A/N Here's the third chapter. Honestly, I couldn't find any motivation sooner. There's been no response from any of you guys so far, and that's a bit depressing frankly.
However... I've written this story for myself and I decided I will follow through with publishing for MYSELF too :-) Doesn't mean that any feedback is still very welcome!
For those who do read it: I hope you enjoy and thanks! X Jess
Chapter 3
~ Eric's POV ~
"Come on, let's head back." Eric sighed tiredly, rubbing his hand over his face while he waited for the other male to follow. Troy Johnson locked the door to the gigantic Dauntless garage behind his back, before joining Eric. Both men were in their uniforms. But whereas Eric's hair was perfectly styled, Troy's dark blond curls were in a wild mess on his head. The ungodly hour didn't have anything to do with it though. Eric never left his apartment without looking impeccable. Troy couldn't really be bothered. It was a trait that annoyed Eric to no end, but his friend had been that way since they met during initiation.
Wordlessly, the men walked back from the garage towards the center of the compound. Eric was rundown. As the leader on duty, he'd been called out of bed in the middle of the night because of an attack on one of the patrol squads. When he arrived to the control room, he'd learned it was Troy's squad. Luckily, everybody made it back in one piece and they even captured one of the factionless rebels that had attacked them. Eric had met up with the squad in the garage, where he ordered two of their soldiers to throw their prisoner in a cell in the basement. He wasn't ready to deal with it right now. He gladly left the man for Max to interrogate, first thing in the morning.
Eric needed to sleep, badly. It had been a rough couple of days. There had been a couple of incidents, both in and outside of the compound, that had kept him out of his bed during the nights. And on top of all that, he also had to put in several extra hours for overseeing the initiation besides his regular work. They were only in the third week of initiation and both Four and Lauren already accomplished to make his life a living nightmare. It made him wonder why the hell he ever decided to volunteer this year. Both of the trainers were a pain in his ass. Four had a bunch of worthless transfers this year, only a few of them seemed promising. The asshole seemed to be more worried about the Dauntless born though, always asking about their reports. Eric saw right through him and kept hem in the dark on purpose. Or just made a dirty comment about one of his friends to piss him off. Whatever would make Four's blood vessels pop at the moment.
And Lauren couldn't seem to keep her Dauntless born under control. This one kid, Neo, was a arrogant bastard that was in everybody's face. Lauren had a hard time keeping him in line, so he had to step in a couple of times already. And then there was Jada. Fucking Jada Torres. She seemed to get along with most of the initiates in her class, but she had it out for Lauren herself. Always smart mouthing and defying the redheaded trainer. The younger girl just knew how to push Lauren's buttons, without crossing the thin line of being right out disobeying. So far, at least. It entertained Eric to no end. He didn't know what their deal was, but he couldn't get along with Lauren either. She'd always been an useless dumbass, as far as he was concerned. Still, she was the trainer and the initiate needed to be kept in check. Eric had experienced first handedly that Torres wasn't one to back down soon. He needed to break that nasty habit of her, and soon. Another thing to make Four's blood boil. Win-win. He grinned at the thought.
"What's so funny?" Troy raised his eyebrows in wonder. Eric shook his head, groaning heavily. "Just thinking about my next move to piss off number boy. But it's hardly funny at the moment, I'm regretting ever volunteering for this. With all of this shit going on, I haven't seen my bed nearly enough." Troy chuckled dryly. "I don't envy you."
They were just about to climb the stairs, when Eric abruptly halted his steps. Troy stopped too, following Eric's gaze towards the door of the training room a few feet away. There was a faint light coming through the crack under the door. The blond leader cursed under his breath. "Probably just maintenance that forgot the lights. I'll go check quickly." Troy offered.
The squad leader jumped of the second step of the stairs and walked over to the training room. Eric watched him enter the room, keeping his foot between the door. Troy stayed that way for a couple of seconds, before his head emerged from behind the metal door again. Eric looked up at his weird expression. "Coulter, I think you need to see this for yourself," hissed Troy. "Goddammit, what is it now?!" Eric reluctantly stepped off the staircase too and made his way towards Troy, pulling the door wide open. He was cursing under his breath again, but Troy shushed him with a slap to his chest. Eric stepped into the room. Troy softly closed the door behind them and pointed his nose towards the other end of the large room. He didn't have to though, Eric's ears had immediately picked up the loud punching sounds that echoed through the empty space. Only the lights near them, in front of the room were on. So the area were the punching bags were was just dimly lit. Nevertheless, he could easily make out the tiny silhouette that was creating the loud noises. Jada Torres. The girl he had just been thinking about. Here she was, infuriating him, once again.
Initiates weren't allowed to leave their dorm after curfew. She apparently had no regards for the rules whatsoever. This would give him a perfect opportunity to punish her. But with every second he kept watching her, his anger and resentment started to subside slowly. Making room for some sort of sentiment he couldn't really place.
