The next week at Erudite Headquarters is awful.

Simulation after simulation.

I was slipping already.

Wait, is this real life?

It is. It is and I am at Erudite Headquarters, heading to dinner with Tris.

Was she real?

Yes, yes she is real and she is holding my hand.

My mind has been working like this for the last few days. I have gone mad.

When we are at dinner, I eat quicker than usual. I have almost gotten used to their food.

Uriah appears, a grin on his face. "Hey Peter, Lynn and I are gonna ditch our activities tomorrow, you and Tris wanna come?"

I nod furiously. I needed to escape. I was losing it.

Tris agreed with a smile. "Where are we going?"

Uriah cleared his throat and whispered in a low voice. "We're doing something bad." He says grinning widely. "We're gonna sneak into Dauntless."

Tris gasps. "Are you crazy?"

I defended Uriah. "Maybe it won't be so bad."

"We shouldn't." Tris says, shaking her head. "We could get in serious trouble."

"They never said we couldn't leave." I say, looking Tris in the eye.

She shakes her head again. "Still."

I continue to stare into her eyes. "Please, Tris." I say, taking her hand in mine.

She stares back at me, not responding. She's debating whether or not she should go.

After a few minutes, she agrees.

"Yes!" Uriah shouts, grinning like a maniac.

Tris smiles too, but there is something uneasy in her eyes. I am guilty about forcing her to go to Dauntless with us.

That night I have no dreams. I am too tired. It is not Jeanine who wakes us up, but Four.

He looks awful.

His eyes are bloodshot, and there are purplish bags under them. The simulations have gotten to him, too. The bin of clothes lies on the center of the floor as always, and I think about the torture that today will bring.

It's the same schedule everyday.

Attempt to shower, eat awful food, simulation after simulation, eat awful food again, simulations, be bored, eat awful food once again, sleep, and repeat.

Everyday.

But then I remember.

Today is the day that Uriah, Lynn, Tris, and I will be skipping. I smile. In a rush of excitement, I step out of bed and rush to the bin. I pull out a blue button up shirt. It is not a suit for a change, and I walk into the bathroom, preparing for the struggle with buttons.

Press.

I clinch my teeth together.

Talk about an ice bucket challenge. (I had to add that, sorry. XD)

The I press both the hot and cold buttons at the same time, hoping to get warm, it works, and I sigh.

I knew what to do from now on.

I walk down the blue Erudite steps with Tris, going to breakfast.

"You don't have to come." I say out of nowhere. She looks at me with a straight face.

"I'm coming." She said sternly, turning back to the direction we were walking in.

The rest of the walk is in silence, neither of us saying much.

When we reach the cafeteria, I we grab our plates and fill them will random things, not knowing what most of it is. Somethings I recognize from Dauntless such as chocolate. I remember asking Caleb about that. 'It's brainfood'. I remember him replying.

When our plates are full, we sit at the table with Uriah and Lynn. When Uriah sees us, he smiles.

"Ready?" He asks, picking up a potato slice with ketchup on it.

I nod and he continues.

"Be at the track at the time of your first class." He says.

I nod. 10:00 o' clock. It was 9:43. It was almost time.

Tris and I sneak out of Erudite Headquarters trying our best to blend in with everybody else. We walk past the man behind the front desk talking like average Erudite.

My smile becomes wider and we slip out of Erudite Headquarters, unnoticed.

She let's out a laugh as we walk to the track, where we see Lynn and Uriah standing.

It is an odd sight, seeing a group of Erudite jump onto a moving train, just as a Dauntless would. When they see us, Uriah greets us with a smile, and Lynn, with a wave of a hand. Uriah checks his watch. "The train should be here in a second." He says, grinning.

"I can't believe we're doing this." I hear Tris whisper to me.

"It'll be fine." I whisper back.

In a few minutes, the train comes, and we race to catch up with it. Tris has trouble keeping up with us, she is wearing blue heels. Uriah is the first to jump onto the train. I jump on next, and hold out my hand for Tris.

She does not grab my hand. She only runs faster.

"Tris!" I yell.

Lynn jumps on next. The train speeds up and Tris falls farther back. I stick out my hand further. Why wasn't she grabbing on? The train speeds up, and I am forced to pull her in. She sighs when she is inside, pushing her hair out her eyes.

"I was going to do it myself." She said, looking at me.

I scoff. "Excuse me for caring about my girlfriend." I reply. "What was I supposed to do, let the train leave without you?"

She squints at me, and it is the first time she does. I am shocked.

"Have you considered, that maybe I don't need your help all of the time?"

What did she mean? It was the first time I had helped her onto the train. Usually it was her helping me.

I pointed to her heels. "You would have still been back there if it wasn't for me!"

She folds her arms against her chest. "You don't think I'm capable of jumping onto train?" She scoffed. "If I can do it in tennis shoes, I can do it in heels."

I clench my jaw and look down at her.

Suddenly, there is a hand on my shoulder. "Stop it, both of you." He points to the car door. We were almost there.

I look away, and for the next few minutes, none of us speak.

Awkward? Yes.

When we reach Dauntless headquarters, I jump on instinct, and when I do, I feel the air rush into my ears. It has been a while since I have jumped off of a train, so I am slightly rusty. I land on my knee, the one I injured in the fire. I feel the others jump after me, and the groans that come with them. Lynn is the first to head to the edge of the roof. She is about to jump off but I stop her.

"Dauntless burned down, What if the net is gone too?" I ask.

She rolls her eyes. "Then how would the repair guys get down to fix up the Dauntless Headquarters?"

She had a point. I let her go. She jumped without another word, and screamed on the way down. I smiled. We waited a few seconds for her to get out of the net.

I stood on the edge next. I breathed in. There is a net at the bottom. I convince myself. It's how Lynn got down there.

I am sure I think too long, because Uriah clicks his tongue.

Without thinking, I jump.

I laugh on the way down, the air filling my ears.

I could be at Erudite, testing simulations.

Instead, I was with Uriah, Lynn, and Tris, falling from a building.

I am Dauntless. I am free.