"Initiation day, Four. Get your ass out of bed!" A voice calls from a few yards away. I shift over to my side and grumble, blinking a few times. I see Lauren's tall frame filling my small doorway into the cramped room that I get to call mine.

"Coming," I mumble. Lauren sighs and walks away, leaving me to myself. I throw my legs over the side of my bed and rub the heels of my hand into my eyes. I throw my head back and groan. I was not excited for this day to come, not in the slightest. I push myself off the bed and head to the bathrooms to get ready. By the time I had taken a shower and make it into the Pit, a majority of my faction has gathered and is milling about. Black is everywhere I turn. I still haven't gotten used to the color change, not even after two years.

I make my way through the tunnels, assuming Lauren is already by the Drop. I was right; I walk into the large, dark room and make eye contact with her instantly. She waves at me and grins. I join her side next to the Net, but don't say anything. Instead, I stare up into the giant opening above us and wonder what Lauren says aloud.

"Who do you think will be first?" She asks. I shrug, not bothering to answer. She'll go on anyway. And she does. "I think it'll be Uriah. He wouldn't let Zeke show him up, right? He's been so excited for this, it will definitely be him," she rambles. I make a noise that sounds relatively like agreement and continue staring at the gaping hole.

Movement catches my eye and I squint at the edge of the hole to get a better look. A tiny, black figure had moved to the edge of the opening and was standing there. If it was Uriah, he had lost a lot of weight over the past…day. I do not turn to face Lauren and keep staring above my head as I say, "I think you're wrong."

The black figure leaps off of the ledge and plummets into the Drop. They don't make any noise as they drop, which is impressive. I can't tell whether it's a guy or a girl because it's so goddamn dark in here. Whoever it is hits the net hard. They struggle for air; it must have been lost on the drop. I laugh slightly, remembering the same thing happening to me on my first time here.

I walk to the edge of the net with a few other helpers and extend my hand. The first jumper selects mine and I guide them to the floor. I can tell instantly that it's a girl now. The outline of her face is illuminated by a light we had on in the tunnel. She's pale, and her blonde hair doesn't do much to help her stand out. I suck in a breath as it hits me. The first jumper was a tiny girl from Abnegation.

The girl almost falls, so I instinctively reach out to save her. I grasp her arms until she stands up properly and then let go.

"Thank you," she says. She has a soft voice, but I detect a different tone lying beneath it. It's intriguing.

"Can't believe it," Lauren scoffs from behind me. She gives me a knowing look and I roll my eyes at her. "A Stiff, the first to jump? Unheard of," she states. I detect the sly dig and know it was directed at me. She knows how scared I was when I had to jump into the pit.

"There's a reason why she left them, Lauren," I say, defending the girl I don't even know. For some reason, a part of me was dying to know why she did. "What's your name?"

"Um…" she hesitates. I start to smile, my liking for this girl growing more and more by the minute. She must have hated Abnegation as much as I did, if she's considering leaving everything behind, including her name.

"Think about it. You don't get to pick again," I say softly, even though I knew it was a lie. I was the exception.

Her eyes light up as she decides her new name. "Tris," she states firmly.

"Tris," Lauren repeats. She likes the name as much as I do, I can tell from her facial expression. "Make the announcement, Four."

I turn around and yell out to the rest of the crowd, "First jumper—Tris!"

As soon as the words leave my mouth, everyone behind me goes wild. Cheers erupt and fill the loud room with a form of warmth that I had grown to love. It makes me want to smile, but I have to keep my composure. I sneak a side glance at Tris, still standing beside me. She was grinning nervously and her eyes kept flitting around, taking in her environment.

Snap out of it, Four, I told myself. I couldn't let her distract me. I hear a scream and turn back to the net. I see another person falling and they hit the net. It's another girl. Everyone is laughing at her reaction. I sense Tris shift and smile next to me. They must be friends.

I turn back to Tris, unable to help myself. I press my hand onto her back, tiny and frail. It surprises me, how small she is. She must be mentally strong, otherwise she wouldn't be here. But I knew I couldn't doubt her physical strength, either.

"Welcome to Dauntless," I manage to say. She looks up at me, her eyes brown and big. I glance away quickly and give her a tiny push, moving her away from me and into the crowd. I need to focus on getting the rest of the initiates out of the net and into the tunnel.

But as each initiate passes through, I still can't stop seeing Tris's eyes in each of their faces. It scares me. Why does she have that effect on me? I shake her memory out of my head as best as I can. I am Dauntless, I can get anything out of my head if I try hard enough.

I succeed, more or less, and the rest of the initiates are on the floor, waiting. I brush past them to the front of the line, trying to avoid staring at Tris.

This was going to be the longest initiation I would ever have to endure.