I wake up and I am still grinning from ear to ear. Man it is amazing what one tiny little woman can do to a mans psyche, I am not supposed to be this way, I am supposed to be hard and cruel but no matter how hard I try I cannot wipe the smile from my face. I grab my running gear and hastily put it on and head to the training room once again, my morning routine gives me some sort of stability. Plus I need to keep fresh and ready as anything could occur and people would count on me for guidance.
I do my stretching and I begin to lift my weights. After my normal amount of reps plus a little extra, I take off and start to run my normal 50 laps around the track when I feel my communicator in my pocket go off and there is a message from Max stating that I need to come see him. I wipe the sweat from my face with the towel in my gym bag and make my way to his office. "Morning Eric." he says. "I have the final rankings that you need to put up in the training rooms for stage 1. I also need you to stay in the pit during visiting day just to make sure that things don't get out of hand, at least until noon when I will have Four relieve you. "Okay." I say and turn around to leave the room after he hands me the list.
I make my way back to my apartment and get cleaned up and put on my best black shirt that shows my muscles perfectly and a nice pair of pants that fit perfectly snug. I pick up the rankings and go to the training rooms one at a time Dauntless borns first. I write the names on the chalkboard and Zeke's little brother Uriah is at the top of the list. No surprise there the kid is fiesty. I then head out to the transfer training room and write out their ranks.
1. Edward
2. Peter
3. Will
4. Molly
5. Tris
6. Christina
7. Drew
8. Al
9. Myra
Well, it looks like that big Erudite is leaving after all. I make my way to the Mess Hall to make the announcement, "Initiates, your ranks have been posted in you respective training rooms, also, remember today is visiting day. I need you all to be extra careful. Also, those initiates who ranked out of Dauntless need to meet in the training room on Monday morning. Enjoy the rest of your weekend." I sit down and eat my breakfast and then make my way to the pit. I absolutely loathe visiting day.
I stand on the catwalk watching the few families that did come to see their children one last time. I see that little Candor with a woman and a girl and then I glance slightly to the left and I see Tris and a woman who looks almost exactly like her hugging. After they are finished they talk for another couple of minutes and then she turns around and points at me. I find myself scowling at this although I am not sure why. Maybe because my own parents didn't come on visiting day, I mean I didn't expect them to, but it's like a closure that I didn't get.
I am torn out of my thoughts when I realize that they are coming towards me. "Mom," Tris says. "This is Eric, he is one of the leaders here in Dauntless." I tip my head at her but she reaches out to shake my hand. "How very un-Abnegation of her, they usually shy away from physical contact." I think to myself. I reach out and shake the pre-offered hand. "It's very nice to meet you ma'am." I say. She smiles at me and they continue on their way withour another word between us.
Soon after Four arrives to relieve me of my duties. He glares at me and says, "Enjoy your day off Douchebag." I laugh and walk away waiting for the day that I can repay him for that comment. I run to my apartment and decide for the rest of the afternoon I want to grab my journal (I know, I know) which is really the only habit I kept up from my life in Erudite and head up to my happy place, the place that no one goes to unless out of necessity, the place I first saw her. The roof where the second test of Dauntless bravery is tested.
I'm sitting on the ledge with my feet hanging over the side when I hear someone approaching from behind. "Hey stranger." She says and at that moment I realize that is my best and only real friend Shauna, who coincidentally also happens to be Zeke's girlfriend. She looks over my shoulder and says, "It looks just like her." She smiles and continues to study my drawing. She is the only one who knows how I feel about Tris we talked about it earlier in the week so I can't get mad at her for invading my privacy.
"You've changed since she got here and honestly, I didn't know you were capable of being caring until she came here." She sits next to me and I elbow her in the ribs. "I care about you."I say. She scoffs and says, "I know, but you protect me like a sister, with her it's different. You seem like you want to be a better person for her." I smile at her while I mull over what she has said and reply. "I do Shauna, I want initiation to be over so I can get these feelings in the open, did I tell you that she held my hand last night? When we were in the elevator on our way to zipline. I didn't want to let go, it's like all the air is taken from my lungs and when she is around I can finally breathe." I say with alot more passion then I intended. "This is not the way I act Shauna this is not me."
"Eric," she says. "You have been broken and hurt for long enough hiding who you truly are for way too long now. Embrace what you have been given and don't let it slip through your fingers because you are worried about what other people will think." She stands up and kisses me on the forehead. "I'm going to dinner now, wanna join. That was why I came up here in the first place." she laughs. I nod my head at her, close my journal and shove it into a pocket of my cargo pants and we decide instead of walking we will just take the leap in.
We make it to dinner and I can't tell if we are early or late because I have no idea of the time but the Mess Hall is basically empty, so we get our food in record time and go sit down with Zeke and his brother Uriah. I eat in silence contemplating what Shauna had said to me on the roof. "It's hard to think about being a better person about stepping out of who I think I am rather than who I could be." I think to myself. At this point I can't eat anymore so I take my tray and shake Zeke's hand and then pull Shauna into hug and make my way back to my apartment.
By the time I get back here I am so mentally exhausted that I remove my clothes put on a pair of sleep pants and fall directly into bed. Four hours later I am jolted awake by a banging sound coming from the front door. I grab a t-shirt and pull it over my head and storm to the door. I open it and find Four standing in my doorway. "What do you want?" I yell absolutely livid that I have been woken up by this asshole. "It's Edward." he says and I instantly go into leader mode. I slip on my shoes and follow him to the transfer dorms.
When we open up the door there is a grim scene before us. Edward is in the middle of the floor screaming and asking someone I can't exactly see who it is because I am focused on all of the blood to please pull it out. She says that she can't and that he needs to wait for someone who is trained to pull it out. It's then that I notice that once again Tris is the one that is helping. I get closer to examine the scene and all of the blood that is surrounding Edward seems to be stemming from the butter knife that is currently sticking out of his eye. I walk over and lift him up as I am pretty sure at this point I am the only one who can lift him.
I clutch Edward closer to my chest and tell Four to grab the girl that is crying in the corner she is obviously having some hysterics. As I turn to the leave the room I see that everyone with the exception of Tris have returned to their beds. She looks around incrediously and walks into the washroom to grab some towels and a buckets and begins to clean up the blood. I can see tears beginning to prick at her eyes and as much as I want to comfort her at this point in time Edward getting the care he needs is more important. I deposit him in the infirmary and make my way to my office with Four to write up the report. There is no clues on the video as to who the culprits were we just know that there were two of them. I go back to my apartment hoping to catch some kind of sleep, but I can't help but remember the scene from earlier.