Chapter 6 Part 2
I am in line getting some Dauntless breakfast. It wasn't much of a wait since I was able to skip people. The perks of being President. I grab a little of everything: scramble eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, hash browns, sliced fruit and even breakfast cake. You think I never eaten before, but I rarely have such extravagant food. Abnegation believe in eating only the food you need and give the rest to the factionless. The only time I eat this much is when I visit Amity.
I am unfortunately alone. Four needed to get back to work. I invited him to breakfast, but he declined. I know this is the man Evelyn and Marcus had described to me. I don't understand why they want me to go out with him. I will have to figure that out later.
I sit at the end of one of the long benches where lots of people are eating. It was easy to find a seat because several people got up to give me theirs. I thank them, and sit down with my large breakfast. I realize everyone is staring at me and are quietly talking. This is much different from when I entered the cafeteria to loud conversations and music playing throughout the room. I stick out like a sore thumb here, with my grey outfit and lack of tattoos, piercings and colorful hair, but I don't think this is the reason people are staring at me.
I don't think Max told anyone I was coming. People seem genuinely shocked I am here and eating breakfast with them. They must be wondering why I am here, although some may know I am here to meet Dauntless members because they are giving me flirtations glances. I can't stand the starring anymore. I decide to stand and say something.
"Excuse me! Excuse me! If I can say something really quickly." The room begins to quiet down, with the help of one Asian woman, with small tattoos randomly on her body and braided hair. She sticks out to me because I remember her from another time in my life. She was the one who gave me my Aptitude Test years ago. She was the one who told me I was Divergent, and I should protect myself. I smile to her thanking her, not only because she helped quiet the room, but she helped me several years back. She nods her head in recognition.
I decide to step on the table, so people can see me better. I would never do this in Abnegation, but I have to get their attention. "I want to tell everyone why I am here in Dauntless, considering many of you seem surprised. This is the first time I am here in Dauntless, and I am grateful to be here." People start to pound the table and cheer. Their excitement is quite infectious.
I continue, "I will be visiting your compound for a week, observing your customs and hopefully getting to know many of you. I know some of you have concerns, and I want to let you know I received them. I hope to resolve them. I have a few meetings with the Dauntless Council hopefully to figure out how to address these problems."
Some of the Dauntless seem to have concern looks. I try to reassure them, "You can trust me when I say this. I am here not to change who the Dauntless are. Dauntless are important to our society. You sacrifice your safety to protect the lives others. This makes Dauntless the most courageous faction." People cheer for my compliment. It is somewhat true. "I only hope working with the Dauntless Council Members and your leader, we can improve relationships and make your lives better." People cheer with my speech. "Thank you, and enjoy your breakfast!" I say in a silly matter, unsure how to end my speech. I get down off the table, and begin eating. Everyone goes back to eating as well.
"Now that was impressive." I turn around to see Christina, and a young woman and two young men with her.
"I could have done better."
"It could have been more inspirational. Especially the part where you tell us how great we are." Christina says arcastically, as she sits down across from me with her plate of food. The rest of her friends, I think, sits next to her, except the young woman.
"Please to meet you Madame President Prior." She curtsey with a plate of food in hand. "My name is Marlene Summers." Marlene curtsey again.
"It is nice to meet you Marlene, and no need for the formal introductions. You can call me Beatrice." I tell her, gesturing for her to sit down. She releases a breath she was apparently holding.
"Thank goodness. I was so scared to mess up. I don't want to get in trouble." Marlene says.
"Why do you curtsey when you introduce yourselves anyways?" I ask.
Marlene explains, "Four told us we had to introduce ourselves that way, otherwise you won't acknowledge us." Why would Four do that?
"I found out she doesn't care Mar." Christina tells Marlene. She faces me, introducing the two males sitting next to her. "By the way, this is my boyfriend William Harris, but call him Will. And this is Albert Cruz, but you can call him Al." We get our former introductions out of the way and begin eating breakfast.
"So nice speech, but why did you give it?" Christina asks.
"Was there a formal announcement of me coming here?" I ask Christina.
Christina thinks for a minute, but Al interrupts, "I didn't know until Eric told me. I am glad you are visiting President Prior." He says nervously.
"I didn't know until Four told me. But I forgot, until Chris dragged me out of my bed this morning to clean your room." Marlene lets me know.
