Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent.
Tobias, Year 2143
I thought I knew what nervousness was, the day I went up against Sean in the arena. But I'm just getting reintroduced to it. The rankings are about to be posted, and it's slowly dawning on me that winning against Jason, might not have been enough. Sweat soaks my palms and fingertips. I rub my hands on the thighs of my pants.
"So as I was saying, your rankings were determined by a combination of factors," Amar explains to us. "After the first round of fights, you got ranked by pure skill. We wanted to give you room to adjust and improve. So, during the next three rounds, I switched your ranks accordingly. If your technique got a whole lot better, or you beat a higher-ranking opponent, I gave you a boost. You lost points if you were defeated by somebody on the lower end of the spectrum."
His eyes go to Jason and hang there. I can't decide if that's a compliment to me, or not. Good, because I beat the best person in my class, or bad, because before that, I was barely a contender.
"One last thing. So, as you all know, you're required to attain a minimum score before you can get ahead. Your scores aren't gonna be on this list. Only Lauren and I know them, and we're gonna pass them on to the leaders tomorrow. They'll be announcing the cuts, if there are any. But that's not your problem, not yet, anyway. So without further ado, here are the rankings."
Amar takes the sheet of paper in his hands and pins it to the board. Once he moves away, every initiate in the room crowds around it, myself included.
1. KWAN, ERIC J.
2. DEVEREAUX, JASON M.
3. EVERDEEN, THOMAS P.
4. KURIYAMA, MIA F.
5. ACKERMAN, SEAN B.
6. NIELSEN, AMY K.
Third place. I'm in third place. Despite losing to Sean in the beginning, and conceding a fight to Mia. I'm just one tier below Jason, and Eric's on top. And Mia looks to be safe. Things turned out better than expected.
I peek across the room at Eric, and then at Mia. Both of them have little grins on their faces. Then, all of a sudden, the silence is broken.
"Hey, what the fuck!" Jason bellows, his eyes widening with indignance. "What the fuck, man!" He points at Eric. "I beat him, remember? I put him in the hospital, for two whole fuckin' days!"
Eric smiles a little, and shrugs, as if he's saying, What're you gonna do about it? I find myself smirking.
Amar responds to Jason. "Devereaux, if you want to stay on top, I'd suggest you not punch someone in the face seventeen times."
That's the final straw. Absolutely every other initiate in the room, busts up laughing, out of nowhere. Jason makes a disgusted sound, then he beats a hasty retreat. He's gone in seconds. I should probably be on the lookout for his retaliation, but right now I don't care.
Amar pays him no mind. "Congratulations, initiates. You all did really well. Especially you, Nose." He gestures to Eric, with pride. "You exceeded expectations."
Everything becomes a flurry of activity after that. Initiates telling each other "good job", commending each other by slapping hands, patting each other's backs. Mia unexpectedly crushes me in a hug. And then Eric's right beside me. "Third place, Toby. You showed those Candor fuckers." He flashes me a grin.
"So did you. Let's go out, you and me, and Mia," I suggest. "Grab a table at the Flame Pit for dinner." The three of us race down the hall, away from the training room. My heart pounds with ecstasy.
Before we get to the restaurant, we bump into a group of Dauntless-born initiates. From the looks of it, their ranks were good. They're in the middle of a celebration, and at least half of them are drunk. Among those who aren't, are Zeke and Shauna. Both are holding shot glasses.
"Hey, Thomas! What's up?" Shauna calls out. She waves to me.
"Doing great," I tell her. "I'm in third place, my friend's first, and his girlfriend's fourth. We're gonna celebrate with dinner at the steakhouse."
"Oh, cool!" Zeke shouts, above the din. Then something seems to occur to him. "Wait, listen. Your group and ours, what if we link up? Reserve tables next to each other?"
"That's a nice idea," Mia agrees, peering sideways at Eric.
