near north side//peter hayes

6

The next morning I wake up to the sound of Eric's alarm. I slowly pull myself from his grip on my waist. I get up out of his bed, picking up his shirt from the ground and slipping it over my head.

"You always look so good in my shirt," Eric says, startling me a little.

"I just need something to wear back to my room since someone ripped mine," I say, picking up my ripped tank top from the floor.

"Sorry," he chuckles, "I'll buy you a new one I promise."

I laugh. "I'm going to get ready, I have to meet Four at the train tracks by eight."

By eight Four and I are standing by the tracks waiting for the transfers to arrive.

"Why didn't you come back yesterday?" I ask.

"I would be no help to anyone as pissed as I was."

"I stopped the fight, right after you left. I couldn't let Peter hurt her anymore," I tell him.

"Who knows how long Eric would have let it continue," Four remarks.

"Did you hear he made Christina hang from the railing over the chasm?"

"Yeah, same reason he made Alina hang from the railing last year," Four says.

I don't know why but it surprises me that he remembers that. The tracks start to rumble and I know the train is coming close. I look around and see Tris and Christina running towards us. Tris looks worse for wear. Her face is bruised and she is paler than normal.

Four and I step back to let the transfers get on first. I watch as Will hoists himself into the car with some difficulty, landing first on his stomach and then dragging his legs in behind him. I then pull myself in smoothly, having grown accustomed to it over the years. Then Four grabs the handle on the side of the car and pulls himself in smoothly, like he doesn't have more than six feet of body to work with. I see Tris jogging next to the car wincing, then grabbing the handle on the side. Al grabs her under each arm and lifts her easily into the car.

As if on cue Peter starts being an ass to Tris. "Feeling okay there?" I stand in the doorway looking eyes with Peter sending daggers his way. "Or are you a little... Stiff?" He bursts into laughter at his joke, and Molly and Drew join in.

Molly has an ugly laugh, all snorting and shaking shoulders, and Drew's is silent, so it almost looks like he's in pain. It's not my place to butt in even though I want to. I want Peter to realize it will be easier for him in Dauntless if he wasn't such an ass all the time.

"We are all awed by your incredible wit," Will taunts.

"Yeah, are you sure you don't belong with the Erudite, Peter?" Christina adds. "I hear they don't object to sissies."

Four, standing in the doorway, speaks before Peter can retort, "Am I going to have to listen to your bickering all the way to the fence?"

Everyone gets quiet, and Four turns back to the car's opening. He holds the handles on either side, his arms stretched wide, and leans forward so his body is mostly outside the car, though his feet stay planted inside. The wind presses his shirt to his chest.

"One day you're gonna fall out," I joke.

"Well then I'll die a true Dauntless death won't I." Four chuckles.

Four isn't much for conversation today, so I listen to the others in the train car.

"What do you think is out there?" Tris asks, nodding to the doorway. "I mean, beyond the fence."

Christina shrugs. "A bunch of farms, I guess."

"Yeah, but I mean... past the farms. What are we guarding the city from?" Tris questions.