"Well," says Tobias. "When you put it like that, I pick Dauntless."
"I was hoping you would say that," says Uriah with a wicked grin. "I dare you to let each of us throw one knife at you while you stand in front of the target. If you flinch or give up, you have to take off an article of clothing and forever be known as a pansycake."
Tobias rolls his eyes at the pansycake comment but agrees to the dare. Uriah finds eight knives in a cabinet and sets them out while Tobias takes his place at the target. Uriah grabs one of the knives and throws it at the target. It sticks in the wood about three inches away from Tobias' arm.
"Not bad," Tobias says. He steels himself for the next thrower, and Marlene steps up to take her turn.
Marlene's knife goes wide and ends up nearly a foot from Tobias' leg.
"Sorry, Four," she says. "Knife throwing wasn't my strongest suit in training, so I went wide so I wouldn't kill you."
"Thank you for not killing me," he says. "Let's arrange a time when we can meet here and work on your technique."
"Do you ever stop teaching?" asks Zeke, stepping up to grab a knife.
"Not as long as they have things to learn," says Tobias.
Zeke lets the knife fly, and the blade sticks in the wood just inches from Tobias' face.
"I thought you could use a little shave," says Zeke, smugly.
Tobias rolls his eyes as Shauna steps up to take her turn. She takes careful aim and lets the knife fly. It sticks in the wood beside Zeke's knife, a hair closer to Tobias' face.
"I like men with a close shave," she says, smirking at Zeke.
Lynn steps up with a determined face and grabs a blade. Tobias keeps his face placid, but I see his Adam's apple bob as he swallows hard. Lynn must not be very good at knife throwing. She takes aim and puts all her strength into letting the knife fly.
I almost cannot stand to watch as the knife hurtles end over end toward Tobias. I stare into his deep blue eyes and he stares back at me. With a thunk the knife plants itself into the wood near Tobias' shoulder.
"Not bad," he says, patronizing her with his instructor voice. "But you don't need to put that much force into it. If you want to improve your technique, I can help you too."
Lynn's cheeks redden and I'm glad she doesn't get another shot at Tobias. Christina and Will step forward at the same time, and he defers to her. Christina grabs a knife, carefully adjusts her stance, and sends it flying. It sinks into the wood near Uriah's blade. She looks satisfied.
Will steps forward and takes a knife. He aims carefully and the blade ends up just inches from the top of Tobias' head. He smirks, pleased with his shot.
I am the only one left, and I know exactly what to do. I give Tobias an evil grin, and I can tell that he knows what is coming. He grins back. He's not nervous at all. I am excellent at knife throwing. I get into position and carefully take aim. The knife leaves my hand perfectly on target and lands right against Tobias' ear. He steps away from the backboard and turns to show us the nick on his ear.
"Now we'll have matching scars," I gloat.
He grins. On the way back to Zeke's apartment, Christina tells the rest of our friends what happened in transfer training the day Tobias threw knives at me. They're all impressed with my bravery, and even more impressed that Tobias would let me throw knives at him after that.
Back at Zeke's apartment, Tobias picks Christina to go next. She chooses Candor.
"Why did you transfer to Dauntless?" Tobias asks.
Christina repeats what she had explained to Will and I back in initiation. Candor initiation involves harsh interrogations under the effects of truth serum. By the end of initiation you have told all your deepest, darkest secrets to the entire faction. Christina was fed up with the Candor bluntness and didn't feel like opening herself up in front of her parents and everyone she knew.
"Well, you handle Candor questions well during the game," I say.
Our friends nod.
"Can you imagine being asked about everything you have ever done? Every emotion, ever crush, everything you do in the bathroom?" Christina says, her voice rising, "It's awful. I don't want to be that open, and I don't care to know others that well, either."
We agree that Candor initiation sounds like a different kind of awful, and Christina goes on with the game.
"Marlene, you haven't gone in a while," she says. "Which faction?"
"How about Erudite," she says, "and if I get it right I want everyone to take another shot!"
We all agree. The drinks we have taken have been spaced out well, and we've all been eating and drinking water during the evening, so no one is getting too drunk, but the alcohol has made me feel calm and kind of floaty, and I could go for some more of that.
Christina removes a paper from the bowl. "Envelope four," she reads aloud.
I grab my jacket off the sofa and dig in the pocket. Envelope four is fat, and I pull it out without looking. I hand it to Marlene, who opens it with a quizzical look.
"Toys?" she asks, pulling a black plastic army figurine out of the envelope.
"You have to arrange the five toy soldiers into different patrol formations," says Christina, looking at the sheet in her hand.
Marlene nods and Christina gives her the first formation, arrowhead or wedge. Marlene arranges the plastic toys in an upside-down V shape.
"Column or file," says Christina, and Marlene lines up the toys in a straight line.
"Diamond," Christina directs, and Marlene arranges the toys in a diamond.
"Nope," says Tobias. "You forgot to put one of the soldiers in the middle. Four can do a diamond or square with a hollow center, but five soldiers means that one has to be in the middle. That keeps the formation tight. Or they might use it if the center person is someone they're trying to protect."
Everyone stares at Tobias. He has known the answer to every Erudite question about weapons and warfare. I wonder again about his Aptitude Test results. Could Tobias have an aptitude for Erudite too?
"What?" he asks, "I train soldiers. I have to know a lot about guns and war."
Marlene sticks her bottom lip out at him and removes her sweater, leaving her in just her skirt and a camisole.
"Tris," she says, still pouting. "Which faction?"
If she's pouting I don't want to ask for Dauntless. That would be a death wish. I already failed at Candor and answered all their questions as my Abnegation dare.
"Amity," I say.
Marlene looks disappointed. I think she wanted to get back at Tobias by giving me a hard dare.
"Fine," she says, her eyes lighting up when she settles on an idea. "I dare you to go to the platform in the Pit and sing a song into the microphone."
I have a terrible voice. The few times I have tried to sing, Caleb laughed at me. The school music teacher couldn't find a nice way to tell me that music isn't for me, and she was Amity. You know it's bad when an Amity can't find a nice way to put it. Combine that with the lack of music in Abnegation, and it's just not going to happen. Oh well, this is why I wore layers. I stand up from the sofa and reach up my dress to find the waistband of my shorts. I slide them down my legs, and my friends laugh and groan at my layering.
"How much clothing are you wearing, Stiff?" asks Will.
I just shrug. Like Christina, I could never be Candor. There are just things I don't want to do or say. Unlike Christina, I dressed for it.