I own my ideas, but I don't own the characters. Just in case you weren't sure.

Chapter 1

Kappa Delta House

Tris walks into the Kappa Delta sorority house and immediately is hit with the feeling that she doesn't belong here. Aside from sports, these girls are preoccupied with clothes and boys. She knows that the only reason that they asked her to join in rush week and pledge the sorority is because she is one of the top rated softball players in the country. She found their initiation process strenuous, and that was the reason that she decided to pledge, that and the fact that one of her coaches encouraged her. She insisted that it would look good to potential professional and semi-pro fast pitch softball teams. This is a sorority of athletes. Every girl here received a scholarship for some kind of athletics. She avoided joining any kind of sorority for two years and now here she is, standing in the foyer.

The girls are bustling about the house and no one seems to notice Tris standing there frozen. Then a girl comes running down the stairs and sees Tris standing there.

"Tris, I'm so glad you are here," Marlene says. She has been one of Tris' teammates since freshman year and one of the people that pushed her to join the sorority.

Tris and Marlene were the only freshmen to battle and win starting positions on the Tigers' team that year. And from what they were told, it was rare that freshmen even play at all let alone earn starting positions. It took a while for the older girls to accept them. Until that game…

It was the third game of the season. It was the final inning of the game, bottom of the seventh. The Tigers were up by three runs, but the other team was up to bat. They had bases loaded and no outs. The girl that came up to bat had hit a home run at her last at bat.

The girl strode to the plate and readied herself while the Tigers' pitcher wound up and pitched the ball. The girl hit a line drive that came off the bat like a bullet that went directly at Tris.

Tris caught the ball in midstride and touched second base for an unassisted double play. She then threw the ball to home plate but was a little short making Marlene have to stretch the catch the ball. Marlene managed to catch the ball and turn to tag the third base runner who was in a full sprint toward home plate. They collided but Marlene held on to the ball. She was out!

The game was over, the Tigers won. From then on Marlene and Tris were accepted by their teammates and were suddenly being watched by some of the best teams in the country.

"Come on, Tris. Let's get your stuff to your room. I hope you don't mind, but I requested that you room with me," Marlene explains.

"That's great!" Tris says.

"After we get you situated, I'll start introducing you to the girls. You already know a lot of them from the softball team. And tonight we are helping Phi Delta with their victory party."

Phi Delta is Kappa Delta's brother fraternity. Both houses center on athletes. They both have excellent tutoring programs because the members are always traveling for games, they both house some of the most athletically and academically talented students on campus, and they throw the best victory parties.

"Victory party for what," Tris asks.

"The football team won their first scrimmage of the season a couple days ago. Every year if they win their first game they have a victory party. Don't worry they don't throw a party every week. Just the first game, homecoming, and their bowl game."

"Okay," Tris says. She has never gone to a fraternity party and is a little intimidated by the idea.

They drop Tris' things in their room and Marlene leads her down to the kitchen where a majority of the girls are eating and getting ready for the day. Tris was the last girl from the pledge class to move into the sorority house.

"Hey everyone," Marlene yells above the chatter. "This is Tris. She is the All American shortstop for the softball team and our newest sister."

Everyone stops and welcomes Tris to the house by clapping and chanting her name. She feels like she is back on the field, and she guesses that is the point, they are all athletes after all.

"I've got to get to training," Tris tells Marlene.

"I'll see you later then," Marlene says. "I'll meet you here at four o'clock, we are supposed to head over to Phi Delt at that time."

"Okay," Tris says. "I'll see you then."

~oOo~

Saturday mornings are devoted to practice. Batting practice, fielding, speed and agility, and light weight lifting. Tris spends four hours trying to make herself stronger, faster, and better than everyone else. Sometimes she doesn't know if she wants this or not. She could be at her new home with her teammates hanging out and having fun, getting to know her new sorority, and just relaxing. But instead after a quick introduction she had to run out so she could spend the next four hours killing herself to become better. Sometimes she just wants to know if it is really all worth it. Is it really what she wants or is it what everyone around her wants for her.

As she walks through the Dauntless part of the campus on her way back to the Kappa house she can immediately figure out which one is the Phi Delta Theta house. There are big athletic looking guys hanging around outside in the yard throwing footballs and baseballs. None of the other fraternities are like that. They all hang out at the library, the greenhouse, or in the coffee house. Only Phi Delts hangs at their house like this.

Tris continues to walk past when she hears someone call her name.

"Tris? Aren't you Tris Prior, All American softball shortstop?"

She turns toward the voice to see a guy standing there. He has olive skin, brown hair and eyes. He is about six feet two inches tall, very muscular, very handsome.

"You are Tris, right?"

"Yeah, who are you?" she asks.

He calls over to one of his friends, "Hey Will, this is Tris. I told you."

He looks back at her as a guy, the same height as the first guy, with blond hair and blue eyes comes striding over. He is just as big and also very handsome. Tris can't help but wonder if every guy in this fraternity is big, burly, and handsome.

"Sorry," he says. "I'm Uriah."

"Oh, Marlene's boyfriend," Tris says.

"Yeah, this is my friend Will. We saw you walking down the street and I was sure it was you. I've only seen you on the field at softball games though so I wasn't completely sure."

