I sat on the bench, surrounded by screaming people, with my heart somersulting in my chest. And it had all began with him. This was all because of him, and I didn't regret one minute of it.

It was the spring I turned sixeen when it all started. A rainy Tuesday afternoon, where I just sat there in my white chair that was pushed up against the window of our apartment in Candor Headquarters, or Merciless Mart as the other factions called it. I don't mind. I was wearing my usual everyday outfit; black leggings and a white cotton shirt that buttons halfway up. The truth, my mom says, is black and white.

While I sat there, wishing it wasn't a weekend so I had something to do, and just when I was contemplating trying to find something to do, I see a black blur flash by the river. I rub the condensation off the window and look again. Sure enough, a small black-clothed person is moving up and down the riverbank.

"Mom?" I tell, and she comes in with a slightly frazzled expression on her face. "Yes, Roselle?" I can tell she is still bitter from when my older sister, Paylor, left for the Amity. I clear my face of all traces of dishonesty. "Well, I think I saw someone fall in a river. Can I go check?"

She rolls her eyes. "Your choice to get wet," she sighs, and leaves the room. I tug on a black jacket and dart out of the front door, down the hallway, and spiral down seven flights of stairs. Finally, I burst outside, and the rain hits me, turning my dark brown hair to black. I walk over to the river, eyes slits against the rain.

Something slams into my side, hard, and knocks me down into the wet concrete. An annoyed noise escapes my throat as I look up, scowling. He is a Dauntless, all dressed in black, with tan skin and dark green eyes. An easy smile curls his lips.

"Watch it!" I snap, standing and angrily shoving a chunk of wet hair from my face. He just laughs a little. "Your name is Roselle, isn't it?" he asks, still smiling. I immediately put my guard up.

"How did you know?"

"I sit in behind you in Faction History and Science," he answers easily, and I notice a tattoo curling it's way around his neck. I try to remember him. "And you are . . . Jacob?"

"Jake. Call me Jake." He holds out his hand, a Dauntless greeting. I shake it. "Then you can call me Ross," I say firmly, and smile a guarded smile. He laughs a little.

We stand there for a moment. Then he talks, and for some reason I feel the urge to check in the mirror to make sure I look okay. "So why don't I show I'm sorry with a surprise. Meet me here tonight. It'll be fun, I promise."

I think about it. With a Dauntless, that could be dangerous. But right now that's appealing after me having to listen to Paylor all the time saying arguing was for the worse.

"I'll go," I say, and he smiles and walks off.

I find myself standing at the river a few minutes after the sky got dark, having told my mom I needed to go see if I could find a book I left at school. She doesn't really care what I do anymore.

I wait for half an hour and still, no Jake. Did he set me up? Are there Dauntless hiding around here, laughing at me from the shadows for being stupid enough to show up? Fed up and humiliated, I turn around and he is right behind me.

"Jake!" I whisper angrily. "What took you so long?" I end my sentence with my usual scowl.

He presses his finger to my lips and holds up a plank of wood with wheels on the bottom. I feel a small smile creep across my face. "Okay. You go in front of me, you're shorter," he says quietly. I obediently step onto the board, careful. He steps on behind me with one foot and uses the other to push it forward.

It's a weird feeling, but I love it. The wind whistles past my ears and pushes my hair back. I feel my wide smile, unseen in the dark. He puts his hands on my shoulders, and I glance up at him, laughing.

It was the beginning of something I never would have imagined.