitting on one of the machines working on his back when Tris entered the room. She went up to him and wrapped her arms around him.He stiffened at the stranger's touch. "Whoever you are, you need to get off of me. Now!" he barked.Tris leaned in and kissed his neck and whispered in his ear. "Do you really want me to get off of you?" she asks with a smirk.He smiles when he hears her voice, "Oh if it's you, no. But don't tell my girlfriend, I don't want her to get jealous.""Oh really?" Tris says pretending to be offended.Four reaches behind him and pulls her around so he can wrap her in is arms. "What are you doing here?""My mom and Bud surprised me when I got back for Oklahoma. We have tickets for all three games, right on the first base line.""I missed you, you played so great! Congratulations on sweeping the series.""I missed you too. I'm so excited to be here.""So I'm guessing you are the reason that Zeke wanted to work out so early?""Yeah, I wanted to surprise you and he thought this would be the best way to do it."Tris and Four spent the morning working out and making out in the hotel gym. When it was time for the team to travel to the stadium, Four and Tris parted ways. The next time they will see each other is when Four is on the field.The next day, Tris, Natalie, and Bud sit in their seats right on the first base line. They are amazing seats. When Four enters the stadium and takes his position on the field, he notices the stands and immediately sees Tris sitting there. She is so close that he could run over and hug her. But he resists the temptation. He just smiles and begins to warm-up the infield.This is going to be the first time that Tris has ever really seen Four play baseball. Over the spring season, they both were traveling and it always seemed like when the girls were home, the boys were away and vice versa. So because of that, she never was able to see him play.The game starts with the Tigers being the home team. The first five innings are slow and nothing spectacular happens. Four hit a triple, knocking in two runs. Zeke came up after Four and hit a home run, putting the Tigers up seven to five for the beginning of the top of the sixth inning.By the top of the ninth inning, the Tigers are winning ten to nine. The Titans come up to bat and the first batter hits a hard grounder to the third baseman who makes the stop but when he makes the throw to first base, he doesn't make a clean throw. Four has to stretch into almost a complete split in order to catch the ball. He makes the play and the first batter is out. The next batter hits a line drive up the first base line that Four grabs out of the air effortlessly.Tris screams and yells louder than she ever has before. Four is a fantastic baseball player and there is no wonder that he is being looked at by Major League Baseball.The third batter hits a shot up the right center side that drops between the right fielder and second baseman. The next batter hits a pop fly that goes over the center fielder's head. He runs out to the fence to get the ball. He makes the throw to the cutoff. Four and everyone else on the field starts screaming, "Two... Two..." to tell the second baseman to throw the ball to the catcher.He catches the throw and braces himself for the impact. The base runner slides into home plate, but not before the catcher get the tag. The runner is out and the game is over. The Tigers have won their first game of the series ten to nine. When the catcher takes his catcher's mask off, Tris can see that the catcher is Zeke.