"Ugh!" Nat exclaims. "What are you doing here?"
"Ugh! What are you doing here?" The twins mock, and burst into a fit of giggles.
Damien grins. "I can't visit my sister without a reason?"
Nat scoffs. "Not if your name is Damien Eaton,"
I pull my plate back slightly, feeling the need to do something other than fiddle with my fingers. Keeping my head down, I stab my food with my fork. In my mind, the eggs beg for mercy, but I seem to hate them the most; they don't look like scrambled eggs after I'm done with them.
As I glance up for a moment, everyone is looking at me expectantly. "What?" I say
"Damien asked you a question," Brian explains, mixing ketchup- have no idea where he got it from- in his eggs.
"Huh?" I'm a little confused. When's the last time he ever talked to me?
"Why didn't you go to the banquet dinner last night?" Damien asks casually.
Oh, no. I forgot all about that. I guess after Peter knocked me out yesterday, I slept through the whole night. "Um, I forgot." Another lie.
"They didn't check for the initiates, did they?" I continued.
"No." He shook his head.
"Oh."
"How could you forget one of the most important day of initiation?" Nat laughs.
"It's a dinner, Nat. We're not meeting the Dauntless leaders." I defend.
"How could you forget still?"
Me, Brian, and Emily exchange worried looks. "I was tired, and I fell asleep." I say, and shrug my shoulders. "It happens,"
"Whatever," She says, but still smiles.
Damien checks his watch and says, while standing up, "It's almost 8:00, we got to go." I push myself up and kiss the kids' heads.
"Please be good for Nat." I beg them.
"When aren't we?" Emily jokes, and giggles.
I roll my eyes and scratch my head. They do the same, letting me know they won't tell anyone what happens in the house. I smile and turn to Nat. "You're a lifesaver,"
"I know," She says sweetly, and I chuckle and turn around.
Damien already left to initiation, which doesn't surprise me. I don't know why I expected him to wait for me. It's a shame when you let your hopes get too high.
. . .
"Line up, initiates!" Lynn yells. We scatter and stand in a line. But I stand more off to the side. She walks in front of us, making me more nervous.
"As you know, first day in initiation is combat. Don't worry, you pansycakes won't get graded on this. We want to see where you are at, so I'll give you a few minutes to practice." Nobody moves, and she yells, "You're wasting time!"
Immediently, we scramble around the small training room, half beating a worn out punching bag and the others find a partner and practice punches and kicks. The Dauntless Born know combat and what to expect during initiation. We learned most of the rules in Faction History at school, so we have an advantage while the transfers waste the first day learning the information. You learn all about your faction's initiation even if you plan to transfer.
"Okay, pair up!" Our instructor claps her hands and everyone stands next to a partner.
We have an even amount this year-eight- so, as everyone puts it, "There's one unlucky sucker who will get stuck will the outcast".
Surprisingly, Chelsea stands next to me and gives me a smile as if we were friends forever. All the initiates gawk, even Lynn, and I turn around, making sure there wasn't anyone behind me.
"Um," Lynn says, still dumbfounded. "I guess we'll start. Damien, James; on the mat."
Needless to say, it was close, but Damien won. Before they walked off the mat, Damien had James pinned and held a fist in the air. James had winced, waiting for the impact, but then they burst out laughing and Damien rolled off of James.
Two more rounds, and then Lynn says, "Chelsea and Alyssa, positions."
Shakily, I life up my elbows. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It'll be okay, I tell myself. You'll be okay. It will all end well. As soon as I open my eyes, Chelsea throws a punch, hitting me square in the jaw.
Never let your guard down. Got it.
As I let my elbows fall a bit, I remember a tip Four gave another initiate during practice a few years ago that I overheard. Manipulate your opponet. Got it.
Chelsea uses all her strength to punch me in the shoulder, and I try to make it seem like I don't fall intentionally. "If it's one thing you want to do," Four had said. "Is make your opponent see you fragile. They won't use much force if they see you as no threat."