"She's fucking good!" Troy hissed at him, his eyes never leaving the female in the room. Eric couldn't disagree. The brunette was practicing some moves that were way more complicated then most of the initiates could handle. Hell, even most of the members couldn't copy what she was doing. He knew it had to be physically hard, but yet her tiny body continued to move swiftly, making it all look so effortless. She was really good. Her fighting skills intrigued him.
"And damn hot, too." Eric threw his friend an angry glare. "What, she is!" Troy whispered back at him. That wasn't what he was pissed off about. He didn't even know why he was pissed off. His friend was right. He wasn't blind, the girl was gorgeous. She had long, dark brown hair that was now pulled up in a high ponytail. The tight outfit she wore revealed all her perfect curves. Too bad she was an arrogant bitch.
"Too bad she's Four's girl." Troy sighed in regret. And that too. Wait, what? "She's just one of his puppets. Number boy doesn't even have the balls to touch a woman," Eric snarled. Troy chuckled under his breath. "Don't be so sure about that Coulter, I've seen them training before. He has no problems touching her, believe me. You can see for yourself that she's trained by him." Eric still intensely eyed her from their distance. He had noticed the influence of Four on her style too. That fact pissed him off for sure. Every thought about that fucking asshole did. It made him knit his eyebrows, while an angry scowl appeared on his face. "Go home. I'll deal with her." Troy huffed in response. "I thought you had a date with your bed. Let me take over for you, as a thank you for all the trouble I've caused you tonight."
Eric slowly turned his head towards his friend. Troy's eyes widened at his furious look. "Get out, Johnson." Eric barked. A sly smirk appeared on the other male's face. "Alright!" He threw his hands in the air in a surrendering gesture. "She's all yours." Troy walked back to the door, still sporting that stupid sly smirk. Eric just kept staring him down with a straight face.
When Troy left the room, Eric turned his gaze back on Jada. Internally debating with himself on how he should handle this. Seconds later, a loud bang bellowed through the room. Eric groaned in anger. I'm gonna kill that goddamn asshole. Troy had slammed the door shut, no doubt to rat his presence out to the girl on the other side of the room. He had to act, now.
~ Jada's POV ~
"INITIATE, what do you think you're doing!" Jada's heart already skipped a beat at the loud bang that preceded the deep and barking voice. She had been so engrossed in her work out, that the sudden interruption scared her half to death. She froze, before she turned around, her eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights. Eric's hard footsteps echoed through the empty room, until he stood right in front of her. "I asked you a question, Torres! What are you doing here, at fucking 5 o'clock in the morning!" The leader held his watch in front of her nose, emphasizing his point.
"What does it look like to you? Training of course," Jada snapped back. Eric narrowed his eyes at her. "In that case, I make sure to let Lauren know she can pick up the pace, if it's clearly not tiring enough for you," Eric snarled at her. He had crossed his arms in front of his huge chest. His forearms bulging out from the rolled sleeves of his jacket and his tribal maze tattoos on full display. He raised one eyebrow at her. The movement made his black dermals above it sparkle in the faint lighting. Jada shrugged her shoulders at the blond leader, pissing him off even more. She scowled at him.
"What the fuck is it with you, Torres?! Thinking you are so high above all the others that the rules don't apply to you?" His bark didn't came out as forcefully as she was used to. He sounded tired.
She didn't miss the dark bags under his eyes either. It made her wonder why he was there at the ungodly hour. It looked like he needed the sleep more then she did. But she knew she should bite back the taunting remarks that were dangling on the tip of her tongue, if she wanted to leave this room unharmed.
She knew she would get into trouble if she got caught, but she decided to take the risk. Because just after the first day of initiation, she realized she needed to train harder to ever have a chance at beating Neo. So she went to bed early every evening, setting her alarm for four o'clock and get a few hours of extra training in. She managed to sneak back into the dorm before the rest of the Dauntless born woke up, slipping back into her bed and making it seem she never even left to begin with. It was hard on her, on top of their regular training. But it was effective too. She was improving faster then before. Eric's unexpected visit would mean she could surely kiss her extra curricular activities goodbye, though.
She let out a disappointed sigh, brushing her hand over her forehead to wipe away the dripping beads of sweat. "Like any of the others would bitch about this... Trust me, they rather stay in their fucking beds than join me. And it's not like I'm hanging around in the Pit or something like that. I just wanted to get some extra training in," Jada replied frustrated. "Lord knows I need it if I want to beat that asshole." The last part was muttered under her breath, not meant for Eric to hear. But seeing his expression, Eric had picked up on her frustrated rambling. Great, fucking blabber mouth! Jada dropped her gaze to the floor, feeling uncomfortable that she had acknowledged any glimpse of weakness tonone other then the asshole leader in front of her. The blond male stayed ominously quiet though, eyeing her with an inquisitive look. Now that he was standing so close to her, it struck Jada how huge he actually was. He must have been about six feet three. She understood why most of Dauntless feared him. Her memory of him laying in the tattoo shop popped up in her mind, like it had done many times before in the last couple of weeks. He was already intimidating broad and bulky in his clothes, but seeing his bare muscled body had been even more impressive. She hated how the mere thought of his perfect chiseled back made her traitorous body burning up a couple of degrees.
