Selfless And Honest

Chapter 15

I sit beside Christina as we eat breakfast. Tris isn't here yet and Peter hasn't shown up. Drew is in the infirmary. I have no clue as to where Will or Molly are.

"Hi." Tris says quietly and sits beside Christina.

"Hey. Is that your sweater?" Christina asks as she wraps an arm around Tris's shoulders. I notice the shirt she's wearing. That is definitely not a girl shirt.

"Oh. No." Tris replies.

"So Where'd you go last night?" Christina asks and starts eating.

"I..." Tris begins. But Al walks over and places a hand on her shoulder. She gasps and jumps up.

"Tris..." Al begins.

"Get away from me." Tris says.

"Please forgive me. I shouldn't have agreed to help them." Al says with tears in his eyes.

"You stay away from me! You're a coward. If you ever come near me again, I will kill you." Tris says angrily. Her voice cracks a lot, making it visible that she might cry. Al bites his lip and nods. He leaves the cafeteria and I close my eyes.

"Tris. Drew, Peter, and Al were going to prank Molly. They got me too. But Peter saw that it was me and stopped the prank. They got tired of waiting for her so when you came they decided to just do it. I don't know what happened, but I know they only meant to scare you." I say before hurrying after Al. I find him staring down into the Chasm.

"You're not going to jump are you?" I ask. He looks at me.

"What else can I do? If I don't. I'll be Factionless anyway." He replies. I walk over to him.

"Why would you say that?" I ask raising an eyebrow.

"You know it's true." Al says and looks back down into the Chasm.

"No. It's not true. I told Tris it was just a prank. I didn't stay for her reaction because I needed to make sure you were alright." I tell him.

"She never wants to talk to me again." He says sadly. I sigh.

"Al. She'll forgive you eventually. You have to find a way to make it up to her." I say. He looks at me again.

"You're always so sure of everything. So is Tris and Ember. I envy the three of you because everything is so easy for you." Al says. I place a hand on his shoulder and shake my head.

"I had a hard time with guns in the First Stage. That is, until Peter taught me how to shoot one properly. But nothing in this Stage of initiation is easy. There's nothing Peter can do to help me now. The times me, Tris, and Ember have a great. Sure. But during those fears...I feel hopeless and instead of trying to escape, I end up joking about it and picking the easy way out of a life or death situation. Life is hard, Al. Death is easy, it's also the coward's way out." I remind him. He closes his eyes and backs away from the Chasm.

"Thank you." He says after a minute or two. I smile and nod.

"Go get some rest or do something to relax. I have to go see what Peter is up to." I say. He nods and gives me a side hug before leaving to do who knows what. I glance down at the water flowing through the bottom of the Chasm. I wonder if it's the impact of the water that kills you. Maybe it's the rocky floor beneath it. Or maybe there are sharp rocky spikes sticking up, waiting to stab through your skin.

"So he won't jump. Don't tell me that you're going to now." The familiar voice of my boyfriend says from behind me. I turn around.

"I wasn't going to jump. I was just wondering what kills you when you fall down there." I reply.