When the Dauntless cake is gone, Zeke pours another round of shots. The liquid still burns, but I take mine without coughing this time.
"Four, I believe it's your turn," says Zeke, pouring an extra shot for himself.
"Ok then," says Tobias, "I pick you. Which faction would you like to try, Zeke?"
"Dauntless, of course," answers Zeke with exaggerated bravado.
"I dare you to go down to the Pit and get someone to let you shine their shoes like an old-fashioned shoe shine boy," says Tobias. "Charge one point for a shoe shine, and do it all with a British accent."
Zeke nods and runs around his house gathering props. He takes this game seriously, and before he leaves the apartment he has put on a pageboy hat, covered his face and hands in dirt, and gathered some supplies in a small box. We all run to the Pit and try to look nonchalant as we watch Zeke act out his dare.
The first few people refuse his shoeshine services. When he asks a small girl, she runs to her mother in tears and the rest of us burst out laughing. Finally Zeke finds his mother having dinner at a café and asks her.
"Are you playing Candor or Dauntless?" she says, rolling her eyes at her firstborn.
"Yes, mum," says Zeke, still using his British accent.
Hanna lifts her eyes and looks around the Pit. She smiles when she sees Tobias and I peeking around a corner and he waves at her.
"I kind of wish I had stepped on something nasty," says Hanna to Zeke, holding her foot out toward him. "Maybe you could learn to stop embarrassing yourself with this silly game."
Zeke reddens slightly and buffs her black shoes with his rag. When the shoe shine is over she hands him a one-point coin and pats him on the head. Zeke grins at his mom and jogs back to the apartment with the rest of us.
.
XOXO
.
When we're all settled back in our places, Zeke turns to Shauna.
"Shauna my love," he says, still using his British accent, "Dauntless, Candor, Amity, Abnegation, or Erudite?"
"Dauntless, of course," she replies in the same accent. "Why would anyone pick Erudite, anyway?"
"You know," says Uriah with an evil grin on his face, "you should have to pick all five factions before you can repeat one. That will keep it interesting."
Heads nod around the circle, and Shauna sighs.
"Fine. But I haven't done Dauntless yet, so I pick that one."
She sticks her tongue out at Uriah and turns back to Zeke for her dare.
"I dare you to sit on my lap for the rest of the game," says Zeke with a self-satisfied smirk.
Shauna rolls her eyes and complies, settling on Zeke's lap. He wraps his arms around her upper body and the smirk stays on his face for several minutes. It's easy to tell that he really likes her.
Turning to Marlene, Shauna says, "You haven't gone yet, right? Which faction?"
"That dare was tame, so you're in a good mood right now," Marlene reasons, "I'll take my Dauntless dare."
Shauna's placid face twists into a wicked grin. "Spin the bottle. You have to kiss whomever it lands on. On the mouth. For 30 seconds."
Marlene shrugs and grabs the tequila bottle from the table by Zeke. She pours another shot for each of us and the bottle is pretty much empty. She gives the bottle a spin on the floor in the middle of us, and we take our shots while we wait for it to slow down.
Please, not Tobias. I think as the bottle slows. It's coming our direction as it comes to a stop, and I can feel my heart pounding. But the bottle doesn't stop on Tobias; it stops on me. My cheeks instantly flame brilliant red, and everyone laughs. Marlene shrugs again.
"Tris, this isn't your first kiss is it?" she says, taking off her jacket.
I'm mute with shock and nervousness, so I just shake my head. Marlene puts her jacket back on and approaches me. Uriah, Will and Zeke jump out of their chairs to get a closer view. Their mouths are hanging open like fish. I swallow hard around the lump of anxiety in my throat.
Marlene puts her hands on my cheeks, and I put mine on her shoulders. She leans in and when our lips meet I notice that hers are softer than Tobias'. For a few seconds we are still, our lips resting together in a stiff kiss. Then Marlene begins to move her mouth a little, so I do too. Will lets out a wolf whistle and Zeke cheers. Marlene pulls back when the thirty seconds are over and plants a noisy, playful kiss on my cheek before she heads back to her seat.
"Thanks," she says, winking at me.
I steal a peek at the others in the room. Will and Christina are talking to each other about something I can't make out. Shauna is teasing Marlene, who looks proud of her Dauntless daring. Lynn's mouth is still hanging open, and I can't help but think she looks a little… jealous? She stares mutely at Marlene for a long time. Uriah has the same open-mouth gaping look, but he looks more excited than jealous. Gross.
When Uriah regains the use of his voice, he calls out, "That was so hot!"
My cheeks turn red again, and beside me Tobias leans in and whispers in my ear.
"That was pretty hot. I don't know if I should be jealous or intrigued."
"Stop!" I hiss back, slapping him playfully on the shoulder.
He waggles his eyebrows at me and I cover my face with my hands. He nonchalantly moves a hand to the small of my back, and all I can do is shake my head.
"Marlene, please pick someone else," I whine.
"Ok, ok," she laughs. "Four, which faction?"
Tobias thinks for a minute. He already chose Abnegation, but the other four are available.
"I'll get Erudite out of the way," he decides.
I get the bucket of questions and hold it out to Marlene. She sticks a hand in the bucket and stirs the questions before picking one. She opens it and a confused look crosses her face.
"All it says is 'envelope 2' and then an answer. What's envelope two?"
I pull a stack of white envelopes from my jacket pocket. I flip through them until I find the one marked with a 2. I hand the envelope to Tobias, and he reads the question on the back.
"Arrange the ammo cards in order from the smallest exit wound to the biggest," he reads. "Sweet! This is the kind of Erudite I can handle!"
He pulls the small stack of cards out of the envelope and arranges them on the card table. His first card is .22, followed by .380, then 9mm, then .45 caliber.
"Correct," says Marlene after comparing his cards to the answer in front of her.
"That was easy!" complains Will. "I had to remember when gunpowder was invented!"
"They're all easy if you know the answers," says Tobias in his instructor voice, and we laugh.