A Different Divergent Tale (Eric and Tris)

Chapter 35

I step inside to Uriah's and Will's apartment.  He sets an arm around my shoulder. 
"Welcome to heaven," Uriah says dramatically motioning to the entire living room with a wave of his arm.  I giggle in response and look over the space.  It actually is like a carbon copy of Tobias's apartment.  There's no bed in here, though, and it looks like there are several doors in the back section—that must be two bedrooms and a bathroom.  The wall is mostly a massive window.  There's all the basic furniture items here.  Most of them look gently used but it's quite homey and comfortable looking.  It's not new and color coordinated but it's quite masculine and charming.  I see a sofa, a loveseat—not matching, and a chair.  Their kitchen setup is similar to Eric's.  I wonder if the boys will be cooking much.  I see a table with chairs next to the kitchen and I realize that Eric has an empty space over there that could probably fit a table.  He has bar stools at his peninsula though and there's no chairs here like that.  I guess they just have different preferences.  Plus, Uriah will probably have more company than most others may. 
"We're so glad you could make it," Christina says hugging me. 
"Yeah, me too," I agree smiling. 
I greet Lynn, Marlene, and Will sitting in the living room.  "Come join us," Will motions to the seated area.  I stride over and sit with the girls while Will and Christina are on the loveseat.  Uriah takes the chair. 
"Your place is really comfortable," I tell them. 
"Yeah, Tris has extensive experience trying out sofas," Christina teases. 
I laugh at that. 
"My mom told me she got to help you ladies out," Uriah comments. 
"Yeah.  My place was completely empty except for some barstools, kitchenware, and beds," I admit. 
"Did you get one of those fat leadership bonuses?" Uriah asks. 
I look to him confused but it must be common knowledge here.  "Yeah, it seems like too much.  I feel like I had to pick my jaw up from the floor when Eric showed it to me.  It's way more than I've spent on my place already.  I was going to get a couple more things but I really don't know what to do with all of it," I explain. 
"Yeah, leadership always splurges on their trainees.  Eric and Four got those when they finished initiation.  Eric was nice enough to furnish Zeke's apartment but according to my brother, Four just wasted his on beer and takeout," Uriah shrugs. 
I cough in surprise at that.
"Why would Eric buy Zeke furniture?" I ask curiously.  "I didn't even think they were really friends.  Although, they were talking the other day..."
"Eric and Zeke used to be roommates," Uriah elaborates.  "They're friends, too.  I think Eric just keeps his distance because Four doesn't really like him."
I frown at that. 
"So, when Eric moved up to leadership, he left the furnishings for Zeke?" I ask. 
"Yeah," Uriah nods.  "Egan's stuff was okay.  Eric just didn't want to bother with moving everything.  Zeke did help him move his old bed to his spare room, though.  He said Ryan needed a bed when he got drunk and lost his keys."
"Awe, I didn't know all of that," Marlene coos.  "Eric's a big softy."
I laugh.  "You have no idea," I mumble. 
"What's that, Tris?" Lynn nudges me from the next seat over. 
"Nothing," I deny. 
"Oh, come on.  You guys are always together.  I know you know something about Eric that we all don't," Lynn insists. 
"Well..." I say thinking of something she doesn't know.  "I was at the gun range the other day with Eric.  I started talking to the guy practicing next to me.  I kind of found out that someone has a crush on you."
"On me?" she asks completely befuddled.  I nod.  "Is it someone I know?"
"I think so," I say since he was a Dauntless-born and in her training group.  I would think that she would at least know who he is since they grew up together. 
"This is too weird," she says shaking her head in utter confusion.  "A boy likes me?" she questions dumbfounded almost to herself. 
"Someone has a secret admirer," Marlene teases in a singsong voice. 
I feel my stomach rumbling in hunger.  "So what's the plan for dinner?" I put that out there since I don't know what they've decided upon. 
