I awoke the next morning to the sound of quiet humming. I knew instantly that it was Talulah, and that she was in a good mood.

I poked my head out from under the sheets to see that she was tying her boots up, smiling away whilst humming. She was in a very good mood.

"Someone's happy..." I said, trying to cover my grin with the sheets.

She looked up at me and grinned, and I thought that she was going to burst. "I had such a good night, Jac!"

I rolled my eyes jokingly. "Spare me the gory details." I pushed the sheets back and sat up. "What happened?"

She sat up properly and held her arm out to me. "Well, look at the bracelet Nathan got me!"

I looked down at the small silver bracelet that was wrapped delicately around her small wrist. It had two small charms hanging on it, one red, and one black and white.

"He said that the colours of the charm represent us, and where we come from."

I smiled. "That's so cute!"

"I know!" She squealed. "Did you know that Lu had given him her keys for the night? We had such a good time! He gave me this, then we sat and talked and cuddled for a bit, then he asked me to be his girlfriend..."

I pretended to be surprised and let out an excited gasp. "What did you say?"

"Yes, of course!"

I let out a girly squeal and grinned. "Then what happened?"

"You wanted me to spare the gory details..." She pursed her lips, trying to smother a smile.

My jaw dropped open and then I grinned again. "You guys..."

She nodded.

"No way!" I cried.

She threw her head back and let out an excited giggle.

"Oh my gosh!" I laughed. "You dirty little..."

She giggled again.

I shuffled off of the bed and grabbed some clothes out from the small compartment underneath it. "How many times?" I asked. When it came to sex I only knew what I'd heard from other people, and read about, but I figured it was enough to have a conversation about it with her.

"Twice." She answered, still smiling away.

"Was it good?"

"It was great."

I laughed and searched for my shoes "I'm really happy for you, Tee."

"Thank you." She smiled at me.

"Oh, you ranked third by the way... Nathan was first!"

"Really?" She cried. "Oh this day is just getting better and better!"

I laughed again. "You're a lucky girl."

"Aren't I just?"

After everyone had finished eating their breakfast, Four stood up and paused between the two tables that all of the initiates were sat on.

"Transfers, we're doing something different today. Follow me."

We all got to our feet and followed him as he led us out of the dining hall and along the path that surrounded the Pit. Talulah and Nathan walked directly behind him, their fingers interlocked, as Freddie and I dawdled along just behind them, and James trailed along at the back silently. Sometimes I felt incredibly guilty that James was so alone, but he always had that look on his face that made you stay away. He was the type of person that you feared would eye strike you just for saying hello.

We walked higher and higher, going further up than I've ever been before. I looked up to find that we were getting closer and closer to the glass ceiling, then noticed how pale Talulah had gone. She didn't particularly enjoy heights.

Four led us up a flight of stairs that disappeared into a hole in the ceiling, and once we reached the top, I realised that the surface we would be walking across was the glass ceiling.

We go through another door, and beyond it is a huge, dark space with graffitied walls and exposed pipes. The room is lit by a series of old-fashioned fluorescent tubes with plastic covers that looked incredibly ancient.

Four paused in the centre of the room. "This is a different kind of simulation known as the fear landscape. It has been disabled for our purposes, so this isn't what it will be like the next time you see it."

'Dauntless' is spray-painted in a red artistic scrawl on the wall behind him.

"Through your simulations," he continued. "we have stored data about your worst fears. The fear landscape accesses that data and presents you with a series of virtual obstacles. Some of the obstacles will be fears you previously faced in your simulations however some may be new fears. The difference is that you are aware in the fear landscape, that it is a simulation, so you will have all your wits about you as you go through it."

I raised an eyebrow. That seemed interesting.

"The number of fears you have in your land scape varies according to how many you have. I told you before that the third stage of initiation focuses on mental preparation, that is because it requires you to control both your emotions and your body-to combine the physical abilities you learned in stage one with the emotional mastery you learned in stage two."

I took a deep breath, taking in all of the information. I wondered how many fears I would have?

"Next week you will go through your fear landscape as quickly as possible in front of a panel of Dauntless leaders." Four stated. "That will be your final test, which determines your ranking for stage three. Just as stage two of initiation is weighted more heavily than stage one, stage three is weighted heaviest of all. Understood?"

We all nodded. Talulah looked slightly overwhelmed, and I glanced back at James to see his solemn face just staring at the floor.

