Where the hell am I? I'm definitely not in my room. And who the hell is next to me? As I slowly inch my way out of the bed, I start to remember what I'm doing here. I seem to have gone home with Jaya last night after a couple of drinks. I get dressed and head right for the door.
"Leaving already?" Dammit, she's awake. I was hoping to get out of here.
"Yeah. Leadership stuff." Not exactly a lie. I do have to show the new initiates where they'll sleep later.
"Don't you want to stay for breakfast?"
"No, I'm good." I head out and over to my apartment. I'm over halfway there when I see Max. Why's he even up this early? He motions for me to join him, so I run over.
"I was looking for you at your apartment," he says.
"I was out."
"To be young," he says with a laugh, "Just be careful." I just nod and laugh along a bit. If this is all it is, I'd rather get to my apartment and my bed.
"Anyway, I wanted to talk with you about the Choosing Ceremony," he says, "I had some business come up and need you to watch in my place." There goes sleeping for the rest of the day.
"Sure," I say with a grin, "Anything else?"
"Well, you'll also be welcoming the initiates," he says, "And if you could find Four for me, that would be great." Him again? Every damn year, he tries to get his golden boy Four.
"Will do." I pass by and head into my apartment and flop onto the bed. I'll get some sleep while I can. A couple hours I wake up and roll out. I jump into the shower, grab some food from the hall, and head over to the table with Drake, Tiffany, and Vince.
"Heard you got drafted for the welcome wagon," Drake says.
"I'm more interested in why Max had to track you down," Vince says, "Who's bed did you warm this time?"
"Jaya," I say indifferently. She's not new, so it doesn't exactly create a ripple.
"I don't know how you do it," Tiffany says, "But one day it's going to bite you in the ass."
"I think it already has once," Drake says, "Isn't that what that crazy chick did?" I laugh as I recall Simone; I don't know if she thought she was being sexy or thought she was a dog, but she was definitely a biter.
"Not my ass, but yes," I say, still laughing. Tiffany just rolls her eyes.
"I worry about you, you know." She seems to think of herself as an older sister to me.
"I'm fine," I say, "Haven't had anything happen to me yet."
"Just find a girl for yourself," she says with frustration, "Not one of those bar flies you're always with. You know, someone who's actually decent."
"Like you?" She smacks the back of my head.
"You're a few years too early," she says as she leaves.
"One day she just might kill you out of frustration," Drake says as he laughs and gets up.
"No, I know how much to push," I say as I get up, too and head for the tracks. I'm not the only one, many Dauntless are lining up, mostly parents, to take the train over to the Hub. I dodge my way around when I see Tris.
"Stiff!" She turns with a look of frustration. She really is too easy
"Where's your pet?" If she's here I'm sure Four's around here somewhere.
"First, it is Six. Second, who are you referring to?" I can't help but admire the bit of fire she got in her eyes since her initiation. Even Stiffs can find a little fire, I guess.
"Four. Where is he?" She has her jaw clenched and I wonder if maybe today will be the day she tries to hit me. I've been wondering exactly how far I can push with her.
"Not here," she says, "He has Control Room duty." She turns on her heel and leaves. I guess today won't be the day. And I'll have to find Four later; dinner it is. I jump on the train with everyone else and head over to the Hub. I take a moment to watch the small dots of color as they all converge in the same location. They come from all directions, swarming like ants to their hill. They become larger as we come closer until it's time to jump.
I head into the Hub and up the elevator like everyone else. Forget going up steps; there's no fun in that. Being near the front, I end up in an elevator with almost all Erudites. It's so weird being surrounded by the people that I used to belong to. With all of them around me, I find myself subconsciously giving into their mannerisms; standing with my hands behind my back, chin tilted up slightly, I'm even about to adjust glasses that don't exist when I catch myself. I have to focus; I relax my posture and throw on a reckless smile. I'm glad I was in the back where no one could catch my slip.
