11:36. He said he would be here for me at 11:45, and that I should "wear layers." I listen to several of the initiates snore and pretend to be asleep myself. I dressed myself in a pair of leggings and a skirt on the bottom, and a camisole, loose fitting top, and black jacket on top. I thought about wearing some of the cute shoes that Christina had practically forced me to buy, but I figured that wearing layers indicated that we were going outside, and my boots would be infinitely more practical if we were walking around outside or jumping on and off trains. So here I am, laying in bed pretending to be asleep, fully dressed in layers of black clothing and a pair of combat boots.
I slip quietly out of my bunk and creep toward the door. Opening it just a crack, I sneak out into the darkened hallway. I'm a few minutes early, but Tobias is waiting for me. We smile at each other shyly, and he reaches for my hand. Silently, I put my small hand in his big one and follow him down the hall. We sneak around one corner and down another hall when I realize that we are heading toward his apartment. I panic, nearly tripping over my own feet as I struggle to pull away from the man dragging me toward his apartment in the middle of the night. "Come on," Tobias whispers loudly, pulling me down another hall - away from his apartment.
I snap out of my panic and continue to follow until he stops at a doorway in the middle of the hall. He knocks softly three times, pauses, knocks three more times, then waits. A second later the door opens just an inch, held back by the chain lock on the inside.
"Password" hisses a whispering voice from inside.
Tobias rolls his eyes and says "Zeke is awesome" in a sarcastic voice.
"I told you, you have to say it with enthusiasm if you want to get in," comes the voice from inside.
"We can leave," Tobias retorts.
The door shuts and I hear the chain lock slide and the door opens revealing Uriah's older brother, Zeke, with a huge grin on his face.
"Four!" he exclaims, "and Tris! Your teacher thought you needed a more intense introduction into Dauntless life, I see."
"Something like that," growls Tobias. "How do you two know each other?"
"Ziplining," Zeke and I say at the same time. Tobias just shakes his head. I know the thrill of ziplining is completely foreign to someone with Tobias' fear of heights. Zeke and I grin at him like a couple of maniacs and he begins to recount our thrilling experience at the Hancock building.
I take a look around the room. Zeke's apartment looks a lot like Tobias', but messier and with a lot more stuff. The living room has a ratty old sofa, a comfy looking chair, and a couple of old kitchen chairs that had been dragged in to make room for the guests. In the back of the room, a black curtain separates the living room from where I know the bed sits. Marlene and Lynn sit on the couch together, laughing about something, and Shauna sits in the comfortable recliner near them.
Zeke calls into the kitchen, "Hector, Oscar, get out here! We're gonna start!"
Two broad-shouldered guys about the same age as Zeke and Tobias come barreling out of the kitchen with their hands full of chip bags and bottled beverages. I notice right away that they're identical, and Zeke confirms that they are twins when he introduces them as such. "Tris, this dynamic duo is Oscar," pointing to the twin on the left, "and Hector," pointing to the twin on the right, "the twin terrors. They were in initiation with me, Shauna, and Four. And gentlemen," he addresses Oscar and Hector, "this is Tris, one of the transfer initiates in Uri's group."
"We know who you are!" says Oscar, grinning widely, "Tris the stiff - first jumper! We don't get many Abnegation transfers, and they're NEVER the first jumper. Everyone knows who you are!"
"You're practically famous!" adds Hector, and I feel my face flush bright red at the attention.
They laugh at my discomfort, but I notice that Tobias doesn't join in their merriment at my expense. I feel strong with this tall, silent man standing behind me, and though I'm embarrassed at the attention, I don't fear these guys. Their eyes hold no malice, only playful teasing. I smile in spite of myself.
Zeke herds everyone to the group of chairs, and I take the end of the couch beside Lynn, with Tobias on a kitchen chair on my other side. Zeke lifts a squealing Shauna from the recliner and sits down, pulling her onto his lap. Uriah sits in the chair near his brother. Marlene and Lynn are rolled up on the couch together like they've been doing this all their lives, and with a pang of jealousy for their lifelong friendship, I realize they probably have. On the other side of Tobias, Oscar and Hector take up the other two kitchen chairs, an end table of pizza and snacks between them.
"OK, everyone," says Zeke in a loud voice, "the game is Candor or Dauntless. Now, I know you all are familiar," he glances around the circle, "but I'm going to explain it for Tris. And I believe 'Instructor Four' has a few additional rules for the initiates in the house. So here's how it works. One person picks another person in the room and asks, 'Candor or Dauntless?' If you pick Candor, you have to answer any question they ask, and tell the truth. If you pick Dauntless, they'll give you a dare and you have to do it. If you refuse, you have to take off an article of clothing. Four?"
