"Come on Mina," said Tammi coming up and pulling her into a run. Dio and Ace broke out into a run after them.

"Let's go," called out Four as everyone else started to run and hop on the train.

I got in after Ryan, Austin, and Noah. Immediately I turned to see if Blossom got on. I saw a hand reach out to pull her in. I looked down the car and saw that it was Tasha. Tasha gave her a smile and then Blossom made her way down to Beth.

"She really is pretty," I mumbled staring at Tasha.

"She is," responded Noah. I didn't think anyone heard me. "But if it's any consolation, you are way more beautiful." He put on a huge smile.

"Stop trying to flirt, baby brother," said Zeke coming around and putting Noah in a headlock. He and Noah almost started wrestling. Zeke being taller was able to get more of a hold on Noah.

"Hey it's the first jumper!" I turned to see a familiar looking face coming by Zeke and Noah.

"Hi," I paused and thought for a while. "Shauna. Hec's sister."

"That I am. Heard you beat up Scott and Austin."

"It was a beautiful submits," Lauren agreed. "This girl has got some guts, even for an Amity born."

"Good," said Six. "Guts are what we need tonight."

There were really a lot of Dauntless members here and they seemed ready and prepared for whatever it is we were about to do.

"What exactly are we doing?"

"Alright listen up," called Four. "For those of you who don't know, transfers, this is Dauntless tradition. The game is called Capture the Flag."

"I heard about this game," said Mina with excitement grasping onto my arm. "I always wanted to play but of course, no one ever plays games like this in Erudite."

"We're always full of fun games here," Noah told her.

"Really little brother, that was weak," Zeke teased.

"Where do you think he got it from," Shauna nudged Zeke as he turned to try and kiss her.

"Courtesy of our friends at Erudite," announced Eric as he pulled out a couple duffle bags which got our attention. Opening one he pulled out a gun. "This is going to be our weapons for tonight."

He titled his head at Four as if to ask a question. In response Four just put on a quick smile. Eric pulled the trigger and something shot out at Don. Don fell down immediately and gripped his leg. A lot of us transfers got scared.

"Do you always need to shoot a Candor born," complained a dark-skinned girl.

"The rest were never your friends, so I don't know why you're complaining," said Eric as he walked over to Don and pulled out the dart. I looked over at Noah who seemed to be in shock also.

"You guys did know about this right?"

"We were always told that it was a paintball gun," Noah answered me.

"This is a neurostim dart. It stings like a bitch doesn't it," Eric asked Don who nodded his head and groaned. "It mimics the pain of a real bullet. Don't worry it only will last for a couple minutes."

Eric slowly stood up, glaring at each one of us. I would say it's hard to believe he shot an initiate but considering he made me climb down the Chasm earlier, this seems so typical of him now.

"Team captains," Eric started then turned to look at Four who raised an eyebrow. There always seemed to be some sort of silent argument between the two of them.

"Eric and I will be team captains," Four stated as he looked away. "Did you want to go first?" Eric motioned for Four to choose. "We'll go through the transfers first."

Four scanned the crowd and then put on a mischievous smile as his eyes landed on me.

"Ana."

Eric's head quickly whipped to look at me and then back at Four. His fist tightened on his gun, like he wanted to shoot Four.

"Your turn," Fur turned to Eric and smiled.

There was another reason why Eric called me to his office. Another reason other than punishment and it had something to do with that tender moment we shared in his office. That's what Four them were talking about in the control room. For some odd reason, Eric wanted to be near me. He was going to choose me for the game tonight and Four knew it.

"Ace," Eric called out giving me one last glance. I walked over to Four's side of the train as Ace walked to Eric's side and waited for him to call the rest of our teammates.

They were nearing the end when I heard Four say "Blossom".

Blossom came by me and smiled. Mina was on our team also. After the last person was selected, Eric started to go through the Dauntless born. When the members were getting chosen on teams I noticed that Blaze and a few other heavy hitters were on Eric's team. Blossom said that she looked frightened at first but I assured her that we would be okay as long as we shoot them first.

"I got off first last year, so you can take your team off," Eric stated.

Four motioned for us to follow as whoever was on his team quickly jumped off the train. He waited until everyone gathered around him and pulled out a bright yellow shining flag from his jacket.

"Alright, initiates, what do you think we should do first," asked Four.

"Split into two," said Ryan.

