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Once all the initiates have their feet on solid ground again, Lauren and I lead them down the tunnels that will lead us to the Pit. The only noise is that of our footsteps. Lauren and I stop and turn towards the initiates.
"This is where we divide," Lauren says. "The Dauntless-born initiates are with me. I assume you don't need a tour of the place." A smile makes its way across her face and she gestures for the Dauntless-borns to follow her into the adjacent tunnel. They disappear into the darkness.
I am now left with the transfers and see there are only 9 of them. The majority come from Candor. There are a few Erudite and only 1 Abnegation. Tris. There are no Amity. I attempt to skim the group for potential stand-outs but my eyes are drawn to Tris. What could make a small Abnegation girl want to leave her former faction and become Dauntless? I hope it isn't anything like my reason to transfer. I pull my attention back to our newest editions.
"Most of the time I work in the control room, but for the next few weeks, I am your instructor," I say. "My name is Four."
"Four? Like the number?" A tall, dark-skinned girl asks. I recognize her as the second jumper, a Candor. I don't like questions and therefore don't get along very well with Candors.
"Yes," I say. "Is there a problem?"
"No."
"Good," I say, hoping she realises by my tone she needs to remain quiet and that now is not the time for questions. "We're about to go into the Pit, which you will someday learn to love. It – "
The same girl lets out a strange noise I can only assume is a laugh. "The Pit? Clever name." Obviously she doesn't realise yet.
It's this remark that starts to annoy me. I walk up to the girl and lean my face in close – enough to make her uncomfortable. I'm even a little uncomfortable with the distance but that's just my Abnegation roots creeping to the surface. I narrow my eyes and just stare at her for a second.
"What's your name?" I ask quietly.
"Christina," she manages to get out.
"Well, Christina, if I wanted to put up with Candor smart-mouths, I would have joined their faction," I hiss. "The first lesson you will learn from me is to keep your mouth shut. Got that?"
All she does is nod and I can't help but question Tris' choice of friends.
I continue walking down the tunnel and hear the echo of the initiate's steps as they begin to follow. Over my shoulder I hear Christina mumble to Tris, "What a jerk."
"I guess he doesn't like to be laughed at," she replies. Out of everyone, the Stiff understands.
My eyes begin to strain from the dark as we walk towards the double doors that reveal the Pit. I open the doors and a sense of understanding washes over the transfers. "The Pit" is the best name for it. It's basically just like someone dug out a hole in the Earth, topped it with a glass roof and equipped it with the normal things other factions have.
"If you follow me," I enjoin. "I'll show you the chasm." I wave them over to the right side of the Pit that is host to the chasm. "The chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy!" I shout over the noise of the torrent of water behind me. The sound is familiar now and I feel at ease. I place my clammy hand on the cool rail. "A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You've been warned."
Every year at least 1 initiate takes the jump. They can't deal with the pressures of the initiation. It usually happens during stage 2 when they're being forced to confront their worst fears day after day. In my initiate class it was an Amity boy, Timothy. I can only wonder who it will be this year.
Once the transfers seem to grasp the danger of the chasm I lead them across the Pit to the dining hall. They stick out like sore thumbs. Erudites in at least one article of blue clothing and Candor clad in black and white. One person especially stands out to me, although I don't know whether that's because of her grey clothes or something else. But how could it be? I've known her for not even an hour. I decide it must be the clothes.
When we walk in the Dauntless inside all stand. They applaud, stamp their feet and shout. The noise vibrates through my chest and I smile. Its times like this I feel like I could belong in Dauntless. When everyone seems to become a unit. A team. But that's not what Dauntless is about anymore, which is why after this group of initiates I am going to become factionless.
I decide to sit with the transfers, not managing to find where Zeke, Shauna and Lauren are with the amount of movement in the room. I end up sitting next to Tris. Christina is on the other side of her and I can only hope she doesn't ask more questions. In the middle of the table sits a platter of hamburgers. I grab one and so does Christina, but Tris just pinches one between her fingers obviously unsure what to make of it. I resist the urge to laugh and nudge her with my elbow. "It's beef, put this on it," I say handing her a small bowl of tomato sauce.