"I only knew because of you Christina." Will confirms.
"That is why I gave the speech." I let Christina know.
"Shit! I thought Max was going to tell everyone. Sometimes he doesn't inform me on what I am and am not supposed to do. I have to wing it sometimes, and now I look like the shit head who didn't do her job…Not that I have any problems with our Leader Max or that he is an actual shit head." Christina says in defense.
"No worries. Please act like yourself when you around me. Remember, I am supposed to represent you, not the Dauntless council." This seems to calm them considerably. I do make a note of Christina's comment.
All of a sudden, Will asks me a question, "How old are you?"
"Will!" Christina chastises him.
"It is ok. I am 28."
"Holy shit! You are our age! I mean I knew you were young, but for some reason I thought you were in your 30s." Christina says.
"I knew you were the youngest President we ever had. I wasn't sure by how much." Will admits.
"Well now I feel like I have done nothing in my life." Marlene says sadly.
"I am sure that is not true."
"No, it is definitely true. You are way more successful than Mar." Christina states. Marlene then hits her in the arm. "Owww! Why did you do that?! It is obviously true."
"Doesn't mean you have to say it out loud!" She says angrily. Christina hugs her and kiss her on the cheek and Marlene seems to forgive her. That has to be the fastest I have seen someone make up.
We continue our conversation, while we eat our breakfast. Al seems to be shy and nervous, but everyone else is opening up to me. This is a much more action packed breakfast then the one I have at Abnegation. I normally eat breakfast with my mother, sometimes Susan, and talk about work. I will have to remember to ask my mother how she is doing.
I am almost done with my breakfast, and Four walks straight to our table. His determination has me wondering if he has something to tell me, but he instead walks straight up to the guy sitting next to me and glares at him until he gets up and leaves. Four proceeds to sit down next to me with a blueberry muffin in hand. Our table has become quiet.
"Don't you have work?" I ask Four, surprised he is back.
"I finished what I needed to be done." That seems weird considering he was only gone less than an hour.
I am then greeted by another guest, Eric Coulter. "Good Morning President Prior."
"Good Mourning Councilmen Coulter. And Please, call me Beatrice while I am here." I will allow him to call me by my first name here, but not among the Council. I deserve the proper respect of my title there.
"Then you must call me Eric." He requests as he tries to sit down next to me, but Four is not budging as he eats his blueberry muffin slowly. Eric moves to sit across from me, where Marlene quickly gets up to sit next to Al.
"So Beatrice, I have arranged the meetings you requested with Dauntless Council."
"Thank you Eric. Dauntless Leader Phifer will be there, correct?"
"Max is a busy man. I will see what I can do."
"I have given you my schedule months in advance. He couldn't set time to see me?"
"No he couldn't. We need at least a year in advance to set up meetings with Max." I know that is a lie because Dauntless have more meetings now preparing for upcoming trainings, and Max attends every single one. I suggested to join one of those meetings to better suit his schedule, but I doubt Eric asked. I have to come prepared if I am going to get what I want.
I got an idea. I turn to Christina, "Christina, is it true you have a meeting on Thursday 10:00 am with Max and the rest of the Council and trainers to prepare for the upcoming Dauntless initiates?"
"Yes… that is true President Prior." Christina says cautiously looking between me and Eric. We have not broken eye contact.
"Four, do you think I would be able to sit in your trainers meeting with Max on Thursday?" I ask Four.
"I don't see the problem with it." Four says casually.
"Then I should be able to meet with Max Thursday at 10:00 am."
"I cannot make any promises."
"Since you can't, I will have to visit him during his free time."
"He doesn't have free time." Eric tells me sternly.
"He doesn't sleep?"
"Do you plan to visit him when he is sleeping?" He asks, thinking I am joking.
"If that is the only time he is available, yes." I say in all seriousness.
"You would be surprised by how much he works." Eric replies.
"Try me." Everyone seems to be watching our interaction, and I mean everyone in who is currently eating breakfast in the cafeteria. I doubt they have seen someone challenge Eric the way I am right now, but I know people like Eric. The moment you back down or show weakness, they will run right over you.
"Look…" I can tell Eric is truly pissed, but he continues anyways. "You won't be able to see him during his free time or work time. I am sorry." He lacks sincerity in his apology.
"Then, I will visit him now and blame you for the inconvenience." I tell him, getting up and start walking right out of the cafeteria, and Four is walking right behind me.
