Chapter One

The Beginning

A strained hiss whistles through the gap in between my two front teeth when Shane Cardew stabs my belly button with his smuggled piercing gun. Santana Cefalo snickers from the corner of Shane's apartment room the minute she sees the terrified expression on my face.

"That really hurt." I say as Shane puts down the gun and secures the red piercing on my stomach. When he doesn't say anything, I swat his hands still probing at my tensed middle and repeat myself. "That really hurt."

The corners of his lips twitch for the briefest of moments and he straightens into his slouched stance from his crouching position. He ignores me again. "Damn Natalie, you have the flattest tummy I've ever pierced. And your abs are those cute girl abs I've been searching for in a future girlfriend forever!"

I scoff disinterestedly, rolling my eyes. Shane has always been so annoying.

"Quit hitting on her Shane, you already know that she and Dante are gonna hook up once the Choosing Ceremony is over." Santana joins me on the springy bed, and I knock my knees against hers in a sort of "shut up, don't tell everyone" way.

"Well then I guess—" Shane bends over and brushes his knuckles across my jawline. They're rough and chapped. A shiver shimmies up my spine, and I self-consciously pull down my rolled down V-neck. The piercing sort of pokes out through the skintight black cotton. Two little round knobs. "—we have a week to get to know each other better."

"Shut up." My voice is demanding, like my dad's, but I let out a giggle anyway.

Shane leans back and folds his arms across his chest, staring down at both Santana and me. A bluish green vine tattoo laces his right arm, winding all the way up to his head and ending in a curl around his ear. I suddenly notice that he is totally and intentionally flexing while he does this, and the sleeves of his shirt are gathered in wrinkles so that Santana and I also have a view of his shoulders.

"Just make up your mind quick, 'cause time's running out." His smile is crooked. The silver teeth bands he models catch a glare from the dim florescent light above us. They look like the train tracks we all hop onto every day, except that his bands are cleans and silver, not old and gritty and tarnished with rust. "Alright Natalie?" He slurs my name and quirks a dark brown eyebrow.

"No thanks." I smirk and take Santana's hand. "Besides, Tana and I are gonna go meet Dante and everyone else down at the Pit." It takes quite an effort to pull my best friend up and off of Shane's cot, considering the fact that eighty percent of her weight is lean muscle and the other twenty percent is her long and thick hair. She dyed it dark red the other day.

Shane playfully scowls, then opens his door for us. "Natalie, feel free to come back whenever." Santana shoots him a look and he doubtfully adds, "You too Satan." Tana makes a loud grumbling noise and she smacks him in the head, hard. "Leave us alone. We only come to you for piercings."

As Shane's closing his apartment door behind us, Tana says, "And don't you worry about me visiting you, 'cause I'm pretty damn sure that I won't." She grabs the doorknob from the other side and slams the door shut for him.

As we walk toward the Pit, stepping through the cool and dark hallways, I elbow Santana in her rib.

"What was that for?" She snaps, glancing at me through her peripheral.

I give her my signature "duh" look, but then I open my mouth to speak anyway. "Treating him like that isn't gonna help you win him over."

Her grimacing lips pucker and her hazel eyes flash. "It's not like he knows that I'm interested." She pauses, her jaw slacking and lips spiraling back into a frown. "And how he keeps flirting with you ticks me off."

"Tana," I start, tiredly and exasperated. "He's teasing you. And don't you remember that Shane tends to be shy sometimes?" I take a glimpse of her as we continue down the halls. "Maybe you should change the mood in between you guys. Make the first move… What do you call it again?—sexy time?" The humor in my voice creates a small smile to take over both of our faces.

I don't think Santana would tackle me if I said this in my normal way, but my sarcastic tone does. Anyway, she decides to nail me to the ground right when we reach the cool and hard floor of the Pit.

"Natalie!" Her face is flushed red, and she manages to slap me flippantly before a pair of scuffed black sneakers approaches us. Santana clambers off of me and fixes her burgundy hair do. After glancing in between me and Dante with a smug expression, she says, "I'm gonna go meet everyone else…" She trails off, and her eyebrows scrunch so much that they meet in the middle. "I'll just leave you two alone." As her feet speedily shuffle over to our group of friends, she sneaks peeks of us.

