A/N Thank you for the favs, follows and review, I'm glad you like my story! :) I'm now on my vacation and I can write only on my cellphone so I'm sorry for the crappy chapter XD Anyways, review if you like/dislike/love/hate/think it's ok/think it's not ok/breathe
Juli POV
I step out of the shower and take a look at my reflection. A grey-eyed girl with wet hair and plain face looks back. I raise my eyebrows and she does the same. "Who are you?" I ask her and her lips move as I say the words. I sigh. If I only could speak with myself, I could maybe find out what I am like. Is there anything else in me but my Divergence? Do I have anything...my own? Anything that is not planned by the scientists? Well, there are some things they defiantly didn't plan. Brenda. No, not here, not now. Now isn't the time for me to break down. Clothes on, inhale, exhale, repeat.
"So, today we'll teach you some kicks and punches and you'll get to fight each other. Because this year there are so many of you, seven of you are going to be cut out after stage one and twenty-one of you are going to continue the initiation. Yes, that includes also the Dauntless- borns. There's fourteen of you and fourteen of them. In the end there will be fourteen new Dauntless members. Any questions?" Four ends his speech.
"Yeah", says Elsie, "what will happen to the people that don't pass the initiation?"
"You'll join the Sixth faction and get to choose your job there", Four replies. You know, we'd be great politicians together, Beatrice thinks. I grin, I will never become politician. I'd rather die. Politicians are all evil and only think about themselves. Beatrice tries to mentally kick me or something. Don't be so biased! Do you think Tobias is mean and thinks only about himself?I think about it for a second. Okay, well, every politician but Tobias is mean and-"Juli! What did I just say?" Christina asks, looking annoyed.
"Umm... I don't know. I wasn't listening", I answer honestly.
"I see you weren't. A part of me would like to tell you to hang over the chasm for five minutes, because that would be exactly what I had to do as a punishment when I was an initiate. Lucky for you, the leadership has changed. Twenty push-ups, NOW!"
I just look at her. She had to hang over the chasm and she doesn't believe I can do the same? I need to prove her wrong. "I want to hang over the chasm", I say and look at Christina straight in the eye. No, you don't want to! Forget your stupid pride, it isn't worth risking your life, Beatrice thinks. I ignore her. That's no risk. I've gone through worse, I reply. Beatrice is about to explode. You're a way too pride and it will get you into troubl-"Excuse me? You want to hang over the chasm? Are you insane?" Christina asks with wide eyes. I don't respond. She shrugs.
"Well, whatever but your pride will someday get you. Maybe it's a Dauntless flaw. Go and hang over the stupid chasm", she says. I turn her my back and start to walk towards chasm, but Four grabs roughly my hand.
"No-one's going to hang over the chasm. I won't allow it. Go to the line with the others", he says grimly. I stare at him. It's not his problem if I want to show them I'm Dauntless. "That's an order", he says. I shrug and walk back to the line.
You're impossible! Impossible! Thank God Tobias is in order here, Beatrice thinks angrily. Shut up, you got what you wanted, I think back. Some of the other initiates look at me weirdly and I walk behind Ethan. He doesn't say anything but I feel his frown. He doesn't like me taking risks. I watch as Christina shows some punches and walk to a punching bag. I hit it a few times, not quite happy how little it moves. More than some of the others' bags, but less than some of them. I hit the bag with fury and it moves a little more. Christina comes to me.
"The hit itself was good, but you lost your balance after it. You have to remember not to hit with your rage but your skills. Cool your temper and keep your tension in your stomach", she advises. I nod, I know she's right. I shouldn't lose my concentration, but sometimes it feels good to forget everything I know and let the feelings decide. A beginners mistake, but a tempting one.
After half an hour of punching bags, Four calls us to the chalk table.
"Now, initiates, it's time for you to fight each other. I will tell you the pairs and you'll fight until the other can't continue. They can also give up if they want, and it will be marked as loss. Here are the pairings", he says and turns the table around. I take a look at it and frown.
George vs Jake
Ethan vs Henry
Lise vs Mary
Sarah vs Jess
Elsie vs Britt
Juli vs Richard
Emily vs Daniel
Richard?! The biggest and strongest of them? I look at him quickly, and a second later I wish I didn't he has this amused smile on his face and I can see what he's thinking. He doesn't believe I have even the slightest chance of beating him. So now there's no way I can give up. I have to beat him or I go to the infirmacy.
George and Jake start their fight. George throws the first punch, which is his big mistake, because Jake grabs his hand and bends it behind his back. George screams, but manages to kick Jake in his stomach and gets his hand free. They start to punch each others faces and after a five minutes of struggling, Jake punches George down and he doesn't rise anymore. I see his chest rise, so he's alive. Jake helps him up and they start to talk and laugh. George's condition can't be that bad, then.
I see Henry beat Ethan, luckily not so badly, Lise beat Mary and Jess beat Sarah. When Elsie and Britt are kicking and punching each other, my heart starts to beat faster and my arms start to tremble. Calm down, Beatrice says. I know; it's just a fight, I reply, but don't feel that much better. When Elsie has slightly beaten Britt, I step in the ring and look at Richard. He looks bored. "Couldn't you give me a proper fighter as a pair? Beating up girls is boring", he whines. Four just looks at him with a little annoyance and says:"Don't underestimate women, they can do as much damage as men, really." Richard just shrugs and suddenly throws a hard punch at me. I try to duck away, but the punch hits my shoulder. I wince in pain, but now isn't the time to whine. I bluff with my left arm, and when he's concentrated on evading that punch, I throw my right fist to his face with all my strenght. He screams and kicks my gut and I fall two steps backward. He attacks me, throwing his hand to my mouth. I feel the pain and kick him in his stomach. He keeps his hold of me, holding his hand in front of my mouth and bending my back. I bite his hand and he lets go, screaming. But I don't let go. I overhang in his arm with my jaws locked and when he tries to rise it furiously, I rise with it. My teeth carry my whole bodyweight and I kick him hard all the way up. "I've had enough, bitch! Let go!" Richard shouts furiously in pain. He raises his other hand and hits me over and over again. I try to block his hits but his arms are two times the size of mine, so it doesn't really help. I bite him and kick him and he punches me until I fall unconscious.
