Since You Been Gone

Chapter 19

Tris P.O.V.

"Are you sure you're ready for your first day?" I ask Lucas as we drive towards the daycare. Today is his first real day. For the last few days he has gotten to hang out and observe the classes with me, only participating in a few activities. This will be his first time here without me and I have been praying to God up above that he won't be one of those children who have a panic attack when they are on their own or decided not to work without someone next to them holding their hand.

"Yes, mommy. I'm sure," he mumbles. I quickly move my eyes from the road and to the back seat where Lucas is staring out the window. He has been excited about this all week. I'm surprised he hasn't slipped out of car seat and bouncing off the walls of the car.

As we near the school, just a few minutes away, I see several reporters all pointing at something, that I can only assume is, our car. I just shake it off, figuring there was something behind it on the other side of the street or maybe some kind of rare bird flying above it. A minute or two later, I see another group of reporters who, once again, point at the car. "That's weird," I mumble to myself.

The strange reporters appear several more times on either side of the road as we approach the daycare. When we reach the daycare, I have a hard time parking because an even larger crowd of reporters and news teams are packed on the small sidewalk, blocking the front door. They all have their usual equipment—large cameras, note pads, and microphones.

"Mommy? Who are all these people?" Lucas asks as I walk around to his side of the car to unbuckle him. He slides out of the car and slips on his Jake and the Neverland Pirates backpack. I pick him up before beginning to wade through the crowd shouting questions at us and shoving microphones and tape recorders in our face.

"These are just people who are curious about us, Lucas. They won't hurt you," I mumble in his ear. When Lucas was first born, my book was also a few months away from release. When he was beginning to walk and talk he also had to deal with crowds like these. It has been a long time since either of us have. They always used to scare Lucas. He was afraid they were trying to hurt since no one else would have them in front of their house.

"Will they still be here when we leave?" Lucas asks as we reach the steps leading up to the building. I open up the door and set him down on the floor once we are safely inside. The receptionist doesn't look up from her computer screen. She just keeps typing on the keyboard in front of her.

"I don't know, Lucas. Hopefully they will be gone," I say. He nods and take his head as we walk to Mrs. Patterson's office. She said she wanted to see us before I left. Hopefully she won't find the whole reporter deal to be a problem. I knock and her voice drifts out saying for us to come inside. I push the door open and lead Lucas into the neat office, taking a seat in the chairs in front of her desk.

"Good morning, Ms. and Mr. Prior," she says. I open my mouth to reply but she quickly cuts me off. "I am glad you remembered to come meet with me this morning. I just wanted to inform you that there should be no problems for Lucas. His teachers and I already have everything set up for him," she continues. I smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Patterson. I'm glad to know Lucas will be entering a good environment. I hope the reporters outside won't cause for much trouble," I say. She smiles and shakes her head.

"Of course not. We understand the situation completely," she says to me. She turns her head and looks at Lucas who is sitting in the chair next to me, kicking his legs back and forth since they don't reach the floor. "Are you ready, Lucas?" she asks. He nods. "Well, I will take you to your classroom," she says. He jumps up and wraps his arms around me.

"I love you, mommy," he whispers into my ear. I can't help but smile. I plant a kiss on his forehead, just below where his dark hair hangs down on his face.

"I love you, too, Lucas," I whisper. Mrs. Patterson and I exchange goodbyes before I continue on down the hallway to the door. As I am about to walk outside into the chaos, my phone rings in my pocket. I remove it and see Tobias's name on the lock screen. "Hello?" I answer.

"Tris, have you left home yet?" he asks. He has been paying close attention to the Lucas daycare situation. He was the first to know that today was Lucas's first official day.

"Yeah. I just dropped Lucas off. Why? Is there something wrong?" I ask. Panic immediately begins to pulse through me. Only so many things could happen to him that would effect Lucas.

"Tris, there is a crowd of reporters outside my apartment complex. I can see them from my bedroom window. I tried to go outside and I was bombarded with questions about me being Lucas's father. I ended up being chased back inside," he says. A gasp escapes my mouth as I look out the glass door to where the crowd of reporters are waiting outside, a few snapping pictures of the building.

"Crap. That must be why I had to push through them to get inside the daycare," I say. He releases a frustrated sigh through the phone.

"So, I guess we tell them," he says. I'm silent for a few minutes. I finally nod but realize that he can't see me.

"Yeah. I guess so," I say. We are both quiet for a few minutes before hanging up. I walk outside and I realize now that they are saying things about Four: Northern Illinois's star quarterback. Instead of answering questions like I should, though, I push my way right through them to my car and bolt off to one of the only places I have truly felt alone: the waterfall.

I feel like this was kind of rushed. I'm really sorry if you agree but I just wanted to get it out of the way. I kind of doubt you care, though. I know what y'all really want. And I might try to get it soon... Please tell me what you think! I loooooove reading comments so leave those along with votes!

Disclaimer: Since I am not Veronica Roth, I do not own Divergent.