"Wait!" Eric stands and yells, trying to stop me. I do stop and turn to see him. "I will make sure you get a meeting with him that won't interfere with your other meetings, but don't come bitching to me if it is too short."
"You have nothing to worry about, Abnegation don't bitch. And what other meetings are you talking about?"
"Your dates of course." Eric has that stupid smug grin again.
I don't like where this is going. "What do you mean my dates?"
"I arranged your dates for you, you keep talking about. I figured this will be much easier considering you wouldn't ask someone out." That's exactly what I was going to do. I am furious he did this for me. I don't need him to set up dates for me. Who knows what he will set me up with, but I doubt it will go well.
I will not let him get to me. So I give him my most excited smile. He seems to be buying it because his smug smile disappears. "Thank you so much. You are truly a lifesaver. I was afraid I would of only go out with one guy from Dauntless, but now I will at least have…." I try to get him to tell me how many dates I will have.
"3." Great.
"3 dates! Only 3 dates! That is not enough!" People are chuckling at my exaggerated remarks. "When I go on trips like this, I usually have a 'meeting' a night." This is true. I usually have a dinner meeting every night, but it is always professional. "Well, that's a good start Eric, but I will have to go to the professional event planner on this one. She probably knows everyone in Dauntless." I turn to Christina, and ask her, "Would you be able to arrange dates for me Christina?"
"Absolutely."
"Perfect! I will have Christina do the rest of the work you couldn't do, but thank you for helping me get started." Eric actually seems unhappy he couldn't do a better job. This is crazy. "Well, I am done here, but thank you Eric for the impromptu meeting. I hope this means we can cancel our one later today?" Eric and I had a one on one meeting later this afternoon, but forget it now.
"Yeah."
"Great, well I will be seeing you around." I walk away from the table with Four behind me.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Eric nervously yells.
I was hoping Eric wouldn't ask me that because I am not sure what to say, but Four saved me from admitting the truth, "I have to give her the rest of the tour of Dauntless. I had not shown President Prior our training facilities because I had a work emergency."
"Oh… ok. Well…have a good tour." Eric eloquently concluded, or he tried.
Four and I walk out of the cafeteria, and that is the moment I quietly demand him, "We need to go back to the Chasm because I have a few things I need to discuss with you." I am walking in purpose but, stop when I realize he is not following me. "I am serious Four, I need to talk to you at the Chasm now." I turn back around to continue walking, but Four is still not following me. "Are you ignoring me to make me angry because it is unnecessary. I am already angry at what happened in the cafeteria."
He finally responds, "The chasm is that way." He points to the opposite direction I was walking. Are all Dauntless men smug bastards?
I walk up right at him and ask, "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"This was the most entertaining mornings I ever have." He states with an arrogant, but very cute grin. I begin to walk the direction of the Chasm, realizing this is going to be a long week.
~oOo~
We finally make it to the Chasm, and I turn to talk to Four, but he walks pass me down another secretive tunnel. I follow him, wondering where he is going. We walk down tiny tunnel. I do not know how he is able to walk down here when the ceiling is about my height, but he walks like has been here before.
As we keep walking, I am figuring out why both Evelyn and Marcus wants me to meet with Four. I do believe he is their son. He shares features from both parents, as I look at him closer. He has his father's eyes, strong jaw and muscular body, but he also has his mother's ears and hair. Four seems like his own person, but I see his parents in him already.
They must think he will be a trusted confidant, since he was formerly Abnegation, but so few people go from Abnegation to Dauntless. I actually think he is the only one. So he must had a strong reason to leave. Also, Marcus and Evelyn are on complete ends of the spectrum, and Evelyn left for some reason too. This leads to Marcus and maybe he is the reason for the chaos. Something happened with the Eaton family for them to fall apart, but that is not why I want to see Four right now. If he wants to talk about it, I am here to listen. I hope he is able to trust me similarly to how I am starting to trust him already.
We finally reach our destination. We are close to the bottom of the waterfall in a private cave. I can see the water falling right next to the hole of the cave. It is a beautiful site, and I could find myself coming down here to relax, but I must get to business.
"Thank you for bringing me to such a private place. This is a much better area to talk."
"Sit." I sit down on one of the larger rocks in the cave to get a little comfortable for a long conversation.
"I am not going to be shy about this."