Not wanting her stupid hormones to affect her, Jada looked back up at him, meeting the hard stare of his grey eyes. She cleared her throat, forcing him to make an end to the awkward situation and send her back to the dorm. But to her surprise, Eric turned around and wordlessly walked back towards the exit.When he reached the door, he briefly looked back at her. "Turn off the damn lights on your way out, initiate!" His barking order echoed through the room. A second later the blond leader had disappeared through the door again. Jada's mouth fell open in surprise. What the hell?!
After the weird encounter with Eric, Jada couldn't get her focus back on training. So she went back to the dorm earlier and got back inside her bed until the usual alarms went off. After a quick shower and change, she walked to the cafeteria with Marlene. Uriah and Lynn had already left a few minutes before them.
Marlene and Jada stood in line to get their breakfast, when the blond girl let out an annoyed sigh. Jada raised her eyebrows at her friend. "What?"
Marlene nudged her head to their usual table. Jada followed her gaze. A few of the transfers were sitting with Uriah, Lynn and a couple of other Dauntless born. "Why can't they stay with their own sort?" Marlene whiningly complained. Jada shrugged in response, not particularly caring where the transfers were eating their breakfast. She didn't plan to interact with them anyway.
"Good morning, little sis. Marlene." Jada's face lit up at the cheerful voice. "Zeke! How are you?" "No, that's my line, Jade. How are you holding up?" He whispered, trying to hide their interaction for the people that were standing around them. "I'm fine Zeke, all of us are. Don't worry. Say hi to mom for me, will you," Jada responded. Her brother nodded. "You better remember her when you decide to pay a visit to the hairdresser. She'll kill you if you pull a stunt like Lynn. Shauna had a heart attack when she noticed, but I promise you'll die first when you try to surprise me like that. Got it?!" Zeke teasingly whispered again. Jada and Marlene snickered, picturing Shauna's face at seeing her baby sister's bald head. Jada threw her brother a last smile, before the girls grabbed their breakfast and joined their friends.
"Jade, Marlene! Come meet the transfers I picked up at the buffet" Uriah joked. Most of the table chuckled at that, but Marlene still didn't looked very pleased. Jada rolled her eyes in response, of course it was her happy going goofball brother that invited the transfers to sit with them. "This is Will, Al, Christina and Tris", Uriah said pointing at the transfers one by one, ending with the blond girl next to him. Jada noticed how Marlene's look darkened when Uriah mentioned Tris' name. Well, well, look at that. The green monster comes out to play.
"Guys, this is Marlene and my sister Jada," Uriah cheerfully explained when it was clear both girls weren't going to introduce themselves. Marlene mustered up enough decency to direct a small smile at the curious transfers, but Jada only made a quick waving gesture while starting on her oatmeal. "You're the first jumper, right?" the boy named Al asked. Jada nodded. "How are you two even related? You don't look the same and you don't have the same last name. Do you have different dad's or something?" Jada threw the girl that spoke up an offended and nearly angry look. Figures, Christina from Candor. Tris gave an unsubtle kick under the table to her friend, while throwing her a pointed a look. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to be rude about it," the dark haired girl excused herself. "No, it's fine. It's a story for another time, but Jada is my sister in every way that counts." Uriah answered, winking at his sister. All the girls swooned at this, while the guys snickered at his sugary response. Jada felt her throat tighten at her brothers words. Stupid, charming dick.
~ Four's POV ~
A couple of tables further, Four was eating his breakfast with Zeke. "They're all doing fine, Zeke", Four reassured his best friend once again. Zeke took a sip from his juice. "I know, I just hate that I miss everything that's happening in their life," the darker male grumbled. Four nodded in understanding. "Just a couple of weeks before they get the Sunday's off, that gives you some more opportunity to hang out again," he offered up. Zeke merely sighed in response. Four knew he was just frustrated at the situation, just like he had been during their own initiation. It had been even worse then, since Uriah and Jada were younger at that time and stayed alone at home for days in a row when their mother was on duty. They were fine though. Max, Tori and Bud all kept an eye on them. But Zeke still felt like he had abandoned them, though he knew he had no other choice.
Four admired his friend for his loyalty to his family. He had never experienced a strong family bond like that. Not until Hana Pedrad generously welcomed him into their family anyway. He had been so grateful for that. The Pedrads were his family now. It took a hard transfer and a brutal initiation, but finally he felt like he was exactly where he belonged. Dauntless was his faction. He had built up an entire new life for himself here. People respected him. He had made friends.
