Author's Note: Well… I am no longer in high school. I graduated on Tuesday and that is a scary thought. While I try and process this fact, here's a new chapter for all you wonderful people! Also, I tried to update earlier than this, but allergy season is kicking my butt and I spent three days in my bed, in the dark, both starving and nauseous at the same time. So give me some credit, I tried!

DISCLAIMER: Disclaimed

Chapter 5

I eventually find Rachel in the Pit. Karen is with her attempting conversation, but Vic, Gar and Sergei are nowhere nearby. Karen smiles when she sees me, but Rachel seems to pick up on my bad mood.

"What happened to you?"

I shake my head.

"Doesn't matter. Where is everybody?"

Karen rolls her eyes.

"Oh, Vic and Gar made some stupid bet and Sergei went with them to watch it all go down. So, I'm trying to convince Rachel here to go shopping with us."

"Us? Who's us?"

"You and me. Please? I wanna see what you girls look like in clothes that aren't so baggy."

"What's wrong with baggy clothes?"

"They don't look good on anyone. And I bet they're easier to grab in a fight."

Appealing to our logic is how Rachel and I ended up in the clothing store in the Dauntless compound. Karen picked out various clothes for us, mostly jeans and black tops, but she handed each of us a black dress. I open my mouth to protest, but Karen stops me.

"Just try them on. You don't have to buy them; I just wanna see how it looks on you."

Rachel glares at Karen and hands the dress back to her. I'm not sure if Rachel could take Karen in a fight, but Karen was smart enough to not find out right here in the clothing store.

"Fine, but Kori, you HAVE to try on that dress. I have a theory I wanna test."

I roll my eyes and step into the dressing room. The dress is simple enough, all black, but when I put it on, I'm shocked by what it does to my appearance. I have never worn anything so tight fitting. It falls several inches above my knees and hugs my body in a way that is indecent by Abnegation standards.

"Kori, are you okay in there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… But I'm not coming out."

"Why not? I'm sure you look…"

Before she can finish her sentence I step out of the dressing room and her and Rachel's jaws drop.

"I look like a tramp."

"Tramp? Hell no! You look hot! If I ever catch you in those baggy clothes ever again, I will hurt you! Ooh, when Sergei sees you in that…"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? And I thought you said I didn't have to buy this!"

"I lied. You look too good to NOT get that dress."

I look to Rachel for help but she shrugs.

"You look good Kori. You should get the dress."

"Alright, fine, I accept that you both think I look good. Now explain the Sergei bit?"

Karen rolls her eyes and Rachel shakes her head.

"Oh please. You can't tell me you haven't noticed him giving you the look all day?"

"Look? What look? What are you talking about?"

Karen smiles at Rachel.

"Aww, it's so cute how naïve she is." She turns back to me. "Sergei has a crush on you!"

"WHAT?! No he doesn't! I- I'm just… He doesn't… Maybe he was looking at Rachel!"

Rachel raises an eyebrow.

"Uh… No. Look, I don't know how things work when it comes to dating in Abnegation, but in Candor-"

"No! Sergei does not like me! I barely even know him!"

"Well, do you think you COULD like him?"

"I don't know if I can like ANYBODY!" I think of Robin and internally call myself a liar. I could never have been in Candor. "Look, can we stop talking about this and just get the clothes and leave?"

Karen rolls her eyes but agrees and Rachel looks relieved to be done shopping. I can't blame her; I've decided I hate shopping too.

We eventually find Vic, Gar and Sergei in the tattoo parlor. Gar has dyed his hair green (Against his will, it seems. He must have lost that bet Karen was talking about) and Sergei is getting a tattoo on his arm. I don't want to watch so I wander around the store. Plus, I'm still wearing the dress and after everything Karen and Rachel said, I really don't want him to see me in it. As I wander, I look at the drawings on the wall. Some of them are really impressive and fascinating. I end up staring at a small purple star for a really long time and I'm not sure why. I've always been interested in stars and the color purple, so I guess it makes sense.

"It's kinda beautiful, how simple that one is, huh?"

I jump and turn to see Donna, the woman who had administered my test. With everything that happened in the past few days, I've barely had time to think about what she said. Divergence. I never really did find out what that meant or why it was so dangerous.

"Oh, uh, hi. You work here?"

"Mmhm. But I volunteer to administer the tests every year."

"Yeah… Right." I look around to see if anyone is within earshot. No one is but I lower my voice anyway. "We need to talk. Privately."

"I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Please, I don't understand. I need your help."

Donna sighs.

"Alright, if you find the time to stop by during the day, we can talk. But I really don't know how much help I can offer with… That."

"Any help you can give, I'll take."

"Fine. But since you're here now, do you wanna get a tattoo?"

I look back at the purple star and think about my freedom. I don't want to be the stiff anymore. At the same time, I don't want to forget where I came from.

"Yes. Three of these, right here." I trace a line towards my heart on the left side of my collarbone. One for each member of my family.

"I still can't get over the fact that you, of all people, got a tattoo."

Sergei and I had finished getting our tattoos and now our group was heading to dinner.

"Well, Gar, I can't believe you actually dyed your hair green over a stupid bet."

That got everybody's attention off of me and my dress and my tattoos. At least until we reached the dining hall. Men in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at me. Their eyes made me uncomfortable but I didn't let it show. As we walked to get our food, people whistled and called at me.

"Damn Stiff, you clean up real pretty!"

