Tobias remembers the first time that he really noticed her.

It was on a stage, a place that he considers to be her home. They were auditioning for the school musical, Urinetown this year, and at first, he thought she was so shy.

She walked up the steps, and stood at center stage, smoothing her black skirt and blue top, and directed her attention to the director, Mr. Oberfield.

"Hello," she said, voice almost a whisper.

Uriah, next to Tobias, snickered. "She'll be a good performer."

If she heard it, she didn't flinch, and continued. "My name is Tris Prior and I will be performing a monologue from Clueless, and I will be singing Belle (Reprise) from the Disney Musical, Beauty and the Beast."

Tris was still quiet, and looked down, hands shaking. But then she changed. Tris raised her head, and instead of the shy girl that had been standing before them a moment ago, there was a cool, collected, daddy's girl in her place. She began her monologue, and everyone was enraptured for a moment. Tobias stared. The monologue wasn't anything special, but the way that she embodied the character was amazing.

The monologue was over, quick as a flash, and Tobias found himself a little disappointed. Tris then walked over to the pianist, showed her the beat, and returned to her place. At the pianist's cue, she began. Again, she transformed. Now all Tobias saw was a small, adventurous girl, wanting out of the sad life she was living.

When the audition was over, the students clapped enthusiastically. Tris was the last audition of the day, and then they were given ten minutes to change and rehydrate before dance auditions. Tobias's eyes followed Tris as she left the auditorium with her bag. He then grabbed his shorts and t-shirt, heading to the bathroom himself. After changing, he walked out of the bathroom and stopped when he heard a voice around the corridor.

"Yes dad, I realize you have a function tonight… I finished all my homework in study hall… I have to stay! Auditions are running late…." What? Tobias asked himself, no they aren't. "Okay, I'll be home no later than eight… bye dad."

He darted back to the auditorium before the person could see him.

Once they were settled back in their seats, the choreographer, Frankie, stood in front of them on the stage.

"All right guys," she said, clapping her hands together. "Come on up here and we'll get started with stretching."

They swarmed the stage, and stood arm's length away from each other. Tobias found himself next to Tris, in the front. Frankie started stretching, limbs going back and forth, and the students mirrored her, flexing left and right. She lowered herself to the ground, and they spread their legs in a V, stretching in between and to the sides.

"If you can do the splits, now would be the time," Frankie says, lowering herself into a perfect one. Tobias couldn't, so he looked around to see who could. Uriah, surprisingly, was the first person he saw, and he smirked before turning to his left. He was not surprised to see Tris stretching forward and back, legs in a perfect line.

Frankie told them to stand up, and distributed numbers throughout the crowd, 1-30. Then she demonstrated a dance.

She flowed across the stage, throwing her arms back and then wrapping them around herself, lowering herself to the floor and bending to the right. She props her legs up, knees bent, flips her head, and stands up gracefully.

"I know that's a lot," Frankie said, and Tobias agreed. He's not uncoordinated, but he's also not a dancer. "So we'll go slowly."

The auditionees do it in a big group twice, and Tobias was too focused on making his body move in the right ways to notice where he was actually going, until he slammed into a small body.

Tris stumbled back, but instead of frowning, smiled at Tobias's mouthed Sorry. She continued dancing, and Tobias looked to her as a guide until the dance was over.

"Okay guys, let's split into groups. We'll go by threes to perform the dance, so one to three, four to six, and so on," Frankie directed them into the wings; and one to three went, doing pretty well. Then, Tobias stepped up as five, with Tris as six, and Zeke Pedrad as four. Zeke sucked, but Tobias thought that he was decent, not wonderful like Tris, but a good enough dancer that he could hold his own.

To Tobias, most of the audition went quickly, with no notable instances, until the last half hour.

"Alright, everyone divide up, boys on that side, girls on that side," Frankie said, gesturing to the right and left. She silently counted, lips moving as she added up the amount of girls and boys. "Great! Okay, we have an even number, so girls, go to the boy across from you."

Tobias looked up to see Tris walking towards him, feet silent on the floor. Great, he thought, she probably thinks I'm stalking her.

Tris gave him a small smile before standing in front of him facing Frankie.

Frankie pulled up a big blonde boy, standing in front of him and showing the students the dance. "Right, left, right, left, spin," she said, spinning and bring her chest to the boy's. "Now, it's kind of like a grapevine. Left foot back," she said, bending and putting her left foot behind her right. "Right foot back, left foot back, and then, are you ready?" she asked the boy. "Now girls, jump into his arms." Frankie demonstrated, jumping, and putting both her legs into the guy's arms. "And he'll spin to the edge of the stage. Okay?"

Everyone mumbles their assent, and Frankie divides them again, six and seven at one time. Tobias and Tris were in the group that went second, and Tobias noticed that Tris was marking the dance, and wondered if he should do the same. Soon, Frankie called them out, and he stood with Tris's back to his chest, his hands on her hips, and on '5, 6, 7, 8', they went.

Tobias totally botched the dance, and the bewilderment must have shown on his face, because as they grapevined, Tris laughed. When he picked her up, she leaned her face towards his ear.

"Don't worry," she whispered. "You'll get better. I was horrible my first time dancing with someone."

"Thanks," he said as he set her down, though he seriously doubted that she was as awful as he. "I hope so."

After a few more times of doing the dance, Frankie dismissed them, and Tris darted out of the room, scooping up her bag as she went.

Tobias went more slowly, talking with friends and thanking the teacher. After departing from Uriah and his girlfriend, he wandered up the stairs, planning on grabbing his math book from his locker. He was meandering down the hallways when he heard the music.

It was coming out of an open door, and he peeked in, surprised at what he saw. Tris was in there, dancing. It was like nothing he had ever seen before, a dance of passion. She danced so hard that it frightened him, at least a little, because she just threw herself into the movements, chest heaving and eyes wide. He recognized the song, Ghost, he thought, by Halsey. But it seemed as if the music was only and accompaniment to her dance.

Tobias was caught in a trance, unable to leave, even though he should. Watching her seemed so intimate, like something he should not be witnessing, but he could not tear himself away.

The song ended, too quickly in Tobias's opinion, but before he could leave, Tris caught sight of him in the mirror. She whirled around, snapping Tobias out of his stupor.

…

So, I decided to procrastinate my other stories by writing a new one! Yay! I could not shake this idea, so hope you like it! Leave a review if it pleases your soul ;). It'll be good to hear from you! Follow, favorite, and I'll update as much as I can!

TTFN!