The Girl Who Cried Dauntless

Chapter Eleven: The Art of Persuasion

"Al's going to get a tattoo and you guys can't even pluck up the courage to get a piercing!" Christina said exasperatedly, while gesturing to Al. "You're not going to convince us to get anything until we want to," I said, giving her a pointed look. "Oh, really?" Christina said smugly. "I bet you that by the end of the week, I'll convince at least one of you to get something. Whether it be a piercing, tattoo, or a new hair colour." Tris laughed and I slightly smiled. "Good luck with that," Tris said after laughing.

All of us now stood just outside the parlour and Al, followed by Will, go in without us. "Me and Tris are going to go shopping for clothes. Wanna come?" Christina asked me as soon as the guys were out of hearing range. Tris looked sharply at Christina with hearing her words. I guess she didn't clue Tris in beforehand. "What's wrong with my clothes," Tris argued. "It's not like I'm wearing grey anymore."
"They're still ugly and gigantic," Christina rolled her eyes at what she thought was a silly conclusion. "So, are you in?" I internally let myself grimace. Christina did not seem like someone that would be pleasant to go shopping with. I imagined her to be a 'try on everything in the store' kind of person. "No, I'm going stay with Will and Al."
"Are you sure?" Tris asked, stepping forward. Her eyes pleaded with me to rethink my answer. She obviously didn't want to be left alone with Christina while shopping, but being raised in Abnegation, she didn't have the heart to say it to her. "No, I'm okay." Tris groaned as Christina pulled her along the uneven path and through the vast amount of people in the Pit.

I followed the trail Will and Al took a few minutes prior, and went into the tattoo parlour. By the time I get there, Al's already in the chair. A man with tattoos covering all of his body, leaving hardly any skin unscathed was hovering over Al's arm, drawing the spider. Will was by himself near a table stacked with books filled with different kinds of pictures. I don't know whether I was willingly or not, but I found myself drawing closer to Will, gazing at the different artworks on the wall as I did so. "It's a shame that art isn't appreciated at Erudite, maybe you should talk your mom about that." Will said to me upon my arrival. It was true. Art wasn't something that was studied in Erudite. We were always told it was too illogical and irrelevant to our society. "Yeah, I'm sure she'll take my suggestions very seriously now that I'm in Dauntless," I replied in a sarcastic tone, though I knew she would consider any suggestions I made. Will shot me one of his infamous dimpled-smirks and continued on with the conversation. "Not that I'm disappointed you're here and all, but why are you here."
"To watch Al get his tattoo. Same as you." Will rolled his eyes at me, clearly not liking my response. "In Dauntless. What are you doing in this faction." I stayed quite for a little, not knowing what to tell him. I obviously couldn't tell him the truth, but could I really lie to him? "I got tired of everyone comparing me to my mother. I want to make a name for myself, not just live off hers." It turned out that I could lie to him. I'm here because of a mission for my mother. To help her solve the divergent problem that plagued our city, not because I held any resentment towards her. Will's smirk was replaced with an understanding, but small smile. "Do you want to walk around and check out some other places?" I agreed to his request.

Will and I wandered aimlessly about the narrow path and searched for places that might peak our interest. "How about here," Will pulled me to our undisclosed location.

We stood outside a hair dye shop. "You want to dye your hair?" I asked, looking at him questioningly. "No. We're here for you." He stated in a matter of fact. Both of my eyebrows raised challengingly. "And how do you plan on making me?" A familiar glint sparkled in his eyes and his smirk was back on his face. "Remember that time when we were little and we had to take the final test of the year for grade six math?" He stopped, his eyes finding mine to see if I had any recollection of the events. So far, nothing was ringing any bells. "You were so nervous because you were sitting in the high eighties, but your mother was expecting you to get nineties in all of your classes. You were so nervous at the fact you might disappoint your mom, you puked all over your test and cried about it afterwards. It took the teacher about ten minutes to calm you down and another ten minutes to clean up the mess you made."

My eyes widened in horror at hearing the now recognizable story. "You wouldn't dare tell anybody. You promised not to tell anybody that!" Will's grin grew greater. "I might have to tell Peter. He would enjoy hearing that story." He said, picking at his cuticles casually. "Christina put you up to this, didn't she?" I said, unamused. He nodded sheepishly at me. "She said you needed a little persuasion and promised to give me her Dauntless cake for the rest of initiation." I shook my head in defeat. "I can't believe you would out me for cake." Will said nothing, but he did snicker in amusement at my grumbling. I grudgingly go into the salon and scouted for different kinds of designs that appealed to me. Will had the decency to wait outside for me.

I took my pick from the many designs and went to the girl waiting by an open chair. When I went up to her, she wasted no time with pleasantries and told me to take a seat. She tipped the reclined chair back and started the washing process on my hair.