Drown [Eric Coulter] Divergent

Part VII

VII

  "A hunger never satisfied
I can't keep you off my mind
Dancing, moving, passing time
Lost worlds and endless nights"  

"Color of Blood" -Chelsea Wolfe

By the end of the week, Harper and Eric had not met again in the evenings for training. Not because either of them didn't want to, but because they had not had a chance to run into each other since that night. His busy schedule drove him away from watching over initiation and Harper felt a bit relaxed knowing that she could train without his watchful eyes. At the same time, Harper found herself antsy to see him again, to talk to him. 

Her training had improved, her wounds healed quickly as she moved up in the ranks. On the score board, she was sitting at sixth of thirty people; the only people above her were Dauntless born, and she was okay with that scoring for now. Everyone was working hard to accomplish their skill levels, many of them following Harper's footsteps and taking on Carson, though none of the transfers had succeeded in taking her down aside from Harper.

Eric, though busy with his secret work with Jeanine as well as his own duties as leader of Dauntless, found himself intentionally avoiding the initiates. Already having gotten too close to Harper, he wondered if he was losing his sight of what was important simply because a pretty girl got close to him. There were more important things for him to focus on, but he couldn't help but wonder when he might see her again. Once, in the week that he had not seen Harper or any of the initiates, he had taken a look at the score board, and was impressed to see where Harper ranked. There was work to be done, he knew that she could do better, and he made it a little side goal for when he had time to help out.

At the end of the day, Harper unwrapped her hands and had a smile on her face. She was feeling good, and hadn't lost a single fight since Eric. That sat well with her, she had recovered from the mental and physical beating she took from Eric and was the best in her group. Carson was helping her out, as well as the other initiates. Whenever Carson put her hands on Harper to shift her position, she thought about how Eric had touched her like that, and how it made her stomach twist and her head spin slightly. Perhaps it was better for her mental health for Carson to be the one training her. Sweat dripping from her brow, Harper pulled the elastic band from her hair and let her chocolate locks fall around her shoulders. There was an indent where the elastic had been, but she was heading towards the showers anyways.

With dark circles under her eyes, as she was having reoccurring dreams of her fathers death, she left the gym and headed towards the living quarters to shower before dinner. Before she even made it there, she heard the familiar, clunky foot steps of Jenner, who had become her closest friend here in Dauntless. Though they didn't see each other during training, they chatted every night during dinner, and he was on the cusp of convincing her to get a tattoo. She had one in mind, but she didn't want to distract herself with healing flesh when the physical training was still in play.

"Spitfire," he greeted her with her new nickname, "you joining us tonight?"

"Joining you where?" Harper glanced at her friend and leaned against the rock wall. She felt her stomach rumble.

"There..." He drew out his words long and slow, as if to keep her guessing. "Is a party tonight."

She pressed her lips together. "Tomorrow we start with weapons, I don't think that would be a good idea."