Another Pedrad | ✓

Chapter 23

Tris POV

It's been almost a year since that conversation with Four.

We talked. There was still the occasional exchange of nods as we passed each other in the halls. Zeke was still his best friend. And Zeke was still my brother. Uriah had also taken on a strange liking to Four. The two of them were closer than I was with Four. It seemed that Four had affected our entire family.

I tried to tell myself to ignore him, to push thoughts of him away. But it was no use. I'd find my thoughts wandering back to him no matter where I was, what I was doing, or who I was with. I couldn't help think about his voice, so deep it was hypnotizing. Or his sharp cheekbones, that left just the faintest hollow beneath them. But most of all, I couldn't help but think of his eyes. They were so deep-set that his long eyelashes scraped the skin under his eyebrows. And I would never forget the blue. The dark blue, like the sky, just before a storm is about to erupt.

Even now, I couldn't stop thinking about him. If only he felt the same way.

"Are you nervous?"

"What?"

I glanced to the side at Uriah, and he gave me a weak smile in return. "For the test."

"No."

The smell of sweat clung to the air around me. The train glides along the sides of the city, hurtling towards the school at a blinding speed. I grab onto the side of the train, preparing myself to jump.

No matter how long you've been doing it, even as long as me, you can never get used to that split second right before your jump. The anticipation, building up from within you, just waiting to bubble up as you leap through the air. That excitement, mixed in with a nervousness you try so hard to ignore.

My head tilts forward as I drop to the ground and roll forward, absorbing the momentum of the drop. I could feel the weight of stares from all around me, as the other factions stop their walk to watch us.

I always hated the attention we got as Dauntless, the staring and whispering. It was something that we all dealt with everyday. Most of Dauntless enjoyed it, they basked in the glory. It took everything in me to not hide behind Uriah.

My muscles stiffened as we walked through the front doors. The atmosphere around us was tense, every sixteen year old seemed to be too busy contemplating their future to say anything at all. It was likely the last day that we would ever walk those halls, our new factions would be in charge of finishing our education.

"You're not worried at all?" I glanced toward Uriah who seemed to be the spitting image of calm. While I on the other hand, was sweating bullets at the mere thought of the upcoming test.

He gave me a small smile, "Are you?"

I wanted to tell him how scared I was for him. How much I was hoping that he would get Dauntless. This test might be the last thing stopping him from leaving Dauntless.

From leaving his family.

From leaving me.

Uriah is dauntless through and through, it runs through every vein and touches every single part of him. I could never tell him this, but the thought of losing another brother is one I wouldn't be able to live with.

---

The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife by the time lunch ended. Uriah, Lynn, Marlene, and I huddle closely together at the long tables. Lynn brought a deck of cards but none of us wanted to play. The cafeteria was as loud as always, almost as if this was just another ordinary day. The Amity were clapping hands and singing songs. The Erudite had their heads bent over their books and newspaper, eyes glued to the pages. Even from across the room, I could still head the Candor arguing loudly, oblivious to the noise they were creating. And as always, the Stiffs were waiting quietly and obediently.