~DIVERGENT~ Paradise

Day 7

We all crashed early last night for two reasons. One, to catch up on the lack of sleep we've been getting, and two, so we could meet bright and early to get to the tide pool before everyone else.
Our guide gives us each a waterproof digital camera and a waterproof pamphlet, complete with a scavenger hunt. We decide to pair off into teams, and when Christina gives me her best pouty face to let her partner up with Will, I cave and let her. That leaves me paired with Four, again, not that I really mind. The others take off running, leaving us behind.
"I want to win this thing," he says with a serious look on his face.
"I don't think it's a competition."
"No, look," he says, pointing to the last line in the pamphlet. "Whoever brings back a completed list first wins a prize."
I laugh. "It's probably something cheesy, but we are totally winning this." He smiles as we go over the list together.
"Okay, some of these are going to be easy. Like crabs, fish, starfish. The harder ones I think are going to be the kelp, an octopus, a sea slug-"
"An octopus?" I interrupt. "Oh god. The thought that one of those is in here just makes me...ugh," I say, shuddering.
"Are you scared of an octopus?" he asks, laughing.
"No. They're just...weird. And the suckers creep me out."
"Okay. When we find it, I'll take the picture. Let's get going."
I smile as we start off with the easier things. I pick up a starfish and pose with it, while Four finds a crab and pretends it's pinching him. We take pictures of sea gulls, moss, a black rock, and sand, each one of us tossing the other one in the frame. Four finds the octopus, and even though it's small, I keep my distance and use the zoom on the camera. Before we know it, we've knocked out three quarters of the list.
"What's left?" I ask.
"Umm, a sea slug, a turtle, which must be hiding, shrimp, snails and mussels."
"We should go get a mask so we can look in the water."
While we're adjusting our masks, I look down when I feel something touch my leg. "Oh my god, it's a tiny turtle! Look!"
Four grabs the camera and starts taking pictures as I make what is probably the goofiest face, but I can't help it; this little guy is the cutest thing I have ever seen.
"No wonder we couldn't find him. I was expecting a big turtle, not a baby," I say. When I look over at Four, he is standing there, smiling at me. "What?"
"Nothing. You just look incredibly cute."
I feel myself blush.
We head out to the deeper area of the tide pool, and find the rest of the items listed on the scavenger hunt, not without taking our fair share of pictures in between though. When we turn in our camera to our guide, he goes through and marks each item off, and sure enough, we have won.
"What's the prize?" I ask excitedly.
"Ahh. That is a secret. If you fill out this paper with your room number, it will be delivered to you," the tour guide says.
"Oh. Umm, whose room should we use then?"
"Mine," Four says as he takes the paper. "I'm all alone so nobody else will get their grubby hands all over our prize."
I smile. "Okay."
The tour guide returns our camera and tells us to continue taking as many pictures as we want.
We spend a little more time in the tide pool, mostly hunting down that turtle. When Four finds the octopus again, I make a run for it, finding Christina and Will. Four makes it stick to his chest and pretends like it's an alien sucking the life out of him. I snap some pictures, but only from the safety of being behind everyone else. We also make sure to take a group photo before we leave, each one of us holding an animal. I got the turtle.
"What's next on the to-do list?" Will asks as we stop for an early lunch.
"The tour guide mentioned something about Dauntless Boot Camp. That sounds like fun," Zeke answers.
"Boot camp? I'm on vacation. I don't want to do any work," Marlene says.
"Where's Lynn when you need her? This is something right up her alley. And she would convince you," Uriah says.
"She's off with the people she met. Apparently, we're not cool enough for her," Shauna says as she rolls her eyes.
I take the booklet we were handed when we got off the ship and look for Dauntless Boot Camp. "It says we can do things like paintball, throw knives and learn kickboxing. It actually sounds kind of fun."
"Paintball? I'm in!" Uriah says.
We easily decide that this will be how we spend the afternoon.
It isn't very busy, so we're basically given free reign over the place. We start with knife throwing. Of course they don't give us sharp ones, but dull ones that stick easily into the targets. I'm not that surprised when Four is the first one to stick his dead center in the target, but I am surprised when I am the second.
"You're really good at this," Christina says.
"Thank you," I say with a smile.
We move on to the kickboxing class. We're given basic stances and movements, and before we know it, we're "fighting each other to the death" as Zeke so eloquently put it. We each take turns in the ring until a single victor is decided. I get my ass kicked in this round by Christina, and again, I'm not surprised when Four is the winner here too.
"Is there anything you aren't good at?" I ask him afterwards. "Besides winning at virtual bowling and pool, of course."
