𝙸𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 | Divergent

Chapter 13

I felt eyes on me as I walked into the dining hall, I shrank back slightly under their scrutiny, out of the corner of my eye I spotted a women bump her elbow against her friends arm. Tobias and I continued to walk towards an emptier table, all I could focus on was putting one shaky foot in front of the other, part of me regretted fighting my brother on participating in the first day of the second stage of initiation.

Someone in the back of the hall cheered, it was enough to start the cascade of noise that followed; yells and the drumming of metal beakers filled the space, the noise hurt my head but it sends a welcome buzz through my bones.

"Alright, knock it off!" My brother ordered and I was impressed at the speed which the Dauntless complied, though a few did continue to stare as we made our way to an emptier table in the corner.

"What was that about?" I muttered.

"You defied death." Tobias explained "that tends to get the Dauntless interested."

Rolling my eyes, I picked up some fruit and a blueberry muffin as we passed the kitchen "you're being dramatic."

I took a seat next to Maddie as she chatted with Jake, my brother sat across from me without a word, I raised an eyebrow, usually he would sit with a group of older Dauntless, instead of with the initiates.

"We weren't expecting you to be out today." Maddie smiled, her expression turned weary when she noticed Tobias, who was staring intently into a cup of coffee. Awkwardly, she added "hello."

"No." Tobias stated.

Frowning, I jam the toe of my boot into his shin. "Sorry, he's always a grouch in the morning."

Both Maddie and Jake looked alarmed.

"You never used to be this violent."

"You never used to be a dick but here we are."

I flicked a grape in his direction, he caught it in his mouth and grinned, breaking the faux argument.

.:.

"This is the second part of initiation, Four will call you into the room behind me," Eric explained pointing at a white metal door, he looked tired, and it only seemed to make him more irritable. "Each day you'll face a new fear until you learn to master them."

"How long does it take for us to go through all our fears?" Jake asked, craning his neck to look up at the young leader.

Smirking, Eric asked "how many do you have?"

Tobias cracked open the door, scanning the room "Mateo, you're up."

One of the Dauntless-borns rose to his feet, the chains slung carelessly around his waist jingled faintly, he made his way down the narrow passageway. The door closed behind him, abruptly cutting off the melodic rhythm.

As soon as the door closed Jake set the timer on his watch, fourteen minutes later Tobias opened the door and called in Maddie, another eleven minutes later Jake himself was called. I tapped my foot and picked at the loose skin around my cuticles until the became irritated, I leant back against the wall with a slight wince, my head was still throbbing.

Dauntless-borns who I had yet to know the names discussed stage two between themselves. Although none had spoke to me directly, I noticed the looks they tried to steal when I wasn't paying attention, I couldn't tell if they were singling me out as a victim or someone who belonged here.