Some ideas are mind. Those that are are not belong to Veronica Roth.
The net wrapped me up in itself like a present. I started to breathe again. I silently thank myself for deciding to put the clear straps of my top on. If I didn't, there would be a good chance I would be naked right now.
"Just like two years ago," I heard a female voice say. It was probably Nicole, the trainer of the Dauntless-born. Her voice had a solemn sound to it.
I grabbed the hand closest to me and it helped me out of the net. When I settled my feet, I looked up. I was greeted by stunning, emerald green eyes. They were like jewels placed in the irises of the boy in front of me. He looked down at me smiled a warm smile. The light from above caused his golden blonde hair to glint.
"Guess we don't need an announcement this year," A voice said behind him. I looked past him and saw none other than Xander, the infamous son of Zeke and Shauna. He was only two years older then me and when he saw me, a wide grin broke his face in two.
"Theo!" He called, waltzing towards me and sweeping me into a huge bear hug. He looked exactly like Zeke, but always had his own personality. That's what made him well known in Dauntless. That and the fact that he is one hell of a partier. Everyone seemed stunned by his unusual gesture.
But once they got a good look at me, they all understood. Even Mr. Good-looking who helped me out of the net. The weird thing was, I never saw this boy before. He must have been an initiate from Dauntless last year because he didn't look much older than me.
I felt his eyes burn into my back as I heard my name called. I spun around to see Uriah, walking from the entrance to the pit. He had a small smile, but not a full blown grin. Mel looked so much like him, it wasn't even funny. She was just as attractive as he was, except her eyes were more of a gold. I wonder when she's going to jump into the net. I heard people talking behind me and the rustling of the net.
"What's up?" I asked, shoving my hands in my pockets and rocking back and forth on my feet. He looked at me for a moment and then shrugged as if he shook off a thought.
"I don't know how you're going to react to this, so I'm just gonna say it. You're going to be training with the transfers,"
Wait, what? When was this decided? I'm suppose to be with my brothers and sisters, fighting with them so they can make me better. Not with a couple of Candor smart mouths who are too cowardly they can't even jump into a net.
"Why?" I force out. It was as if flames were embedded into me. Like my temperature was rising. Uriah's face was concerned, unlike his usual comedic attitude. "Well, now that's there's only two females in the transfers, it wouldn't be fair if they had to fight against all males,"
This is by far the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Since when did Dauntless discriminate against gender? It didn't matter, it had nothing to do with confronting your fears. Or overcoming cowardice. Uriah clearly saw my disbelief because he then started to walk with me back to the net.
"It's also that you are close with Nicole, and we don't want to raise the suspicion that your rankings aren't based on your skill," The way he was speaking. Those weren't the words of his own thought. They were that of my parents. They feared that I would be looked at differently. Because of the name. My parents were Dauntless leaders, and they overturned the law that saved the fate of dozens around me. Now, you didn't have to leave once you got older. You can still be brave with old age. It was a revolution.
"It was my parents," I muttered, kicking the ground. Uriah didn't say anything. He simply nodded and guided me towards the net. Everyone was here, and I made my way to Lily, Mel and Joseph. The boy whose hand I grabbed was talking. His name was Nash.
"Where the hell were you?" Lily whispered, tossing me my jacket.
I pulled it on and fixed my hair. "Attempting to jump into the chasm after receiving great news from the folks," Joseph chuckled and everyone turned to glare at him.
"You think is funny?" Xander spoke over the heads of the transfers trying to contain his own laughter. He and Joseph were best friends since childbirth. We all were close, me, Xander, Joseph, Mel and Lily, but Xander and Joseph were inseparable.
"No. Of course not. I'd say that this is very important information that I am listening to intently," Joseph replied. We tried to hide our smirks and I saw a ghost smile come across Xander's face. Nash started talking again and once the attention was no longer on us, I began to tell them my dilemma.
"Guess who's training with the transfers because apparently, gender is now important in learning to overcome your fear." We began walking towards the Pit. Like every year, a Candor had to make an stupid comment about the name. "What?" Mel laughed.
"That and if Nicole is my trainer, the rankings would be unfair," I spat out the last word like it was sour.
"That's absolutely ridiculous," Joseph said, shaking his head. Lily snorted and I turned my attention to her. We arrived at the Pit and I didn't know if she snorted at Joseph or the faces I the transfers as the drank in the appearance of the Pit. I saw it like home.
"I'd say she's pretty lucky," Lily murmured, tightening her pony tail. We stood in the middle, together in a giant cluster. This is where we split. This is where I meet my trainer. I wasn't really listening before. I raised my eyebrows at Lily's comment.
"What?" Mel answered for me. "Why?"
Lily gave us all a knowing look, and then smirked. "Have you seen the guy who's training the transfers?" She waved her hand in front of her face as if she was hot. But we all knew what she meant.
"Transfers," A loud voice echoed through the Pit. I looked to the source and saw Nash, the guy who helped me out of the net. Lily bumped my shoulder. And it was clear now. He was very attractive. And judging by the looks the other girls gave him, we weren't the only ones who noticed.
"You're with me," The Erudite girl was the first to move towards him, batting her eyelashes at ridiculously fast speed. I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I said goodbye to my fellow Dauntless born and weaved through the crowd. The transfers gave me looks as I joined them.
"What's she doing with us?" I heard the Candor boy complain. I looked to Nash who gazed at me with a slight smile. My cheeks went hot. Was I, blushing?
"Theo, right?" He said, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants. I looked behind me at my friends. Lily glanced at me and winked before heading off. I couldn't help but smirk.
"Appears so," I replied. I almost got lost looking into his stunning eyes. I couldn't look at him any longer. I might explode.
"Theo is going to be training with you guys," He said, addressing the transfers. The Erudite girl made a very unflattering sound and checked her cuticles. I always hated the people from Erudite. They were always obnoxious and full of themselves. The person I could stand was Caleb. And even he had his moments when he visited.
"What was that, Erudite?" Nash asked, stepping a step towards her. He crossed his arms and actually looked menacing. She froze, her pale face turning a red color. I hated her already. I could have punched her then and there. But, I chose to control it.
"M-my name is Paige," She tried to say but was cut off by Nash. "That wasn't the question," He said, towering over her like Goliath. His eyebrow was raised and his sculptured mouth was in a hard line. But, as Paige struggled to say something, the corner of it moved up. Into a tiny smile. He was handsome even when he was threatening.
"Good," Nash started as he began to walk down towards the dining hall. "Anyone else have any comments?"
"Why is she training with us?" A small voice spoke and I looked to my right to see the red haired Amity girl. Her face wasn't as puffy as it was before, but she still looked like a ghost.
"I'll let her explain that," Nash said without turning around. It crossed my mind that I didn't know how to explain it. I couldn't say that the Dauntless leaders think that you have no chance against the boys in your group. She's already shaken up from the sudden death of her friend. And then finding out that she will probably be faction less in a few months can't be any better.
"Names got mixed up," I shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Guess they needed another number to even out the fights during stage 1," She turned to me, clearly confused. She moved her lips to ask a question but shook it off. And then, she did the unexpected. She extended her hand towards me. And for the first time since jumping off the train, I saw her smile a bit.
"I'm Haley," She said as I shook her hand. Her eyes were not emerald like Nash's, but they were more the color of a lily pad. I smiled back at her and realized we reached the dining hall.