Since he was a trainer, Four had a bit more opportunities to see and speak with their younger friends during initiation. But it wasn't unlimited either, considering the fact that he was the transfer trainer. He also had to be careful with interacting with them outside of the training. Undoubtedly, Uriah and the others would start to sneak off to Zeke and Shauna's apartment in the weekends. That was the part that he would be missing out on. But it was fine, he could live with that for a couple of months.
"Good morning guys!" A chipper Eric dropped his plate with a clang on the table, pulling Four out of his thoughts. Four looked up to see the leader sit down across from him, next to Zeke. He shared a suspicious look with Zeke. Eric hardly ever sat down in the cafeteria with the rest of them. According to Zeke, the leader preferred to sit 'his arrogant ass down on the plush on the leadership balcony, looking down on his subordinates'. Four had to bite back a smirk at the vivid memory of his friend's hilarious face that came with the description. "Eric," Four greeted him curtly.
"How are the transfers doing, Four?" The blond leader asked. Four raised one eyebrow at him. "Not much different than yesterday," he sarcastically responded. "I'll be there for the first fights this morning. So you better make sure they all know that conceding isn't an option," Eric snapped back at him, a pissed off look on his face. "Great, will do." Zeke had a hard time suppressing the grin that threatened to make an appearance at Four's dry responses. His friend knew exactly how to push the buttons of the young leader.
"Zeke, my man, never knew your little sister was such a spitfire. I would say she's one of the most promising initiates this year, if it wasn't for her disrespecting attitude," Eric retorted casually. Zeke fingers tightened their grip on his sandwich, while he aimed a furious glare at the man next to him. Four threw his friend a pointed look, trying to prevent him from lashing out. He realized this was Eric's purpose all along, getting a rise out of his friend by making a cheap jab about one of his siblings. Goddamn asshole.
"I'm sure that crazy bitch Lauren gets everything she deserves. The leadership shouldn't have made her a role model for our initiates to begin with," Zeke responded fierce. Though he only mentioned the redheaded trainer, all three of them knew his words were just as much directed to Eric himself. "My sister is nothing but respectful to those who earn it. Everybody who knows her can tell you that, even Max," Zeke stated calmly, but with a warning tone at the mention of the headleader. He knew Max always has had a soft spot for his little sister and he trusted the headleader to keep her out of harms way, if necessary. Four warily eyed both males in front of him, sitting on the edge of his bench, ready to intervene if it was starting to get out of hand.
Eric just smirked while he continued eating, clearly entertained by the reaction he provoked. "Don't get your panties in a twist, Pedrad. We all know Lauren can be a whack job from time to time. That's why I will personally see to it that your sister gets the role model and training she deserves." Eric stood up, winked at them and took his tray with him. Four scowled, while he watched Eric's retreating back. The anger cursed through his veins. Zeke groaned loudly when the leader was gone, his hands pulling at his black frizzy hair. "Fuck, she's screwed! Why does everything I do always comes back to bite me in the ass?!"
Four took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down before he spoke to his friend. "Don't let him get to you, that's exactly what that piece of shit lives for. Jada will be alright. Max would skin him alive if he hurts her."
"I'm not too sure about that. Unlike the rest of the faction, Max seems quite fond of his protégé. Tell me again why the hell didn't you accept the offer when you had the chance?!" Four groaned at the reproach that still got thrown back in his face regularly. "Seriously, Zeke?! You know it would have made no difference, Max wanted the both of us." Zeke huffed in response. "Yeah well, we both know at least you would have been the favorite heir. Besides, you made me miss out on all the perks that comes with leadership. I still can't believe you could be that selfish!"
Four gulped down the last of his coffee, throwing an amused glare at his sulking friend. "You do realize that if I hadn't been that selfish, that it probably would've taken a lot more years before Max was able to add his most favorite heir to his throne, right?" The brown haired male knitted his eyebrows at his friend, making it clear he was absolutely serious by now.
Zeke eyed him in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?" Four rolled his eyes. "Your sister, of course! You know, the apple of his eye. The Dauntless legacy. The Golden child." "The problem child you mean," Zeke muttered. Four chuckled. "Yeah, that too. But he confided to me that he's opening up a position in the leadership program for her. If she ranks high enough, that is."
Zeke frowned at that. It was up to the headleader on who he offered a position in the leadership program, though all the Dauntless leaders had to agree before one could really become a leader.
It was publicly known that Max hadn't offered anybody a position in the leadership program since the year of their initiation. Both Four and Eric got offered a position at that time. But obviously only one of them had accepted. That was four years ago. Nobody had met up to Max' standards in the meantime.