As Chelsea struts toward me, I grab her ankle and pull it toward me, knocking her off her feet. She's startled for a moment, I can tell that. For a second, I think I have shot at winning this. But she crawls on top of me and pins me to the ground. Lynn stops the fight with, "That's enough. Great job, Chelsea. Alyssa, try harder next time."
The winner of this match smirks and flips her purple hair, walking toward her friends, obviously impressing them.
I sit up and heave strand of blonde hair out of my face.
Never except defeat. Got it.
. . .
"Hey," I turn when I hear the familiar voice.
Miranda looks odd. Her Abnegation clothes are replaced by black. Her raven hair falls against her shoulders and her doe brown eyes stick out. I'm shocked by how Dauntless she looks.
"You look. . ." I begin, trying to find the right words.
"Strange?" She says with a smile, awkwardly fiddling with her fingers.
"Brave,"
Miranda laughs tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well that's not what the transfers think; there's this one guy who hates me."
"Abnegation tend to beat everyone. Trust me, I've seen it." I say.
She stopped me right outside the cafeteria, so I'm hoping we aren't too late for cake. "Have you tried the cake yet?"
"Uh," She answers nervously. "I haven't really eaten. All this stuff looks foreign to me."
"Right," I push the doors open and walk in. "What did the Abnegation eat?" Somehow I always manage to stir the conversation towards the Abnegation.
"Plain food; Mostly chicken, potatoes, and greens."
Miranda reaches for a plate as we stand in line.
"No pizza?" I joke.
"What's pizza?" She asks with curiousity.
"I feel very sorry for you," I say gently. I take a slice as an example. Cheese, my favorite. "This is pizza. It's bread, sauce, and cheese." I carefully explain, saying the words slowly to annoy her.
"I'm a Stiff, Alyssa. Not an idiot." Miranda mumbles and I laugh.
She uncertainly take a hamburger, and I sigh. Grabbing a bottle of ketchup, I squeeze some on her burger, and she eyes me unsteadily. "Trust me. It tastes better."
At the end of the line, there are four slices of chocolate cake and twelve of vanilla. I grab a vanilla one, the chocolate never satisfied me. "You might like the chocolate one better," I tell Miranda as she watches me. "It's more popular."
She tastes my advice and we walk to a table. The table I share wih Nat and the kids. No one else ever sits there, and I'm surprised. It's a good distance between the exit and the food line. As we sit, I push my plate to the side, taking small bites of my cake first. Miranda instantly digs in after her first bite of the hamburger, and I laugh.
"How long has it been since you've eaten?" I taunt.
She scowls and stuffs her face in the cake. "All my life I've ate plain food, let me enjoy this while I can,"
I'm about to ask her what she means, but I realized I'm not the only one who has doubts about passing initiation.
"How's training?" I ask, to brake the silence.
"Hard. Today we learned new punches and how to manipulate your opponent and so on," She said, irritated. "Our instructor scares me. A lot,"
"Not that I'm ruling against you, but I actually used Four's method of manipulating your opponent today."
"And did you win?" Miranda asks, looking at me.
"Almost," my voice squeaks.
"See?" She shouts, chugging down a glass of some warm, brown liquid. After she swallows, Miranda groans in digust and stares into the cup. "What is this?"
"I don't know," I shrug. "And I can help you with training. Whatever I know about combat anyway."
"Yeah, you seem different from the other Dauntless Born. Also, I didn't walk to bring it up, but what happened to your eye?" Her eyes glimmer with wonder, as if she's never seen anyone with a black eye before.
Well, she was a Stiff.
"Got shoved and fell down," I lie nonchantly, averting my eyes away from her. "Happens more often than you think."
Miranda nods, before saying, "That's. . . ."
Crazy? Insane? Selfish?
"Fascinating," She breathes.
I squint my eyes before answering, "You're weird,"
"Anyway, thanks for the pep talk." Miranda stands up. "But I got to get back. Don't you?"
My head shakes. "Dauntless Born only have to train in the morning,"
"Unfair," She pouts. "Throw my tray away? Thanks," Miranda walks away without waiting for an answer.