An unexpected Christmas Eve ✔ (Divergent Fourtris Fanfiction)

Chapter 1

An unexpected Christmas Eve

"Initiates," Eric's voice echoes from the walls around us and the crowd instantly falls silent. I wonder what it is that we were ordered to gather in the training room for, since it's already after dinner, and we've already had training in the afternoon. It has to be something important, or Four and Lauren wouldn't be here, too. They're standing beside Eric, one of them on each side.

"We have decided that this year each initiate has to accompany one of their trainers on a mission to help with a real task outside the Dauntless compound. That gives you the chance to show your skills in another environment than the training room or fear landscapes. We want to be done with these assignments by Christmas, so there's little time left. That's why Lauren and Four each have chosen whom of you they want to take with them, and the rest of you is coming with me. You'll find a list with your names, your trainers and the dates of your missions on the black board next to the door of this training room. And before you ask, there'll be no changes allowed. We'll stick to the list, no exceptions. So, that's it for tonight."

Eric dismisses us with a wave of his hand, and an excited humming immediately raises around us.

"What do you think will be your task?" Christina asks me, clearly excited.

"I don't care so much about what it will be, more about who it'll be with. I hope I won't have to go with Eric," I say, and the thought of having to leave the shelter of the compound with Eric to go anywhere alone with him makes me shiver. No, that's really nothing I want to do. I wouldn't have a problem to go with Lauren, but I'd prefer to be assigned to Four, of course. Maybe I'd have a chance to learn a little more about him, something that might help me figure out who he is.

There's a bunch of initiates in front of the board, and Christina drags me towards them. She's curious to find our names, but I stay behind. I don't want to have to squeeze my way to the front to read the list when I can also wait another five minutes until everyone else has checked it, and then walk up to it without trouble.

But Christina is faster than that. "You're with Four, and I'm with Lauren. Peter has to go with Eric, and I'm actually happy about that, especially because he's obviously angry about it," she informs me with a wide grin. Thank heavens I'm with Four. The tension caused by the thought of having to spend a day alone with Eric vanishes, only to be replaced slowly by another kind of tension that's creeping up on me, settling itself down in my stomach. I'm going to spend a day alone with Four, outside the compound, away from all the cameras.

Due to Christmas only being a week away, initiates are going out of the compound each day with Lauren, Four and Eric. It's not allowed to tell anyone what we're doing out there, so rumors are flying around. I get more and more nervous each day, and it doesn't help that I'm the last one on the list, my mission scheduled for the 24th. Four told me not to worry about it being Christmas Eve, since we'd be leaving early and return in the early afternoon. Although that's not what I'm really nervous about, after all it's good to know that I'll be back in time to celebrate Christmas with my friends. It's my first holiday without my family, and that'll feel pretty strange, I'm sure.

There's plenty to do during this last week before the holidays. For the first time in my life, I go for a stroll through the shops in the pit to buy presents for my friends. I can't afford anything expensive, but everyone assures me that it's not about giving anything big or extraordinary. It's more important to pick something that fits the personality of the person you want to give it to. When Christina asks me if I have a wish for Christmas, I'm so surprised that I can't come up with anything. It's a question nobody has ever asked me before. She laughs and shakes her head at me, telling me Abnegation rules are unbelievable, and that she'll find something for me that I'll like.