Getting a good score on this, would help my job opportunities when I became a proper Dauntless member. The thought of initiation being nearly over made me excited and disappointed at the same time. It would all change again once it was over.

"You can get past each obstacle in one of two ways. Either you find a way to calm down enough that the simulation registers a normal, steady heartbeat, or you find a way to face your fear, which can force the simulation to move on. One way to face a fear of drowning is to swim deeper, for example." Four shrugged. "So I suggest that you take the next week to consider your fears and develop strategies to face them."

"So some people could have something like seven fears and another could have fifteen?" Freddie questioned.

Four nodded. "Yeah."

"Won't that affect our rankings? What if someone gets tired after the first ten and struggles with the last few?" He quizzed.

"If they want to pass, they won't." Four answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

After dinner that evening, I headed up to the control room to find Calvin. I'd never been there before, and I'd got a little lost, eventually having to ask a Dauntless member for directions. I'd found it soon after that, and knocked on the door.

Four opened it. "Yes Jac?"

It was like he knew that I was coming. I tried to hide my confusion and spoke. "Is Calvin here?"

He looked over his shoulder, then nodded. "You shouldn't really be bothering him at work, you know." He held open the door, and gestured for me to go in.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." I said as I slipped under his arm and walked into the room. As soon as I spotted all of the computer screens, I realised that Four had been expecting me, and would've seen me on one of the computer screens. They monitored the entire compound, Lu had told me that yesterday.

"Good." Four let the door swing shut, then called out for the blonde man that I was looking for. "Calvin, it's a guest for you!"

I heard the rolling of wheels on the floor, then looked up to see Calvin appear from behind a wall. He was sat on one of those chairs that wheeled around, and I felt slightly jealous. I'd always found those chairs fun.

"Oh, Jac!" Calvin reached into his pocket and I heard the jangling of keys. He threw them at me, and I quickly caught them. "There you go. I finish at seven, so if you're not done until after then, you'll have to bring them to the tattoo place because Tori's filling in my back for me."

I nodded. "Okay. I shouldn't be too long, I'm just going to do what she asked then I'll bring them back."

"Who's keys are those?" Four questioned.

"Lu's." Calvin answered.

"You're giving an initiate the keys to someone else's apartment? They're not even supposed to be up there yet!"

Calvin shrugged. "Lu trusts her, I trust her... It's not my apartment that would get trashed anyway."

Four rolled his eyes. "We're going to be keeping an eye on you." He told me, gesturing to the computer screen.

"I'm only going to tidy up for her, then I'm out."

"Since when did you become her slave?"

"It's not called slavery, it's called having a heart and helping out a friend." I replied, grinning at him.

Calvin chuckled. "Get out of here, let us work!"

"Okay, okay!" I walked in the direction of the door. "See you later!"

Cleaning Lu's apartment was fairly easy. I found some products in her kitchen cupboard to use, and gave most things a wipe down, before working on the bathroom. I stripped her bed, then searched around for some clean sheets and struggled to put them on. For some reason, her mattress was ridiculously heavy.

By the time I was done, I was actually sweating and slightly out of breath. I'd have said that I was there for about two hours. I made sure to put the cleaning products away, and switch off any appliances, before leaving and locking the door behind me.

As I pulled the key out, a voice startled me.

"What are you doing in Lu's apartment?"

I span around and pressed my back against the door, looking up at the person that had startled me.

"You need to stop doing that!" I breathed, moving a hand up to brush my hair out of my face.

"Sorry." Eric smirked. "You didn't answer my question."

"Lu asked me to change her bedsheets whilst she was away. I need to get the keys back to Calvin soon."

"Why would she want you to do that?" He frowned.

I shrugged. "Don't ask me." I lied. I knew exactly why. It just wasn't a good idea to tell him.

"Right..." He mumbled, looking slightly suspicious.

I half-heartedly smiled at him, then turned to pull the key out of the door. Unfortunately, it wouldn't come out. I tugged on it a few times, irritated.

I heard Eric sigh behind me, then felt his hand on my waist. He moved me out of the way, then lifted the door handle and twisted the key a few times before pulling it out.

My cheeks flushed as heat rushed to them. How embarrassing. I couldn't even lock a door successfully.

He held the keys out to me. "You were doing it wrong."

I nodded. "Yeah, I see that now." I mumbled.

