Divergent: Four's POV

Chapter 6

Today I am taking the initiates to the fence to talk about Dauntless jobs. I stand close enough to the tracks that I if I shift slightly, the train could graze my body. I look around and see that most of the initiates have arrived, all but Tris and Christina. I went back to the infirmary last night to check on her and they told me that she decided to return to her dorm. I know the thought of Peter putting her in the infirmary over night was just not acceptable to her.

Tris and Christina come striding up to the train quickly. She looks battered and bruised but alert and ready to go. She isn't going to let someone like Peter get to her. She is so much stronger than I ever gave her credit for.

When the train approaches, I step away from the tracks to make room for some of the initiates to get on. I grab the handle and effortlessly lift myself into the car. I turn to see Tris coming up behind me and before I can reach out for her, Al grabs her under both arms and lifts her into the car. I see the way that Al looks at her. He definitely has strong feelings for her, but her look says that he is just her friend.

Peter sees Al lift Tris into the car and he seizes his chance to ridicule her. "Feeling okay there?" he arches his eyebrows, giving her a look of mock sympathy. "Or are you a little...Stiff?"

He bursts into laughter at what he must consider to be a clever joke. Molly and Drew join in automatically. I really hate those three. Molly and Drew don't have one single original thought and Peter is just cruel and demented, much like Eric.

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

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

Although I'm thrilled that Tris' friends are defending her, I don't have the patience to listen to their bickering all the way to the fence. Besides I can tell that Tris doesn't like the attention that this arguing is bringing on her.

They continue to bicker. Sometimes I wonder if these are actually sixteen year olds and not babies. The only one that sits quietly is Tris, she looks angry but she knows that the banter is useless.

I speak before Peter has a chance to reply. "Am I going to have to listen to your bickering all the way to the fence?"

They fall silent and I turn back to the car's opening. I grip the handles on either side of the door and lean forward so my body is mostly outside of the car. The wind takes my breath away and presses my shirt to my chest. I breathe in the air and feel a sense of freedom as I look out over the great expanse to the distant skylines. I watch as the sea of crumbling, abandoned buildings drift farther away as the train carries us to the edge of the city.

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Tris looking at me. At first I thought she was just looking out the door, and then I see her shift her eyes from me to the view beyond and then back to me again. She continues to look from my face to my torso and back again. Does this mean she is feeling the same attraction that I have been feeling?

I get wrapped up in this thought and suddenly from behind me I hear Tris' voice above the noise of the wind.

"What do you think is out there?" she asks. "I mean, beyond the fence."

"Monsters!" Christina teases.

"We didn't even have guards near the fence until five years ago," Will says. "Don't you remember when Dauntless police used to patrol the factionless sector?"

"Yes," Tris replies.

I zone out of their conversation and focus on the scenery in front of me and the thoughts in my head. I've got to figure out what it is about her that causes me to get distracted so easily. It really makes no sense, there are lots of pretty girls in Dauntless and none of them have captured me the way this girl has. Is it because she's like me, because she's from Abnegation? I just don't know. All I know is that I can feel her looking at me and watching me as we travel to our destination.