We wake up to the sound of banging metal, and I wince, blearily opening my eyes. For a second, I have no idea where I am. I expect to be in my room back home, with it's yellow walls and the oak floors, beads hanging from the doorway and windows and light streaming in. But everything here is gray, and to my right, Katherine sits up grumpily, her curly brown hair messy and wild.
"Rise and shine, initiates!" A semi-familiar voice shouts, and I turn. Marcel makes his way down the rows of beds, banging a metal pot with a spoon. "It's a glorious day to start training. You have five minutes to meet me in the Pit." And then he's gone.
Around me, people grumble and groan, but I simply stretch before hopping out of bed. I strip off my shirt and hurriedly put on one of the new ones they've given us. Maybe I blush when I see Tyler Lockwood eyeing me up and down, maybe I don't. I pull on pants next, since I had only slept in a shirt and a pair of underwear, and when I'm done, I look to Bonnie, who is still grumpily lacing up her shoes.
"It's like six in the morning," she tells me. "How are you so chipper?"
I shrug. "I'm still on Amity time. Usually, I was up with the dawn. You get used to it. Besides, mornings are the best part of the day."
Katherine snorts, shuffling up next to me. "Yeah, okay Sally Sunshine. Let's go."
We arrive in the Pit right on time, panting slightly since our options had narrowed down to either being late or sprinting through the compound. We chose the latter. "Good morning, initiates!" Marcel's voice booms, and next to me, my new friends wince at how loud he is so early in the morning.
Marcel is definitely not unattractive. His facial features are almost perfectly symmetrical, his teeth straight and pure white, and his dark eyes are still youthful. He must be only a couple years older than us, I realize. Plus, he's so charismatic, so charming that even if he wasn't as easy on the eyes, he'd probably still seem to be. "My boys say the weather outside looks to be a little cloudy," he continues. "And we thought that for your first day, we'll give you a break. No running in the rain." We all sigh in relief, and his eyes gleam wickedly, that smile always on his face widening. "Which is why we got you up extra early today so you can still do your run before the rain moves in."
Everyone groans. I suppose that it makes sense now why they woke us up earlier than they told us we'd have to wake up. Our first test- seeing how we handled building stamina so early in the morning. "Now normally," Marcel said, ignoring our sounds of protest. "You'll be training separately from the Dauntless born initiates, which you already know. But there's no harm in scoping out the competition every once in a while, so you'll be running with them this morning."
Great. I had had no qualms against not seeing the Dauntless born initiates. They already know how everything works, which puts the transfers at a disadvantage. Still, I don't let my annoyance show on my face, only eagerly following Marcel through the Pit. The Dauntless born initiates are making their way in from another tunnel, Damon and Lexi leading the way, and thankfully, they both seem less upset about the evident 'betrayal' of that boy Stefan. I wonder if my family and friends are going through the same thing back in Amity.
"You're looking particularly bouncy this morning, Gorgeous," an accented voice remarks, and I glance over to see Enzo striding up to me.
"Oh, joy, you're here," Katherine snarks from my other side. "Don't you have, I don't know, Dauntless born friends to hang out with?"
Enzo puts a hand to his chest in fake insult. "You wound me, doe eyes." My brunette friend bristles, but Bonnie butts in before she can rip the male's head off.
"No but seriously, do you not have Dauntless friends?" she asks, but there's a teasing lilt to her voice, nothing like Katherine's dripping sarcasm.
"You're asking me why I want to talk to three pretty transfers," he deadpans back. All three of said 'pretty transfers' have very different reactions: I laugh, Bonnie shakes her head and smiles, and Katherine snorts and rolls her eyes, though I DO catch her lips twitching up slightly.
The four of us continue to walk together as the initiate classes blend together, though most of the Dauntless borns stay away from the transfers, save for Enzo and us. Marcel, Lexi, and Damon lead us through a few hallways and up a flight of stairs before a pair of double doors appear, the light shining through them informing us that they lead outside. We push through, and I barely stop myself from screeching to a halt when I see Klaus standing there, his arms crossed behind his back and a smirk on his face.
All the trainers look visibly surprised as well; obviously they did not expect to see him out here either. Still, the leader doesn't seem to mind, throwing his arms wide, and I can't help but notice the muscle rippling under his black Henley. Jesus, are there any NOT attractive men at Dauntless?
