Wooohoooo! I'm baack.
I hope you guys don't mind that I didn't include the whole Choosing Ceremony and what happens afterwards, I just thought that you all know what happens after the Ceremony and that I wouldn't have to write it down again. (I personally always skip those parts when I read Fanfiction, because it bores the crap out of me.)
Chapter 1: Remember that day we met in December?
Kory
I am the worst person Amity had to face, like ever. I imagine them throwing a big party when I'm out of here. They probably will all be glad to be rid of me. And I understand them; I mean seriously, they've wasted tons of peace-serum on me while trying to tame me. But they didn't succeed; I'm a lost cause. My temper gets the best of me, wherever I go and my family has to deal with the consequences. They've become outsiders in our peace-loving society, because they defended me whenever someone made a comment about my behavior. It's not like people were being rude, the things they said were all true, but they made it very clear that they don't want me here.
And they have every reason to do so. I never act like I am supposed to. When this Candor-guy called Peter insults one of us, I don't smile at him, tell him how interesting his Candor-habits are and walk away, like my mother always told me. Nope, I end up at detention for punching him in the face. And the worst thing is that I'm not mad at myself for freaking out and punching someone, but for not punching hard enough to hurt him. I always knew that something's wrong with me. And since I have to be injected with peace-serum at least thrice a week to prevent me from causing trouble, everyone else knows too.
My temper ruined everything; not only the relationships with girls and boys at my age (they all annoy me anyway, but it still hurts to know that they don't want to be friends with me), but more importantly, my relationship with my brother. Ever since that eventful encounter with his Erudite-mentor three years ago, I wasn't allowed to visit him again, which means that I haven't spoken to my beloved brother in three years. And it was my entire fault. I often imagine visiting him again to apologize, but then I always feel bad, because I'm not sorry for what I did. I'm sorry about the fact that he can't talk to me anymore, because I'm a terrible person.
My parents taught me to apologize, whenever I'm misbehaving. I remember my dad stroking my hair, as I'm crying, saying something like "You can't change who you are, but you can at least try to make it easier for the people who care about you. If you make a mistake, apologize, and go on with your life." He probably isn't content with the fact that my mumbled "I apologize for misbehaving" changed to "I apologize for being a terrible person" as time went by. Years of getting judged (and injected with peace-serum) for nearly every word that left my mouth, had left their scars on me. But being a good actress, (there's a reason why I won't transfer to Candor), I concealed it with arrogance and tried to act like I don't care.
But today, everything's gonna change; my life will take a different direction. I won't have to act anymore and can finally find out, who I really am. I'm scared of leaving my family, but I want to start living the life I've always wanted. I want to be free.
"Koraline Emerald."
Johanna's voice pulls me out of my thoughts violently. Focus, breathe. It's your turn. My legs are wobbly as I make my way towards the five bowls. Clumsy as I am, I stumble on my way up to Johanna and nearly topple over. A handsome Abnegation boy I've never noticed before grabs my arm and pulls me upright again. Heat rushes into my cheeks; I can't believe that this just happened. As I murmur a quiet "thanks", I hear some people snicker behind me, but I choose not to care. With my head held high, to conceal my embarrassment, I finally walk over, take the knife Johanna hands me, and quickly draw the blade over my palm. The room is silent as my blood connects with the sizzling coals that symbolize Dauntless. Suddenly, the black-clothed people start cheering, clapping their hands; I can barely stifle a laugh as I see the displeased look on Johanna's face. But she isn't allowed to judge me anymore; I'm no longer one of them.
"Please join your new faction-mates." Johanna says, pointing towards a corner, where a few Dauntless-born already wait for me. As I walk over, I take a quick look at my family. My mother smiles at me, my father looks like someone has just punched him and my younger sister Eve glares at me disapprovingly. Guilt rushes through me, but it's soon replaced by excitement as I reach the other Dauntless-initiates. I am the first transfer for now.
A handsome boy pulls me into a circle of Dauntless-born guys that are all much larger then I am. I heard that during initiation you have to fight the others. How am I supposed to do that when they're all twice my size?
"Hey, try not to stumble again, okay? That's embarrassing for all of us." He says; a sarcastic smile is plastered on his face. I inwardly celebrate, because I finally meet someone who uses sarcasm. Seems like I'm gonna like those people.
"I'll try."
"I'm Uriah, by the way." I shake the large hand he holds out to me.
"Kory."
We watch silently as the other transfers join us. I notice that the boy who helped me up is called Caleb Prior, he chooses Erudite. His sister, Beatrice, is the next Dauntless transfer; she looks exactly how I feel. Excited, but slightly scared. I moan exasperated, as Peter joins our group; and stifle a laugh, as I catch the frown on Beatrice's face. Seems like she isn't fond of him either. She smiles tightly, as I wink at her.
"Do we need to jump out?" I ask, my body hasn't decided yet whether it should be excited or scared.
"Yep.", Uriah says popping the P, "Try to land on the roof, okay?"
