Aunt Taylor's Library

Chapter 15 (Lily)

(Congratulations to everlark__love (Lily) for one full year on Wattpad! You should all go check out her stories, like for real.)

(Lily's POV)

"Why does it have to be so cold?" Kylie complained. I couldn't see her in the darkness from the shadow of the building, but I could feel her standing next to me. We were huddled together against the side of the school, unsuccessfully trying to keep out of the wind as we waited for Tris.

I strained my eyes trying to see my watch but it was pointless in the complete darkness. The few minutes we had been sitting there seemed like hours, and I felt like the time would stretch on indefinitely. Just as I was considering sitting down on the ground, Kylie pulled on my arm. "There!"

My head whipped up and I strained to see Tris's lone figure walking towards us. She held a gray jacket tightly around herself and kept glancing around as she walked towards us, almost like she was scared someone would see her. Kylie and I quietly sprinted over to her, scaring her half to death. In the dim moonlight I could barely make out her face. Without speaking, I motioned for her to follow us, and we ran to where the train would be coming by shortly.

At the sight of the train tracks, Tris balked. "I can't jump on the train!"

"Sure you can," I said calmly. "You can do anything we can, Tris. You're brave." She didn't look too brave.

Kylie put a comforting arm around Tris's small shoulders. "Hey, you'll do great. You think we weren't scared the first time we jumped on the train?"

I gazed at the spot where I knew I would soon see the train's light coming nearer. I could see the smallest pinpoint of light in the darkness, but it was rapidly growing larger. Soon, the full shadowy form of the train was visible in the moonlit.

"Ok, I'm going to talk you through this," I said steadily, because I noticed Tris's breathing speed up a little, presumably from fright. She simply nodded, so I continued. "You're going to run next to the train for a minute, then after Kylie and I jump in, you will too. You'll grab the handle on the car and pull yourself in. We'll help, don't worry. Ok?" Tris nodded again, but she wasn't looking at me. She was looking at the approaching train.

"Get ready," Kylie said quietly. "When I say go, go."

We waited for a few tense seconds, and the front of the train rushed past us. Kylie had to yell over the roar of the train for us to hear her, then we were off. Kylie and I easily swung ourselves onto the train, then immediately turned around to cheer Tris on and pull her in when she finally jumped.

It was close. She almost didn't make it, but Kylie managed to grab her hand and together we dragged Tris into the car. She immediately scooted as far away from the open door as she could, and Kylie and I crawled up next to her.

"How far is it?" Tris asked.

"It'll be about twenty minutes," I said. She nodded and sat quietly. That was a good sign, I think. The Abnegation instinct would be to try and make small talk, always about the other people, of course. If she was ignoring, or not feeling, that instinct, then that was a step in the right direction.

"What are we doing, exactly?" Tris asked.

Kylie piped up, "We're going to see Four. Lily told you about him, right?"

"A little bit..." Tris agreed.

"You and he are going to go something called a 'fear landscape.' His, actually. Then you'll go through your own. It's a simulation, but you'll be able to tell during it, like in the aptitude test. You'll be ok."