"One group go and look for them," said Mina.

"The other to stay here," said Paul.

"So what split up in half," asked Don. We continued to walk.

"Wait, why don't we just hide the flag up there," I said pointing to this tall round circular object.

"On top of the Ferris wheel," said Six smiling as she looked up. That's what it is called? I turned to Mina who started to inform me of what this place used to be.

"You don't remember that in history class," Mina asked as I shook my head.

"So who's going up there," Blossom asked Six.

She turned to Four, both of them exchanging a smile before she took the flag. "Four and I will go and hide it up there."

"No one will think to climb up there, especially if Four and Six are shooting at them," suggested Uriah. "Good thinking Ana."

"Now everyone else should hunt down Eric's team," said Shauna.

"We should put at least two or four more shooters down here on the ground, just to help pick off anybody else," informed Will. Four nodded.

"I'll volunteer," said Paul.

"Good," agreed Four. "We'll have Don positioned here along with Uriah. Watch the two of them down here. We don't want a repeat of last year," Four said to Uriah, who nodded. "Zeke and Will split the rest of the group into two and search for Eric."

I ended up with Zeke's group. As we split up I heard Shauna mention that we should split up into even smaller groups and cover the rooftops of the buildings. Within ten minutes come back and regroup. I ended up with Tasha and Blossom. We climbed up onto a roof and hurried along it quietly.

"Is that them," Blossom said pointing across to another building.

They hid the flag in building right across from the one we were on. Immediately we heard shouts coming from inside the building. We quickly got into formation with Tasha at point. A flare was thrown onto the roof.

"They spotted us, too," screamed Tasha as we all rolled onto the ground and out of the way.

"Shoot them," someone yelled as shots were fired our way.

"We should regroup with the others," I yelled to Tasha over the shots. She quickly grabbed the flare and threw it back in their direction.

"And then bring them back here," Tasha said nodding as we counted to three and bolted off the ground and took off running towards the other ledge. We all stopped dead in our tracks when Victor and Dillon climbed up.

"Ana," Dillon smiled and brought his gun up.

"Down," I shouted.

Blossom and I immediately fell down to the ground, missing their darts but letting off a shot into Dillon and Victor's direction. They both ducked and in their moment of distraction, I stood up and shot Dillon right in his thigh. He rolled over on the ground. Blossom stood up and shot Victor in the arm.

"Good shots," said Tasha and then started back towards the edge. As we ran pass, Blossom let another shot go off on Victor. She started to giggle at his cries of pain. I looked at her.

"I couldn't help it," she said smiling as we ran back to regroup. Zeke, Shauna, and Hec were heading our way.

"They're in that building right there," Tasha told them as Will's half of the team came around.

"Alright Will," said Zeke making a motion with his two fingers. Will nodded and took three people to the left and motioned for the rest of his group to go right. "They're going to distract them, while we sneak you girls in."

"What a way to insult Eric. He won't be happy that we allowed one of the girls to get it," said Shauna.

"Who wants the flag," asked Hec smiling.

"I think Blossom should get it," I said. She smiled and nodded.

"Alright, let's head out," Zeke said as we followed behind him.

We walked around the crossfire that Will's team caused with Eric's. I saw some of the bullets breaking against the wall. There were so much flares going up in the air as glass shattered here and there around us. Zeke reminded us to keep quiet. Slowly, Will's team was being picked off one by one. Eric positioned their defenses well. Our team was falling. Zeke motioned for us to go ahead, as he and Shauna stayed back. I turned to look, Peter spotted us.

"Go, go, go," shouted Zeke. We hurried as he and Shauna held Peter and Emmett at bay.

"There it is," said Tasha. A flare was thrown over the crate we were hiding behind and immediately Blossom and I jumped over to our left, separating us from Hec and Tasha.

"Go for it," yelled Hec. "We'll cover you."

Blossom and I bolted out from the crate and ran quickly over to the stairs. The flag was hanging over a tall round stack, probably used for boiling chemicals or something. There was a small bridge from one side to the other. It was going to be hard to keep your balance without falling into the stack. Some of the stairs were old, rusty, and broken as Blossom and I started to run on them.

"They're going to get the flag," screamed Tammi.

I saw Eric, Blaze, and X rush back to the ladder and started to climb up the stack.