"Oh, we're just waiting for the pizza to arrive," Will says. 
"What's pizza?" I inquire curiously. 
"Oh, I've got this," Christina lifts her hands up taking over when everyone is shocked about my confession.  "It's like a bread dough that's rolled out thin.  It has a tomato sauce on top and cheese.  It's baked in an oven.  You can have different toppings on it like meat and vegetables."
"A tomato sauce... like the pasta?" I ask curiously. 
"Just like the pasta," Uriah nods smiling.
"That sounds fantastic," I say excitedly. 
"Oh, it is," Will chimes in grinning like mad.  "Much better than meatloaf night.  We had that before during initiation.  The mac and cheese was good but I think I'll skip the meatloaf from now on."
I nod even though I don't really remember eating that.  Knowing me, I probably grabbed a roll and some vegetables, a side dish here and there. 
"So, you're not too familiar with the food we eat here?" Uriah asks. 
"Not really.  Eric's been teaching me, though," I admit to him. 
"I think Eric is incredibly sweet on you," Marlene teases with a massive smile on her face. 
"Yeah, I think so, too," Christina adds grinning. 
"No, way," Will says disbelievingly. 
"You don't see how he looks at her?" Christina asks smiling.  He shakes his head.  "Just watch him.  You'll see."
"He did just walk her up here," Uriah adds.  "Oh, they invited us out tomorrow night.  We're going to the dance club."
"We're going to the dance club with two leaders?" Marlene asks in awe. 
"Ryan is probably coming, too," I admit. 
"That's awesome," Marlene comments excitedly, almost disbelievingly.  "They never really hang out anywhere in public.  Except maybe Lydia with her boyfriend and the fighting league."
"We should go to a match sometime," Lynn perks up even more.
"Those are fun," Uriah nods.  "The tickets are kind of pricey though, unless you get nosebleed seats.  But it's still worth it."
"That does sound fun," I smile in agreement.  "So, Max says you're working on our new newspaper?" I say to Will.
"What? A newspaper?" Uriah says completely intrigued.
"Yeah... um," Will starts, scratching his neck awkwardly. "So, I talked with Tris and Max after breakfast about the city paper and the seemingly false articles in there. He asked me after lunch if I would start one for Dauntless. He said all the factions have Abnegation approval to write them and distribute in faction and around the city."
"No way!" Christina says sitting up enthusiastically. "That's amazing."
"It is actually," Will laughs disbelievingly.
"What's your plan? Max mentioned... let's see... the new members, the census, and the situation with Molly and the articles," I list off.
Will smiles and everyone in the room leans forward to hear the news. "Well, I hadn't gotten too far. I did make the layout for the whole paper. I have the new members list with jobs that I entered in. I was thinking of doing maybe an interview with some of the top ranks," he begins.
"I'll do an interview," Uriah chimes in immediately. 
"I will, too," I add.
We look to Lynn. "Sure," she shrugs nonchalantly.
"Okay, so that'll be for the first three weeks then. I really don't have any information about the census so I'll talk to Max about it tomorrow. The Molly thing I was thinking of just stating facts and interviewing a couple people, like Tris and Christina," he explains.
"Why me?" Christina asks surprised.
"Because you were present when the reporters were searching for candidates to interview and you made a scene about how they were presenting biased information. They were hoping to find a story like Molly gave them. You told them to ask Tris and that what they were saying was untrue. I even asked Jax when he came out of the meeting today if I could take an image from the surveillance from that day. He said if it shows the truth, it shouldn't be a problem. I would just need a leader's approval," he tells us.
"Go to Max, Jude, Lydia, or Ryan for that approval," I recommend.
"I was thinking of Eric though," Will tells me.  He's probably more comfortable with him. 
"Jeanine is his aunt. She still has his little sister there and now my brother, too. She can be sort of testy with such things from what I hear. We don't need Eric's sister getting punished for something Eric did to make her mad," I explain.