"Good morning, initiates," he drawls out, eyes scraping over each and every one of us. "It's nice to see all of your beaming faces so bright and early." Katherine shuts her eyes briefly next to me, and I realize in dark amusement that she's physically preventing herself from rolling her eyes in front of him. "I had a nice chat with Alaric this morning, and he suggested I make your first run a little competition. It's important here at Dauntless that all of our members are in tip top shape, and that includes stamina. So, we've decided that whoever makes it to the other side of the Dauntless compound the fastest wins."
"What do we win?" A brunette Dauntless born girl with big eyes and a pout asks, and he raises his eyebrows at her.
"Not a very Dauntless thing to ask, Hayley," he smirks when she shrinks back slightly. "You get to win, of course." His eyes sweep through the crowd, and land on me, of all people. "Of course, if you're one of the last, I reassure you you won't be cut, though it may affect your rank just a bit."
I bristle. He's really automatically assuming I'm the weakest and slowest because I'm from Amity? Because I've been labeled 'Amity princess' my whole life? I barely stop myself from either snarling at him or smiling knowingly, because I have an advantage everyone seems to already overlook.
Yes, I was raised in Amity. But people forget that out of the factions, even if they're the most docile, the Amity are the second most physically active. I ran through the orchards and the fields with my Amity friends almost everyday for fun. If running a silly race that's basically built so he can make fun of the transfers for being slower than his precious Dauntless born class will prove I'm tougher than I look, than he sure as hell is in for a surprise.
"Come on, then," he calls, picking at his cuticles, and we all shuffle forward to form a line. Bonnie squeezes my hand in reassurance, but I don't need her reassurance, not now that humiliation is burning an unfamiliar rage in my gut. Not now that that rage is about to boost me through the whole race.
He barks a command, and Lexi, Marcel, and Damon run off, finding different places along the compound track to stand to make sure none of us are cheating, and Klaus gives us a few minutes to converse nervously before a sound beeps on something in his hand-a walkie talkie?- indicating all three trainers are in their correct places. "Alright," he says, and we all bend down, ready to take off when he tells us to. "On your mark, get set... go."
I take off like a bullet.
My arms pump by my sides, and I feel the adrenaline flowing through me. I hear everything- the blood in my ears, my panting, my feet stomping on the gravel. I pass Lexi first, and briefly, I see her grin, her eyebrows raising as I shoot passed her. Damon is next, and he whistles, calling, "Holy shit, Blondie!" I can hear the pounding of feet behind me, and though my heart is beginning to pound from exerting so much energy so quickly, I speed up, seeing Marcel standing a couple hundred feet away with his arms crossed, marking the end.
When I'm close enough, I can see the surprise written on his face, and the rage from them ALL thinking me so weak drives me those last twenty or so feet. I slow into a jog after I've passed Marcel, and then a walk. My heart is pounding, but I grin giddily anyways. Maybe the Dauntless could have beat me if they had been expecting me to run as fast as I had, if they had been prepared. But they hadn't, and hopefully they all-including Klaus- know that I'm not the Amity princess. Not anymore.
Enzo jogs up next to me, a grin of awe on his face. He's sweating and panting as hard as me, and I think he looks like his pride was hurt just a tad by being beat by the Amity girl in a race, but he hugs me anyways. "Bloody hell, gorgeous," he says. "Where'd you learn to run like that?"
"Amity," I smirk- and immediately decide that I most definitely like smirking. "People seem to forget we're almost as active as Dauntless. Just not as violent."
"You did that to get back at Klaus," he states, and it's not a question. I shrug, but the smirk does not fade from my face.
Katherine comes in seventh, Bonnie right behind her, and they jog up to me before Bonnie bends down, supporting her weight on her knees. "How-" she wheezes. "The hell- did you do- that?" I only laugh.
By the time all the initiates have gathered and begun to catch their breath again, Damon, Lexi, and Klaus are all striding up the path towards us. "The winner?" Klaus demands without any greeting.
Marcel moves through the crowd toward me, and once he gets there, he lifts my arm up. Klaus's eyes flicker, and he scowls slightly. Obviously, he doesn't enjoy being showed up, but I hold his gaze. His smile is scalding, and I want to flinch away from him and find somewhere to hide for the rest of the day. "Congratulations, Amity," he says, and stalks off without any other words.
Author's Note: Okay I love Klaus to death but people seem to forget what a dick he was at first. Like he WAS going to kill Caroline. Also, I feel like the Amity faction isn't really shown in the best light in the books, but, like, they work on a fucking farm, so wouldn't they actually be pretty fit lmao?
Anyways, another update should be out soon. I hope you enjoyed this one! c: