Flowers, bright and colorful, speckle the grassy field and the sound of laughter rises to my ears. In spite of my past anger, a small smile rises to my face.
"This is the garden." Chassity chants in a monotone, rehearsed sounding voice. "this is where Abnegation gathers once a week to plant flowers and perform other community services."
I frown. I definitely won't do that.
Chassity must see what I'm thinking in my expression, because a cruel smile curves her lips upwards. "Its not optional. All Abnegation have to," she pauses to look me in the eyes. Trying to enrage me. "Lucky you."
I clench my fists and shut my eyes. I won't give her the pleasure of letting her rile me up.
When I've fully composed myself, I paste a false smile onto my face and answer. "Yep. Lucky me." I retort, making my voice as sickly sweet as possible.
Chassity frowns, though she continues on the tour. "Right there," she points towards a large all-blue building, "is the Erudite cabin. That's the cabin for all the intelligent ones. The ones who love to research and read."
She lets out a loud yawn. "Boring, if you ask me."
"I didn't though." I mutter sourly as I gaze at the inhabitants of the Erudite cabin just the tiniest bit interested. They wear all blue and most of them wear glasses without any lenses.
I shake my head.
They look like nerds.
I choke back a giggle at the thought. Chassity gives me a glare before she leads me down to the cabin beside the Erudite one.
"This is the Candor cabin." I look at the building for a few seconds. Its painted a bright, almost neon red color. A group of teenagers dressed in all black and white stand outside, playing a game with
One girl, a dark, pretty one catches my eye and shoots me a friendly smile.
I'm taken aback by her friendliness and before I can think, I'm smiling back.
She turns back to the game and Chassity pokes me in the arm.
"Uh, come on?"
I tear my eyes away from the girl and follow Chassity down to the next cabin.
"and this is the Dauntless cabin." she shivers.
I gasp at the immense size of the cabin, the extreme blackness of the building. The sounds of screams of excitement and fear fill the atomsphere. I shut my eyes. Somehow I feel it. Like I belong here.
"Scary right?" Chassity whines, breaking me out of my thoughts. "C'mon. I want to show you the last two cabins."
I ignore her as the window at the very top of the six story structure slides open. My eyes immediately fix on it as a boy clad in black climbs out. He's quickly followed by three others, one girl and two boys.
They seem to be daring the first boy to do something. He's shaking his head, an impish grin spreading across his face.
Then he jumps.
A gasp escapes from my lips as he hurtles towards the ground, whooping at the top of his lungs.
"Are they crazy?" I mutter to Chassity, though I keep my eyes fixed on the boys body.
"I told you they were. Every week, a new one dies." Chassity answers with another little shudder. "I can't watch this." she shuts her eyes, though I can't seem to. I'm transfixed.
At the very last second, the boy presses a button and a parachute opens on his back.
He lets out a loud whoop and pumps his fist in the air. The people at the top cheer. I find myself joining in. Its exciting, dangerous. I think I love it.
The cheers stop and their eyes fall on me.
I feel a blush prickle my cheeks.
The rest of them launch themselves off the building and stop beside the boy, pulling him to his feet a bit roughly.
Chassity lets out a gasp as they start towards us.
"Run. Run." she repeats the word, her breath hitching in her throat. "they're dangerous. If they kill you, the principal's going to blame it on me." she pleads with me.
But I can't seem to make my feet move as they finally stop before us.
Now that their on the ground, I can get a closer look at them. The girl is pale, so pale she resembles a vampire. Her lip is pierced and her hair is dyed a strange purple color. A tattoo of a dragon is all the way across her arm. The other boy is dark-skinned. His hair is in intricate curls spread across his head and though he's not smiling, his eyes seem to. The boy at the head of the group is tan and dark-haired. His eyes are a piercing dark blue. Mysterious. Taunting.
Under his piercing gaze, I can hardly breathe. He tears his eyes away from me, releasing his hold on me and I can finally breathe.
"Your the new girl. Aren't you?" the dark-skinned boy asks.
"Yes." I manage.
"I'm Eric. Eric Eaton." introduced the first boy, the one with the piercing eyes. He holds out a hand for me to shake. I take it avoiding his gaze.
"Kind of skinny, isn't she?" smirks the girl standing beside him. She puts on arm around him and looks at me. Girl talk for: He's mine.
Disappointment washes over me.
Doesn't matter anyway. I'm leaving in a couple of days.
Then he frowns and pushes her away. "Get off me, Beth." he says.
She shoots me a look of dislike before turning her attention back to him.