"I didn't know that," Will says soberly. "She is really scary. I wouldn't want to cross her... directly or indirectly."
"Will," I say softly. He gives me his full attention. "If you write these articles, you will cross swords with Jeanine—metaphorically speaking. You need to think about your sister and parents, along with any other family that are in Erudite. Jeanine is pure evil. She could harm them if you publish something that contradicts what she's approved," I warn him.
"I didn't think about that. I didn't know all of this either. I kind of assumed, though. Maybe I could have a Dauntless-born write sensitive things like this—someone she can't touch. I could assist and edit but maybe I shouldn't cross her directly," he says soberly.
"Yeah... I'm worried about my brother. Eric spoke with Jeanine today and it sounds like she has an unhealthy interest in him," I admit.
Everyone is just staring in awe and confusion. "Those articles are messed up. I heard they said some bad stuff about your parents. By how nice you are, I didn't think it was true," Uriah says.
"It's not from what I heard in the dorm," I tell him honestly. 
There's a knock on the door.
"Pizza's here!" Uriah shouts excitedly getting up.
"So how are we paying?" Will asks. "We never discussed that."
"I've got it," I say standing up and joining Uriah at the door.
There's a man in a uniform carrying several stacked boxes and a couple bags. Uriah takes the packages out of his hands. He pulls a small pocket sized tablet out of his pocket and I swipe my point card. He passes me the device and I read the total. I have the option to leave a tip. I'm never sure about this so I just double the total since it's minuscule compared to the furniture delivery and sign my name. He looks at the device and smiles.
"Thanks! I hope I get to deliver to you next time," he says grinning happily.
"You're welcome and thank you," I laugh lightly and wave as he leaves.
I shut the door and everyone is congregating at the dining room table. Will is passing out plates while Uriah is opening boxes. I notice the aroma coming from those boxes as I stand by the door.
"Come on, Tris," Lynn waves me over.
I crack a small smile and join them sitting between Lynn and Christina.
"Thanks for handling the bill," Uriah says. "They usually get mad when we split up the payment. We've done it before as dependents but it's kind of a hassle and the pizza gets kind of cold before we're even done paying."
"No problem. I don't mind," I tell them sincerely. "Although, I'm not quite sure about tipping."
"Oh, just give them like five points or something," Uriah mumbles through his food.
"No way," Christina says wagging her finger at him scoldingly.  "It's customary to give fifteen percent, twenty or more if they've done a really good job."
"Oh," I guffaw astonished. "Maybe that's why everyone that's delivered goods for me is so enthusiastic."
"How much did you give him?" Will asks curiously.
"I doubled it," I shrug dismissively.
Marlene snickers in astonishment. "Wow, maybe I should've got a job in delivery for Tris. I'd be rolling in the points," she giggles jokingly.
I laugh too, but I'm happy that I probably made his day.
"This smells incredible," I tell them as I glance at the boxes. I see a salad opened and I grab some of that. It has some sort of marinated sliced chicken breast on top and I'm fairly certain those are toasted slivered almonds. It looks like it's covered in that Italian dressing that Eric and I like so much. There's some sort of bread—maybe garlic bread—and I think I see melted cheese on top. I get a slice of that because it looks so delicious. "So what are my choices?" I ask motioning to the pizza.
"Right, you haven't had this before," Uriah remembers nodding. "This one has tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, and basil on it. It's called Margherita. This one is all meat. It has pepperoni, sausage, bacon, ham, and ground beef, I think. That's what I'm eating. I'm a carnivore," he tells me barring his teeth and laughing. "Lynn has the all veggie one with tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and black olives. What you have on your plate is cheesy garlic bread and the Italian grilled chicken salad."
"Thanks," I say in appreciation for the explanation. "I have no idea which one to try. I usually grab whatever Eric gets."
Christina laughs and I'm tempted to elbow her jokingly but I restrain myself.
"You could have one of everything," Uriah suggests.