I push him aside and throw my body out of the train. Somehow, I manage to land on my feet and grin at Uriah as he jumps off next. Soon I'm circled by a crowd of cheering, laughing Dauntless-born again and I decide to like that they never shut up. Just when I'm about to ask Uriah what's gonna happen next, my eyes fall on Peter that is taunting Beatrice. I grit my teeth.
"I don't even know who that guy is and I already wanna kill him." Uriah says, pointing towards Peter.
"I would help."
As the black-clothed crowd around me begins to move, I walk towards Peter, smiling as he has a shocked expression on his face. He didn't expect to see me here, I take it. A bit stupid of him to think I would stay in Amity, considering the fact that he witnessed the extent of my temper.
"Hey, asshole. Leave the Stiff alone."
Peter conceals his surprise quickly and actually laughs at me; walking towards me, he takes the end of my long braid in his hand, twisting it around. He leans down, obviously trying to intimidate me, but I'm not afraid. Not of him. "What do you think you're doing here? Do you think you're though enough to become Dauntless, hm?"
Just as I want to shoot back, a deep, male voice shouts: "Shut the fuck up, everyone!" Peter lets go of my hair, smirking at me arrogantly, before walking away. I catch Beatrice smiling at me slightly surprised; and I return to Uriah.
"My name is Eric and I'm one of the Dauntless leaders. I'm here to introduce you and make sure that you all got off the edge." The voice continues and I feel like I recognize it somehow. I try to stand on my tippy toes to look over the broad Dauntless-born shoulders in front of me, but it's no use. "Damn it." I whisper, jumping up and down to try to see the face of that Eric-guy.
"You want us to jump?" A large Erudite boy exclaims. He doesn't try to conceal his fear, probably because he knows that there's no sense in doing so. I'm sure that we're all afraid at the moment. Jumping off driving trains and falling off a ledge isn't exactly what I had hoped to find here, but it's not like I have a choice. I would rather die than becoming Factionless.
"If you don't have the guts to do as I say you can also stay behind and live with the Factionless."
Suddenly, Uriah is right behind me, leaning down to whisper in my ear. "How do you know that Candor-pansycake?" I raise an eyebrow at his words, I've never heard the term "pansycake" before, so I'm not sure what exactly he wants to express.
"I got into detention for punching him in the face." This is the first time I can tell this story without having to feel ashamed. Instead of sending me judging looks, like I'm used to, Uriah grins at me, clearly amused.
He opens his mouth to answer, but shuts it again, his eyes widening as he stares at something in front of us. I follow his eyes and suppress a gasp as I see Beatrice, the Stiff, standing on the edge off the roof, clearly preparing herself to jump. As she leaps off, everyone's silent for a while, until I hear myself ask "Why is no one following her?"
Peter, who stands in the first row, turns around and smirks at me devilishly. "Why don't you go next, Amity?"
Challenge accepted, dude.
"Sure."
I smile at Uriah who raises his hand for a high five. I slap my palm against his and make my way through the line of people who are much larger than I am. Now I finally get to see this Eric-guy with the intimidating, slightly familiar voice. And I swear my heart stops.
I immediately recognize the steely grey eyes, blonde hair and full lips. He is even larger than he was three years ago, the piercings and tattoos make him even more menacing, and his body is built like a brick wall. But he's still him. He's still the guy I've thought about more than I would admit in the last three years. His grey eyes are empty when they spot me. Doesn't he recognize me? I stumble a little, but manage to hold myself upright, till I reach the edge. I hear Uriah snicker behind me. "She's so clumsy." I shoot him a look and he grins at me.
"Do you want me to hold hands with you? We could jump together. Isn't that what Amitys do?" Peter says with an amused glint in his eyes.
I step onto the wall and look back at him with a faked smile. "It's Kory, by the way." I try to calm myself as I look down. I can't see what's down there and that scares me the most.
"Today, initiate!" yells Eric behind me. I can hear Peter chuckle. Come on, get yourself together, Emerald. Don't be a baby. I close my eyes as I jump into the Darkness. Suppressing a scream, as gravity takes hold of my body; I keep my eyes shut tightly, until I feel my body making contact with thick ropes. A net. I laugh relieved. I crawl toward the edge and grab the large hands that help me off.
"Name?" A handsome, dark haired boy asks me.
"Kory." I say, looking at Beatrice, who stands in a corner, with a smile.
"Second jumper, Kory!" he shouts and the Dauntless members, who are standing around the net to watch the initiates arrive, greet me with whoops and shouting. Looking around the giant room, I make my way over to the Abnegation-girl.
"I could get used to that." I say, pointing towards a crowd off black-clothed people, that are jumping around excitedly, shoving each other around, trying to get a first glimpse at the next jumper.
"Definitely."
"I'm Kory." I want to hold my hand out to her, sensing that she might not appreciate me hugging her, like I'm used to. She takes my hand and shakes it lightly, as if she's not familiar with that gesture either.
