The sunrise came uncomfortably too soon the next morning; I dragged myself out of bed feeling just as tired as I did on our very first morning in the compound.
Mitch sprung up beside me and startled most of the drowsiness away.
"Morning Amy-Doll" He looked normal, his grin was just as infectious and genuine as ever.
"Hey, feeling better?" I lower my voice.
He nods. "Everything's peachy. The first days gotta be the hardest, right?"
He gives my shoulder a squeeze before he bounds over to Nellies bunk.
Dressed and ready for another day, I make my way down towards the Pit. There's the usual amount of chaos; leaders striding purposely through the halls, the zombie-like staggering from the younger Dauntless who would have been up all night and the fresh-faced initiates walking quickly to breakfast.
I was just passing the middle of the Pit when I hear my name being called.
I sighed, preparing myself for some early morning, Eric rudeness; but when I turned around it was Harley's broad grin that met me.
"HI!" I gushed with relief.
"Good morning beautiful" he puts his arm around me.
"Coming down for breakfast?" I ask, relishing the warmth of his arm over my shoulder.
"No, I've got an early client" He checks his watch from where his wrist sits around my neck, "And he'll be due any minute. Just thought I'd catch you as you went by"
His crooked smile makes me feel almost giddy and I can't help but lean closer and kiss him lightly on the lips.
When I pull away again, the new flush in his cheeks intensifies the tones in his greeny-golden eyes.
"Uh… umm…I was wondering, tonight; do you have any plans?" He asks shyly.
"Not at all"
"Well, there's a lunar eclipse tonight and they're kinda cool; so I was thinking we head up to the roof? I'll find out what Arch was serving us at the bar the other night and see if I can get a bottle of that? Blankets? That kind of thing?" his words melt together nervously and it's adorable.
"I'd love to" I grin at him.
"It's only at like ten-ish so I promise to get you into bed straight after"
I laugh at his choice of words and he instantly blushes more and tries to amend himself.
"Your bed I mean, the dormitory; I'll walk you there"
I laugh again, "Sounds perfect"
A booming voice comes from across the Pit.
"H!"
We turn to see Li leaning from the tattoo parlours doors.
"Come on Romeo!"
"Oh god" Harley sighs.
"You gonna come do some work or what?"
Li's loud voice had attracted more than enough attention.
"Sorry" he laughed awkwardly, "But great! I'll catch up with you at dinner yeah? Save me a seat"
"HARLEY!"
Harley mutters a curse and kisses me swiftly on the lips.
'Good luck today too!" He calls back over his shoulder as he makes his way towards the shop.
After breakfast, I'm the first one to arrive at our training room and I take a seat by the door to the simulation area.
It's a few moments before I hear more footsteps enter the room behind me.
"Right at the front Amy, are you just keen or simply sucking up to Four?"
It was Jarrod's voice, I turn to him blankly.
"Maybe she just didn't want to have to look at you on her way in! Ha!" It was Mitch, loping in right behind him.
It earns a scowl from Jarrod but my friend just pulls a silly face back at him and drops himself down onto the bench beside me.
"Good morning initiates" Four strides into the room and is straight onto unlocking the simulation door.
"Amy, you're with me. Everyone else, just sit quietly" he nods in my direction and I follow him into the room.
I don't know if I feel less or more intimidated at the sight of the chair than I did yesterday.
"Take a seat and get comfortable" Four orders as he brings the computer monitor to life.
I lower myself into the chair and take a few deep breaths while I wait.
Like yesterday, Four hooks me up with the wires and turns to me with the loaded syringe gun.
"Now just like yesterday Amy. I'll let you move on to your next fear just so you can start catching up with the others"
He holds the needle to my neck and I turn my chin to expose my throat.
"Now remember, heart rate; the simulations can't hurt you, just try to push past the fear. Are you ready?"
I nod stiffly and feel the now familiar sting. The ceiling above me fades to black.
I wake with a start in the darkness, only dull beams of light from a high windows breaking up the black; I pull myself into a seated position and I realize I'm in my bunk in the dormitory.
I strain my ears to listen but there's nothing but silence, looking around I can't make out any other figures in the bunks around me; the room is empty.
The only sound is my own breathing; I sit for a few moments just to assess the situation but just when I'm about to shift my legs over the side of the mattress, I hear a thud behind me.
I spin around just in time to see a figure throw themself onto my chest, strong hands encircle my throat.
I let out a gasp as the hands push my head back into the pillow, the weight on my chest grew heavier.
