~DIVERGENT~ Paradise

Day 10

I hear a light knock on the door; it's just enough to rouse me, but not enough to wake Christina. It's still dark, and I fumble for my phone to check the time. I roll out of bed and crack the door.
"Four? What are you doing? It's early," I say through a yawn.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I wanted to watch the sun rise, and I was wondering if you wanted to watch too."
I smile at how cute the thought is. "Okay. Let me get dressed."
We head up to the deck, and see that we're not the only people up this early; there are a handful of other couples doing the same thing.
"I know it's not as cool as watching the sun set into the ocean, but I wanted to see it anyways," he says as we lean against the railing.
"I don't think I've ever watched a sunrise, to be honest," I say. "It's always the sunsets."
"Yeah. There's something different though about a sunrise. You know you have the whole day ahead of you, a whole day to go on an adventure, or take a risk or meet someone new," he smiles as he says this. "Sometimes you just really look forward to what a new day can bring."
I give Four a small smile and lean into him, looping my arm through his. We both look out into the pink-purple sky and watch as it turns to reds and oranges before finally allowing the sun to break free.
"So what's the plan for the day?" I ask. "I know Uriah and Zeke are always coming up with something."
"I don't know. I don't think there are any plans," he says.
"I vote for another lazy day. We'll be going into the city again tomorrow and who knows what that will bring."
"True. I think a lazy day is just what we need."
We head back and wake everyone up early, just because we can.
"Tell me why we are up at this ungodly hour again," Marlene says over breakfast. "We're on vacation. We're not supposed to see 7 am unless we stayed up all night."
"We're having a lazy day today," I say. "And since Four and I were up, you guys get to be up to. Now eat so we can go to the pool."
Nobody does much of anything, just small talk and lying in the sun. Zeke falls asleep first, and Uriah is all too happy to coax a bucket away from a crew member and use it to dump water all over him.
"I think it's nap time, and I'm going back to our room," Shauna declares as she points at a dripping wet Zeke. "And you're coming with me."
"Yes M'am," Zeke says with a salute and a grin.
"Speaking of," Christina whispers to me. "I wouldn't mind spending a little alone time with Will, and he's rooming with Uriah, so..."
"So you want me to get lost for a while," I say.
"Well not when you put it like that, Tris."
"It's fine. I'll just stay out here or find somewhere else to go," I say, feeling a little pushed aside.
"You need somewhere to go?" Four says from the other side of me. "Why?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Just Christina and Will. I'm fine, really," I say, yawning again. Truthfully, I would really love to crash in bed right about now.
"You can come to my room, if you want."
I feel myself flush a bit. "Oh, no. Thanks, but I'm fine."
"Tris," Christina says. "Go. Take a nap," she says with a wink and a smile. It fades quickly when she sees the look on my face.
"It's okay. I don't mind. I was honestly thinking about taking a nap too," he says.
I follow Four to his room. This level is different from the one the rest of us stay on. It's quieter, and slightly fancier, and I cringe at the memory of commenting how the other floor like this must be where all the rich people stay. "How come you're on this level?" I ask.
"My father insists that I don't 'stay with the commoners'," he says. When I give him a look, he sighs. "He's a politician, so nothing but the best for him, and since I am an extension of him, he insists on making me stay in the nicer rooms of wherever we go. His words, not mine, by the way."
"Oh," I say. The small amount of venom that pops up in Fours voice when he talks about his father isn't lost on me, but I don't think now is the time to bring it up.
He slides his keycard into the lock and gestures for me to go first when he opens to door. "Wow. This is a nice room," I say. There's a king size bed, a giant flat screen TV, a small kitchen and a lounge area. "It's almost like a tiny apartment." I frown, thinking of the gross mystery stain in my room.
Four shrugs. "It's a room. It's overkill, if you ask me. I just sleep in it."
I give him a smile, and kick off my flip-flops before running and belly flopping into his bed. "God, even the sheets are softer," I say as I bunch them up beneath me. "I'm staying here from now on."
"That's fine with me," he says. I roll over and look at him, and he gives me a small smile. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll take the couch."
"Oh Four, no. This is your room. I'll take the couch." He leans down over me and gives me a kiss on my forehead before snagging a pillow and laying down on the couch. I smile and wrap myself up in the comforter before passing out.