"You've never had a hamburger before?" Christina asks wide-eyed with disbelief.
"No," she says. "Is that what it's called?"
"Stiffs eat plain food," I inform Christina, nodding.
"Why?" She asks
Tris shrugs. "Extravagance is considered self-indulgent and unnecessary."
Christina smirks at her. "No wonder you left."
"Yeah," Tris says, rolling her eyes. "It was just because of the food."
I fight a smile from my face, but the corner of my mouth still twitches.
The doors to the hall open, followed immediately by a heavy silence. Eric. He's a typical looking Dauntless member. Pierced, tattooed and clothed in black.
"Who's that?" Christina hisses under her breath.
"His name is Eric," I reply. "He's a Dauntless leader."
"Seriously? But he's so young."
"Age doesn't matter here," is all I say. She opens her mouth to say something else but decides against it - no doubt because Eric is making his way to our table. Once he reaches it he sits himself down next to me.
"Well, aren't you going to introduce me?" He asks me, nodding towards Christina and Tris.
"This is Tris and Christina," I reply flatly.
"Ooh, a Stiff," Eric says, eyeing Tris. His eyes rake over her like a predator looks over its prey before a kill. She winces. "We'll see how long you last."
I get a sudden urge to punch his face in, but then again, I get this feeling a lot when I'm around Eric. I don't like the way he was looking at Tris, like she is weak. He probably thinks that's a trait that comes from being born in Abnegation. But I have proven to him that it's not.
He starts tapping his fingers on the table. "What have you been doing lately, Four?"
"Nothing really," I answer. I notice Tris' thoughtful gaze in my peripheral vision. How must this exchange look to her and Christina?
"Max tells me he keeps trying to meet up with you, and you don't show up," Eric says. "He requested that I find out what's going on with you."
I consider my response to this for a moment until I decide on "Tell him that I am satisfied with the position I currently hold."
"So he wants to give you a job."
"So it would seem," I say, not happy with where this conversation could lead.
"And you aren't interested."
"I haven't been interested for 2 years."
"Well," he starts, satisfied. "Let's hope he gets the point, then."
He claps me on the shoulder and I almost shudder. I don't like people touching me – it makes me uncomfortable, and the fact that it was Eric made it worse. This trait is a default of being Abnegation-born. I relax once he leaves, so do Tris and Christina.
"Are you two... friends?" Tris asks curiously.
"We were in the same initiate class, he transferred from Erudite."
"Were you a transfer too?" She blurts out.
"I thought I would only have trouble with the Candor asking too many questions," I say colder than I intended. She is definitely the most curious Abnegation that I've ever met. "Now I've got Stiffs, too?"
"It must be because you're so approachable," she counters. "Like a bed of nails."
I stare at her, unsure what to think. I expect her to look away but she doesn't. She stands her ground and stares back at me, unrelenting. She's challenging me, but why? She can't go around Dauntless doing this and she needs to know that. She is not weak; it's obvious if you look in her eyes. She is tough as nails, but she is also stubborn. It's now obvious to me that her reason for leaving Abnegation nowhere near resembles mine. She wouldn't run away like I did.
"Careful Tris," I say a subtle warning in my voice. Our connection breaks and all tension dissolves.
Zeke calls my name from our usual table, which is in plain sight now. I leave Tris and Christina without another word and join my group of friends. They ask me about my thoughts on the new initiates and who I think has a decent shot. I tell them it's too early to make any real guesses. Zeke seems a little on edge but I don't blame him, his brother is an initiate this year.
"How's the Stiff?" Lauren interjects, halfway through my answering a question.
"She's alright for a girl coming from Abnegation, but I don't think she'll do too well in combat training." And it's true, I don't. She's a tiny little thing – a few good hits would knock her out cold. I push this thought from my mind.
I finish my food and decide to go back to my apartment, knowing that Eric is taking the transfers to their dormitories later. I say goodbye to Zeke, Shauna and Lauren and start down the tunnel that will take me to my apartment. As soon as I walk through the door I make my way over to my bed and collapse, knowing I have to be up early for the transfers first day of training. After replaying the events of today a few times in my head I fall asleep to thoughts of belts, cupboards and Abnegation grey.