I clawed at the arms uselessly, the figure shifts into a strand of light and my struggle intensifies when I see its Jarrod. The menacing sneer on his face as his fingers dug deeper into my throat.
"Little bitch! How dare you rank above me?!"
I tried to wiggle out from underneath him but Jarrod's solid body made it impossible.
The tightness on my neck started to become sharper, stinging my skin; gasping, I look back up to Jarrod confused but as he moves back into the light.
But it's not Jarrod anymore; it's Erin, her pale face contorted into a vicious snarl. The sharpness at my neck must have been her fingernails.
"If I kill you right here, I can take your spot!"
A renewed sense of desperation overcomes me and I started to struggle harder, my eyes were starting to hurt and my mind was getting fuzzy.
I swung a pathetic fist upwards where I made contact with Erin's chin; she let out an almost catlike growl and leaned away from the light again.
I was coming up with my next plan to attack when the weight on my chest got heavier, the grip on my throat became more painful than ever and now I even struggled to let out a sound.
I tried to roll Erin off of me but this time her response was a very masculine sounding groan.
My heart almost stopped at the familiarity of it but that was nothing compared to how it felt when Mitch's face shifted into the light. His blonde hair ragged and his easy-going smile twisted into a deadly sneer.
"You don't belong here, Amy! You're nothing!"
I let out a panicked sob as I tried to pry his hands off of my throat; I buy myself a second of air.
"Why are you doing this?" I choke and Mitch glares at me.
"You don't deserve to be here! You were never Dauntless! You have to go!"
I can feel myself starting to slip out of consciousness so with the last of my energy I grab for the front of Mitch's shirt, dragging him down towards me.
Before he can react I smash my forehead against his nose and mouth; I hear the familiar sound of a nasal bone shattering and he lets out a bellow like an animal, throwing his head back and loosening his grip on my throat.
I take a second to gulp down as much air as I could before I turn back to him. Mitch is kneeling on the end of my bed, gripping his nose to stem the flow of glimmering red. The murderous look in his eyes remained as he sets to lunge at me again; this time I'm too quick for him, determined to have the advantage this time, I throw myself at him and knock him from the edge of the bed.
He crumples to the floor and before I can even think, I'm on him; hitting him again and again, resolute to survive.
I hit him until the beams of light from the ceiling windows faded away, until someone was shaking me awake.
"Amy! You can wake up now" It was Four, less concern on his face than there had been yesterday.
"How did I go?" I mumble, forcing myself to sit up, I ran my hand over my unscathed throat to convince myself it wasn't real.
"Much better; you did take your time, but I think you've figured out how you'll manage the simulations."
"But it was Mitch…"
"I know, and that's always a difficult element with the simulations. You'll actually find that's where most of the initiates struggle; up against loved ones, friends"
Fours voice takes on a saddened tone and he turns toward me, his brown eyes illuminated bright in the fluorescent lighting.
"But you did great. You challenged your fears head first, that's a very Dauntless strategy"
He smiles a little bit and I feel a wave of relief; I hadn't failed.
"You're free to go; tell Cole I'll see him now"
Later that afternoon, Mitch and I were milling around waiting for Nellie to finish her landscape.
"How did you go today?" I ask him; I expected the weary look to return to his face but instead he smiled.
"Better, this one was different, no family or friends in sight; I handled it much easier"
I had to laugh.
"You were in mine today"
He looks at me perplexed.
"Well, you, Jarrod and Erin"
"No good can come out of that combination" he laughs nervously.
"You tried to kill me" I laughed.
"What!? Oh Amy-Doll I'm sorry! It wasn't even really me and I feel bad!" He did indeed look guilty.
"Don't be" I tease, "I killed you first anyway!"
"What?! How could you do that! I'm insulted!" Mitch scoffs.
"It wasn't even really you, remember?" I grin.
He narrows his eyes at me before grinning back.
I went to the cafeteria early that evening to get us a table and to wait for Harley; but after a while the place had started to fill up and there was still no sign of him.
I'd already eaten and I was just about to get up and head down to the shop just in case he was working overtime, when Mitch walks into the hall with a determined look on his face; he spots me amongst the crowded tables and makes a beeline toward me.
"Hey, what's u-"
"Have you heard about H?" he asks.
I'm confused.
"Yeah, he's supposed to meet me here like half an hour ago?"
"He's in the infirmary" Mitch says quietly.
I rise to my feet.
"What happened?!"
"I don't know, Li didn't tell me the whole story; apparently he got beat pretty bad"
The words were hardly out of his mouth before I dashed past him and out of the dining hall.