"I don't think I could eat that much," I tell him giggling.
"It's fine. I'll eat whatever you don't," he says.
I look to him surprised.
"Don't worry. Uriah's like a human garbage disposal. He always eats my leftover crusts. He eats whatever is left on anyone's plate actually," Marlene explains.
I laugh, looking to Uriah and raising an eyebrow disbelievingly. He just shrugs and nods.
"I'm a growing boy," he defends.
"Yeah, pretty soon you'll be growing out," Lynn laughs making a gesture of a big belly with both arms.
The whole table chuckles at that.
"Alright," I say in agreement grabbing the smallest slices of each that I could find. I'm surprised that there are huge pieces and some skinnier slivers. I try the meat one and I look back at my slice. "This is incredible," I say in awe.
"Aww, she likes my favorite best," Uriah announces proudly.
I chuckle as I text Eric a message. 
"No way. She hasn't tried mine yet," Will counters. "Try the Margherita," he insists.
"That's this one?" I confirm pointing to the slice with a green leaf and he nods.
I pick up that slice and it's not as substantial. I take a bite and I'm surprised at the intense flavor from the different cheese and the basil, I think.
"This is phenomenal, too. This green thing, that's the basil, I assume. What is that?" I say.
"It's an herb—a seasoning," Will explains seemingly contemplating something in the process. "Oh, I get it. Four said you didn't use any seasonings. You'd never had herbs or salt. It hadn't even really clicked what that truly meant until just now."
"Yeah, but I'm having them in Dauntless," I shrug taking a bite of the salad. It's is just as good. I decide to take a bite of Lynn's favorite and I'm pleasantly surprised at how flavorful all of the vegetables are. "I've never had olives before. They're really good. It's funny never really being allowed to have salt, how much a person kind of craves it."
"What sort of food did you eat then?" Lynn asks. "I can't even picture that."
"My last dinner there was plain chicken breast, peas, and bread. That was typical," I say. "We usually had the same kind of thing really—plain cooked protein, steamed or boiled vegetables, steamed, boiled, or baked carbohydrate."
"So like instead of buttered potatoes you put nothing on them?" Uriah asks in awe.
"Yeah," I nod making a face.
"I'd have trouble with that," Lynn admits. "Plain chicken or potatoes without salt or butter or seasoning would be so bland. I probably wouldn't eat much."
"Yeah, that's why Eric was so concerned about her," Christina motions to me.
"Aww, he is a softy. Was he the one that took you to the infirmary?" Marlene asks.
"Yeah," I smile.
"What treatments are you on?" Uriah inquires.
I remember Eric's warning about how he gossips. I decide that it's no big deal, though. "I have a hormone imbalance. They gave me some medicine to counteract that. I had no appetite probably from my diet before or the hormone thing but it's getting better now," I explain.
"That's good. I wish they would have noticed sooner. Maybe you could've ranked higher in stage one," Uriah says.
I bite my cheek.
"Oh, I know you're hiding something," Christina chimes in and I wince.
"What's wrong?" Will asks concerned.
"Well, you guys have got to promise not to repeat this," I say seriously. I mostly focus on Uriah.
"What? You think I can't keep a secret?" he replies.
"We know you don't mean to but sometimes you just let things slip," Marlene tells him soothingly patting his back.
"I've kept a few secrets," he says. "Really big ones."
"How about if I'm vague about it, so nobody will deal with the backlash," I suggest.
Everyone nods.
"I'll try not to gossip," Uriah tells me and I smile at the effort.
"So... I should've been ranked third in the first stage," I admit.
"What?" Will asks surprised.
"Someone didn't post the ranks properly. With my numbers from being first jumper, first in knives, winning two out of three fights, and highest points earned in Capture the Flag—Max did the numbers and he said I should've been third," I explain.
"Who would've made such a mistake?" Will asks concerned. 