"Hurry, Blossom," I screamed as we both ran faster up the stairs and across the way to the stack. A shot came my way. We both ducked down and shot back. None of our shots were hitting them. They would quickly hide or dodge them.

"Of course he would put the big guns back here to defend the flag," stated Blossom. Another few shots came our way.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," called Blaze.

"Come on, Ana and Blossom," yelled X. More shots went off our way. "We'll go easy on you if you surrender."

"The flag isn't far," said Blossom. "We just need to get up those stairs. If only there was another way to hold them off." I looked around and couldn't find anything. Another shot went off above my head. Wait, what else is above? I looked up.

"Up there," I pointed to the glass ceiling.

Blossom nodded. Without thinking that I would need shots for later, I emptied out my gun on the glass as it poured down on Eric, Blaze, and X. That would temporarily slow them down.

"Let's go," I screamed back at Blossom. Blaze and X appeared in front of us by the time we reached the stack. I lifted my gun to shoot but there was nothing left.

"Get down, Ana," Blossom shouted.

I moved just in time for her to shoot two darts into Blaze who fell back. She shot one into X as I did a sweep kick, making him fall to the level below.

"Go, Blossom!"

She climbed the stack. Right when I grabbed the handle bar to follow her, a shot went off by my hand. I turned to see Eric holding a gun out at me. I forgot he was guarding the flag with Blaze and X. I put up my hands in surrender as he pulled the trigger. I jumped a little only to realize that nothing came out. He looked at the gun and clicked it a couple times. He pulled out the cartridge.

"Shit!" He ran out of darts too.

He looked at me and then at Blossom and started to climb the other ladder after her. I ran full speed towards him knocking him off the ladder.

I got up quickly to see that he did already. He put on a smirk and went into a fighting stance. Eric looked ready to rip my head off. I put my hands up as he bounced around. He faked to his left and the movement was so quick, that I let my guard down and he threw a punch to my face. I fell back on the ground. I pulled myself around the railing, stepped up and kicked his face. He didn't have time to react to that, that he fell to the next level. I jumped down after him.

I did not anticipate that Eric would get up that quickly again. The second I landed, he did a kick into my stomach. Damn, it almost knocked the wind out of me.

"Eric," someone yelled. "The flag!"

Eric looked up and so did I. The bridge across the stack was small, yet Blossom was almost there. I didn't have to win this fight. I just had to hold Eric off for a little while longer.

I threw myself at him one more time as we rolled around and wrestled for a position on top. Eric got me on my back. I wrapped my legs around his waist. I was going to try to flip us back over. But it wasn't until he landed a slap, that I fell back down. Another swift kick to my stomach as I turned over, gripping myself. I knew I was going to bruise in the morning. His arms and kicks were strong. Stronger than anyone I came across in class. He grabbed the collar of my shirt and moved his hand back to slap me again. I moved my face, making him hit the railing behind me. I took the missed slap as an opportunity.

I wrapped my legs around him again and pulled myself around his back. I gripped his arm that he tried to slap me with and pulled it behind his back and pushing him down into the ground. He groaned and then flipped over so that this time he was facing me. Again he tried to get me off, pushing my face back and moving his leg to kick me, but I persisted. I threw everything I had to pin myself to his upper body, using one leg to keep one of his hands down. Come on Blossom, I thought. His muscles tightened as he struggled against my grip.

"Got it," Blossom screamed. I heard a few cheers. I looked up to see her waving the flag.

"Dammit! Not again," I heard Eric mumbled under me. I looked back down at Eric and without thinking which the case is often, I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Don't give up, Eric. There's always next year," I said as he stared at me.

I pulled back and then tried to climb off, only to have his hand pull my face back to him as he pressed our lips together this time. His lips were rough and the kiss was fierce. He wrapped his arm around my back, pulling me closer on top of him. Eric's hand ran through my hair as he kissed me harder. This was so much more different than kissing Cain.

I realized what was happening and pulled away quickly. I stood up, trying to read his expression as he sat up to look at me. Was he going to kill me for that? Just then feet jumped down behind me. I turned and threw myself into a hug.

"We did it!"

"No," I said pulling away. "You did it!" We turned to our team and raised the flag cheers erupted throughout the building. I looked over to see Eric had disappeared.

"Let me see that," Hec said smiling as we got down to the bottom floor. "That was a neat idea to shoot the ceiling, Ana," he said as he handed it to Shauna and pulled me into a hug. "Even cooler was when I saw you take out Blaze," he continued as he ran over to hug Blossom.