I crack an eye when hear a dinging noise, but close it again, in favor of sleep. A few minutes later I hear it again, and I realize it's my phone. I fish it out of my pocket and look at the screen; five texts from Christina.
-Where are you?
-Are you with Four still?
-Tris, are you being a good girl, or a naughty girl? ;P
-Tris, for real. Text me back. We're making plans.
-TRIS.
I sigh and text her back.
-I'm alive and I was sleeping rather well, thank you.
-Oh thank god. Listen, everyone wants to go to this place called The Candor Club. There's some hypnotist or something, so come get ready and tell Four. Dinner is at 5:30 and the show is at 7.
I finally look at the time and it's almost 4. "Holy shit," I say sitting up.
"What?" Four says from the couch. He's watching TV with the volume down low.
"Why didn't you wake me up? I just took like a 5 hour nap!"
He shrugs. "You looked so relaxed and comfortable I didn't want to bother you. Texts?"
"Yeah," I say. "They want to see a hypnotist. Dinners at 5:30 so I'm supposed to go and get ready. Shows at 7."
"Okay," he says as he gets up and heads towards the door.
I slip on my shoes and head out the door. When I turn to say goodbye to Four, he's closing the door behind him; I give him a puzzled look. "Let's go," he says.
"I can walk back by myself. I'll be okay," I say.
"I know," he says with a smile, and starts walking down the corridor without me. I smile and hurry to catch up.
"Spill it," Christina says as soon as I close the door.
"Spill what?"
"You know damn well what."
"Nothing happened. I literally fell asleep 10 minutes after I walked into his room, which makes this place look like a cardboard box by the way, and you woke me up with your texts."
"Mmmhmm," she says as she looks me up and down.
"When have I ever lied to you Chris?"
"Okay, valid point. Now get in the shower. We have to look cute tonight."
She helps me do my hair and makeup, and lays out an outfit for me to wear. "These aren't mine," I say as I hold up a pair of shorts and a cropped sweater.
"I know. But they're cute and I think you would look cute in them and the plan of the night is to be super cute, so put them on."
I roll my eyes but put them on anyways. I can never fault Christina when it comes to clothes.
"You look nice," Four says when I open the door.
"Thank you," I say, blushing a little. "You look nice too."
Just as we're leaving our room, we hear the rest of our group coming down the corridor. "Good, you're ready. I'm starving. I worked up an appetite this afternoon," Uriah says. This time it's Zeke who smacks him on the arm.
"Ow!" he says as he scowls at his brother and rubs his arm. "Fine. I just won't talk anymore if this is how you're going to treat me."
Zeke bursts out into laughter, and the rest of us do too.
We make our way back to The Burger Bar Four and I ate at yesterday. "I know exactly what I'm ordering," I say as I take the touch menu and start typing. When our food arrives, I see Four has ordered my burger, while I ordered his. I smile and cut my burger in half. He does the same and we swap out halves.
"That is both the cutest and most disgusting thing I have ever seen," Zeke says.
"Oh shut it," Shauna says. "The only reason we don't do anything like that is because you have the weirdest taste buds ever."
"What the hell is wrong with my taste buds?" Zeke asks, sounding offended.
"That," she says, pointing to his burger. "Let's see. Jalapeños, BBQ sauce, pickles, lettuce and mayo. Oh, and a side of ranch to dip it in. Absolutely disgusting."
"What? It's good," Zeke says just before taking a big bite.
"I am so sorry you have to kiss that mouth," Four says, and we all crack up at the look on Zeke's face.
"Hey now, don't be jealous," Zeke says, winking and blowing air kisses at Four. We laugh again before we are interrupted.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" I hear a familiar voice say. I stop mid-chew and turn to see the only thing that could ruin my night; Eric.
"What do you want, Eric?" Christina says.
"Nothing. I can't visit my girl?"
"I'm not your girl," I say quietly.
"Really? Then why do we have a room booked together?" he asks smugly.
"That was done a long time ago, and you know that," I say.
"Well, just reminding you then that your side of the bed is there, waiting for you," he says before he takes a look around the table. His eyes linger for a moment on Four before he leaves.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," I say.
"Who the hell was that?" Uriah asks. "Do we need to kick the shit out of him?"
"No! No, just leave it alone. It's not worth it, really. Just a big, big mistake that won't seem to go away," I say.
I feel Four place his hand on my back and rub gently. He leans in and whispers, "Don't apologize for that ever again. Whatever happened, it isn't your fault. And hey," he says, as he places a finger under my chin and angles my face towards his, "I'm here for you too. We're all here, okay?"
"Thank you," I say, and I give him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Woooo," Marlene yells and the others join in. I blush immediately, but I really am thankful that they're all here, even if they are teasing me.

