♘ Be Brave ♘

XVI

Bewildered, the transfers, myself included, begin protesting. Jump? Again? Into a dark hole? One wrong move and I'll end up with an injured skull. "Quiet!" Rachel's voice silences all others, and she glares at us, her green eyes daring us to make another sound.

"You chose Dauntless. If you can't jump now, I don't want our instructors to waste any time on you. Either you jump or you leave. You have two seconds to make up your minds." None of us move. "Okay, then, who's first?" Zeke grins at me and approaches Rachel.

He jumps up and down, waving his hand in the air. "Ooh, pick me, pick me!" I can tell he's trying to lighten the mood, and I can't help but smile a little at his antics. Rachel nods, and steps away from the edge of the roof, making room for Zeke.

He walks down there, and turns to face us. "See you down there, Stiff." And with that, he steps off the roof backwards. His screams follow him down. I tell myself to relax. If Zeke was crazy enough to jump off the roof backwards, then it probably wasn't as terrifying as Rachel made it seem.

I decide to follow Zeke's example and begin to walk to the front, but an Erudite guy shoves me aside. "Out of my way, Stiff." What the heck is the matter with him? I grunt, but decide not to get off on the wrong foot so fast. As he walks past Cassandra, he stops for a second to whisper something in her ear.

She flinches, and I can tell she doesn't like him. Rachel crosses her arms. "We don't have all day, initiate." He snaps to attention at the sound of her voice, and hurries to the front of the crowd. He hesitates for a second, but quickly jumps off the roof.

After he's gone, I muster up as much bravery as I can and walk as confidently as possible to the edge. "Goodbye, Marcus," I whisper. Then, I take a deep breath, and jump.