He smirked again. "So, you ranked second. Are you happy?"

"Second so far." I shrugged. "Talulah's not far behind me."

"She won't beat you." He stated after rolling his eyes.

"And you know that do you?"

"No. But I've got a pretty good feeling."

"Hm." I hummed, and pushed the keys into my pocket.

"Trust me. You're good. Quite fast for someone who has to face fear twice in a row."

"It's not easy that's for sure." I mumbled. "I've definitely calmed down with the needles though, I think I'm starting to realise that being pinned down on a regular basis isn't particularly enjoyable."

"Ah, well, now that depends on what situation you're in." He smirked and I felt my cheeks flush again. Did he really just say that? He silently chuckled at my blush, then changed the subject. "Have you eaten today?"

"Yeah." I smiled.

"Good." He replied, but I thought I saw a hint of disappointment on his face. No you didn't Jacquetta. Stop being stupid.

"Thanks again though, for the other day."

"No problem."

I rolled up onto my toes, then back onto the heels of my feet. A strange feeling inside of me wanted him to ask me to stay, yet another told me that was stupid and I should just say goodbye and leave.

"What are you doing tonight then?"

I almost frowned at his question, wondering why he was interested, then I realised that it was keeping me here longer. "I have no idea. I've got a feeling that Talulah and Nathan will disappear together and I'll be left with Freddie again."

"Sounds like fun." He muttered sarcastically.

I hesitated for a fraction of a second before uttering my reply. "Well if you can suggest something better.."

He looked unsure of what to say for a second, before finally nodding his head. "Alright."

I looked up at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You transferred from Erudite. You like to read?"

I nodded. "Yeah..."

"Come with me then." He tilted his head in the direction of the stairs.

I hesitated for a second, mentally debating with myself whether it would be a good idea to go or not. Finally, I came to a decision. "Lead the way."

He took me down past the Pit, through to the accommodation, then all the way up to the hole in the ground that I had jumped down on my first day. We walked straight past it, and down into a dark hallway that I'd barely paid attention to before. A few moments later, we approached a hole in the wall and my jaw dropped as we reached the other side.

In front of me was dozens of dark wooden shelves, full of books. There was only three rows, but it was more than enough for me.

"Dauntless has a library?!"

He nodded. "Not many people come up here. I don't even think some people know that it exists."

My wide eyes explored the room. "They're all stupid then."

He smirked. "You didn't know it was here..."

"Yeah, because I'm new."

He chuckled quietly. "You're like a child in a playground."

"I feel like one..."

"Go and take a look." He said.

"Can I take one?"

He nodded. "You just have to tell Gina that you're taking it." He nodded in the direction of a middle aged woman sat behind a desk in the corner, her head in a book.

I grinned and dashed off into the row in front of me. I reached out and let my fingertips brush against the spines of the books as I read their titles.

It felt like forever since I last read a book, and I was eager to read another.

I pulled out a few of them, reading the back before pushing it back into it's space and continuing my search. So far I'd not found anything interesting, so I walked around into the next row.

Here, I found Eric looking at a few books on one of the higher shelves.

I headed over to his side, and looked up at the shelf that he was scrutinising. It was then that a book caught my eye.

Peter Pan.

It was a fiction book that I'd read as a child, and I'd loved it. The thought of the lost boys and the little fairy made a small smile tug at the side of my lips.

Eric noticed this, and looked at me before looking back up at the shelf. "What book is taking your fancy?"

"Peter Pan." I answered.

He reached up and pulled it down, looking at the cover. "Isn't this a children's book?"

I shrugged. "I guess I'm a child at heart."

He slowly nodded. "So you want to take this one?"

"Yeah.. please."

He gestured towards Gina's desk and we slowly approached it.

"Hello Eric." Gina looked up at him and smiled, then looked at me. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met."

I shook my head.

"Gina, this is Jac. She's one of the new transfers."

Gina slowly nodded. "I see. An Erudite transfer I take it?"

"What gave it away?" I joked.

She smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Jac. Are you taking that book?"

"Yeah." Eric answered.

"I want it back sometime this month. You still owe me a few from a while back."

Eric nodded. "Yes ma'am." He grinned.

Gina looked like she wanted to swat him on the head with a book. "Get out of here!"

He chuckled and put a hand on my back, leading me towards the door. "Bye Gina."

"Goodbye Eric, hope to see you again soon Jac."

