Random AU One Shots

First Day

Here's the next one-shot. I apologize in advance for the characters being slightly OOC. Be sure to let me know what you think! - Loopy 

The building loomed over her, its shadow casting across the pavement and swallowing her whole. There were people rushing inside, talking and laughing, carrying their bags and books with ease.

Tris stayed still, frozen from the panic searing through her veins with a punishing frost. She had been in Alabama her whole life, always with the same old friends in the same old neighborhood in the same old small town. When her mom announced the job transfer, Tris was terrified. There had been enough time over the summer for her to become partly accustomed to their new Chicago apartment—she wasn't ready to leave it. Not yet.

But now, standing before her new high school, all of that horror came rushing through her at an alarming rate.

She still needed to go inside. To follow the current of students and disappear into the crowd. She wouldn't even worry about making friends right now; familiarity was her top priority. Friends were a second day kind of thing, anyway.

Hesitantly placing one foot in front of the other, gripping her backpack as a lifeline, Tris began the agonizing trek to eleventh grade.

Her mind was overwhelmed with trepidation, an unknowing of what was to come and a fierce determination to face whatever it would be. She was so distracted with the possibilities, her focus didn't return to reality until her face was met with bricks, startling her to the ground.

A rumbling laugh sounded beside her, and she looked up, locking eyes with a grinning boy sitting on the school's name tag. His back was leaned against the pillar Tris had just face-planted.

She glared at his amusement, and continued the harsh stare as he jumped from the carved concrete and walked to her. He extended a long, narrow-fingered hand; his laugh pulsed through Tris's ears as she pushed herself to her feet, refusing his help.

"Oh, come on, you have to admit it was kind of funny," he said, following closely behind her as she moved through the school's entrance. Any fear of coming inside was lost as she struggled to lose this boy's presence.

"My face doesn't seem to think so," Tris mumbled, not meeting his playful blue gaze. His smile widened at her response.

"You're southern, aren't you?" Her vernacular was beyond noticeable, and much different than his own.

Tris's face flushed, as if it was something she should be embarrassed by, and she froze before she turned to walk away. The boy panicked.

"Wait!" he called, catching up beside her. "I think that's cool. Being from the South, I mean." His voice was forced, uncomfortable. But it was sincere.

She turned to him fully now, and he was struck by the intensity of her icy eyes, crystal and stern against her gold-woven hair. He shook off the effect they had on him and offered his hand. "I'm Tobias, by the way."

The promise she had made to herself, about putting off friends until she was settled, dissipated as she stared at his extended arm. Still, she simply looked back into his deep ocean eyes and said, "Okay" before continuing toward her homeroom. Tobias chuckled and dropped his hand.

"Fine then. But you might want to hurry to homeroom," he told her, gesturing around them to the almost-empty halls, "or you might be late on your first day."

He started to leave then, and Tris was almost too proud to call him back. Almost. Finding her room was most important right now. So she set aside her stubbornness and sighed, calling after Tobias.

He grinned to himself before turning around and replacing his expression with something more serious. "Yes?" he wanted to hear her ask for help, for her to be sorry for casting him away, even though he didn't mind. But something about her did draw him in helplessly. He needed to know more about her.

"I don't know where to go," she muttered. Tobias raised an eyebrow, teasing her. It was probably more fun than it should have been. Tris sighed again, frustrated beyond explanation. "Can't you help me?" she gasped, annoyed by her weakness.

His face was split with that infuriating grin of his. "I'll need something from you first," he told her, re-extending his arm. She almost smiled as she rolled her eyes, slipping her hand into is.

"Tris."

They released their shake, Tobias trying to ignore the electric feeling in his fingertips, Tris taking in his features. His dark hair was short and messy, in a strangely attractive way, and it fell forward a little in the front, a chocolate canopy over his oceanic marbled eyes. He offered her a smile when he noticed her staring, and she felt her face turn hot. She rolled her eyes again.

This time her grin was full. "Just take me to homeroom," she scolded, only half joking.

Tobias furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes sparkling with mirth. "That wouldn't make any sense."

Tris raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

He draped his arm across her shoulders, relishing in the current sparking through him. His smirk stayed with them as he led her down the hall, snatching her schedule from her hands and starting toward their designated math class before deciding to answer.

"Homeroom ended ten minutes ago."