"I know he wants her in leadership, someday in the future. But she's still a kid. How can he even think about that right now?!" Zeke wondered out loud. "She isn't a kid anymore and you shouldn't belittle her like that. She's more mature then you and Uriah combined, and you know it," Four scolded his friend. "Besides, me and Eric were hardly any older. I think she would do great. But she still has a long way to go. We'll see how it goes." Zeke just grunted, while he reluctantly finished his sandwich. He wasn't sure how he was feeling about the possibility that his sister would end up in leadership. He did know he didn't want to dwell on it any longer. The chances of her making it straight through initiation were slim anyway. "Enough about this. Shauna and I are going clubbing Saturday night and one of her colleagues is coming with us. A pretty dark haired beauty..." "No." "I wasn't even finished! Shauna says she's really nice and..." "What part of NO don't you understand? Do you need me to spell it out to you?! I'm not ever going on another dreadful double date with you guys again. I rather spend my evening with Eric." "That can be arranged too you know... if you swing that way." "Zeke...," Four growled. He picked up his plate and stood up from the table. "It was nice to see you, but I think I'm good for the next couple of days. Goodbye."
The darker male burst out in laughter when his friend left.
The Dauntless born initiates had to run around the outside of the Dauntless compound in the morning, followed by more physical training in the training room up until lunch. They've had 7 rounds of fights by now. Jada and Uriah hadn't lost a single fight so far. They also weren't paired up with their strongest classmates yet, so their results weren't really representative just yet. Lynn only lost two fights and even Marlene had won a couple of times after her dramatic first one. At least both of them were better then the rest of the Dauntless born girls. So far, all of them were doing good.
In the second week, Lauren had started knife and gun practice with her class of Dauntless born. It didn't take long for Jada to conclude that she absolutely loved those parts of training. Today after lunch they would continue the gun practice. She had looked forward to it for the entire morning.
Lauren had taken the Dauntless born up to the roof. The class stood together on the flat and large roof of one of their buildings, eyeing their surrounding. Jada took a deep breath in through her nose, it was a nice day outside and she enjoyed the fresh air. Since initiation, they hardly came outside anymore. An though her skin always held a light tan, she craved for some more sunlight. So she rolled up the sleeves of her black shirt and raised her arms towards the sun. Uriah mockingly laughed at her. "What are you doing?" "Making myself a bit more Pedrad, brother," Jada countered, closing her eyes at the warm sunbeams. Marlene snorted at that. "Be happy about your skin tone girl, the Pedrads freaking blend in with the shadows inside of the dark Dauntless compound. Without their white teeth, you'd never find them again." Both Lynn and Jada bursted out in a hysterical laughter at Marlene's joke. Uriah looked both offended and entertained at the same time. "Hilarious, miss Glow in the Dark," he retorted, playfully slapping the back of her head.
"Initiates, pick a station. Assemble your own gun and practice on the targets that are in the direct line of your station. You only get twenty bullets each for this round and at the end we will count how much of your ammunition actually hit the target," Lauren shouted. Jada cringed at her high pitched voice. "She makes my ears bleed," she deadpanned to Uriah. He chuckled, while throwing his arm around his sister. "Good luck Jade, you're gonna need it to beat me." Jada rolled her eyes and stomped him on his upper arm. "Play nice, children. This third dog is getting away with the bone," Marlene playfully singsonged. "You're such a dork Marlene, we need to reconsider hanging out with you," Jada teased back, making them all laugh out loud. "Initiates, start practicing now! I will not repeat myself again, TORRES!" Lauren yelled from the other end of the roof. Jada eyed her trainer with a pissed off look, before she sighed and walked over towards one of the stations. She assembled her gun in no time. This part didn't cause her any problems, she could dismantle and assemble the guns blindly by now. It wasn't higher science, though some of her classmates still seemed to get the parts mixed up.
It was the actual shooting and aiming precisely that still was a bit challenging for her. The guns they were shooting with were quite heavy and the recoil was forceful. The larger initiates had an advantage, because their bodyweight automatically kept them in a steady position while firing the guns. Jada had to use all of her muscles to keep her much slimmer posture steady at the recoil. It turned out to be quite an intense and fatiguing experience for her. But hard work never scared her off, if that's what it took to become better at this, she would put in all the effort she could.
The first bullet missed her target completely, but at least it made Jada aware of the influence of the wind in her direction on the roof. The second and third bullet hit the target in the outer rings. Jada groaned and lowered her gun in response. She had to do better than that. Taking in her position again, she raised her arms and slightly lowered her face in line with the gun, one eye closing to determine her aim. The wind causing goosebumps on her skin.
Suddenly, just as she was about to pull the trigger she lost her balance. Her feet got kicked apart roughly. "What the..." "Don't finish that sentence, initiate," a deep voice growled in her ear, making her shiver in response. Eric. Where the hell did he come from?! His minty breath tickled the side of her face, while he grabbed her right arm and pulled it a bit back towards her body. "When you're a fucking midget, you need to keep your arm closer by and use the strength of your body. Feet apart to stand your ground." Jada scowled at his snarled insult. Next he put his hands at her waist, making her twist her upper body a fraction to the side. The touch of his fingers burned through Jada's shirt. He was gripping her so hard, that it surely would leave a bruise. "Now inhale, aim, and shoot while you exhale." Jada swallowed nervously, his hands were still painfully tight on her waist and she was hyper aware of the fact that his body was now pressed against her back. He had no regards whatsoever for her personal space.