"It wasn't a mistake," I admit.  "But that's all I'm going to say—any more and you all won't be able to hold back.  I've forgiven the person for it.  I'm first and in leadership.  There's no going back."
I try a bite of the garlic bread.  "Okay.  This is my favorite," I say holding it up. 
Uriah laughs, "That's my second."  He pauses.  "That's messed up, though. Whatever reason someone had for doing that to you, it's not right and it's not Dauntless."
"Yeah," I nod sadly.  "We're changing initiation in the future, though."
"Really?" Will asks intrigued.  "How so?"
I explain what Jude told us about his initiation and how leadership has agreed to change our tactics.  "We're thinking about making it closer to how it used to be," I explain.  "We haven't decided yet completely but we're definitely making some serious changes."
"Maybe that would be a worthy article to write.  Even if everything hasn't been decided yet, just interviewing Jude and learning the history he has to share would be interesting to read about, I would think," Will comments. 
"I love to listen to my mom telling stories.  Jude's sound even more interesting," Uriah says. 
"Just check with Max and Jude first," I advise Will. 
"Yeah, he said to check for approval on each topic and then the final copy needs all leadership's approval before publishing.  He didn't want the same kind of mistakes happening that Erudite was making," he explains. 
I nod at that.  I eat a little more of everything and then pass my plate to Uriah who devours it all. 
"So, what have you boys decided to do to entertain all of us girls tonight?" Marlene asks. 
"We were thinking card games," Will suggests. 
"Oh, that sounds fun," Lynn replies. 
"What kind of games?" I question. 
"What does everyone know?" Uriah inquires. 
"I know poker a little but that's all," I say. 
"Who taught you poker?" Will smiles. 
"Eric," I admit grinning just thinking about playing with him that night. 
"I think it's not just Eric," Marlene says chuckling and seeing the expression on my face.  I laugh unable to deny it.  I'm sure my cheeks are flushed. 
We clean up the mess and put the leftovers in their refrigerator.  Their fridge isn't quite as pristine looking as mine is and I realize that leadership really gave me the best of things.  I definitely appreciate it but I would've been more than content with a place like this—or even less for that matter. 
We sit back in the living room and play several rounds of poker. 
"So, what was going on with Four?" Lynn questions after she deals the next hand. 
"What do you mean?" I ask discarding two. 
"She means, we all saw you kiss him after the ranks were announced.  We just assumed something was going on with you two," Marlene explains.  She discards three cards. 
"Well, he was interested in me.  I'd never experienced that before.  After I got the offer from leadership, he changed or at least showed me a side of him that I found difficult to get along with.  I decided that we didn't suit each other well... or at least he didn't suit me," I try to explain as nicely as possible. 
"But he shoved you in the cafeteria," Uriah points out.  "Why would he do something like that?  I've never seen him act like that before."  He discards three cards. 
"I really don't know.  I know he's still interested in me.  I ended things almost immediately.  Eric was taking me around and I think that he might've gotten jealous," I shrug trying to rationalize his behavior in the best way possible. 
"Four does hate Eric," Uriah agrees.  "I really don't even understand why.  He's a decent guy.  He's been nothing but good to my brother, my mom, and me.  I just don't get it."
"Yeah, me either," I admit. 
"You handled the cafeteria thing much nicer than I would've," Marlene says.  "I would've punched someone who shoved me in front of all those people."
"Even Four?" I question. 
She winces.  "Okay.  I see your point.  I don't think I could've punched a friend or mentor," she agrees.  
"Yeah," I nod. 
"Tris is quite popular with the guys," Will points out smiling.  He passes and keeps his entire hand.
I blush at his words. 
"Yeah, but I have a feeling there's only one guy she cares about his attention," Christina counters with a singsong voice at the end.
"How would you know?" Will asks playfully. 
Christina scoffs, "Because I know her that well."
"I didn't realize it was a competition," Will grins.  