"Have you been shy about anything yet?" He asks sarcastically.
"Funny, but I don't need your sarcasm right now. I need your help."
"I need to look at your knees." I look down at my knees and see they have gotten bloodier. I didn't notice, considering it doesn't hurt at all.
"I'm fine." Dismissing his question. "I need you to answer a couple of questions."
"You are not fine, you are bleeding."
"I am fine, it doesn't hurt."
"Do you ever take care of yourself?" Four sincerely asks.
"No, I don't." I say honestly. There is too much to do with this job to take care of myself. There are too many people to worry about, too many problems I have to face, and we have a serious threat of Civil War that most people don't know about. When all that is fixed, I will take care of myself…which might be never.
Four kneels to get a better look at my knees, "I am going to pull your pants leg up and check your knees."
"You will not." I move away from him, not wanting him to distract me. "Four, we need to talk."
"How about next week?"
"I won't be here next week."
"I know."
"Four, stop messing with me for 15 minutes and answer my questions."
"Unfortunately I am 10 minutes in my 15 minute break, so I will not be able to help you with your request."
I am getting frustrated. "Four, dam it, why won't Max meet with me?!"
"Because he is intimidated by you!" For yells. I am not expecting this answer. That can't be true.
"No he isn't. You should see him in council meetings. He dismisses me. He never shows me any respect."
"Because you are a threat."
"I don't understand." Four decides to sit on a rock fairly close to me. I am a little overwhelmed by how close he is, but I push it down.
"No one has ever challenged Dauntless, no one."
"My Father would...I think." Actually, I rarely saw my Father interact with Max. "I was told my Father would sneak down here to get into Dauntless. He must be doing something."
"That is true, your Father would sneak into Dauntless. He would meet with Dauntless members."
"Wait, I am so confused. Why would he meet Dauntless members?"
"May I look at your knees, while I answer your question?" He will not distract me.
"You may look at my knees after you answer my questions." I decide to compromise.
"You drive a hard bargain Prior, but I accept."
"There is that sarcasm again."
"I cannot help it. You push me to it." Four says with a very charming smile, but it quickly fades away as he looks at the waterfall. "Your Father, and sometimes your Mother, would sneak into Dauntless to meet with members because many of them were suffering from anxiety and trauma." This goes back to the anonymous reports we received, but I don't want to interrupt Four now. "They would counsel them,make sure they would be ok. A few were so bad they rather be factionless. Your mother would help them. Others were suicidal. Andrew would talk them out of it. Your parents were helping Dauntless members. I am not surprised by this. My parents are truly selfless people, risking their lives to help others. It's who they are. I truly admire it.
I wonder what part Four plays. "How do you know all this?"
"I helped Natalie and Andrew sneak into Dauntless by looping video footage. It is the best I could do while I am still here. "I am surprised by his answer, not because he helped my parents, but because he sounds like he wants to leave.
"Do you not want to be here?"
"There are days I want to leave, become factionless, but I train the Dauntless members. If I leave, it would get worse."
"Would they hurt the initiates?" I am assuming Max and Eric.
"I don't know." I give him a look like I don't believe him. He tries to explain himself, "Some days, I have to work in the control room, since I am the manager. Those days Eric or Max would take over training. We have cameras throughout the compound for security purposes. Every time training starts; magically our cameras malfunction. I never see what happens when they train people."
"The initiates never tell you anything?"
"No, they do not. We have trust issues here in Dauntless." Maybe because Four has a scary, intimidating face that is also handsome when he smiles.
"Maybe you should smile more," I suggest, giving him a genuine smile of my own.
"I will have to take that into consideration." I sit quietly for a few minutes thinking about what he has told me. Four kneels back down in front of me and begins to look at my knee. I roll up my pants for him, and he clean up the blood with a first aid kit he hid in his pocket.
Thinking about what Four told me, if Max and Eric create a dangerous environment on day 1, maybe that carries throughout Dauntless. People are probably constantly competitive and aggressive to each other, which creates a hostile place to live. This would cause some members to digress, become factionless; even kill themselves. Dauntless has the worst failure rate out of all the factions, but the excuse has always been they have the tougher training process. I can see why my Father would want a law that would allow factions to interact with each other. This would allow Dauntless members to get the help they need from Abnegation, and the other factions would learn how ruthless the Dauntless system is. The law is not enough though.