"NOW, initiate!" Eric bellowed. Jada contracted her muscles again, took in a deep breath and aimed at her target once more. With one eye closed, she exhaled and fired the gun. First ring. The corner of her lips turned up into a pleased grin. She wasn't even aware of Eric's disturbing presence anymore, until he released her and took a step back. The cold wind that replaced his body heat made her shiver once again. Or was it something else...
"Think you can manage without any help now, initiate?" The blond leader snapped at her. Jada looked back at him. Her brown eyes burned with irritation, meeting the stare of his cold grey ones. The strands of her long dark hair fluttered around her face, due to the heavy wind on the rooftop. But Eric's hair was still perfectly in place, styled backwards with most likely a full jar of gel. Fucking perfectionist. She hated his taunting comments, but kept her sharp-tongued response to herself. His approach was vile as always, but he did improve her shooting in less than one minute. That was more than Lauren managed to do in the last week or so.
With a last vicious grin, Eric walked away. Uriah was next to her and threw her a concerned look. She shook her head at him, indicating that she was fine. He resumed his position to shoot and so did she. She could do this, now she knew how to adjust her stance to keep her body steady. Jada heard Eric yell a few insults at the other initiates in the background. He was still keeping his eye on her though, she could feel his burning glare on the back of her head. Feet wide, arms in position and a slight twist of her upper body. Inhale, aim, exhale. The loud sound of her gun ringed in her ears again. Bullseye. She smirked satisfied. That's it, Jade. You can do this.
Later in the evening most of the initiates hung out in the Pit for a while, to wind down from another long day of training. It was a chilly evening, so a couple of barrels with fire were set out in the large open space in the middle of the compound. Jada just finished showering and decided to join her friends for a while. She put on some clean black jeans and a new dark grey hoodie that she bought a couple of days ago with Lynn. Her hair was still wet, so she threw it up in a messy bun and made her way out of the dorm.
Just as she stepped into the dark hallway outside the dorm, Neo blocked her way. "If it isn't my girl," he flirted with her. "I'm not your anything asshole, now get the fuck out of my way." "Tsk-tsk, that's no way to talk to your man, now is it? We could be so good together, honey. Let's be honest, we're both at the top in this class and everybody knows it." He took a step closer and grabbed her by her chin to make her look up at him. Jada glared at the tall boy in front of her. He wasn't hard on the eyes by any means, but to her he was nothing more then an arrogant bastard she wanted nothing to do with. "You have 3 seconds to get your filthy hands off of me, before I'm about to repeat our last encounter." Jada's voice was deadly calm. A second later, another initiate left their dorm and eyed both of them curiously. Neo dropped his hand and grinned maliciously. Jada took advantage of the opportunity and walked along with the other initiate. "This isn't over Torres, you'll be begging for me!" Neo yelled after her. Jada gave him the finger, not once looking back.
"He did what now?!" Lynn asked Christina, her eyes widening. Jada had pushed her way through the crowds in the Pit and just made it to her friends. Obviously having just missed the start of that conversation. Will and Al where nowhere in sight, but Tris and Christina had joined her friends again. They all stood close to one of the fire barrels in the Pit, warming their hands. A low bass music was heard in the background, coming from one of the bars at the back of the Pit. Uriah laid his hand on Jada's lower back, acknowledging her presence.
"It's true. I couldn't take it anymore, Edward was brutal. Everything was hurting so badly, so I said 'stop' when he lunged at me again. And well... everything went downhill from that. Eric grabbed me by the arm and dragged me towards the Chasm, with Four and the whole class on his tail. He threw me off the bridge to hang on the railing by my bare hands." Christina had a horrified expression on her face while retelling the story. Jada now also noticed the discoloring in her face in the light of the flames. The side of her face was one big bruise. She looked over at Tris again, who also seemed to sport a huge black eye. Must have been their first day of fighting.
"Didn't they tell you about the new rule that conceding isn't allowed anymore?" Jada asked confused. The conversation fell completely silent at her interruption. Christina was glaring at her.
Uriah pinched her side. It wasn't necessary though, she'd noticed his scolding look from the corner of her eyes just perfectly. "What?! I'm just wondering why the hell you even gave up to begin with? I'm sure if it had been one of us conceding, he had knocked us out himself," Jada directed towards the petite black haired girl. "I think you're missing the point here, Jade," Lynn tried to smooth things over. Jada merely shrugged her shoulders. I don't think so, but whatever.