"Lots. I'm just having a really good day today," he says with a smile.
The last thing we decide to do before getting downright dirty in paintball, is zipline. We take a car over to the start, which is at the top of a nearby hill. It's approximately eighty-five stories up, and it ends within the Dauntless Boot Camp compound. I notice Four doesn't seem too excited about this particular event.
"Hey," I say as I make my way back to him. "You don't want to do this, do you?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, you're nowhere near the edge of the cliff, you're not talking to any of us, and you have a noticeable sheen of sweat on your forehead." He smiles. "You're afraid of heights, aren't you?"
He shrugs. "Everyone's afraid of something."
It's my turn to smile. "You don't have to, you know. I can go back down with you."
"No. I can tell by the look in your eyes that you can't wait to do this. I'll meet you guys at the bottom."
"Okay."
"Where's Four going?" Christina asks.
"Oh, I think maybe something we ate isn't sitting too well with him. He's just going back down to take it easy before paintball. He'll meet us down there," I say;
nobody questions the story.
When it's my turn, I can feel my nerves starting to take over just a little, but I want to do this. I get strapped in and on the count of three, I am flying. I let out a loud yell as I throw my arms out to the side, and pretend I'm soaring through the trees like a bird; it is exhilarating. When I reach the bottom, Four is there waiting with a smile.
"How was it?" he asks.
"Absolutely amazing. The wind and the rush and the speed; I truly felt like a bird in flight." He looks at me, and I feel myself blush again; it's not just a normal look, there's something more to it.
"What?" I ask.
"I don't think I've ever met anyone like you," he says as he reaches out and runs a gentle finger over my ravens. "Most people would be terrified by this, but not you. You don't let traditionally fearful things take hold of you or shut you down, you use it to your advantage instead. The look in your eyes tells me you feel more alive, more awake, than ever, and I like that look."
I'm certain I am as red as I have ever been in my life.
"Feeling better?" Zeke asks after he comes down.
"What?" Four says.
"Oh. I told them that you weren't feeling well. Probably something you ate," I say quickly.
"Oh, yeah. I made a trip to the bathroom. Probably for the best I didn't go down," Four says. He gives me a quick look and I know it's a thank you.
"Gross. But hey, as long as you're good for paintball...," Zeke says.
"Don't worry about that. I'm good."
"Hell yeah!" Zeke shouts.
More people have shown up, so we are able to be on one team together for paintball. Our strategy is simple; win. Luckily for us, the team we were paired up against was nowhere near as skilled as we were, but they willingly played 3 rounds with us, and we won all three. We're each given a certificate for completing Dauntless Initiation, and as a reward, we're given some free time in the arena when the other team decides to leave. It takes the boys no time to cover each other in paint, and I admit, it's hard to resist joining in.
By the time we leave an hour later, we are covered in every color of the rainbow from head to toe.
We go our separate ways on the ship to clean up before meeting back up for dinner.
"It's movie night on the ship tonight," Shauna says as we eat.
"Movie night?" Zeke asks.
"Yes. They have giant inflatable screens on deck and we can go watch a movie. We can watch the family movie, which is Finding Nemo, or we can watch the adult movie-"
"Adult movie?" Zeke says with a smile.
"Not that adult, you perv. The grown up movie is Easy A."
"Oh god, I love that movie," Christina says.
"Me too," Will adds. They look at each other and smile, and Uriah makes a gagging noise.
"Oh shut up! Like you're any better," Will says, motioning to Marlene.
"Hey, don't drag me into this!" she says. "But I'm fine with the movie idea."
The rest of us nod. "Good. Well hurry up. It starts in 20 minutes."
Most of the chairs are taken already, but we manage to find an area in front of a small pony wall, and sit with our back against it. Everyone pairs up into couples, leaving Four and myself to sit next to each other. A crew member walks around handing out candy and drinks, so we take some red vines and share.
About half way through the movie, everyone seems to making out, and I feel a bit awkward sitting there essentially by myself; nothing like a third wheel in a sea full of pairs. I look at Four, and he gives me a quick glance.
I lean in and whisper, "I kinda feel like a creep sitting here while almost everyone is sucking face."
"Well I'm glad it's not just me," he whispers back. A few moments pass before he adds, "I have an idea though."
"Oh?" I say, raising one eyebrow. A very faint smile crosses his face before he scoots just a tiny bit closer. He reaches out and takes my hand and pulls it down, holding it between the two of us where no one can see.
I smile as my heart flutters, and decide to lean into him just a bit. We watch the rest of the movie like that; snuggled into each other and for once, in our own little bubble.

Ahhhhhhh it's happening😆
Thanks for reading!
Be brave,

Christina Eaton🔥