Dante Evans extends a hand toward me and I grasp it gratefully. I despise myself for the unattractive grunt I make when I stand up. "Ugh—thanks."

He smiles, in an intrepid sort of way, and I feel myself swallow by how he stares at me so fixedly. I begin to twist at my mussed hair when he says, "Hey."

I slightly bob my head a little. "Hey."

We stand there for a while, an awkward silence washing over us. A small gasp escapes my mouth when Dante leans into my shoulder, his husky whisper warm and tickling my ear. "Why don't you meet me at the Skipped after dinner?"

"Sure." I smile at him after he leans back. What was all that awkwardness for? We're both practically dating, just not officially. Not yet, anyway.

We head toward the clump of people looking down at the chasm. The extremely loud ones daring each other to jump in. Our pals.

Dana Reynolds' cocoa bean brown hands are still clutching at the railing when she looks over at me. She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively once she sees Dante beside me before facing the chasm again, a spray of foamy blue water sprinkling all over her. It dampens her dark and curly ponytail.

Blake and Ryan Chen, the two twin brothers of our group, saunter over to us and whisk Dante away, talking about the new and good lucking initiate counselor and how they can't wait for next week to meet her after the Choosing Ceremony.

I go and join Santana, Dana and a few of my other girlfriends at the railing. A swift shower of chilly water spits into my face. "I'm going home." I say. They all look at me with scrunched noses.

"Already?" Dana presses, almost accusingly.

I shrug my shoulders. "Yeah, I'm real tired." I'm also happy that they usually believe my fibbing, because I'm actually not tired. I am actually buzzing with excited anticipation; I wonder why Dante wants me to meet him at Skipped.

"Alright then." Santana eyes me oddly, and then they all turn back to the chasm, shoving each other nearly over the rail.

The trek to my family's house from the compound is seven minutes long, and that is only if you're walking real slowly. I power walk and end up stepping though the front door of my house in just four minutes.

Mom is singing in her broad and loud voice when I meet her in the kitchen. She is pulling out a pan of pizza from the oven with her bare hands. I'm not able to do that yet, I'm still trying though. She smiles at me but doesn't quit her singing when she sees that I'm home.

"You're here early." She finally says, setting the pizza on top of the counter to cool off. The kitchen is toasty from it, and the small sausages peppered on to the cheese fills the air with a hearty but greasy aroma. I love it and my tongue flicks out to lick my lips when I nod.

"Yup." I bounce on the soles of my shoes. "Just thought that I'd… help you with cooking."

Mom laughs—and it's one of those laughs that sound like a booming of a firecracker, the type that scares you and causes the hair on the back of your neck to stick out—because she knows that I'm joking. I am. Dad and I barely help around the house. Dad never really has time because he is one of the volunteers who guard the fences and I, well, I like to focus on dance class and work out and school. My room is also a mess. And Mom does have the time to do house chores during the day; she only needs to go to her Dauntless leader office in the compound a few times a week.

"The world would be seriously coming to an end if you decided to prepare dinner." Her laughter dies down and she leans over to pinch me on the cheek. Mom is a transfer from Amity, so sometimes she has the habit of acting like her born faction every now and then. "Now you go and wash up."

"Mkay." While I'm in the middle of turning to go to the bathroom, Mom grips at my shoulder, and her Dauntlessness sinks back in. Her fingers curl. She is in need of trimming her nails.

"Natalie." Her voice is stern and slow.

I suddenly remember my belly button piercing and my face falls, so do my shoulders, especially the one she still has her hand on. "Yes?" I chew on my bottom lip and attempt to cover where my belly button is with my hand.

Mom pushes my arm away from my front with her free hand, and with the opposite one still planted on my forearm, she turns me toward her. "Natalie." She says my name again, but now in a whiny "why?" voice. "I trusted you! Your father and I agreed that you would get your belly button pierced after your Choosing Ceremony!" She squints at me angrily. After a while, she finally removes her hand from me and asks, "Who did it and where did you get the money."