"Excellent job," said Tasha giving me a high five.

"Thanks."

For some reason I no longer was upset that Cain chose her over me. I glanced around looking for Eric. That kiss with him was probably what helped me forget about Cain. I touched my lips and still felt the sensation of his rough lips on mine. It meant nothing, Ana, I thought as we exited the building. I watched as the rest of our team passed the flag around, everyone getting a chance to touch it, hold it, and proclaim our victory. When we got back to the tracks, Four and Six came by.

"Heard you got the flag," said Four.

"Blossom did actually."

"They said that you held Eric off. That is what gave Blossom the chance to get the flag," added Six.

"Yeah but the credit should go to Blossom. She was even more calculated with her shots. I wouldn't have had to fight Eric off if I didn't run out of darts. Blossom kept hers intact."

Four gave a look to Six and she nodded. Six pulled me on the side. "Ana I need to talk to you about getting a tattoo," she said almost in a whisper.

"Getting a tattoo," I looked at her confused.

"Yes, perhaps you should stop by tomorrow."

I agreed with her. Six smiled and then went back to Four to help load the guns back into the duffle. Beyond them, Eric's figure stood, staring me down. He didn't look angry yet at the same time neither did he look happy. I looked away and walked quickly over to where the rest of my team was. I rubbed my side, feeling a slight sting where Eric had kicked me.

I looked back at Blossom to see her talking to X but noticed Peter staring them down. She had done really well and I couldn't help but feel proud of her and how far she came along. I was talking to Mina and the Dauntless born about tonight's game when I had noticed Eric was staring at me again.

"Train," yelled Four.

We ran after the train. Peter got in the car before me and turned back to offer me a hand. Pain shot through the right side of my body and went down my leg as I tried to jump on, so I gladly took it. I thanked him and slumped down next to Mina. I turned to see Blossom still talking to X and let a small smile play on my face remembering what she told me about not having any guys look at her in Candor. She had one guy looking at her now.

"Get a good night sleep," Uriah yelled.

"You all still have training tomorrow morning," said Lauren. The Dauntless born started to complain about how last year's class didn't get to have training the next morning. "Dauntless born, you know why they didn't train the next day," Lauren yelled which made them quiet. "Now shut up and go to bed!"

As we walked back to our rooms, Peter and Eric were standing outside the doorway. Eric was staring at me the whole time. I couldn't tell if he was mad but I was scared. It was when he was quiet that frightened me more. Why can't he just yell at me now?

"Did everyone make it back," Uriah said jogging up to Peter and Eric.

"Yeah, everyone looks okay, too," answered Peter.

"Thank God it didn't happen again," Uriah said letting out a sigh of relief. I seriously would have to ask what happened with last year's class.

It seemed like only ten minutes of sleep went by until Four started making noise, forcing us to get up.

"Let's go initiates. It's your last week of stage one!"

We had been moving extra slow today. Probably because we didn't really get any sleep from the night before. My stomach was tender where I got kicked and I winced as I got dressed. It took us four minutes instead of the usual two to get to the training room. For our tardiness, Eric made us run laps and then do push-ups. Right when the push-ups were done, he had us run laps again. After just four laps around the training room, Eric reluctantly called us to stop and come over. When we got there I almost ended up vomiting. Why did my stomach feel like it was turning?

"Alright class," Four began. "Here are the pairings for your last fight."

My eyes caught the board and immediately I sighed. Why did I always get a Dauntless born who was friends with me? I hung my head down as Hec came by me.

"Don't worry, you can straddle me all you want during the fight," he said smiling.

"First fight, Hec and Ana," called out Eric. He looked at me, almost let a smile play, and then quickly dropped back to his stone cold expression. At least that was something, I thought. We walked up and bumped fists and then went back to our stance.

Hec threw two punches, which I dodge. Another attempt at me and I got inside and did an uppercut to his jaw.

"Alright Ana," cheered Beth.

Hec looked at Beth who shrugged and winked at him. He smiled and shook his head and then turned back to me. Two more punches, which I blocked, only to get a jab to my stomach.

"Ah," I let out a blood-curdling scream. Why the hell did that hurt so much? I grabbed my stomach and coughed up blood.

"Whoa, whoa," said Hec putting up his arms. "I swear I didn't even punch her that hard."