"Initiates aren't supposed to be here," says Tobias in his instructor voice, "so all dares for these four have to take place right here at Zeke's. And no alcohol for the initiates. I'm not losing my job over this."
Everyone nods in agreement, and Lynn leans over to pat my arm. "Basically you just have to be brave, Tris. Brave enough to answer, brave enough to do the dare, or brave enough to get naked."
I feel my eyes grow bigger and my cheeks flush at the word "naked." Zeke wasn't kidding, this will be an intense introduction to Dauntless life.
"It's my apartment, so I'm going first!" calls Zeke, "Uri, Candor or Dauntless?"
"Duh, Dauntless. I'm no pansycake!"
"What?" I turn toward Tobias.
"Pansycake. It means wimp. No one says that anymore, but these two think they can bring it back," he replies, shaking his head as if the brothers should be ashamed of themselves.
"I dare you to go without Dauntless cake for a week," says Zeke.
"No way!" yells Uriah, ripping off his sweatshirt and tossing it into the middle of the circle. "Tris, I pick you. Candor or Dauntless?"
"Um, Candor."
"Pansycake." This word is going to get old really fast, I can already tell. "Have you ever kissed someone?"
I feel my cheeks redden. "Yes," I say quietly.
"Woo, didn't expect that from a stiff!" everyone calls out with cheers and catcalls, and I feel my cheeks getting darker red.
"Who?" asks Uri.
"I already answered your question," I say defiantly, and the laughter turns in his direction.
I call on Zeke next and dare him to give his little brother a kiss. He laughingly complies then turns to Tobias. "Four, Candor or Dauntless?"
"Dauntless."
"I dare you to let Tris sit on your lap for the rest of the game," says Zeke with a wicked grin.
Tobias turns to me, his eyes seeking permission. I nod and climb off the couch. "Sit there," I say, pointing to the seat I just vacated, "you'll be more comfortable." Tobias nods and moves as I suggested, and I perch on his knees. "Am I hurting you?" I ask.
"No," he laughs, "you hardly weigh anything at all, but it's hard to see. Would you slide back a bit?"
I feel my cheeks blush again, and I swallow my nervousness and slide back toward his broad chest as he requested. His hands settle high on my hips, holding me steady.
"Four! Earth to Four!" yells Zeke, "your turn, man!"
"Right," says Tobias, embarrassed. "Uri."
"Dauntless!" Uri calls out.
Tobias grins, and I can tell he has a plan. "I dare you to go the rest of the night without saying 'pansycake' again."
"No way," calls Uriah, pulling off his tee shirt and throwing it in the middle with his hoodie. "Lynn, Candor or Dauntless?"
"Dauntless," says Lynn.
"I dare you to do a tattoo show and tell," says Uriah, smugly.
Lynn shrugs and stands up. Turning her back to the room, she lifts her shirt half way up, and we see that her lower back is covered in tattooed flames with the Dauntless symbol right in the middle.
"Nice," says Hector appreciatively.
Lynn lowers her shirt and pulls up her right sleeve. On her bicep is a strange looking arrangement of swirls. "This is an ancient language that used symbols for words instead of letters that spelled words," she explains, "it means 'courage.'"
Dropping her sleeve, Lynn begins to unbutton her pants, and my face isn't the only one in the circle to register shock. But she doesn't pull her pants down, just loosens them so she can reveal another symbol on the inside edge of her hip bone. "This is my girl power tattoo," she says proudly, "it's an ancient symbol many cultures used to mean 'woman.'"
We all applaud her ink as she buttons her pants again and sits back down. "Oscar," calls Lynn, "Candor or Dauntless?"
"Dauntless."
"I challenge you to have a drinking contest with your brother."
"Brilliant!" cheers Zeke, "Why have we never thought of this before?" I startle at his sudden, loud reaction, and Tobias squeezes my hips to hold me steady on his lap. Zeke and Lynn rush off to the kitchen to prepare the drinks and I shift to look at Tobias for an explanation.
"Tris!" he hisses in a pained whisper, "please stop wiggling!"
"I'm so sorry! Am I hurting you?" I whisper back.
"No," he says, turning beet red, "you're causing, um, other problems."
I notice his eyes pointedly glance toward his lap, and as my gaze follows his I am mortified. I can't breathe, my face is the reddest it has ever been, and my back is as rigid as, well, as Tobias' "problem."
