Arya

I am fascinated with everything around me. We pass through a place called the Pit, which is basically an enormous cavern. Four says it is the heart of the faction. It looks like it is pumping blood, full of life. I see a group of men and women drinking and shouting at two people fighting. I look at the stage they are looking at: a tiny woman and a man whose body is fully covered with tattoos. Right when I was looking at the snake tattoo that goes all the way from his chest to his neck, she punches his face and blood spurts out. The crowd goes crazy as some of them get angry while others cheer even more loudly. For a second, I turn my head and see Four watching me, which makes me fully aware of my open mouth.

"Scared yet?"

"Nah… What are they fighting for?" I respond trying to look as brave as possible.

"Nothing. Just having fun."

"They can do whatever they want to have fun. Why would they choose to hurt each other?"

"This is what we do here. We fight when we need to prove something. We fight when we are happy. And we fight when we are angry. Plus, it is always good practice."

"I understand we need practice. But what exactly did that guy learn with his broken nose? I don't understand hurting each other just for the fun of it." I say and see the top of his lip curl up.

"You will get used to it." he says, looking forward.

Eric, who was walking in front of us for a while, stops in front of two black doors.

"This is the training room. Training starts at 8 am. But you have to be here at 7 am to catch up with the others. You will train with me or Four every day for an extra hour. The training ends at 6 pm. I don't care what you do in your free time as long as you stay out of trouble. You cannot leave the compound without a full member with you." says looking at me with the same scowl he's been wearing since the moment I saw him. He opens the doors and enters first. I take a deep breath and take a look around the training room. To me, these people look like full Dauntless members already.

Eric moves towards a woman who is probably an instructor. He leans into her ear and whispers something. The woman smirks and looks towards my way.

"That's Lauren. She is the instructor of the Dauntless borns. I am your instructor. And Eric is overseeing both groups. You won't normally train with them but this morning she had to take over for us." says Four. I nod, unable to say anything. I am still looking at her and Eric. She slowly touches his arm and says something I can't hear but it makes him smirk. I already hate her but I don't exactly know why. I should hate the asshole next to her more.

"Did you hear what I just said?"

"Yes, I heard you. How are we evaluated?" I ask him, still looking at them hoping they don't notice me. He doesn't even look at her face while talking to her. While he is very controlled and his gaze keeps sweeping over the room, checking every single person lazily, she is completely focused on him, laughing at whatever he says. I wonder what kind of a joke that comes out of that guy can make anyone laugh like that.

Four shows me around the room and introduces me to some of the initiates. He stops to help a girl with her stance while I keep going until I stop in front of a white board. There are two lists on it: transfers and Dauntless borns.

"Your life depends on that board." yells Eric across the room. Does he really see everything going on around him? "Dauntless borns and transfers are ranked separately. But at the end, only 12 of you in total will make it".

"What will happen to the rest of us?"

"You will be cut, become factionless." says Eric, as if that's too obvious. I quickly scan the names in the Transfer column. Among the 13 initiates, someone named Edward is on top and someone named Peter is the second. I look at the very bottom of the list and see a girl named Eileen.

"Looking for a specific name?"

I turn around to see a tall and very good looking guy with bronzed skin and dark hair. He is looking up and down at me with a wide smile on his face.

"Yeah, yours. Where are you?" I say and turn around to look at the list again. He approaches from behind me and points at a name in the list next to the one I am looking at.

"You are looking at the wrong list, silly. Here I am. In the Dauntless-born list, obviously." he says proudly. The name he is pointing at next to number 2 is Uriah.

"Nice going, Uriah!" I say nodding my head, with an exaggerated excitement.

"I know, right? You should cheer for me today during my fight with the number one guy."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Aww, that's so sweet. I know I am your bestie already!" he laughs while high fiving me. "What is your name?"

"Arya. This is my first day, so I am not in the list yet."

"What do you mean you are not in the list yet? Are you sure? Are you sure your name is, I don't know, not Myra?"

"No, I am pretty sure it is Arya."

"Wait a second. You are not the 150 old ghost of an initiate who died here in the training room years ago, are you? Hey guys! Is anyone else seeing this pretty lady next to me or am I the only lucky guy who get to see her?"

"Stop it! Oh no." I say laughing. Everyone is looking at us now. I see a couple faces who nod at me trying to welcome me quietly.

"Where were you-" says Uriah but someone barks at him so loudly that we both jump up.

"Pedrad! The training is not over yet. Get back here and finish what you started!" I hear a furious Eric. He is standing in front of an orange punching bag and keeps staring at Uriah until he starts moving.

I look at Uriah apologetically. "Hurry! You should get back."

"Don't worry," he whispers. "He is so much worse usually. You'll get used to it. Nice meeting you Arya. I will see you on the board next time then." He winks at me and run towards Eric. I turn around to memorize the names in the list.

"You are here to look around and get familiar, not flirt with the first guy you see," says Eric's commanding voice this time.

"What?" I hissed. This man is not human. How can he appear right next to me all of a sudden without me noticing him approaching? And how dare he accuse me of flirting with someone while he was the one flirting with that girl over there during training?