I wait for him to chime in, to say yes, he wants Zeke and Shauna to join us. But clearly he's got a different scheme in mind. He glances at Zeke. "Thanks, but no, thanks. My brother here isn't gonna say it, but he'd rather hang out with you guys alone."
It's my turn to stare wide-eyed. "Uh… what?"
Eric gives me a look, and indicates Shauna with his head. I get it. "Okay. If you'd rather eat out without the life of the party, that's fine by me." Far from a true statement, me being the "life of the party", but whatever works.
"Come on," another one of the Dauntless-born initiates says. He's teetering on his feet, his eyes glazed over with intoxication. "Let's… go clubbing!"
Zeke, Shauna, and their friends erupt into excited cheers. I take my place among them. And soon, Eric and Mia have separated from us. I see the two closing the distance between them, their hands almost touching. Eric was trying to set me up with Shauna, but I know who's more likely to get between the sheets tonight.
It's been five minutes. Eric's sitting on the edge of his bed in the dormitory, alone. Willing the butterflies in his stomach to go away.
He and his girlfriend had just reached the steakhouse in the Pit, when Mia slung an arm around him and whispered softly in his ear, "So. You and me, in my bed. After everybody's asleep. You up for that?"
Such a tiny request shouldn't have taken him aback, but it did. After staring at her in shock for several seconds, he forced a reply, something about not wanting to move "too fast". At the earliest opportunity, he excused himself from their table and made his way back to the vacant dorm.
Shit, what do I do? I can't screw this up. She's the one, I know she is.
This is only his third relationship, and already he's thinking back to his previous failures. Mary Kay, the woman from Abnegation who started an affair with him, and ended up leaving him. Haley, his ex from Candor, who just couldn't deal with someone so moody, nor someone with an irrational fear of intimacy.
Eric sucks in a breath between his teeth. Just what is he so nervous about? He'll return to his place at the table, and his date with Mia will work out fine. And after that, he'll say "yes" to Mia's itsy-bitsy request, without even thinking about it.
He pushes the door to the dormitory open, and enters the dark hallway. Dragging his feet, he heads toward the chaos of the Pit.
Suddenly, he stops. Did someone just call my name?
"Eric." There it is again. A woman emerges into the circle of blue light, created by one of the lamps hanging overhead. Eric's heart skips a beat, then he sees that it's Jeanine Matthews.
"Your friend told me you were alone here. Why aren't you celebrating with your friends? You did so well," Jeanine compliments Eric. She smiles. "Number one in your class. I'll have to tell my colleagues they were wrong about you."
Pride swells inside Eric. "Thank you. I - I wouldn't have come out on top without you."
"How sweet," Jeanine coos. "And thank you. I'm so lucky to know someone as gracious as you." She comes a little closer, until she's just inches away from Eric's face. "Would you like a little parting gift? Something to mark your… transition, into your new faction."
"Uh, yes, of course," Eric says. "That's really thoughtful of you, Ms. Matthews."
"Oh, yes, I know." Jeanine passes a glossy blue card to Eric. "Here it is. The thing that'll grant you lifetime access to Erudite headquarters. You can come at any time, it doesn't matter. If you're ever overwhelmed and you don't want the stigma of being a mental patient, you can speak with me, privately."
"Thank you so much, Ms. Matthews." Eric pockets the card.
"You're welcome," says Jeanine. "Oh, there's something else you should know. The passcode to get into my office, it's E2127. Capital letter E, no spaces. You'll remember that?"
Eric nods. Jeanine smiles again.
"Perfect. I hope to see you in the near future," she says. Her arms embrace Eric tightly. "My little boy, a Dauntless warrior. Who'd have guessed?"
Eric tells her farewell, then he leaves for the Pit, knowing in his heart that if Jeanine's proud of him, then he made all the right decisions.
AN: Kinda creepy, isn't it, how Jeanine always knows where to find Eric. Next up, another flashback, one featuring little Eric, Maggie, and Jeanine.