When the show starts the hypnotist asks for volunteers. Zeke and Uriahs hands shoot up immediately, and they are both chosen to go on stage.
"This is going to be hilariously embarrassing," Shauna says as she takes out her phone. "I'm recording every second of it."
There are a total of 12 people on stage, and once they're put under, we're informed that this isn't just a regular hypnotist show, this is a dirty hypnotist show. We hoot and scream, knowing full well that this just got better.
The show starts normally enough, making the volunteers do things like run a marathon in place and bark like dogs. He makes the men think they're nine months pregnant and going into labor, while the women act like men and don't have a clue what to do.
There are a few more embarrassing things the hypnotist does, like ask them what their favorite body part is on themselves, and on the opposite sex, and makes them 'talk dirty' into the microphone. I have tears streaming down my face, and I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard.
The last thing that happens is the significant others of each person is asked to come down on stage. He promises they won't be hypnotized, and Shauna hands me her phone as she and Marlene go.
They hypnotist tells them to turn to their significant other, and tell them their favorite thing about them, and then they can wake up. One by one, each person says something, and wakes up.
Zeke turns to Shauna and says, "Shauna, my favorite thing about you is how you love me. You don't care if I'm basically a giant child, you still respect me and I love you for that." The audience aww's, and Zeke looks around in confusion. "Did it work?" he says. Shauna gives him a kiss and when the audience aww's again, he gives them a thumbs up.
When it's Uriah's turn, he simply states, "I love your body and your face." Marlene elbows him in his ribs just as he's waking up, and he looks around in confusion as the audience laughs.
When the show is over, we're bombarded with questions about what happened. "Well, we know now that Uriah likes Mar's face and body," Christina says.
Both boys stare with wide eyes, and Zeke says, "Please tell me someone recorded this."
"I did!" Shauna says as I hand her her phone.
On our way out of the club, we hear some music, and really awful singing. "Ooh yes! Karaoke! Let's do it, please!" Christina says.
"No way. I sound like a dying whale," Marlene responds.
"No you don't," Uriah says with a smile, but she gives him a look that could kill.
"No, really," Will says. "Let's do it. Sounds fun."
We find an empty table and start looking through the song list. Zeke and Uriah take no time rushing up to the stage. They both clear their throats very seriously, and as equally serious perform "You're The One That I Want" from Grease; Zeke is Danny and Uriah is Sandy, and they both are unsurprisingly fantastic. I flip through the songbook afterwards, trying to find a duet to sing with Christina that might one-up the boys, when Four quietly slips out of his chair and heads to the stage. I stop to watch as the current guy singing finishes up and Four takes the mic. The music starts and I recognize it instantly; it's one of my favorite songs, and I wonder if he somehow knew.
All I am is a man
I want the world in my hands
I hate the beach
But I stand
In California with my toes in the sand
Use the sleeves of my sweater
Let's have an adventure
Head in the clouds but my gravity's centered
Touch my neck and I'll touch yours
You in those little high-waisted shorts, oh
I'm listening intently; Four doesn't actually sound half bad, when Christina nudges me. She has a big grin on her face and she's pointing at me. I look down and realize what she's grinning about. My shorts, specifically, the high-waisted ones Christina made me wear. I smile.
She knows what I think about
And what I think about
One love, two mouths
One love, one house
No shirt, no blouse
Just us, you'll find out
Nothing that I wouldn't wanna tell you about, no
'Cause it's too cold
For you here and now
So let me hold
Both your hands in the holes of my sweater

Song is "Sweater Weather" by The Neighborhood. This chapter was fun to write, I hope all of  enjoyed it. I'm going to be updating all day cause I didn't got to school today. 😜
Thanks for reading!
Be brave,

Christina Eaton 🔥