"Should I get off?" I squeak out in a frightened whisper.
"No," he snaps, "that would be worse. Just slide forward. It'll go away."
I comply quickly and sit as still as humanly possible while Lynn and Zeke set up 20 shot glasses of gold-colored liquid between Oscar and Hector.
"You know the rules," says Zeke, "First one to puke or pass out loses. If no one does either, then the first to finish all ten shots wins."
The twins nod in unison, grab their first shot, and call out, "five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve!" and on twelve they both toss back their first drink. As they take shot after shot, I barely register what's happening in front of me, I'm so embarrassed by what happened between Tobias and I. As the shots disappear, every eye in the room is on the drinking contest, and Tobias takes advantage of the distraction to whisper in my ear.
"I am so sorry, Tris. I'm embarrassed, and I know you are too. You didn't do anything wrong, I promise. I'm just not used to having pretty girls wiggling around on my lap," he explains, trying to lighten the mood.
My heart warms when he calls me "pretty," but I'm still too ashamed to make eye contact, so I just nod.
"Are you ok?" he asks, his chin resting on my shoulder.
I nod again, still not trusting my voice.
"Let's try this," says Tobias, sliding closer to the middle of the couch, which Lynn vacated when she went for the drinks. "You can sit on this side, with your legs over me. Is that more comfortable?"
I nod again, and this time I squeak out, "thanks."
Tobias wraps his right arm around my shoulders and we turn our attention back to the drinking contest just in time to see Oscar rush to the bathroom. At the same time, Hector slumps forward in his chair, passed out. Each of them had eight drinks, so I don't know who will be declared the winner. Immediately the room erupts in shouts favoring one brother or the other. Zeke and Uriah lower Hector to the floor and Zeke turns him on his side, while Uriah grabs a trash can to put in front of him. I wrinkle my nose at the sound of Oscar getting sick in the bathroom and the knowledge that Hector will soon be joining him.
"Ok, listen up," calls Zeke, "I'm calling that a tie, since neither of them can go next anyway. There are four shots left, so I'm giving them to our four newest members. May it make you more dauntless, and Uri, may you finally grow some hair on your chest!"
As Zeke turns to hand out the shots, Tobias clears his throat loudly, causing Zeke to stop in his tracks.
"That's right, no alcohol for the babies. Sorry Four!" Zeke tosses back one of the shots and then gives one to Tobias, one to Shauna, and keeps the last one for himself.
In unison, the three of them begin to chant, "one, two, three, four," Tobias tosses back his shot, "five, six, seven, eight, nine" Shauna takes her drink, "ten!" On ten, Zeke tosses back his shot as well.
Zeke shakes his head like a dog shaking off after a bath and turns to me. "Trissy," he slurs slightly, "if you can figure out our little drinking game, I'll let you get off Four's lap."
For a minute I consider my options. I'm pretty sure I know the answer since I know about Tobias' four fears. Should I throw the question and stay here, or answer correctly and move to my own chair again? On the one hand, I like being close to Tobias. But on the other hand, our closeness got embarrassingly uncomfortable a few minutes ago, so we both might like a little breathing room.
"Well," I begin, "Lauren told us the other day that the typical number of fears a person has is around 10 to 12, and that the record in recent history is four. That's an impressive number that warrants a nickname, and since Four took his shot on the count of four and the rest of you took yours around the average number, I'm going to guess that you drink when the count hits your number of fears. Is that right?"
Zeke's face registers disappointment that I figured out his little riddle, but he smiles again as he waves be back to my own chair. "Very Erudite. Why don't you ask next, too," he offers.
I turn to Shauna and Marlene, neither of whom have been called on yet. "Marlene, Candor or Dauntless?"
"Dauntless!" she declares bravely.
"Zeke, do you have any cinnamon or hot sauce?" I ask.
"Both," he replies eagerly, "and the hot sauce is super hot!"
"Then Marlene, I dare you to take a shot of hot sauce!"
Marlene wrinkles up her nose, but nods in agreement. Zeke runs to the kitchen, and in a minute he is back with a shot glass full of red liquid.
"We don't know how many fears you have yet," I say, "so just take it on three."
We count to three and Marlene tosses back the shot of hot sauce. When her face registers the pain of the fiery drink and her eyes begin to water, I have to choke back an Abnegation urge to apologize. But after just a minute, Marlene is grinning at me proudly, and I know that it's going to be ok.