My teeth finally unbury themselves from my lips and form into a pursed line.

Mom exhales when she sees my expression. "Oh Naddy, you're so much better than that, you might get an infection." Then she shakes her head to herself, probably trying to shoo away her Amity response. "No, just get washed up. I would normally make you take it out, but you were going to get it done anyway."

I nod, peeping out a small, "Thanks!" and hurry to the bathroom, tightly shutting the door behind me. Immediately, I roll my shirt up and stare at my reflection, right at the piercing. It's hot, and I like it. Then my eyes trail over to the small and black figure eight tattoo just above my left hip bone. It is almost as hot as my new piercing, but not as quite; Santana has the same exact tat in the same exact place because we swore to remain best friends for life.

I quickly pull my shirt back down when I hear the front door swing open and Dad's profound voice roar abrasively, but in a relieved expression, "I'm home!"

My hands find the sink's faucet and I wrench it, cup my hands beneath the cool stream and splash at my face. It sprays everywhere, just like the chasm.

I cross my arms over my stomach, making it a point to conceal the thing Mom is slightly scowling about when I go into the dining room. Dad and she are already eating and I hurriedly slide onto my seat across from them. I'm thankful that the table top is tall enough to take over my arms' duty. I reach over and grab two wide slices of pizza, slapping them onto my plate.

Dad's green eyes, the same dark green that my own eyes have inherited from him, watch me sluggishly as he chugs down his glass filled with wine. Mom and he always have at least one cup of it every day during supper; it's their ritual, to release their stress. Almost every adult who is Dauntless has an alcoholic drink once a week. Today it's the same color as Santana's hair, rich and dusky and red. Mom lifts her glass of wine and gently knocks it against Dad's.

"Would you like some more?" She asks him, picking up the liquor bottle she set down on the table earlier after she poured their glasses. When the lip of the bottle meets the rim of Dad's empty cup, he stops her with his hand and says, "Wait a minute. I think Natalie is mature enough to have some too. Besides, the ceremony is only just a couple of days away."

I raise my eyebrows in shock at this. So does Mom. She scrutinizes her husband for a moment, as if he has gone crazy, and then she flattens her forehead. "Are you sure about that?" She sounds cautious. Mom is never cautious.

Dad sighs and snatches the bottle from her. "Give me your cup, Natalie." He orders, sticking his opposite hand out. I obey, but flinch when Mom looks at me strangely. He hands me back the glass after he has poured some of the wine in there, empties some more into his own and Mom's, then lifts his glass into the air. "This is to Natalie."

"To Natalie." Mom says, her voice instantly changing into a cheer.

"To me."

After we bump our glasses against each other's, I knock back the drink, and I wince when it drizzles down my throat. As it fills my mouth, I so badly want to spit it out. It's bitter and too strong. Dad chuckles when I set my glass back down with a wheeze.

"Adda girl." He stands up and crosses the room to pat me on the back. I cover my abdomen just in time.

Once Dad leaves for his room, Mom clears the dishes for the Abnegation volunteers to collect. She firmly smiles at me before joining Dad in their room.

Honestly, I don't care if she is angry at me at the moment. I suddenly remember that I have a date with Dante and I sprint into my bedroom. These are the times when I wish I had an older sister like how Santana does. I wish I had one to tell all my boy problems to, and to help me dress up. But even if I did, she'd probably already be an initiate graduate and live in the compound until she got married.

My feet are already buried in the pile of clothes on my floor when I reach my dresser. I pull open all of its drawers, searching for my ruffled dress shirt. I can't find it. After sifting through my room's sea of clothes, I finally settle on a low scoop neck long sleeve that shows my midriff, my belly button piercing and my cleavage. It's really tight. Then I jump into my skirt that hugs my waist and ends right below my butt. That's also tight too.

When I get to my hair, I stare into the bathroom mirror, frustrated. My hair is blonde and shiny, but it's so flat that I can never do anything with it. I finally decide to leave it alone.

It only takes a few minutes to outline my eyes in black, coat my eyelashes with mascara and smear red lip stain onto my mouth.