"There's no competition," Christina says seriously, stepping up her game.  She discards one.  Will laughs lightly at his girlfriend's earnestness. 
"Okay what does everyone have?" Lynn asks. 
Will places three of a kind down.  I'm surprised he didn't discard two to try for four of a kind. 
Everyone else tosses their cards in a pile. 
"Come on Tris," Christina says.  "What've you got?"
I set down my straight.  Uriah laughs and shoves Will playfully. 
"Man, I thought I had that round," he says dejectedly. 
"You could have if you discarded two and tried for four of a kind," I advise him. 
"Listen to you, sounding just like Eric at cards," Christina says gathering them up and shuffling. 
"Did you play with them?" Will inquires confused. 
"Yes," Christina admits. 
"When was this?" he asks surprised. 
"Sunday night we had a sleepover.  Eric and Ryan played cards with us.  Eric also has some classic board games," she tells him. 
"So you guys have already been hanging around the leaders?" Uriah asks astonished.
"A little," Christina shrugs.  "They seem nice."
"Yeah, every one of them I've spoken with is pretty sociable.  They're not nearly as scary as I thought during initiation," Will says. 
"You guys thought they were scary?  I'm just surprised they want to hang out with me," Uriah tells us. 
I look to my watch and see I've got plenty of time but I remember what Eric said and check my phone.  My watch is way off.  "Shoot.  I should probably get going soon," I mention. 
"I can walk you back," Christina says.  "Your place is close to mine."
"Alright," I say appreciatively.  "Hey guys, do you have an elevator in this building?"
"Yeah, it's at the end of the hall," Uriah points in the opposite direction that Eric and I came from. 
"Okay," I nod. 
We finish the hand with Uriah winning that round and we thank them for having us over.  Christina kisses Will goodbye before we leave first and head out towards the elevator.  Once the door closes she turns to me.
"Four made you sixth, didn't he?" she questions. 
"Yeah," I reply softly. 
"Why?" she asks confused. 
"His excuse to Eric was that he was afraid I'd be targeted," I admit.  "It's stupid, I know, and did nothing in the second stage with Peter and the others but that was what he said."
"He really was trying to hold you back.  I think he kind of knew you would excel here and didn't want you number one.  He wanted you to get a middle of the road job and live a middle of the road life with him," she supposes. 
"Maybe," I agree halfheartedly. 
"So how are things going with Mr. Right?" she asks nudging me as we step out of the elevator and begin to cross the expanse of a hundred doors to the Pit. 
"Good," I admit laughing lightly.  "He went out of faction today and I missed him.  He got to meet my parents.  It sounded as if they like him."
"Really?" she asks shocked and I nod.  "Well, that's good news.  It sounds like you guys have been busy at work.  Will said you were working late in meetings today."
"Yeah, but we got a lot done.  It's crazy how productive leadership is.  I didn't even know my parents did all this stuff."
"So Eric got to meet them, huh?" she laughs nudging me again.  "What was all that about?"
"He met with them about the census he requested.  We're also donating our excess to them.  I think that was the reason for the initial meeting," I say somewhat vaguely.  
Christina nods.  "Yeah, Will is right—leadership is nothing like what Numbers made it out to be.  It sounds like they do a lot of good things."
"They do," I agree. 
We chat on the way back through the noisy Pit—mostly about what we've been up to at our new jobs so far this week.  She tells me how things are going with her and Will but she knows she shouldn't ask much about Eric in front of the crowd here.  She accompanies me up the elevator and I wave to her as she goes back down. 
I consider knocking on Eric's door but I don't know if he's still up.  I unlock my door and step in getting a glass of water.  I walk to my bedroom to take my pill right away.  I swallow it quickly and decide to get ready for bed while I'm in here.  I contemplate calling Eric to see if he's still up.  I pull my phone out of the pocket of my discarded pants to see that I should've taken my pill ten minutes ago but Dana said it should still be okay.  I notice a message from Eric.  I open it up to see.