"As long as I am training you, I don't want to see stupid teenagers drooling over each other."

"I was socializing. Not everyone fli-"

"Alright everyone! You have one hour to have lunch. We'll start with the fights when you get back. If you are late, don't bother come in at all!" He interrupts me before barking at everyone in the room, just to show me who has the authority there. It is not even time for lunch yet.

"What do you want me to do, Sir?" I say trying the hide the anger in my voice.

"Go have lunch. Or don't; I don't care. Be here in an hour." he says, looking at everything around him except for me.

"Thank you, Sir." I say and call Uriah loudly, making sure Eric hears.

"Hey! Second best guy! Wanna show me the cafeteria?"

I see some of his friends laughing at Uriah and see Eric rolling his eyes with annoyance from the corner of her eye.

"Of course. Come on," Uriah says. "Everyone, this is Arya. Arya, this is everyone. You don't need to know their names because I am the only one you need to get to know."

"Last time I check; she did not call you by your name either Uri. Hi, gorgeous, I am Alex. Welcome to Dauntless." says another guy who casually puts his arm around my shoulder, which makes me freeze right away. I hate physical contact, especially with men. I try to brush it off subtly since I don't want to leave a bad first impression. Luckily, he doesn't notice how tense I am and turns around to say something to Uriah, letting me go. He tells him something about being a gentleman and they both laugh. I can't hear exactly what they are laughing about due to the buzzing in my ears. Everything is a blur during the walk between the training room and the cafeteria. We wait in a line to grab our food and the first thing I hear clearly after the horrible buzzing, is Uriah cheering with excitement.

"Now, this is a proper welcome. Arya, try the cake. Dauntless has the best chocolate cake ever."

"What is it?"

"A cake made of chocolate." He says laughing as if I made a joke.

"Chocolate?" I say. I see his face getting serious all of a sudden. He looks at me curiously.

"Alright, alright! I don't want to hurt your pride the second best guy. I will still eat it; don't worry."

"Are you serious?" he asks me. I don't understand why it is a big deal but I cut it short.

"You know what? It looks delicious. I'm sure I'll love it."

We find empty seats at a table with a group of his friends.

"So, the new girl. Why didn't you start with the rest of us?" ask someone.

"Oh," I say trying to figure out how to cut the juicy chicken leg in front of me. Relieved to see others grabbing it with their hands, I do the same. "Apparently, there was something wrong with my aptitude test. They just told me I was actually Dauntless, not Amity, so I decided to transfer.

"Amity? Huh, that explains why a pretty girl like you would start talking to Uri willingly. You are still high on peace serum, aren't you?" says Alex. Everyone at the table laughs, including me. Amity is known for its bread full of peace serum.

"No, not a fan of the bread. So, we are cool Uri, don't worry," I say. When I look at him, I see him smile at me warmly. A friend. Maybe he will be my friend.

"Were you given the chance to stay there then?" asks a girl.

"Yeah, they gave me the chance to choose. But I wanted to trust the test, you know. I wanted to be where I am meant to be."

"Welcome to Dauntless then, Arya. Hey everyone, I raise this water glass to our new fellow Dauntless. To Arya!" One of the girls at the table yells and smiles at me by nodding her head. And everyone raises their glasses yelling "To Arya!" I feel all heads in the cafeteria turn to look at us but I don't care. I can't stop smiling.

"So, were you Amity before?" asks Uriah.

"No, I wasn't. I mean I don't really know if I was born in a faction or not, but I have been Factionless for as long as I remember. Amity was just my test result. But sometimes I close my eyes and try to imagine myself as a baby, you know. And I swear I see myself in Dauntless. Who knows? Maybe I am Dauntless born like you guys?" I say laughing at myself.

Silence. Nobody says anything. I look at Uriah who is looking at me with shock. His friends are trying to avoid eye contact with me, quietly looking at each other. Some of them are eating their food, acting like they didn't hear what I just said. Good job Arya! You were doing just fine. I feel a familiar pain in my stomach. After a long silence, some people started to leave the table, saying either nothing or a quick "see you guys". The silence is so long and uncomfortable. I don't know how to turn things around. I contemplate asking him what I did wrong, and telling him I am sorry for whatever it was.

"Hey, Uri, I-"

"It was nice meeting you Arya. I need to get back to our training room." he says with a small smile. And he disappears, taking the rest of his friends with him.

Suddenly, I am all alone at a table. I look at the door once, still trying to figure out what happened. I look at other tables around me. The other initiates are still eating, talking, laughing, having a good time, just like I was a moment ago. Finally, I look at the central table that is the only round one in the cafeteria. There, I see four people who look like they are talking about something very important. And last but not least, I see those grey eyes, not looking at anyone at the table. Instead, he is staring at me curiously. I try to make a point by staring him back with my head held high but the leader who clearly hates me, -although I am not sure if he likes anyone- does not bother looking away. I raise one of my eyebrows at him, still not breaking eye contact. He doesn't move, doesn't even acknowledge my little show of rebellion. What is wrong with these people? I leave the table hastily, leaving my Dauntless cake untouched.