The First Divergent

9

"Everybody back to their dormitories, I have to make sure this water isn't murderous," Danny tells us and we all have to go back to our dorms. Kori introduces me to the "selfie," or a picture you take that is of yourself. For some reason I look horrible when I take a selfie, and gorgeous when someone takes a picture of me.

The dormitories are long, wide rooms with ten bunk beds and five dressers, each with four drawers in them. They are inside a cave and you can look at the waterfall in the Pit from the wall that has a huge hole in it that no one has bothered to repair.

Moments later, a man in his early thirties enters the dormitories and orders us to go to the fighting arena. Apparently there has been something in the water that we must defend ourselves against. Or the leaders just really love blood and we forgot to fight the other day. One way or another, we're going to have to do some sort of physical brawl.

On a chalkboard I see the name Ella scribbled roughly next to Leigh's name. Leigh laughs aloud, and nudges me with her elbow, a gesture to make me laugh, too.

"I have to fight Ella," Leigh says with a smirk, "the weakest person in the whole arena."

Once I see Ella, it's clear that not everybody stands a chance. She is a small, skinny girl, with hunched up shoulders, ashen skin that looks so fragile like it'll tear, and no sign of muscle. Compare that to Leigh, a tall girl with muscles like a 20-year-old man who works out, and beefy fists, legs like springs, cheetah speed, and you know who'll win. But still, Ella looks determined, and determination is a key to being a winner.

Ella and Leigh walk towards each other, and look each other in the eye. Leigh wants Ella to make first move. "What's the matter? You look like you're going to cry."

"Well, I won't," Ella says, and you can barely hear her voice. It's like a squeak, really. The small girl punches Leigh in the arm, and Leigh just laughs because I guess it tickled. If I had to fight someone like Ella, I would not laugh at them, but Leigh is still a nice person. She just kind of has bad social skills. I hope this is the case.

Leigh takes Ella down easily. Ella squirms against Leigh pinning her down, and you kind of get the message that Leigh is a tank and Ella is a rag doll. Soon Leigh begins to pelt Ella in punches and Ella comes out with a bloody nose. She screams her head off, telling Leigh to stop. Leigh gets off of Ella and walks off of the raised platform they call the ring, and sighs. "When'll I get a real opponent?" she complains.

"Hey," I say, "Leigh wants a real opponent, so why doesn't she fight me?"

The man looks at me. "Okay then. Leigh versus Kass."

Leigh turns around at my name. "But... I.... I can't fight my friend!"

"Why not? Aren't we Dauntless after all?" I reply to Leigh. I hear a boy in the background shout, "Ooh, burn!" and a girl replying, "Rafferty, shut up."

"Okay, if that's what you want." Leigh says and we both walk to the ring. One moment later Leigh is kicking my stomach and I have her in a headlock. We both know that this will only end up in a major injury, so I say, "I think I better stop choking you." Something tells me Leigh didn't want to fight, either, besides her refusal. Like she was scared of me or something. But no one can ever be Dauntless. I mean, dauntless Dauntless.

"Boo!" Rafferty shouted. "No one coincides!"

"Then, Mr. Rafferty, you can fight Ivan." The man calls to Rafferty, and I can hear him moan. Both boys walk to the centre of the ring, and one moment later, Ivan is head-locking Rafferty. Rafferty hits Ivan in the nose, and the headlock is broken. Both boys kick each other, Rafferty kicks Ivan's gut and Ivan kicks Rafferty's jaw. It's almost in slow motion that Rafferty falls to the ground and hits it with a thud. Ivan's friends are booing for Rafferty and cheering for Ivan, whose nose is broken. But a broken nose is nothing compared to Rafferty. He's almost drowning in a pool of his own blood, and gashes can be seen everywhere on his pale skin that is turning whiter and whiter by the minute as blood leaks out of his body. The last thing he remembered was the foot flying at him. . .