"He made her hang over the Chasm for five minutes, otherwise she would be cut!" Tris exclaimed furiously. The rest of the faces contorted in a pitiful expression. "No way! He said that? Why am I even surprised, he is an evil bastard!" Uriah angrily snapped. "That he is", Christina agreed with a dry chuckle. Jada didn't even bother to react anymore, confining herself to just observing the dynamics in their little group. Marlene was still pouting at every interaction Uriah seemed to spend on the other blond girl. Uriah seemed blissfully ignorant of it though. Jada was positive her brother was merely enjoying everybody's company. He'd always been that way since they were little, thriving in the presence of large crowds, playing the joker to make everybody laugh. Though she personally didn't always need that kind of interaction with other people, Jada admired that quality in her brother. In both of them really. Uriah and Zeke could make anybody feel at ease in a few seconds. But surprisingly, Lynn had taken a liking to the transfers as well. She seemed to hit it off with both Tris and Christina.
As the conversation turned to some lighter topics, Jada made her way over to Marlene. She tugged at her blond friend's braid, drawing her attention. "Loose the green monster. You know it's not like that," Jada whispered to her. Marlene sighed and raised her eyebrows at her friend. "Am I that obvious?" "To me you are. But I have supernatural skills like that, you know." That made her friend chuckle. "I'm pathetic, I know. It's just...everything finally seemed to work out for us, you know. We really grew closer these last few weeks, and then that happened," Marlene whispered back, nudging her head to Tris. "Do you think he likes her? You know, like-like her?" Jada hated how small the voice of her normally so cheerful friend sounded right now. "No, I don't think he does. But I'm not the one you should ask this question. So please, let go of this insecure version of you and go after what you want. You guys have been a pain in my butt these last few months, always bickering and flirting, dancing around each other. It's like watching a train wreck, really. I don't want to see it, but I just can't take my eyes off of it. Just get on with it already!" Jada dramatically sighed. Marlene snickered at her friends expression. "Okay, I will talk to him soon. Everything to keep you a happy trooper, Torres!" Marlene playfully retorted with a roll of her eyes. "Thank you." Jada winked back at her.
About a half an hour later, Will and Al also joined their group in the Pit. Both of them had gotten their first tattoo. Of course they had to show it to the rest, what eventually resulted in everybody having to show their tattoo to the others. "What's yours, Jada?" Tris asked tentatively. Jada gave her a reassuring smile, not wanting the transfers to think she was a big crabby bitch all the time. "Just a Dauntless-style symbol," she responded casually, pulling back her sleeve to show them the tattoo on her wrist. Tris nodded appreciatively. "It's beautiful." "What did you choose Tris?" Jada easily diverted the attention back to the blond from Abnegation. Tris showed them the ravens on her collarbone and told them they represented her family members she'd left behind. Jada respected her for that, since family clearly was also a important value to her.
Uriah and Will were getting them some drinks from the bar, while Al started telling a funny story about a big tough Dauntless member, crying like a baby while he got a tattoo. But all of a sudden, Jada felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She discretely gazed around, trying to find out what her body was reacting to. It happened once in a while, most of the times in a dangerous situation that her senses seemed to pick up on. She scanned the Pit for Neo, but he didn't seem to be anywhere close to them. The lanterns on the walls were turned off in favor of the fire barrels, but it made the Pit barely lit tonight and not easier for Jada to see her way around.
She was still looking around, when a loud and high squeal drew her attention. A girl in a trashy short skirt and ridiculous high heels threw herself on some poor guy standing against the rock wall at the other end of the Pit. Clearly the woman had too much to drink already.
Jada's eyes amusedly traveled higher, to the man's face. She couldn't see him clearly, but one look at his eyes made her skin crawl even more. She had found the source of her heightened senses. The large man held her gaze. Jada narrowed her eyes to get a better look in their dark surrounding.
He didn't break his stare at her, even though the intoxicated and still squealing woman was now clinging herself to him. He wasn't paying the girl any attention. Jada was puzzled, not understanding what was going on. She watched him shove the woman to the side, making him take a step forward in the process. The movement made something sparkle on his face. Two somethings, to be exact. Right above his eyebrow. Jada's eyes widened in shock. Eric – fucking - Coulter. She saw him throw her a smug look, the moment realization dawned on her face. Jada cursed under her breath, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed at the situation. A soft groan escaped her lips, before she finally was the one to break their gaze and directed her attention back to her friends.
~ Uriah's POV ~
"Uri, do you have a minute?" The dark male felt her soft hand wrap around his wrist, making him halt his steps. He eyed her in confusion. "Sure...". His sister was walking behind them and she clapped him on his shoulder with a sly grin. Something was up. Jada wordlessly walked on, making sure their other friends kept moving too. They had been on their way back to their dorms after hanging around in the Pit for a couple of hours. Since everybody was still deadly tired, neither wanted to stay out late though. But it looked like his bed had to wait a bit longer.