I got on my knees, griping my stomach tighter and coughed up more blood. My head started to spin.

"Ana," Four called and walked onto the mat.

"I'm fine! Just give me a..." I started to gag. Air was slipping away from me.

"Ana," Hec screamed crouching down by me and rubbing my back.

My vision started to blur as I saw three other figures join Hec and Four on the mat. It happened so quickly, but I closed my eyes and fell down completely on the mat, drowning out the voices around me.

Slowly voices started to come back into the darkness that was filled in my head. I blinked couples times at the bright light shining through.

"She's alive," screamed Noah happily. I groaned and tried to roll over, only to wince at the pain.

"Where am I?"

"You're in Candor," answered Emmett.

"What," I immediately got up to see everyone laughing.

"Oh come on, it wouldn't be that bad," said Don who had a couple bruises on his face but still managed to smile.

"Seriously, where am I," I looked to Mina.

"You're in the infirmary," she answered.

Mina had some swelling under her right eye, but she still shined brilliantly as ever. Maybe it was because Ryan was standing right beside her. A lot of them had bruises or scratches. Wait, the fights were today. I let out a groan in frustration and threw myself back on the bed.

"I lost, didn't I?" Some of them started to laugh.

"Technically yes," answered Blossom. "Hec did throw the knockout punch as they're labeling it."

"Hey," said Hec coming to stand closer to me. "You are still going to be somewhere in the top. Besides I didn't hit you that hard. OW!"

Just then Marlene appeared and had hit Hec in the back of the head. "I hope you didn't. This looks really tough," she said as she held up a scanned picture of the inside of my stomach. "This right here is the abdominal aorta."

"The abdominal what-a," I asked as the Erudite born who were there started to laugh.

"The abdominal aorta," Dio repeated. "It's the largest artery in your abdomen area," he said motioning towards his stomach.

"Artery," I said. "So it's a blood vessel? It pumps blood throughout my body," I asked turning to Marlene.

"Yes. More importantly if there's any rupture to this artery, the damage is life-threatening." She turned and gave a look to Hec.

"I didn't even punch her that hard." Hec turned to Beth and Tammi who stared him down. "I swear I barely even touched her!"

"The way it looks from the scan, something happened before Hec and Ana's fight," said Marlene.

"Told you," said Hec as Scott and the rest of the guys still stared at him.

"Ana, is this an injury from your previous fight?"

I didn't get a chance to answer her. Eric, Four, and Lauren appeared and told everyone to exit. Everyone said bye and I got a few hugs, even Clarissa who didn't look too good managed to give me a hug.

"What's the diagnosis," asked Four, once everyone left.

"This artery here," Marlene handed the scan to Four and Lauren. Eric just stood there staring at me. I looked away and back to Marlene. "It was not necessarily inflamed but there was damage done to slow the down the blood flow. It simply stressed out and shut down. Her body could have gone numb. Her breathing could have been paralyzed."

"My breathing," I questioned.

"This artery runs from here," Marlene said pointing below my stomach and then ran her finger up to my chest. "To here. Your Erudite friend was correct in telling you it's the largest artery. The blood flow moves oxygen through your body and because little or close to no blood was running through her," she turned to Lauren.

"Her breathing faltered. Is that what caused her to black out," asked Lauren.

"Hec's punch woke up the artery. The sudden movement sent the artery into overdrive, sending out the blood rapidly, causing her body to go into shock like it did. Everything seems normal and her body's blood flow has adjusted itself to regularity. She's alright for now."

"So I can go back to training?"

"No," all of them said at once.

"For one thing the fighting stage is over as of today. We're going to have rankings up after tomorrow," announced Four.

"After tomorrow," I questioned.

"Visiting day is tomorrow," added Eric.

"Were there going to be any cuts," I thought suddenly grief-stricken.

"Not until we post rankings," said Four.

Where was Blossom standing? I ran through my head to see if I could remember who she had to fight against. No such luck. She was already in the red but not totally in the bottom. She did well during Capture the Flag last night. Thinking about the game I remembered something and turned to Eric who still looked expressionless. He kicked my stomach twice last night when he was trying to defend the flag. That's the something that caused damage to my stomach artery. He must have picked up on my thoughts because he cleared his throat and asked everyone to leave.

"Can I speak to Ana alone," he asked in a monotone.

