The Fourth Eaton

Chapter 11 🔪 Something's Up

A/N: Hello guys!

It's been four long weeks since I've updated, and, as always, I'm sorry for that. High school is... overwhelming, and we're not even two months in. 

Most of my classes are actually easy; Geometry, Spanish, Computer Science, and Biology are not too bad. For 9th grade, it could definitely be worse.

The harder classes are Band, GT Humanities, and AP Human Geography. Band, because, well, music is a lot more work than you might think, and GT Humanities and AP Human Geo because they're AP classes. GT Humanities is technically my English credit for the year, but the curriculum is half English, half AP World History. And it's a two year course. AP Human Geo is a regular, one-year AP course. An AP course that has a corresponding AP exam with a less than 60% international passing rate. Oh, joy.

Anyways, I'll stop bothering you with my school problems. here's Chapter 11!

The next morning, I jerk out of my restful sleep - for once, no nightmares, maybe because my brain was too exhausted to produce them - to the insistent ringing of the alarm.

My friends and I grab muffins and race to the train, and arrive just minutes before it appears.

I wince a little as I ran alongside the train; my bruises from my fight with Julia still hurt.

I've been through worse. I remind myself, as I reach up and grab the handle. I swing myself in, and someone pulls me in the rest of the way.

I look up to see my brother. He smiles at me, although his expression holds a little concern, a toned-down version of the look he would give me after I just got a beating.

I smile back, then pull away from his hold, walking towards Lavender, Ethan, and Julia. The point he had made our first night in the Chasm was a good one; we couldn't be seen together too much.

Ever since our first two meetings, we had agreed to meet every other day, at the same time. It is a good way to just unwind and relax with the only person I love; a time to talk and express the other side of me with someone I trust. Our conversations had been much more lighthearted than the first two. Mostly, we just teased each other, which was both familiar and new. On one hand, we had never been allowed to tease each other in Abnegation - it was considered selfish and hurtful to do so - but, on the other, we had never been ordinary Abnegation kids.

Our trip to the fence is uneventful; we watch an Amity truck pull through, with several people sitting in the back strumming banjos. I observe them with a new perspective, thanks to Lavender. Are any of them truly this happy? Or is it all an effect of peace serum?

I ponder that as we ride back. My mind is only half focused on the conversation of my friends. I smile and make comments from time to time, but they clearly notice that I'm zoned out and don't try to talk to me.

Once we get back to the compound, Tobias gathers us around him. "You have the rest of the day off. Make the most of it. We expect you back in the training room bright and early tomorrow morning for your third fight. Dismissed."

He glances at me as he says this. I meet his gaze, even as the other initiates scurry off.

"Chasm. Tonight." He mouths. My stomach drops. Our last meeting was just yesterday. What could be so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow?

I give him an almost imperceptible nod, then turn back to my friends, who are discussing what they want to do.

"I say we grab a bite to eat. It's almost 1 o'clock." Julia buts into Lavender and Ethan's debate. "It's almost one o'clock. After we fill our stomachs we can decide what to do."