Eric removed his hand from my back and handed me the book as we walked back down the dark hallway. A smile was still present on my face as I felt the hard material of the book in my hands.

"You two seem to get on well." I commented on his and Gina's relationship.

"Yeah. She's decent." He replied, taking a side wards glance at me.

"She seems it." I nodded, then looked down at the book. "Have you ever read this?"

He shook his head. "Nope, never."

I frowned. "Your childhood was never complete!"

A small smirk appeared on his lips. "You're a little nerd." Was he being serious, or just teasing me?

I frowned again. "You just took me to a library, I think I'm allowed to be a geek for a while."

He chuckled, then spoke again. "Come back to mine."

"Why?" My heart raced, and I was unsure why.

"It'll be quieter, easier to read."

I nodded. He didn't need to tell me twice. "Okay."

We arrived back at his, and the first thing that I did was curl up in the corner of the couch and open the book. Eric headed into the kitchen and made us both a drink, before joining me on the couch.

"Shuffle over a bit." He ordered, and I shifted over a little, wondering why he didn't just sit at the other end.

He slid in beside me, his arm rested on the couch behind me, his body basically pressed to mine. I didn't comment on this, but I felt my cheeks flush a little at the proximity. Did he realise what he was doing?

I tried to ignore it, and continued to read from where I'd gotten to before he interrupted me. I was still on the first page, and I noticed that he had started to read over my shoulder.

"You know, if you wanted to read it, you could just have it right now. I can wait a few days." I told him.

He shook his head.

"But I'm ahead of you, so it'll be complicated when it comes to turning pages." I complained.

He sighed, and I felt his warm breath on my neck. "Read it to me then."

"What?"

"You heard."

I frowned for a second, then sighed and started to read it aloud. "All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this..."

I continued to read for a little while longer, managing to get through a few chapters before I needed to stop.

"Eric, can you pass me my drink?" I questioned and he groaned, before dragging himself away from me, off of the couch and towards the coffee table. He grabbed a cup and handed it to me before grabbing his own.

I sniffed it, realising that it wasn't water. "What is this?"

"Gin." He replied.

I raised an eyebrow. Alcohol?

"What? Have you never had it before?"

"Well, no.."

"Of course." He rolled his eyes. "Don't just stare at it. Try it."

I lifted the cup up to my lips and sipped from it. It had a very piney and biting taste, and as I swallowed my chest felt warm. Surprisingly though, I liked it.

"Do you drink this often?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Every now and again."

"It's got a very distinctive taste..."

He nodded. "Most people mix it with something, but I prefer it straight."

I looked back down at the cup and took another sip. "It's nice..."

I watched as he downed the contents of his cup, then put it on the table. "Carry on?" He gestured towards the book.

I sipped the drink once more, then passed him my cup. He placed it beside his as I got myself comfortable and picked up the book again, my legs stretched out in front of me.

I found where we were and started to read again. After a few minutes, Eric scooped up my legs and shuffled backwards, then laid my legs over his lap. I continued to read, glancing up every now and again to see him staring at me as I recited the book.

After a while, I'd started to feel a little tired and a yawn escaped my lips halfway through reading a sentence.

"Are you tired?" Eric asked.

"A little..."

He looked disappointed. "You can go if you want to."

I shook my head. "I can't. I know that you're enjoying the book, so I'd feel bad taking it."

"Don't worry about it."

I shook my head again, another yawn escaping my mouth. "How about you read it out for a bit, and I'll listen."

He considered it for a second, then held his hand out for the book. "I want that seat though."

I rolled my eyes and swung my legs around so that my feet were placed on the floor. I heard Eric move behind me, then as I went to stand up his hands found my waist and pulled me backwards.

"There's room for two of us."

I looked down at the small gap that he wanted me to fit into and slowly nodded. We'd be pressed up against each other again...

I lifted my legs up and shuffled downwards, so that my back was against his chest and my head was rested against the arm of the chair. One of his arms was just above my head on the couch, and the other he gently placed over my side so that the book was just in front of me.

"Where did we get to?" He questioned, and my fingers softly slid across the page at the point I had stopped at.

He started to read it out loud, his warm breath on the back of my neck. I tried to concentrate on reading the words as he spoke them, but my eyes began to feel heavy and continuously fluttered shut, no matter how many times I opened them again.

The last thing I heard before I sunk into unconsciousness was Eric's deep voice.