I turn to the source of the voice and nearly vomit. Jason of all people had shouted that. He was sitting at a table with Robin and some other men and women I don't recognize. I ignore Jason and focus on the fact that Robin is staring at me too. This seems to displease a blonde haired, blue eyed girl who is trying to catch his attention. I smile and shake my hair out of its braid, letting it fall in waves at my shoulders. Robin seems to register that I know he's staring at me and turns to the blonde girl. I shake off the hurt this causes me and go to get food, nearly bumping into Sergei.

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"It's fine. You, uh, look really nice in that dress by the way."

Uh-oh. Maybe Karen and Rachel were right. No, I'm being irrational, it's just a compliment. Just thank him and move on.

"Thanks."

Sergei smiles brightly and walks away. Man, I hope Karen and Rachel are wrong. This can't end well if they're right.

THE NEXT DAY

"Alright, let's get down to business. If you'll read the board behind me, today you have been put in pairs and will be fighting each other, as Robin told you yesterday. Since there is an odd number of you, someone won't be fighting today."

Jason and Robin had lead us into the training room, which was absent of punching bags today. I look at the board and see the match ups. Sergei vs. Gar. Victor vs. Malcolm. Rachel vs. Toni. To my horror, me vs. Xavier and Karen won't fight today.

"There are no rules of these fights other than the last one standing wins."

"The rules also state that the loser must concede."

"Those are the old rules, Robin. The new rules don't say that."

"A brave man acknowledges the strength of others."

"A brave man never admits defeat."

Jason and Robin glare at each other for a while and I wonder if they're going to fight before the initiates get started. Eventually, Jason tells Sergei and Gar to take the ring and start their fight. Sergei is almost comically larger than Gar, so the fight doesn't last very long. Gar is fast enough to dodge for about five minutes until Sergei lands a good punch and accidently knocks Gar out cold. Sergei isn't happy about winning though.

"Great, now I'll always be known as the first guy to knock someone out."

"It's better than being the stiff."

I don't turn to see Sergei's reaction and watch Victor and Malcolm's fight. They're fairly evenly matched, but eventually, Victor wins. Then it was Rachel and Toni's turn. Toni was just a bit smaller than Rachel but she managed to give Rachel a pretty decent punch in the jaw. Rachel eventually gets Toni down on the ground. Toni is still conscious but shows no signs of getting up. Jason doesn't seem happy with this.

"What are you waiting for? Finish her!"

"Why? She's down, I won."

"She can still get up."

"Yeah? And I still won."

Rachel crosses her arms over her chest. Oh, boy. This isn't going to end well. Finally Toni pants out.

"I- I concede. Rachel wins."

This still doesn't seem to satisfy Jason. He grabs Toni by the arm and roughly pulls her to her feet. Robin grabs Jason's arm.

"Rachel wins. Let her go, Jason."

"Or what? What'll you do about it, Robin?" Robin doesn't hesitate and punches Jason in the jaw. Jason immediately releases Toni and rubs his jaw. "Fine. Rachel wins. Kori, Xavier, get over here."

I gulp and step into the arena once everyone has cleared out of it. Robin told us to find out opponents' weaknesses, but Xavier doesn't have any, other than having absolutely no redeeming qualities. He's strong, fast and a little taller than me. I would almost have a sliver of a chance against him if I could use my hands, but now my hands are a weakness. A weakness Xavier is no doubt going to exploit. When he enters the arena, he's smiling in a way that would be pleasant if it weren't so cocky.

"Saw you yesterday, Stiff. You're pretty cute, when you try to be. Doesn't mean I'm gonna let you win. But I might go easy on you if you cry a little."

I grit my teeth and tried to slam my knee into his to knock him over. He dodges me with ease and punches me in the jaw.

"Come on. Just a few tears?"

He throws a few more punches that I dodge. I manage to elbow him in the rib cage and I hear him grunt.

"Alright, no more Mr. Nice Guy."

Xavier punches me in the collarbone, right where my new tattoos are. The pain is blinding and it knocks the wind out of me. He grabs my hands and throws me on the ground. He then proceeds to kick me in the side over and over again. I see Robin leave the room. Maybe he's going to find out why the room is spinning. As the world around me starts to fade I hear a voice call out ENOUGH and then everything goes black.

When I wake up, I am greeted by a pair of stunning blue eyes.

"Robin?"

"Hey. Glad to see your eyes again."

"What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. You've been unconscious for a while."

"Am I in the infirmary?"

"Yeah. Xavier was ruthless."

"How would you know? You left before the fight was over."

"It wasn't something I wanted to see."

I wonder what he could mean by this but don't ask him out loud.

"Alright. Well, help me up."

"WHAT! Kori, are you crazy?"

"No. The only thing worse than letting Xavier put me here is letting him put me here overnight. So help me up, I'm going back to my dorm. And don't argue with me, I've made up my mind. Besides, I need to fight through this."

Robin looks conflicted but eventually sighs and helps me up. It hurts, but I know it will be worse tomorrow.

"There won't be any fights tomorrow. We're going to visit the fence."

"Why?"

"It's just a part of initiation. The fence is where the lower ranked initiates end up working, so it's motivation of sorts." I cringe, remembering the rankings. My loss today will surely hit me hard. Robin seems to pick up on my worry and his expression softens a little. "You can still redeem yourself. Don't give up hope."

It was weird, seeing Robin as a person and not an instructor. I smile a little.

"I won't."

And just a hint of RobStar fluff at the end! Don't worry, next chapter, there'll be more relationship development between them. Is it weird that I listen to I'll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan when I write the training scenes? It is? Oh well, it gets me motivated. This is the longest chapter I have ever written ever, so I hope you enjoyed it! Until next time, R&R! -Starprincess