"What's going on, Marlene?" She pulled him along towards an empty hallway. Uriah didn't like the way her face started to fell. Her gaze dropped to the floor. He saw her take in a deep breath, while her fingers slipped from his wrist. He quickly took her hand back in his, not wanting to break their contact. She had dressed herself up for tonight, wearing a dark jeans with a cute top, put on some make-up. Her blond hair was straightened, falling besides her pretty face. The girl always made sure to be groomed to perfection. Tonight was no exception and it didn't go unnoticed by Uriah. She was beautiful, from the inside and outside. But her bubbly personality seemed to be completely gone at the moment.
Marlene eyed their hands. He gave her a slight squeeze. "Is this the part where you break up with me? Telling me how this really isn't my fault, but you're just not that into me anymore?" The second he cracked the joke, he knew it didn't do the trick. It had just been an automatic response of him though, using humor to lighten up the heavy mood. But seeing how his friend's face only contorted more, he regretted it instantly. "Can't you just be serious for a few minutes in your life?!" Marlene snapped at him. Uriah sighed. "I'm sorry, Marlene. But you're really starting to worry me here now. What is it?" Another few seconds of silence passed between them, before the girl let out a tortured groan. "I don't know how I should tell you this... So I'm just gonna throw it out... I like you Uriah."
He raised his eyebrows at that. She still wasn't meeting his gaze. "Okay... I like you too, Marlene. You know that." She let out an annoyed groan. "I meant like-like you, you moron!" Finally she lifted her gaze, her angry eyes shooting daggers at him. Uriah grinned widely. Before she knew what was happening, he had pushed her against the wall and boxed her in between his arms and chest. Marlene's hands were on his chest. Her blue eyes looking up at him in confusion.
"I know what you meant. I just couldn't help myself, I'm sorry." She scowled at him. "I'm done with the apologies Pedrad." He lowered his head to hers, giving her the chance to stop him. She didn't though, he just heard her take in a sharp breath. So he slowly put his lips on her, kissing her. He closed his eyes when he felt her warm lips kiss him back. A soft moan escaped her mouth, while he felt her hands wrap around his neck. Uriah felt the warmth spread to his body during their kiss.
After a few seconds he pulled his lips back from her, a pleased grin on his face when he noticed she was still in a daze and had her eyes closed. "I'm not sorry for that." He hissed at her. He had been wanting to do that for quite some time now. He had realized his relationship with the girl in front of him started to change a couple of months back. They had been flirting more and more since then, but neither of them had dared to cross that line. Until now that is. He was blaming his racing hormones for the feelings he'd started to develop for Marlene. He didn't want to mess up their friendship if it had just been about lust. But it didn't went away, nor had he been lusting after any other girl. The thought of something more had scared him, though. But now that she had made the first move, it told him that she was feeling something strong too. If she was willing to risk it, so was he.
Marlene opened her eyes again, looking up at him. Her eyes darted back and forth to his. "I really like-like you too, you know." Uriah told her with a smirk. Marlene's lips turned up in a huge smile. "What have you been waiting for then!" Uriah gave her another kiss. "For you, baby." Marlene rolled her eyes at his corny reply. "I don't want to mess up our friendship. But I think it's obvious I want more than that," Uriah added on a more serious note. Marlene nodded. "Me too. I thought I could handle just being your friend, but seeing you with other girls made me so damn jealous all the time...". Marlene had lowered her gaze again, staring at Uriah's chest when she confessed the last part to him. He brushed his hand over her back. "What are you talking about?"
Marlene sighed reluctantly. "Well... one other girl, actually. Tris. I thought you liked her."
Uriah burst out in laughter. Marlene scowled insulted, before she tried to move away from him. Uriah didn't let her though, keeping her tightly pressed between the wall and his body. "The Stiff?! How the earth did your mind came up with that?! She's nice and all, but come on Marlene... I haven't treated her any different then the others!" He was still laughing softly, while Marlene finally stopped struggling. "Yeah, well... I never claimed I was thinking straight." Uriah pressed his forehead against hers. "I like that I make your head spin." "I don't." Marlene retorted, feigning annoyance. They both chuckled at that. "I only like-like you, blondie." "Good. I only like-like you too, you moron."
When their lips were almost touching again, loud footsteps came their way. Uriah and Marlene held their breath, heads turned to the side to see who was about to pass them in the other hallway.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Coulter! She practically presented herself on a silver platter. The girl was freakin' hot!" "Freakin' cheap you mean." "As if that ever bothered you before. Geez, couldn't you at least let her come with us. I would have gladly taken care of that hot piece of ass." "I bet the infirmary would have also gladly taken care of your STD's afterwards. Again." "Oh, shut the fuck up! At least I'm getting some..."
Uriah and Marlene snickered when they saw the still bickering males pass by the entrance to their hallway. Eric and Troy were walking side by side, too engaged in their own conversation to even notice the pair of initiates. Marlene grinned when they were gone, wrapping her arms around Uriah in a tight embrace. He buried his face in her blond hair. "I love the smell of your hair." "You were sniffing my hair the other day! I knew it!"