In the Hub, I seat myself towards the back of the Dauntless section. I'll want to be one of the first people out and onto the train if I'm going to be there to welcome the initiates to the beginning of their hell. I wait as the room slowly fills with people and the buzz of conversation. All around, there are parents giving their children hugs with tears in their eye; I think I'll vomit. The only thing that matters are the factions themselves; no one should be swayed by tears. Soon the room is full and Johanna Reyes walks to the front of the room and attention is called, but I don't bother to listen in. This speech is aimed at the dependents and their parents. It's the last minute encouragement and threat; choose your path and hope you made the right choice. If you didn't, you'll be factionless. It doesn't take her very long, thankfully. Despite being an Amity, Johanna doesn't waste her air. I watch as the first kid walks up, a boy from Candor. He cuts his hand and raises it over the coals of my faction. Based on the tears in his eyes, this kid isn't going to pass initiation; I'll ensure it if he's going to cry over a damn cut. A cheer rises from our section and he walks to the back. A few more go and they're all predictable; they each choose their own faction except for an Amity who chose Abnegation. Not much of a scandal there; they're practically the same in principle. Then I hear a cheer from my faction, but that can't be. The last person called was an Amity girl; a hippie chose Dauntless? Sure enough, a raven haired Amity is walking up the steps to the back of our section. She's already got a Dauntless air to her; she just might make it. More go and I'm no longer paying attention again. But I can't help but notice the next one. It's a girl, but that isn't what catches my attention; what does is her fiery hair. For a moment I think it's a trick of the light; that no one's hair could be so…captivating. But as she moves, it just becomes more fascinating, the light rippling off of it in a way that makes it appear almost alive. I look at the rest of her and notice she's an Erudite; a pretty one at that. Most of the ones I knew in my class were thin and bookish, but she's curvy with an air of intellect. She walks down and I can't help but thank whatever random assortment of genes made her. Then I catch myself, this girl isn't exactly available to me and given the way she carries herself, she's probably going to pick Erudite. But even with that thought I still find myself watching her as she takes the knife and slices her palm. I'm sure she's going to place it straight out in front of her, but she doesn't; she moves it left and over the coals. She's Dauntless. I don't bother to pay attention to the rest of the ceremony. I just wait for it to finally finish.
The minute it's over, I dash for the exit; I have to be there ahead of everyone else. I end up the first person on the train, so I stay by the door and help everyone else get on. I'm going to be one of the first ones off. No point in going further into the cart. I see the roof I haven't been on in three years and jump off. This time, I land on my feet instead of my ass like I did the first time. I wait on the ledge and watch as the others get off. The first ones are the Dauntless born of course and every single one makes it. I didn't expect any less of them; they've been jumping off the train since they could walk. After that, the transfers start to come off, but my view of them is blocked by the crowd of Dauntless born. It seems to be going fine until a girl jumps and dangles from the edge of the roof. I only caught a glimpse of her blue dress; I don't know if it's the red head from earlier or another one. I go forward, but the girl drops; nothing can be done now and she was the last one.
"Enough gawking!" I shout. There's no point in having them stare. Accidents happen in Dauntless often; they'll have to learn to get over it fast. Now, time to scare the shit out of them.
"My name is Eric and I'm one of the leaders of your new faction! Many stories below us is the entrance to the Dauntless compound. If you can't jump, you don't belong in Dauntless. So, who's fir-" But I'm cut off by a feminine voice in the crowd.
"I'll jump," it says. I look for the source of the voice to find that it's the redhead from earlier. I find myself breathing a sigh of relief to find that she wasn't the one who fell before I even realize what I'm doing.
"No questions or anything," I say with a smirk. I was sure the first volunteer would be one of the Dauntless born. And even then, I was sure it would be preceded by the usual questions and looks of fear.
"I'll jump," she says, "There has to be something down there. You wouldn't just send us all to our deaths; that would be illogical." She finishes her statement with a smile. So, she thought her way out of it. Like me, I can't help but think. She's definitely an Erudite.
"An Erudite smartass, huh," I say, "Nice, big…brains" Now that I have a good look of her, I can fully appreciate just how curvy she really is. I haven't seen very many girls with a chest like that and I can't help but admire it. She moves her head down so I'm looking at her face instead.
"I do what I can," she says and I finally have a good view of her eyes. They're a bright green like emeralds, but behind them, I feel like I can see the gears in her head at work. But there's something else there, too…fire.
I move out of the way and she heads over to the ledge. Before she gets on, though, she stops and looks at her skirt. What, is she having a fashion crisis right now? Even if she is, what exactly can she do about it? As if in answer, she starts to pull of her skirt and I have no idea what she's doing. Is she insane?
"What are you doing!" I hear catcalls and whistles behind me and I can't help but notice that it bothers me. It takes me a moment to realize what I'm feeling: jealousy.
"I don't want it to get caught and I have shorts on underneath," she says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Before I realize it, I'm blushing a bit. I always used to blush when I was corrected in school and I can't believe she brought it out again.
"Well, hurry up. We don't have all day." She smiles, but doesn't move towards the ledge.
"One last thing," she says as she removes her glasses, "Faction before blood." She smiles, drops them on the ground, and stomps on them. I can't help but admire her and her nerve. Dauntless for less than an hour and already acting like one of us. I don't know what else is going on in my mind now, I can only think of one thing: her. I don't know how, but she's been drawing me in. She's the one I want. Before I know it, I realize I've been staring. I hope she writes it off as awe or something.
"Faction before blood," I say with a smile and she finally steps onto the ledge. She spreads out her arms, closes her eyes, and lets herself fall backwards. I can't help but think she looks beautiful as she disappears below.
A/N: Here's the first of the two bonus chapters! Hope they live up to expectations. The second will come later. I got delayed while writing a Spark A Flame Chapter