I am not here to change Dauntless. I am here to make the relationship with the factions better and try to clear up some complaints I received. Now, I have to change the way I talk to Max because I was originally going to bring up the anonymous complaints without hesitation. Max can't be trusted. I could put some people in danger. I am a little stuck at what to do now.
"It is so stupid Dauntless members couldn't seek help from an Abnegation counselor in the city."
"It was forbidden to see another faction member. Even when your father changed that, it was still considered cowardice to see a counselor. The most important thing people have here is their pride." I still think it is stupid. They risk their mental health because they had their pride to protect? I don't understand Dauntless. I see Christina and her friends happy and free. That is the Dauntless I expected. But hearing about all the problems shows I don't know enough about Dauntless. Maybe Four trained Christina and her friends. He could have a bigger impact than he thinks he does. I already can tell he is going to be a trusted ally.
I keep thinking about Erudite and how they are involved. Erudite and Dauntless Councils are constantly in sync with their decision making. They agree on everything, and I don't understand why they wouldn't be of service. "Dauntless seems to not have a problem with Erudite. How come they wouldn't seek help there?"
"A few would. My mentor, Amar did. He struggled staying here after he witnessed his boyfriend die."
"How did he die?"
"He was pushed in front of train. No one knows why and no one could figure out who did it because-"
"The cameras malfunction." I decide to interrupt, knowing how he was going to finish his sentence. "What is the point of having cameras, if they always break?"
"To control people." That is a scary thought. Considering I always act a little differently when photographers are around, I understand what he is saying.
"Anyways, what happened to Amar?" Four finished cleaning up my wounds, and roll my pants leg down. I am trying to have him not distract me with his touch by focusing on the pain. That is a harsh way of handling the situation. Maybe I understand the Dauntless more then I think.
He moves away from me, leaning against the cave wall, carefully looking at the water falling. I am starting to fear the worst. "Amar went to see a medical doctor one day, and never came back."
"He disappeared?"
"Yes. He did. People here do not trust going to Erudite." I start to think how Charlie's, the factionless boy, parents disappeared. It is not like we have an uncontrollable amount of people, but we are obviously not recording incidents of people disappearing. People assume it is because they become factionless to avoid failure but that is obviously not true.
So we have people going missing, and I have no clue how to deal with all this. I rest my head in my hands completely lost as to what to do. "This is only Day 1, and I have to deal with all this already?"
"Welcome to Dauntless." Four says. I am not amused.
"I am serious. How am I supposed to handle all this?"
Four turns to me and said, "You walked in here verbally kicking Eric's ass."
"That was easy. Eric is insecure and feels the need to put down others to feel better."
"That sums up the Dauntless Council." I breathe a bitter sigh. That gives me hope that maybe I can make some changes for good, but I will have to be careful.
I stand up and make a declaration, "You are going to help me." He looks surprised at my statement. "What? You think you were going to get out of this now after cleaning my knee?" He looks down and does that charming half smirk again. Focus. "I will be meeting with a lot of people every day, and I will need to decipher how to handle the information I get. We should meet here every night to discuss my day, let's say at midnight." I am not leaving room to say no, but he is standing in front of me thinking about whether he wants to be a part of my plan. I try to convince him, "You are obviously in too deep. Don't back out now."
"Fine." He finally relents. "But only if you do what I say and protect yourself, and not go guns a blazing at every meeting. You make yourself a target."
"I will do my best."
"I also need you to answer a few questions of mine?"
He has a questions for me? I am curious. "Ok, but first, answer me one more question?"
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. Why do you keep telling people to curtsey in front of me?"
He gives me another handsome smirk that lightens up the mood, "I know a few of the customs of Abnegation and I thought it would be funny if some Dauntless messed them up."
"So I should expect more to come?" He nod his head yes. I am now smiling right back at him. I don't dare ask how he knows customs of Abnegation. I don't want this to get awkward.
"Now my turn. Did you know where Max's office was?"
"No clue."
"So what if Eric hadn't called your bluff?"
"I would of walked around this entire compound until I found Max." Of course.
Now he is the one sighing. "You are relentless."
"I will take that as a compliment." Four gives me a curious look, but I continue to smirk.
I am glad I met Four. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship….I mean friendship. Friendship of course.
A/N: Tell me what you think. This is just the beginning of Dauntless week.