Author Note:

Hey guys~! I was just wondering if any of you think I should actually continue this, I'm leaning toward no at this point haha, but not really sure. Anyways, here's the next chapter!

Love chu all~ Keep Reading :)

~Scar

Chapter 2:

The next day we get our schedules. Sociology, Psychology, Mathematics, Science, Communication, and History. 6 subjects. I have Math, Psychology, and History on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; Sociology, Science, and Communication filling in my Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Erudite have Sundays off. I suspect it's just for appearances, seeing as only an extremely small handfull of Erudite are acutally religious. Nonetheless, it'll be nice to have a break day to catch up on my reading and homework. I walk with Juan and Abigail to breakfast, they're arguing loudly about which kind of breakfast food is better, muffins, or bagels.

"But muffins taste SO much better," Juan exclaims.

"Are we seriously arguing about this? Bagels are healthy, easy to prepare, and virtually mess-free," she grumbles something about him under her breath. I just shake my head slightly, as we continue down the hall. The cafeteria is already full, tables and tables of blue-clothed persons just beginning to eat their morning meals. The three of us sit next to the other Candor-born initiates. The Erudite-born have their own table. Juan grabs his prized muffin, and Abigail reaches for her own champion, a bagel. "What do you think, Rose, was it?" We had introduced ourselves the previous night.

"I think, that it doesn't really matter which type of food I enjoy in the morning," I grab a piece of fruit. Abigail rolls her eyes, Juan seems to have zoned off, his eyes focused on a point far in the future. He twists the peircing in his lip distractedly, for the first time I notice that he has tattoos, lots of them; curling up his arms. They're all black, a nice contrast to his slightly tanned skin. His muscles strain and buldge under his skin, a true Dauntless. I wonder why he transferred in the first place, before quickly averting my eyes.

"Checking me out again Rosey girl?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Again? When have I ever, quote, 'Checked you out' before?" I murmur automatically, my Candor instincts kicking in. Far above us, a door sways open, and silence falls through the room. I can hear the click of heels for a while, before she comes into view. Jeanine. A boy who looks about my age stands next to her, he has soft brown hair, and eyes to match. He gazes down on us from behind thick-rimmed spectacles, analyzing everything he can. A true Erudite.

"Hello, Erudite," Jeanine starts, bowing her head quickly out of respect. The full-fledged and Erudite-born nod back, Abigail and I immediately copy the gesture, and Juan (with a quick kick to the shin) follows suit. "I have a quick announcement, and then you are all excused," she takes a deep breath, smoothing the front of her crisp, blue suit. "I'd like to take this time to welcome the newest initiates to their home, the Erudite compound. All previous faction..." The sharpness of her voice loses focus as I zone out, my attention diverting itself to the young man who stands next to her. I wonder what his story is, how he climbed to the top so quickly. His eyes meet mine for a moment. The purely analytical way he scans my body makes me shiver slightly. He raises an eyebrow, smiling slightly. "...The top three test scorers will be removed from the regular course, and invited to work on Project X, the Erudite's grandest masterpiece yet." I blink a few times, the boy's eyes leave mine. Project X? In all of the textbooks I had poured through, I hadn't heard the name once. "That will be all," she dismisses us with a wave of her hand. The boy turns, following her out of the room.

"Project X huh?" Abigail murmurs, leaning towards me across the table.

Juan shrugs. "I've never heard of it."

"Juan's never heard of anything," An obvious Dauntless born jeers from further down the table.

"Excuse you." He growls, standing, and slamming his palms against the table. The Dauntless-born rises as well, her eyebrow quirked quizzically.

"You gonna fight me?" She smirks, her fingers reaching for her waist. She frowns when she finds no weapon there.

"Did you forget Shay?" Juan's eyes play at devious, as he leans forwards. "You aren't Dauntless anymore."

"That doesn't mean I can't beat the shit outt-"

"Ah, well, at any rate, I've got to get to Math," Abigail says, obviously uncomfortable, as she turns towards the door, unfinished bagel in hand. "See you all after class!" She waves with her bagel-hand and rushes off to grab her supplies.

"That might be a good idea," I say, as I turn to follow her.

"What class do you have?" Juan asks me as he takes another bite of his muffin, discarding the rest to the garbage, previous fight completely forgotten.

"I'm talking to you squint eyes!" The girl Juan identified as Shay snarls, slamming a fist on the table. She seems eager for a fight; like she already misses the feel of blood on her hands.

"Psychology," I say, he answers with a wide grin.

"Nice! Me too! Well, I suppose we should be off..." He grabs me by the hand, and runs off towards the doors. I laugh, running along after him.

"You totally pissed her off man, not smart," I say while we pack our bags, "And scared off your girlfriend, nice going." He blushes, actually BLUSHES, looking down.

"Abigail?! Nah, she's totally not my type."

"Convincing," I say sarcastically. He flushes again, and we both burst out in laughter for some strange reason. It feels good to laugh, to be free like this.

Maybe Erudite wouldn't be too bad after all.