"Come on! Is that the best you've got?" sounded the harsh voice of our instructor Eric. This was directed at either me or my friend Marlene, who was trying to beat me to pulp right now. Initiation wasn't like anything I'd ever known before, pushing us to the end of our limits, trying to see how fast we'd break. Pitting us against each other in these fights didn't seem very useful to me, but then again, it's much harder to fight a friend than it is to hit an enemy. Maybe it did require some courage after all. At this moment however I couldn't see it. Marlene and I had been friends ever since she had helped me into the train on Choosing Day, and I didn't very much like the idea of hurting her. She seemed to have less qualms about this, judging by my bloody nose and the scratches on my arms, but maybe that had something to do with her being Dauntless-born. I spit out some blood on the ground and circled her once again, trying to get in a good punch that would knock her out. We both knew I most likely wouldn't succeed at this, but I had to try or I would lose some serious points in the rankings. Yesterday I'd seen her get beat up by Uriah, our other friend, but she hadn't seemed to mind much. Probably because he was a boy, and an attractive boy at that. I'll have to admit, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of being in the ring with that Tobias boy.. but no, I had to focus now, not on his irresistible mysterious aura, but on knocking out my best friend. I aimed a kick at her knee, hoping for her to buckle, but she lightly sprang away. Marlene had probably been doing this for years already, and I didn't really have any hope of beating her, but I didn't want to give up. Tobias had won all his fights so far, even one against Eric who had tried to show us that no one was able to beat a Dauntless member yet. That had probably hurt his ego a bit, because he'd been even harder on us since then, but I admired Tobias for not showing any hint of pain during his fights If I ever wanted him to notice me I thought I should be like that too. I dodged a punch to the jaw from Marlene and shot a quick glance at him, standing with our fellow initiates, arms crossed, his face an emotionless mask. For Tobias, I thought to myself. I have to win for Tobias. With new inspiration I ducked low and went for Marlene's feet. If only I could get her on the ground, this should be much easier. "Come on Sarah, kill her dead!" came the voice of Uriah, cheering me on. He switched sides every second, always supporting the one most likely to lose at that time. If he was calling my name now, that meant I was still not on the right track. Marlene was on the floor now, but had dragged me down with her and I was desperately trying to get in some punches to her face. As a final act of despair I gathered a fistful of her hair and pressed her face against the ground. She moaned in frustration, trying to pull herself loose from my grasp, but it didn't work. Now I had her right where I wanted her. With a slight feeling of regret I started pounding on the back of her head, hoping for her to pass out soon. (Please please please let this work, please don't let me hurt her for nothing, please let her go out soon..)
Her squirming weakened, and after what seemed like an impossible eternity of my fist hitting her - my hand, hurting her - my best friend went limp underneath me as she passed out. I let go of her hair and turned her on her back, for the first time clearly seeing what I'd done to her face. That did not look good..
"I'm sorry Marlene," I whispered to her, before standing up and throwing my hands in the air with victory. The others cheered, Uriah loudest of all, but Tobias merely stood in his corner, observing me. After Marlene had been taken to the infirmary Uriah entered the ring with another transfer named Tris, and I ended up standing next to him. I occasionally looked sideways, just to find him in the same position he must have been in for about an hour or so. The Stiff girl didn't last very long against Uriah, but it seemed like I had been standing by his side forever, almost scared to move. Right before she hit the ground, he spoke. "Well done," he said in a quiet voice, and I turned just in time to see the almost undetectable smile on his face. As I smiled back, I couldn't repress the thought that somehow, this had all been worth it.