A/N: Another short chapter, but important! I'm going on a trip for four days (ah, four..) but I promise that I'll begin posting as soon as I get back! Enjoy, favorite, follow, review, and THANK YOU!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights go to Veronica Roth.
The next morning I wake, tired from lack of sleep. I grunt as I get into the shower, and then tie my hair in a bun, similar to an Abnegation one, but I'm just too lazy to dry my hair and do it decently. I put on black jogging pants and a black tank top, line my eyes in black and run to the cafeteria to grab a muffin before heading to the train to take the initiates to the fence. I get to the tracks and Lauren greets me. Tobias and Christina arrive first, and Peter is the last to show up, just before the train slides by. I jump in first, and help the initiates in. I turn to the opening of the door as we start rolling along the tracks, I would probably fall out if I wasn't hanging onto the side bar, and the cool wind rushes over my face, calming my mind. It lasts for about three seconds before Peter decides to ruin the silence.
"I don't know how you beat me, Stiff. But I assure you, at any chance I get, I'll end you." He says, but Tobias stands straight, proud. He is slightly taller than Peter and skinnier, but the way he stands over him makes Peter look like a little school girl. I decide to step in, ending a fight before it starts.
"You better not debate this all the way to the fence." I say, coldly. "He won, you lost, get over it." They both look at me, Peter wide-eyed and fearful, Tobias almost expressionless, the remains of his anger still bubbling up inside his peculiar color eyes. I turn back to the door and enjoy the silence all the way to the fence. The brakes squeal and slide to a stop, and I hop off, waiting for the rest of the initiates to load off. Once they all join me I start speaking.
"Follow me," I start walking toward the fence and guard towers. A few people I hardly recognize are milling around and checking an Amity truck as we approach.
"If you don't rank in the top five at the end of initiation, you'll probably end up here," I say as I stop at the gate. "Once you are a fence guard, there is potential for advancement, but not much. You might get to go on patrols beyond Amity farms, but-"Will cuts me off in typical Erudite fashion.
"Patrols for what purpose?" He says, even if I did know, I probably wouldn't tell him.
"I suppose you'll find that out if you find yourself among them. As I was saying, usually, people who start to guard the fence when they are young usually continue to guard the fence. They say it's not so bad, if that comforts you." Zeke is the only person to ever say that, to calm down Hector one day, but they don't need to know that.
"What rank were you?" Peter asks. I don't want to tell him, but telling him might scare him a little more, so I do.
"I was first." I say levelly.
"And you chose to do this? Why didn't you get a government job?" He looks like his eyes are about to fall out of his skull.
"I didn't want one." Hopefully the idiot catches on and drops it. Dauntless doesn't have much in the way of jobs, but there is always work for everybody. We walk towards the fence where Shauna works; I see her clearing an Amity truck. She sees me and comes over, hauling me away from the crowd.
"Six! Did you read the new Erudite report?" She says, looking panicked.
"Nah, I tend to ignore bullshit. What did they say this time?"
"The Stiff, they said he was the son of Marcus Eaton, and that he used to abuse him, that's why he left. Do you think that could be true?" All I can do I stare at her. It's true, Tobias is the son of Marcus, but would he abuse him? He couldn't, he's the leader of the Abnegation, the nicest, most selfless people in the world. But I faintly remember unexplained bruises on his face at school… No, that's impossible, please let it be impossible. I shake my head at her.
"It has to be impossible, like I said, ignore the bullshit. No Abnegation would do that." I say, hoping that's true, but suspecting the opposite. I glance at Tobias, standing with Al, Will, and Christina, and wrack my brain to think of things from school that could link to abuse. The bruises I seen on his face once or twice are faded in my memory. But every time my father invited their family over for dinner, he never came. And he's always been so absent, at every approach I made to speak to him in school, he turned away, ignoring me completely. I realize, as I watch him, that although I don't like him the way Shauna and Zeke think I do, I care for him, at least a little.