Marlene stepped out of the area and Lauren went to walk out of the infirmary. Four just stood there, staring Eric down with a raised eyebrow.

"You're excused Four," Eric's tone turned harsh as he stared Four back. I never saw so much tension between the two. After a couple minutes, I decided to speak up.

"Four, can you tell Six I probably can't get my tattoo until tomorrow morning?"

Four turned to me, still looking angry. "What did you need to tell Six?"

"About getting a tattoo," I said as he calmed down a bit.

"You were supposed to go today," he asked still keeping his statuesque poise.

"Yes but I would have to see her for it tomorrow instead. Can you tell her, since I'm not in the best shape right now?"

Four simply nodded and gave one last glare at Eric and then left. Eric turned to face me and he picked up the silent stare down battle he was holding with Four. Except this time it was with me. To see his gaze like that made me remember something else about last night. Eric and I kissed. And it wasn't just any sort of kiss either. I remember thinking he was going to punish me or yell at me about it but he never did. I hated all these stares and decided that I should ask him about it now.

"So," I said clearing my throat and looking away. "Am I in trouble?"

"What exactly would you be in trouble for?" I looked at him but saw nothing. Did he forget about the kiss?

"Last night," I tried to remind him. His face still looked blank. "After my team won, I..."

"You what," Eric questioned interrupting me.

Was it that bad? I didn't think I was that bad. Perhaps Cain and Beth were lying to me about that too. Here Eric was not even remembering our encounter like I didn't matter. I looked at him one more time and the look on his face said it all. I didn't matter. I was a no one.

"Nothing," I shook my head. "You needed to talk to me?"

"I wanted to apologize," he said without looking at me. He what? "I know that you would have been able to finish your fight successfully if I hadn't wounded you last night. I may have gone overboard with the defensive fight we got into." He turned back to me. I nodded my head and looked away.

Why did you think he would bring up the kiss, Ana? You're nothing to him. That moment in his office, he was just putting on an act and you fell for it! And that thought that he and Four were silently arguing about whose team you would be on, you can squash that thought too. Eric probably only wanted you on his team because I was a good shot. I had fallen yet again for another boy thinking that he wanted me. I had misread so many signs. Wait, there weren't any signs. Come on Ana! Wake up. I almost started to break down right there.

"You may have been released to go but you should rest for now. I'll send someone to get you in a couple hours," Eric said and left.

There I laid down thinking about my life. I always hated the happiness and comfort of having companionship in Amity. It annoyed me when they talked about their constant caring about someone else. I thought people were delusional, thinking all you needed was fondness in your life. But here I was. I had gotten played by Cain, the nicest, sweetest guy. Then that brief moment in Eric's office, made me desire him in ways that obviously I couldn't. I wanted all those things that I hated in Amity. I wanted someone to just treat with care and compassion but there would be no one.

"It's like I'm still in Amity," I whispered to myself as I closed my eyes. "I'm still so alone."

A couple tears fell down my cheek. I rolled over. The pain from my stomach was gone but a new pain broke through me. I had never hurt so much before in my life.

I slept for a couple hours only to be wakened up gently by Scott.

"You need help getting up?"

"No, I got it," I mumbled

"Ana, are you alright?"

"I just had a life-threatening punch thrown my way, what do you think, Scott!" He took a couple steps back and looked away. "I'm sorry. I just..." Don't do it, Ana. But I did. I ended up crying.

"Ana," Scott pulled me into a hug and ran his hand soothingly up and down my back. I continued to sob as I gripped his shirt. "Sh, it's okay, Ana. Whatever happened, it's going to be okay." After a couple minutes, I finally stopped crying, but Scott continued to hold me.

"Thanks Scott," I mumbled in his shirt. He pulled away and ran his hand down my cheek.

"Everything is going to be okay," he whispered as he took my hand and led me outside.

"Where are we going," I asked.

"The Pit," he smiled. "Noah wants to celebrate your near death experience," Scott teased as I started to laugh.

"Noah is a clown isn't he?"

"Yeah," Scott smiled. "But I like him. We've been friends forever, growing up here in the Compound. Hec, Noah, and I," he shook his head. "We all have older siblings who made a name for themselves in some way or another and we bonded over that."

"That's nice. I like the three of you guys too," I nudged him as he started to chuckle. "I grew up with six brothers, so having you three, Emmett and even Ace around is really nice. I'm glad I became friends with you all."

