Another Pedrad | ✓

Chapter 12

Tris POV

"And for our last performance of the night, 'The History of Dauntless Cake'!"

I hate that name.

I take in a deep breath as I look out at the huge audience gathered at the Pit for the talent show. I don't even why I agreed to this. I was seriously considering backing out, but I knew I couldn't.

---

A supervisor comes and hands us each a pamphlet of the performances of the night. I look over it, and there at least 25 entries. I know that I'm not one to judge, but most of these are just plain stupid. And you can add our act to that category.

"Why are all these people so willing to humiliate themselves?" Four asks coming up to me.

"'Cause we're dauntless," I reply smiling, "We're not supposed to be afraid of anything, we take risks. It's just what we do."

---

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Four says walking up behind me.

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time with Four. And because of Marlene's unfortunate accident, I've had to fill in for her role the main character, who in this play's love interest, is Four. But it's not just that we have to pretend to be in love with each other, oh nuh-uh. Uriah thinks that our connection isn't strong enough so he basically forced us to hang out with each other.

But it's surprisingly not that bad, I actually really enjoy spending time with Four. Even though he always acts intimidating all the time, he does have a soft side. We'd talk and laugh, and just enjoy each other's company. I've even shown him my secret hiding place in the chasm, as a place we can hide from Uriah.

But nothing serious has happened with us, and probably never will. There's no way a guy like Four would go for a girl like me.

"Earth to Tris," Four says, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Huh, what?" I asked confused.

"The play's starting!" He exclaims pointing towards the stage. The spotlight shines on Shauna as she starts us off.

I take a deep breath. Time to get into character.

---

Scene 1

"Back in days of old," Shauna begins, "there was a legend of a great king, who was known to be a god. He was very powerful but was seen to be very cruel by others. His name was Ezekiel."

Zeke (King Ezekiel) steps onto the stage. He waves his hand in a large gesture, showing off his brilliant red cape. The one that took a whole day for us to make. I still have wounds from accidentally stabbing myself with the needle.

"No matter how cruel, King Ezekiel loved his son."

Zeke gently rocks a baby doll back and forth. I hear a laughing noise from the baby, I glance over and see Lynn working the sound machine.

"Using his power, the king was able to provide the best childhood possible for the baby."

On the back wall, pictures of a baby boy growing up flash across. Year after year, as the once baby turns into the best soldier in the kingdom.

---

Scene 2 (Forest)

Four (Son of King Ezekiel) runs onto the stage playing with a sword. He twirls it around, before taking a step back. He waits as he is greeted by a beast. I push the mannequin, completely covered with hair to look like a beast, out onto the stage. I watch as it rolls over, with small wheels attached to the bottom of the stand.