"In Abnegation, we usually nod towards each other as a greeting." She explains, after seeing my confused look. "My name's Tris."
After a tour through the Dauntless compound with our instructor Four, we walk into a huge hall, which is equipped with benches and a bunch of huge wooden tables, stuffed with plates and giant bowls with food. I follow Tris and a Candor-girl called Christina towards a table in the corner; and we're soon joined by a huge Candor who introduced himself as "Al". He comes to sit on my right side and hands me a burger, as I notice Christina eyeing my hair with narrowed eyes.
I raise my eyebrows at her and take a huge bite of the burger.
"Why do you wear your hair like that? It looks… odd." She said, and I have to stifle a laugh. My mother insisted on French braiding my hair and placing some disgusting yellow flowers in it.
"It's an Amity tradition; we are thought to look the most beautiful on our Choosing Ceremony." I ran my fingers over the thick, golden braid. "I look like a freak, huh?"
"I like it." A loud voice behind me calls. I look back over my shoulder, feeling slightly startled. A handsome boy stands there, holding his large hand out to me. "I'm Zeke. My brother told me that we've got an Amity this year and I wanted to see for myself."
"Well, now that you've seen me, you can go and bother someone else." I say, ignoring his hand, turning around and taking another bit of my abandoned burger. I hear him chuckle as he walks away.
I eat my burger in silence, not feeling the need to indulge in any conversations. When I look up, I see Eric standing a couple feet away, obviously angry about something. His grey eyes find mine and I feel heat rushing into my cheeks, since he just caught me staring at him. I quickly drop my gaze, as Uriah taps my shoulder and sits down on my left side, nearly crawling into my lap. "Don't you have any other friends?" I ask him. He obviously chooses to ignore me and introduces himself to the others instead. Then his head snaps around to face me.
"Are you done? We want to get shopping. And you definitely need some new clothes. You can't run around like this." He said, his hand pointing towards my red dress.
"How am I supposed to pay new clothes?"
"You get some points every month to spend on clothes, tats and stuff. Are you coming?"
"Sure." I say, raising from my seat and waving goodbye to the others.
After changing into some proper cloths, we are told to go into the training room immediately. I walk over to Tris and Christina and glare at Peter, as he sticks out his leg, making me stumble. I grab the next arm that comes into my reach and notice too late that it's a certain inked, muscular arm that belongs to a certain intimidating Dauntless-leader. Eric. He pulls his arm out of my grasp as if he was scared of me having a contagious disease and glares at me. I mumble an excuse and make my way over to Tris, who looks at me slightly worried.
As Eric tells us about the rankings and that only the best ranked initiates will be accepted in Dauntless, I'm not listening. My mind is preoccupied with thoughts of him; I can't stop myself from wondering what the hell happened to him since I've seen him the last time. He is dangerous, cold and deadly; and I hate myself for feeling intrigued, for wanting to know the story behind his behavior.
"Grab a gun, everyone." Four commands. Tris and I share I troubled look. They want us to start now? With guns? I grab a gun and got surprised when it feels even heavier in my small hands, then I expected. How am I supposed to handle that thing? I study Four's movements closely and try to imitate him. The gun feels unnaturally in my hands, as I draw my arms up and notice that they're shaking. Biting my lip while pulling the trigger, my body moves backwards and the bullet doesn't even hit the target.
"Pathetic." I hear a deep snarl behind my back. I turn around to see Eric looking at me, his steely eyes cold, as he watches my reaction.
"This was my first shot."
He leans down to me, bringing his head close to mine and glares at me. "Doesn't make it less pathetic, little fluff." He hisses; and I try to resist the urge to run away. I am Dauntless.
"No one had hit the target with their first shot." I say, trying to sound bored and definitely not downright frightened, pointing towards another group of initiates that are so caught up in their training that they don't notice Eric and me. The Dauntless leader actually looks like he is about to explode any minute and I wonder if he's gonna yell at me, or if he's simply going to kill me. I eye his large hands warily; he looks like he could break me with his pinky. As I look up again, Eric just continues to stare at me with his terrifying grey eyes and I choose to not stop talking. I never stop talking and I never accepted to be pushed around. He wouldn't be the first person I talked into the ground.
"If you want to see someone succeeding with their first shot, I suggest you better look for someone else, because you clearly won't find anyone here."
The force of the slap that awaits me after finishing this sentence sends my head to the side, my cheek is stinging and I can feel everyone's eyes on me now. But I don't care. I bring my head back to face Eric, watching his grey eyes closely and just as I am about to tell him how pathetic he is, for slapping me when he doesn't have the words to defend himself, a guy walks into the room and tells Eric to immediately come into Max' office. Eric sends me a glare that clearly says "I'm not done with you" and walks away. When he exits, I bring my palm up to my cheek, feeling my eyes watering with pain and humiliation. But since so many eyes are still directed on my form, I painfully force the tears back and get back to work.
I'm gonna show you pathetic, Eric.
I pull the trigger again.
What do you guys think? Until next time.
Hanna Banana