"Yes Eric." she coos.
So that's his name. Eric.
"I'm Tobias." the other boy, the jumper steps forward. He has a striking resemblance to Eric, though he seems a lot more serious and he holds a more quiet beauty.
"A-Are you brothers?" I stumble through my words.
Tobias nods and steps back, his expression impassive. His eyes remain on me.
"I'm Uriah." the handsome, dark-skinned boy says, shaking my hand. His eyes shine with a strange kind of light, humor. He exchanges an amused-filled glance with Eric.
Chassity tugs on my arm, pulling me out of my trance. "We have to go." she says curtly as she takes my hand. Only the way her hand trembles against mine reveals her fear of them.
Eric looks merely amused as he looks at her for a few seconds, holding her gaze. She looks away first and he quickly follows, a disinterested smirk spreading across his face. She quiets, trembling with an emotion I can't detect. His eyes fall on me with the same intensity as the first time, and I forget about Chassity. I forget about everything apart from him and I.
"What's your name?"
"Tris." I murmur.
"Tris." he repeats my name, his voice deep and husky. It sends a tremor down my spine.
"Tris." Uriah mimics. Beth erupts into a loud, dramatized giggle. She grabs a hold of Eric's arm again, pulling it. "We have to go." she whines.
He nods and lets the girl lead him away. Uriah shoots me one last smile before he turns to follow them back to the building.
After a second, Tobias is the only one left.
His eyes are pain-filled, for a reason I can't figure out.
"Are you okay?" I ask, putting a hand hesitantly forward to touch his shoulder.
He slaps it away.
"You don't know me like that. Don't touch me." he says. His voice is frosty, so frosty, I can almost feel the cold.
He turns and enters the building.
That was odd. What did I do to him?
"Who were those.. Those.."
"The Dauntless cabin. I told you that already." Chassity snaps. Shes been on the edge since our visitation to the Dauntless cabin.
"No." I snap, frustration tinging my words. "I mean.. Those boys."
She sighs. "The Eaton brothers. Tobias and Eric Eaton."
I let out a groan. "That's not what I mean. I know their names, I just want to know.. Where they came from. Who they are. What they are."
Chassity looks as confused as I feel. "They're jerks, Tris." she finally says. "jerks. Especially that Eric."
I ignore her as she leads me on, right past the Amity cabin.
"Aren't you going to show me-"
"They'res no time left. Its time for my shift." she mutters without stopping. She breaks into a run and I quicken my pace to catch up.
"Shift for what?"
"Shift to guard the gate." she says stopping in front of the door to the small gray building.
"The.. Gates? People can't leave?" I ask, hiding my shock.
"No! They can't!" Chassity snaps. She sounds overly angry.
"What's bothering you?" I mutter.
She doesn't answer.
I shrug and look around, frowning at my meager surroundings.
The brick walls are painted a dull gray to match the even duller roof. There are no windows. It looks like a renovated factory. I crane my ears, trying to hear at least one kid my age in there. Nothing.
"Nice place, huh?" Chassity asks snidely.
"I can't live like this." I moan, clutching my luggage to my stomach dramatically.
"Neither could I." Chassity smirks, as she adjusts the Amity yellow glasses on her face.
I once again clench my fists, half surprised at how much hatred I feel for this girl.
Maybe I should punch her once. Maybe knock out a few teeth? She won't even notice.
"You must be Tris."
I look up from my tremulous thoughts and into a shy looking girls down-turned blue eyes. She's leaning against the door, a cautious smile painting her pale face.
"Yea." I mutter.
Chassity lets out soft giggle. "Yes, Susan. She's always this friendly." she says.
Susan doesn't seem to hear her as she looks up at me a bit shyly, the cautious smile getting just the tiniest bit wider.
I look her over, taking in the short cropped blond hair, the all gray clothes, and the pale blue eyes.
A pang of homesickness hits me as I realize her eyes are almost the same shade of Caleb's. My brother.
I choke.
I recover quickly, masking my choke with a cough.
"Are you okay?" Susan sounds concerned.
I don't bother answering, instead I focus on wheeling my luggage up the steps.
"Do you need help?" Susan asks, taking my luggage from me.
"No. I don't," I pull it away from her. "I don't like people touching my stuff."
Susan nods, her lips down turning into a dejected frown.
A pang of guilt hits me, but I push it away. I continue my trek into the building, and Susan follows me, keeping her eyes downcast.
"Have fun!" Chassity exclaims before turning to prance away.
Want me to continue? Please review!