"Well, you were right. Did you need something?" she asks then turns her attention to WIll. "It's nice to meet you Will."

"Hey Tris, have you met Christina yet? She is also in your house."

"I don't know, I met a lot of girls this morning briefly. I'm sure I will though."

"Chris is a gymnast, she may not have even been in the house this morning, she has five in the morning practice four days a week."

"That's right, Marlene says you finally pledged Kappa. Will you be here for the party tonight?" Uriah asks.

"Yeah, Marlene says we have to help set up or something at four?"

"Yeah, that is when she said she'd be here. It is early; do you want to play catch with us? I'm sure I have an extra glove around somewhere."

Tris smiles, "No need, I have my glove on me. I'm just on my way home from practice."

"You had practice this morning? Where's the rest of the team?" Will asks.

"Oh, no. It was just me. Batting practice, fielding, speed and agility, and lifting. I go a couple days a week."

Will snickers, "Sounds like someone else we know."

Tris pulls her glove out of her bag.

Uriah smiles, "Well alright let's go."

He sprints about twenty yards away and throws the baseball. Tris catches it with no problem and fires the ball so hard it hurts Uriah's hand. He can't believe that this little girl can throw that hard.

He takes his hand from the glove and shakes it, "Damn Tris, how does Marlene catch the balls that you throw at her?"

"What Uriah," another boy scoffs walking toward Uriah, "can't catch what that little girl is throwing?"

This comment angers Tris, but she doesn't respond. She will get to prove herself soon enough. Boys like that always try to challenge her.

"Here," the boy says, "let me have the glove."

"Zeke, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Will says.

This Zeke guy clearly doesn't know who Tris is, well he's about to find out.

He fires the ball so hard at her that if she weren't as good as she is, it would have hurt her. But she catches it with no problem, spins and fires the ball so hard and fast that Zeke can't even catch it. It hits him in the stomach and he doubles over in pain.

The guys in the yard crowd around him and look at her in amazement. Uriah laughs and says, "I tried to warn you."

"Who the hell is she, wonder woman?" Zeke asks.

Will steps forward and gestures for Tris to come over. Once she is standing with them, Will introduces her, "Zeke, this is Tris Prior, All American short stop for the Tigers fast pitch softball team."

Zeke looks at her, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

She smiles, "No problem. Well as fun as this was, I have to go home and get a shower before I have to help set up for this party. See you all later."

"Bye," Uriah says.

She returns to the house and immediately goes up to her room that she shares with Marlene.

Marlene is sitting on her bed talking to someone on the phone. When Tris enters she immediately hangs up and smiles at the girl walking in the room.

"So, I hear you made quite the impression at the Phi Delt house," Marlene says smirking.

"News certainly does travel fast around here. What did he say?" Tris asks.

"Uri said that he introduced himself and invited you to play catch. Apparently you only got to throw the ball twice though?"

"Well, when Uriah caught the first one the only thing he said was 'how does Marlene catch the balls that you throw at her?' Then the other guy came and started to mock Uriah and took the glove. He threw the ball really hard at me, but I caught it and fired it back at him. He missed and it hit him in the stomach."

"I can catch what you throw because I'm used to it, besides I'm tougher than any football player!" she laughs.

Tris laughs too, "I don't know if it was a good thing showing up the guys."

"Hell yeah it was a good thing. Most of the time they think the girls in Kappa aren't as tough as they are because we don't play sports like football or lacrosse. They act like their sports are more difficult. I'd like to see any of them flip themselves through the air like the gymnasts do or stand on their toes like the ballet dancers do."

Tris smirks, "Yeah, I tried ballet when I was a kid. It was much harder for me than throwing a ball was. I'll take the ball field."

A couple girls walk in when they hear this conversation. "You think ballet is too hard? You aren't a normal jock," the girl says.

"Tris this is Lynn and Christina and of course you know Kenzie. Guys this is Tris…"

"We know who she is," Christina says. "She's the badass shortstop for the number one placed college softball team in the country."

"I don't know about badass, but yeah, I'm the shortstop," Tris says.

"Welcome to Kappa," Kenzie says. "I'm glad you are finally here. Lynn is a ballet dancer and Chris is a gymnast."

"Oh, Christina? I met Will, I guess he's your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, he is. Did he try to catch with you too?"

"No he just tried to warn that Zeke guy before he took the glove from Uriah."

"Zeke is Uri's older brother," Marlene explains. "He's a senior so he thinks he's more badass now. Like he needed a bigger head than before. He's a running back on the football team and he plays baseball."

"Did you meet anyone else?" Christina asks.

"No, there were a bunch of guys out there but Uriah only introduced me to Will and Zeke kind of introduced himself."

"Just watch Zeke, he is kind of a flirt. He is seeing Shauna," Marlene says.

"Honestly, I'm not interested. I have too much going on to worry about guys anyway. Wait, Shauna, third baseman Shauna?"

Kenzie snickers, "Yeah, that's her."

"None of them caught your eye?" Christina asked.

"No, I really wasn't paying attention to any of them. I apparently was too busy hurting football players," Tris laughs.