"Is it true," Scott asked.

"Of course it's true. I like that we're friends."

"What if one of us liked you in other way," Scott questioned. "Say that one of us thinks that you're a real down to earth person and wants to get to know you differently."

I glanced down at our hands that were still interlocked.

"Like you," I whispered. He paused and looked at me.

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps? You don't sound so certain," I threw a smirk at him as he smiled and looked down.

"I'm certain of my feelings," he said turning to me looking suddenly serious. "However, I know that you're still hurting from Cain."

"It was a hard pill for me to swallow," I said looking away. Scott ran his hand down my cheek. "Not telling me about his girlfriend was the same thing as lying to me. Then he made me believe that they broke up. Either he made me or part of me just wanted to believe him because I wanted a boy smiling at me and holding my hand," I played with Scott's hand that was in mine. "I don't know what took me so long to realize that he was lying the entire time. I had been in denial until the day before he left."

"The day before he left?"

"Remember when he asked to see me," I asked as Scott nodded. "I didn't go. Someone told me that I was his girl on the side," I said almost wanting to cry. "And I probably was going to be. He's still with Tasha and he never ended it with her. I had found out that he and Tasha were going out for a couple years. That covers the time that he met me in Amity. He had been lying to me since then. Yet I swooned over him like I was easy prey. All of that made me feel so insignificant. Then I realized in the infirmary that that's exactly what I am, insignificant."

"You're not insignificant. You shouldn't let what one guy did to you, bring you down."

It wasn't just one guy, though.

"I know. Eventually, I know I'll move on. I'll get stronger. But until then it doesn't mean that any of it hurts," I said thinking that even Eric forgot about our damn kiss!

"It's because of that, that I don't want to try to make a move on you," Scott said gently. "To me none of whatever feelings you return to me, would be real. And I wouldn't want to be someone's second choice anyways. Even though I find you to be almost everything I want in a girl, I know right now you look at me as a brother. For now I am totally okay with that and I'll be here for you regardless."

"Thank you, Scott," I said as I hugged him again. "Scott?"

"Hm," he hummed.

"What do you mean almost everything you want in a girl?" He started to chuckle. I pulled away to see him smiling. "I'm just curious."

Scott leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead. "You're just a little bit too short," he replied causing me to punch his arm. He started to laugh and took my hand again and led me to the Pit where everyone else was.

"I'm so happy to see you," Mina said running towards me trying to hold back tears and dusting off whatever dirt, which there was none, off of my shirt. I sat down next to Noah and Scott sat on the other side as we watched Ryan and Chase wrestle each other. Hec was telling Don what moves they were using and how he could improve.

"So, Blaze came looking for you," said Tammi winking at me.

"Word is quite a few guys are looking for you," Beth teased.

I turned to Scott.

"They noticed that you hang out a lot with Hec, Noah, Emmet, and I. Some Dauntless members began asking if you were seeing anybody," Scott explained. "Cain was going to claim you as his side chick. But since word is that you told him no, Blaze is trying to get you too."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not interested in Blaze," I said loudly turning to Tammi and Beth.

"I know," Beth smiled. "It's my brother. You two will work things out when he comes back in two weeks. Then he'll finally break up with Tasha and end his…"

"No, Beth," I shook my head. "I'm no longer interested in being used or lied to either. And just so that everyone knows," I said louder. "I want a serious relationship not some friends with benefits package," I stared at Beth. "Or a side chick deal," I smiled at Scott who started to chuckle. "If these boys that you say are interested in me are truly interested in me, then they should behave like a proper gentleman and only choose to be with me. Other than that I am not ready."

"You're revamping your promise," Mina smiled.

"I realized in the infirmary that I want a relationship," I told her honestly. "If something happens before initiation is done," I turned to Scott.

"Then it happens," he finished for me with a small smile.

"But the relationship needs to be real," I said turning to Beth who raised both of her hands in surrender. Then a playful smile came onto her face.

"You're going to be like Tammi, aren't you and wait until after initiation to have sex?" I glared at her.

"It's not just about sex Beth," I responded. "I think with all these other boys that's what it is. But I want something meaningful."

"Ana just wants someone to respect her," Tammi interjected. "I understand that and we should respect someone's wishes."

"Yeah, says the two virgins," Beth teased.