Here it is! The first day of training! I would just like to quickly say a 'thank you' to GerdyGertha! We appreciate your support, and we absolutely love reading your reviews! Thanks for being awesome!
After dinner ends, all of us get up from our tables and start for the exit. Tina (Christina) and I exchange a look, as Pete sprints ahead of all of us, screaming that nobody can take his bed from him. We shrug at each other, as we continue walking. Once we reach the dorm, Pete is already laying on his bed, watching all of us with wide eyes again.
We all look around at each other, as realization hits us that we have to fight for a bed tonight. Just as the thought crosses my mind, one of the Barbaric-born initiates screams at the top of his lungs.
"BED FIGHT!"
Tina and I inch toward the corner of the room, as the rest of the initiates start tackling and throwing punches at each other. Some of them pick up pillows and start swinging them at each other. I turn to Tina and she looks at me with wide eyes. She slowly raises her hands and nudges my arm with her fist.
"You'll never get my bed," she says, winking at me.
"Oh... Yeah!" I wink back, pretending to punch her. "My bed!"
Moly scurries over to us and growls, and we both look at her.
"We're already fighting!" Tina says.
"Oh, my bad!" Moly says apologetically before running away to find someone else to fight.
When the fighting is finally over, Tina and I end up in one of the beds together with Al sleeping at the foot of it like our own personal puppy. Pete managed to keep his bed because everyone was so focused on fighting that they didn't even think to push him out of his bed. Moly ends up with a bed as well as a black eye. One of the Barbaric-born initiates, who I remember as Uria also has one. Will sleeps on the ground next to our bed, his broken calculator still resting in his arms.
In the middle of the night, I wake up to Tina spooning me from behind in her sleep. I also hear Al whimpering at the end of our bed. I groan sleepily and kick him in the side, which makes him stop crying before I fall back to sleep.
The next morning, we walk into the training room. Four and Eric stand beside a small chalkboard while another man with darker skin stands in the back, watching us. Uria notices me looking at him, confused, and he explains to me that the man's name is Maxx (with two x's because it has to be four letters) and that he is a leader of Barbaric. But for some reason, he just kinda hangs out in the background, barely ever saying anything.
"Gather around, initiates," Eric yells, even though we are already standing in front of him. "This board contains your rankings. We will be watching your progress and adjusting your rankings throughout the training process. By the end of the first stage, only the top ten will be going through."
"Going through?" Tina asks, automatically shrinking back when Eric looks at her.
"Yes," Eric continues, sighing dreamily. "Anyone who does not go through will become a Hobo."
All of us look around at each other, clearly shocked.
"Shut up and quit complaining," Eric says even though nobody said anything. "A real Barbaric won't care that there's a chance that they... Well, that they won't be Barbaric anymore."
"But if a real Barbaric wouldn't care, doesn't that mean that they should be with the Barbaric?" Will asks.
"I'm getting tired of your sass, Nerd," Eric replies, making Will look down sadly. "Since we don't have much to judge you by yet, I kinda just ranked you based on how much I like you guys."
He turns the board around and I look for my name. I am in the eleventh spot, which isn't too bad. Of course, Pete is in the first spot. I notice that Tina's name is scribbled in the bottom with a "-100" next to it. Probably because she wouldn't accept her four letter name.
"Cool!" Pete shouts after a second. "I'm first."
"Yes, you are," Eric says with a smirk on his face. "I really appreciated that way you claimed that bed."
Eric quirks his eyebrow suggestively at Pete, who looks down and stands there uncomfortably. I look around at the two of them, not understanding why Pete is uncomfortable.
"Anyway," Four says, breaking the silence. "Today, you're going to learn to shoot guns."
"Oh, yeah. Right."
Eric clears his throat, finally looking away from Pete. Each of us take a gun and line up, as they explain the basics of shooting. When they let us start, I cringe at the noise, but at least it's not as bad as the sound of the Barbaric members yelling and breaking glasses during dinner. Four and Eric walk around behind us, watching as we shoot. As Four comes up behind me, I decide that this is my chance to impress him and get a higher ranking.
I plant my feet on the ground and hold my arms out in front of me. I can tell that he is watching me as I stare at the target in front of me. Finally, I pull the trigger and the recoil sends the gun flying back into my face. I stumble backwards and fall on my back, my hand covering my now sore nose. I groan and look up to see Four staring down at me.
"I forgot to tell you," he says calmly. "Recoil's a bitch."
He then steps over me, as I lay on the ground.
"Statistically speaking," Will says, as I get up, "one of us was bound to do that."
When we finally finish shooting, we follow Eric to lunch since Four has to take the long way to avoid stairs, as usual. The entire way, Eric talks to Pete who looks very uncomfortable. When we get to the cafeteria, Eric tells Pete to sit with him and Pete does so, knowing he doesn't have much of a choice.
"That's so unfair," I whisper to Tina. "Eric is befriending Pete. Now he's gonna have a better chance!"
"Tris, I wouldn't call that befriending..."
"What do you mean?"
"Uhm..." She looks at me and shakes her head. "Nevermind."
We walk in and sit at the same table where we sat last night with Four. Again, he doesn't acknowledge our presence. And again, I wonder how he got here so fast when he has to take the long way. As we sit eating, we notice two of the other initiates, Eddy and Myra, sitting at the table next to ours.
"Weren't they Nerds, too?" Tina asks Will. "How come you never talk to them?"
"Yeah," he says. "But they're a couple. I didn't want to be a third wheel."
As soon as Will says this, Eddy and Myra start frantically making out out of nowhere. Tina just looks down and keeps eating as if nothing is happening, but I feel incredibly uncomfortable. Back in the Pitiful faction, even just looking at a boy suggested that you were interested in him. We were never allowed to display affection in public, especially like this. I sigh and wipe my hands on the napkin in front of me. I notice Four look at me, as I stand up with a fork in my hand.
"Tris," Tina says. "What are you doing?"
"Well, since I don't have a ruler, I'm going to hit them with this fork to punish them for their indecency."
"What the f***?"
"What? Isn't that what you guys do here?"
"No!" Tina yells as she pushes me back into my seat. "That's only a Pitiful thing, Tris! People are allowed to kiss here! And you can't hit them with rulers... or forks for showing affection!"
"Oh..." I say, letting all of this new information sink in.
Things are simply so backwards here. Becoming a Barbaric is going to be harder than I thought.
