Free Rein

|Chapter Twelve|

______________________________
-Berlin, Germany-
______________________________

Tobias and Tris were on the train to Berlin. They had to sneak on past the guards, who Tris seriously thought were blind. They didn't do much in Prague besides flirt, if Tris had to be honest. She'd told her herself the day before that she was absolutely 100 percent done with flirting or any other type of romance with this guy, but she was lying.

Flirting?

She fuckin' loved that shit.

Tris Prior was a natural flirt; she did it with everybody. She loved teasing people, but usually in a non-romantic way. But with Tobias she just couldn't help herself. She loved the sensation through her veins when his face neared hers. And when he called her beautiful she felt like she was about to burst. And when they were in Prague and Tobias got extremely close to her she felt like she was going to pass out. But nothing—nothing—topped the canal in Venice. Sure, the incentive to do it was so they wouldn't get caught, but both Tobias and Tris knew it was more than some coverup. There were much, much better ways to hide, and they knew it, but the kiss worked, and they got a little more out of it than they would've if they'd hidden under the bench.

But as much as Tris loved it, she knew they couldn't do it. She lived in America; he lived in London. She was the First Daughter; he was a photographer. Surely her mother and father would not approve of an English freelance photographer. Much less, someone that wasn't even from their country. Obviously her parents would just love someone who was a true patriot for America at heart and came from a family that was too. He legally was a U.S. citizen, but probably wasn't all that loyal to the states. He always did talk about how much he loved London.

Tris hoped she'd love London as much as Tobias did. She'd done so much research about it, and she even wanted to go to college there at King's College London, or KCL. She actually really wanted to go to college there. She was already working on her essay to be accepted. They only had a 13 percent acceptance rate though, so she was scared. Terrified, actually. KCL was number 16 of all the colleges in the world. She wanted to be accepted in because of her grades and her hard work though; not because her mother was the president. And Tris worked. She did. Straight A's since her sophomore year. She'd never even gotten a C. Ever. The lowest grade she'd ever gotten was a B- in pre-algebra when she was in sixth grade. Point was, she really, really, really wanted to get into this college.

But she didn't think about what would happen if she did get accepted. She didn't think about what would happen if there actually was a chance between them. She didn't think about what it would've been like if they maybe—just maybe—had a chance at actually being something.

It was too painful to think about something she knew would never happen.

"So," Tobias said. "you never did tell me all of your hopes and dreams."

"Man, I have to do that too?"

Tobias laughed. "You promised."

Tris groaned. "Okay. Beh, da quando ero un bambino, ero un bambino ho voluto essere un fotografo, e—"

"Could you maybe say this in English, not Italian?" Tobias chuckled.

"You never said I had to say it in English," Tris said with a shrug. "So technically I don't."

She continued. "Proprio come te, amo la fotografia, ma non lo so. Non l'ho mai detto a nessuno, oltre a mio fratello. I miei genitori vogliono che io vada in politica e tutto questo merda, ma non ho mai piaciuto. La fotografia è sempre stata una delle mie vere passioni. I miei genitori sanno che mi piace la fotografia, ma non è che io voglio essere un professionista. So che mia madre e mio padre mi aspettano di seguire le orme di mia madre, ma non credo che posso. La fotografia è la mia fuga. Mi fa sentire ... gratis. Su questo grande viaggio, mi sono mai sentito più libero. Con una macchina fotografica e un biglietto del treno in mano, mi sento inarrestabile. Voglio andare a King College di Londra. Hanno sempre. Hanno solo un tasso di accettazione del 13%, però. Ecco è la parte principale non voglio che tu sappia circa. Sono assolutamente terrorizzato di quello che potrebbe venire di esso. Ma probabilmente non voglio entrare in KCL comunque. Quindi c'è mie speranze e sogni. Spero che vi sia piaciuto."

"Tris. Please tell me what you said," he said, laughing.

"Fine. Just like you, I love photography, but you don't know that. I never told anyone besides my brother. My parents want me to go into politics and all that shit, but I've never liked it. Photography has always been one of my true passions. My parents know that I like photography, but it's not that I want to be a professional. I know my mother and my father are waiting for me to follow in the footsteps of my mother, but I don't think I can. Photography is my escape. It makes me feel... free. On this big trip, I have never felt more free. With a camera and a train ticket in hand, I feel unstoppable." Tris paused for a second. "I want to go to King's College London. Always have. They only have an acceptance rate of 13 percent, though. Here is the main part I don't want you to know about: I am absolutely terrified of what might come of it if I do move to London for college. But I probably won't to get into KCL anyway. So there's my hopes and dreams. I hope you enjoyed."

• • • •