I slip on my sneakers, the ones that have Amity yellow laces, since it's a little bit of a long walk to Skipped. "I'll be back soon!" I call out before closing the front door behind me.

Skipped is this little abandoned warehouse beneath the train tracks beside the compound. It serves as the teenage Dauntless hangout. There's dancing, fighting competitions, homemade drinks… some other things I shouldn't know about at my age, sixteen.

My legs, arms and belly's skin have all been replaced by gooseflesh by the time my feet hit the soil and mossy ground beneath the train tracks. A small gust of wind soars by, and my hair flies along with it. I impatiently try to smooth it down.

The thumping of the music in Skipped drums against my eardrums and I can feel the vibration busying across my chilled skin. It rhythmically rattles inside of me, and my goose bumps stick out even more. They have never been so prominent. But I love Skipped and the sound and everything else that comes with it.

Right when I reach for the slightly open door, Dante comes out with two beverages in his hands. The liquid of both of the drinks are a light and soft yellow. Huge chunks of ice bob around in them.

"Oh—hey!" Dante knocks me in the side with his elbow and hands me a cup. It's frosty and cold and feels refreshing against my palm. The glass begins to turn foggy. I don't know if it's because of the coldness of the drink it holds, my heavy breathing from my walk, or the sudden change in meeting the breezy evening air instead of the sweaty atmosphere of Skipped.

"It's lemonade." He says.

I glance down at the cup he passed me. "Where did they get lemons?"

Dante's shoulders shrug, and then he sips at his share. "Dunno. Some guys said that the Amity delivered an extra carton of lemons, so they were able to steal a few." He points at my cup with his pinky finger. "Go ahead and try it, I think it tastes good."

"Alright." After I taste my first sip, it's really easy to empty my glass. The drink sort of makes me woozy though, probably because of all of the sugar the Skipped workers added into it, and I stumble when Dante brings me inside.

The music has just been turned off; it looks as though somebody has just challenged a guy from the crowd to a fight. A bunch of girls, including me, whistle when we see that the challenger is Lyndon Soto. He is one of the cute and graduated initiates. Oh I can't wait for the Choosing Ceremony and to finally live in the compound with my friends and call myself an initiate. And—gah—no school! Too bad I have it tomorrow.

I find a frown has already settled onto my face because of the thought once the fight starts. But as soon as Dante wraps one of his arms around my bare waist, and leaves a blazing trail in his wake, his fingertips tickling me softly, I forget about school. I smile when he pulls me closer to him.

"You look great Natalie." He quietly declares into my ear. I still shiver from how hot and close his breath is.

"Thanks." I place my hand over his, the one that is starting to go lower than where it should be heading. I gently pull it back around the curve of my hip. "Now you wouldn't want to do that here, would you?" I ask, almost purr like.

Dante looks startled for a moment, but then he grins slyly. "Yeah, I can wait for a week."

I laugh, tossing my hair back and behind my shoulders and we both switch our attention back to the fight. Lyndon got a few good punch marks on his face, but the guy he is now mauling, he isn't doing so well.

It feels like it has only been half an hour when Dante walks me home. His arms is still wrapped around my waist, and he is still lightly tickling me, but there is a different emotion then before. I guess it is because we finally have realized that after next Tuesday, we aren't going to be little kids anymore, we are going to be older, and soon we'll be starting families. Hopefully, together.

Then it seems as if everything is slowing down and my mind is spinning when Dante stops walking right in front of my house and takes my chin in his hand, his other arm still slung around my hip. And then he bites his lip. And then he looks at my mouth. And then his eyes flicker back to mine, and he blinks. And then he kisses me, long and slow and deeply. I don't know how to explain this. All I do know that it is amazing, and I'm sure that this is our first kiss of many.

I'm reluctant to say bye and go into my house. But when I get into bed, I remember—again—that I have school tomorrow, and I will see him there.


A/N

Hi guys(: I really hoped you enjoyed this. Just to clarify, this will be a story about Natalie Prior, Tris' mom. Next chapter will be about school and her aptitude test!
Until Next time
-UnintendedPaperCut xox