I walk through the halls trying to figure out why Four would lie to me about Eric. I know he doesn't like him but I want to know why. You don't just hate someone of the sake of it; there must be a reason behind it. I find myself at the dorm room and I can't remember making any turns, I must have been on auto pilot since I left Eric at the Chasm. Walking through the door I spot Christina and Will making out on her bed, I am about to walk back out the door but I am stopped by Christina shouting my name.
"Where did you disappear to?" She asks me as I walk to my bed which is next to hers.
"I went for a walk. I never knew you and Zeke could reach that high a pitch when you got excited." They both laugh at me and there must be a god out there somewhere because Christina doesn't question me any further.
After about half an hour Will nudges my shoulder.
"Hey, have you decided what you are going to choose tomorrow?" He asks me; Christina must have noticed him move because she yawns and sits on the edge of my bed.
"I thought about becoming a leader but I also want to train initiates, so I thought that maybe I could do what Eric does: watch over initiates as well as being a leader." I reply and Christina suddenly becomes very alert.
"You would be really good at that; also I heard that the newest leader has to train the leader in training." She says and the grin on her face widens, "You would be spending A LOT of time with Eric." She finishes and I slap her arm but it just makes her laugh and Will smile.
"What do you guys want to do?" I ask them trying to remove their attention from me and onto themselves.
"I want to be a tattoo artist." Christina say's excitedly.
"I want to work in the control room. I may as well use the brains I got from Erudite." Will replies and I know that he will be great at it.
"You guys will be great at those. I am kind of nervous through." They look at me with confused expressions. "I don't think Peter will be too happy with me becoming a leader-in-training. He wants to be a leader as well." I add.
"They know what he's like; they would never let him become a leader. Also I heard that the only option he is allowed is at the fence." Will replies trying to assure me but it doesn't work as well as he may have hoped.
XOX
"Guess who came to Max's office last night telling him that you didn't want to become a leader?" Eric says as we walk to the mess hall where I will choose my career for the rest of my life.
"Who?" I ask. Why would someone go to Max and make my decisions for me?
"Come on put two and two together. Literally." He says with a smirk, if I hadn't been riled up I would have found that smirk incredible sexy.
"Four?" I nearly shout. "Why?"
"Why do you think, if you become a leader-in-training, you send most of your time with me, and we covered it last night that he hates my entire existence." He replies and stops just outside the doors of the mess hall. "Now, forget about him and listen to me. When you get called to choose, you can pick any job you want, Max told him to get out after he tried to become a leader instead." Eric tells me and my mouth hangs open in a mixture of shock and rage. Four is/was my friend and he thinks he can just take the job that I want. I shake my head and try to clear my mind. "Remember, this is your choice, and yours alone." He says before walking through the doors.
I stay rooted to the spot and when I trust that I can move without punching something or someone I walk through the doors and take a seat at the table in the middle of the room. After a minute or so, the rest of the new members walk through the doors and sit at the same table as me.
"Another year, another set of Dauntless initiates who have proven themselves worthy of our faction. In the past few weeks they have shown that they are best of their age, the bravest of those who strived to be one of us. They have seen their fears and beaten them, they have fought for their lives and have won and it is with great pleasure I can now let them choose the career for their future as one of us. In order of rank: Number 1, Tris." I stand and look up to Max and the other leaders.
"Leader." I say in a strong confident voice and I can see Eric and Max smile slightly.
"Very well. Uriah."
"Ambassador."
Max continues and when he gets to Peter he chooses fence guard, I try not to smirk and I almost succeed until Christina sniggers. Will chooses Control Room and Christina chooses to be a tattoo artist. After all the jobs have been chosen Max and the other leaders come down and walk towards me.
"Congratulations Tris. You will make a fantastic leader. Eric will be in charge of your leadership training as he is our most recent leader. Oh and don't worry Four has no influence in your leadership training at all. If he bothers you just let one of us know and he will be dealt with. Eric will show you're your apartment and your training begins tomorrow. Good luck." Max says and he and the other leaders except Eric walk away. I smile at Eric and he guides me out of the mess hall and along a few hallways. I try to memorise every turn and eventually we reach a hallway which looks far grander than the rest of the compound.
"These are all the leader apartments. This is your one." Eric says and, placing his hand on my lower back, guides me to a black door with a key pad next to it. "Mine is next to yours so if you need me just knock. Your door code is 1208, only the other leaders know it and I would recommend that you don't tell anyone else but that is of course up to you but only tell people you trust completely." He says and I nod.
He gestures for me to enter the code and when I do the light on the door handle turns from red to green. I open the door and walk through, the apartment is fully furnished with a large couch in the middle of the living room and a large flat screen TV hanging on the wall which is glossy grey and the floor is hard black stained oak boards. The kitchen is modern and the counter tops smooth grey stone. I walk into the bathroom and smile when I see a large bath tub in the corner of the room and a shower built into the wall with glass doors and powerful water jets along the sides. The toilet and sink are at the other end of the bathroom and the flooring is made up of large white tiles. I walk through to the bedroom and find a large king sized bed in the middle of the room and the duvets, sheets and pillows are all black as well as the wardrobe and the dresser at the other side of the room.
"What do you think?" Eric asks and I turn to him and smile.
"I love it." I say and pull his head down to kiss his lips.
He parts my lips and his tongue dances with mine fiercely. My hands are messing up his short hair and his are gripping tightly on my waist. He pushes me pack so I fall on the bed and he leans down with his arms either side of my head and I pull him down to meet my lips again. I manage to roll us over so that I am on top and he growls low in his throat and it turns me on more than it should. His fingers find the bottom of my shirt and he pushes it up slightly; his warm calloused hand come into contact with my skin and it feels like my body is on fire.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
Eric and I groan and try to ignore whoever is knocking but they persist and we, sadly, break apart. I pull my shirt back down and Eric fixes his hair and I can't help but giggle. He playfully glares at me and grabs my arm just before I reach the handle and pushes me against the wall and kisses me senseless while messing up my hair and then steps back to admire his work. I slap his arm and he smirks. I finally answer the door. I smile when I realise it is just Christina and Will. They look at me and smile and then see Eric standing behind me and Christina's smile turns into a mischievous grin.
"Eric, what are you doing here?" She asks and his smile matches hers.
"I was just giving Tris a tour of her apartment." He says innocently. And a tour of his mouth, I think to myself but decide not to say it out loud.
"Is that all?" Christina asks.
"Of course." He replies and leans in to whisper in my ear. "Be ready at 7am tomorrow." He whispers, his hot breath tickling the shell of my ear.
He leaves and closes the door to my apartment behind him. I can feel myself blushing and I look at Christina who is smiling like mad.
"Tell me everything." She says and I internally groan.