"How is the list coming along?"
I looked over my shoulder to see Lucas striding over to me, carrying a glass of water in his right hand. I had been up since seven in the morning trying to put this list together for Eric. And, it's taking longer than I thought.
"Sucky. I want to pair people with similar skills, but it looks like it's going to turn out random," I said, mentally exhausted.
"You poor girl. Here, drink some water."
Lucas handed me the glass and sat next to me. I took the glass and tipped it into my mouth, feeling the cool liquid running down my throat.
"So, what is your plan of attack for today?" I asked, putting down the glass and focusing on the list once more.
"I don't have anything set, but I was hoping we could do something together."
I nodded, "We can do something today. I just need to leave for a little bit after dinner though. I'm meeting Eric to give him the list."
"That's only going to take like...three seconds, right?" Lucas asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
I gave him an odd look, "He said he wanted to meet up. I'm sure it's just about regulations or more information about station day. Nothing to worry about."
Lucas relaxed, "That's good. I'm going to go take a shower."
With that he got up and left, leaving me in a dumbfounded state. What the hell was that about?
While he took his shower, I completed the list for station day. I was thoroughly happy with what I had mustered up. I just hoped Eric would be pleased with it.
A whiff of body wash encompassed the room as Lucas walked into the dining area in only his jogging pants. I couldn't help but admire his perfectly tanned skin that enhanced his well-built chest and toned arms. I saw his arm muscles flex as he ran a white towel along his scalp, drying his blond hair. His hair was starting to get fairly long, the tips reaching down past his ear.
"What are you looking at?"
His voice woke me up from my daze.
Lucas gave me a weird look, "Are you okay?"
I stuttered, "I-I'm fine. So, what do you want to do today?"
Lucas shrugged, "We could go to the piercing and tattoo parlor? Do you have any other suggestions?"
I shook my head, "I want to get another piercing. What should I get?"
"Maybe your belly button, or your nipples..." Lucas rose his eyebrows in a convincing manner.
"No, I'm not doing that. I don't want to end up screaming," I said laughing at Lucas's pouting face. "I was thinking along the lines of a lip or an eyebrow."
"Get a lip."
I smiled, "Well, if I'm gonna' get one, we gotta' go!"
Quickly putting on a shirt, Lucas followed behind me out the door, poking and all out messing with me down the hall.
We reached the Dauntless socializing area: the Pit. In summed up words, it is a town square with jagged stone walls and hyper Dauntless members.
The scent of Sandalwood incense invaded my nostrils as we walked into the parlor. The room was lightly lit and separated into two areas: one for tattoos and the other for piercings.
"Hey, Adelaide!"
Turning my head I noticed Tris waving at me, along with Christina sending me a smile.
"Hey guys!"
Tris and Christina ran over to me.
"How's it going?"
"Well, we both thought it would be nice to get some sort of tattoo to make us look more 'Dauntless'. Is that your partner?"
Christina pointed at Lucas, who was too occupied with looking through a book about different kinds of piercings.
I nodded, "That's him. Don't be frightened, he is not as scary as he looks."
"I heard that!" Lucas yelled before walking to a piercing case.
The three of us chuckled a little bit.
"So, what are you getting?" Tris asked.
"I'm thinking about getting a piercing. I don't know what I want to get though."
"I can see you with a lip," Christina suggested.
"I agree," Tris said, backing Christina up.
"Lip it is! I'm gonna' go get that done. I'll see you guys around dinner."
We exchanged goodbyes before going our separate ways. Looking around, I noticed a guy behind the glass counter and walked up to him. He had shaggy, brown hair and hazel eyes. His neck and arms were covered in a series of tribal tattoos. He looked up as I approached.
"Hello, may I help you?"
I smiled, "Hi, I would like to look at options for a lip piercing."
"Ring or stud?"
"I was thinking a ring, but I'm open to other ideas."
He smiled, "We have a large variety of rings and studs. For rings we have our standard black, gold, and silver. For our studs, we have a more open variety of colors, such as black, white, red, etc..."
I looked into the case in deep thought.
"I think I'm going to go with the silver ring."
I ultimately decided to go with a spider bite on the right side on my lower lip. I stared into the mirror in the center of the piercing area, pondering over how I looked with it.
"How long are you going to stare at it?" I heard Lucas say, giving me an odd look through the mirror.
I sighed, "Does it look okay?"
Lucas smiled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "You look fine, Adelaide, Why the sudden fuss? You usually aren't this self-conscios."
"I don't know. I guess it's one of those things where you're not sure about it."
"Well," Lucas started, "if there is one thing I am sure about, it's that you look stellar with it. So stop freaking out!"
I leaned on his shoulder, "Okay. Did you not get one?"
Lucas shrugged, "Nothing caught my eye. Hungry?"
I nodded, "Let's go eat."
Lucas and I both made our way to the dining hall. On the way, we just talked away. It turned out that Lucas had made a close bond with the Dauntless-borns, and even became a huge inspiration them.
Less people occupied the space in the dining hall, probably because they decided to go to the 'Dauntless Gathering' in the Pit. However, Lucas and I noticed Christina with Tris and Albert, and gravitated toward them.
"Whoa, look who just got hotter!" Christina exclaimed, pointing to my lip piercing.
I nodded, "Thanks. So how was your free day? Got any tattoos?"
Tris showed me the tattoo of the flying birds that trailed her collar bone. I thought it was fitting to who she was.
Lucas and I grabbed whatever we could get our hands on while talking to them. As we were eating, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder to see Four standing behind me.
"Hey Four, how are you?"
Four smiled, probably because I didn't refer to him as 'sir'.
"I'm doing well. Nice lip piercing."
I smiled, "Thank you. So, what's up?"
"Eric wants to see you after dinner."
"I'm almost done, so I will meet him in the training room soon."
"Alright, be careful."
With that last line said, he walked away, leaving me to ponder with my own thoughts. He is a weird guy.
"Eric wants to meet with you?" Christina asked in a surprising tone.
I nodded, "Yes, but it is most likely to be about new training exercises."
"So, you guys are planning ways to torture us?"
I laughed, "Maybe."
Everyone said their goodbyes as I left. It didn't take me long to get to the destination I needed to get to. Before I entered, I could see Eric standing in front of the knife throwing target, obviously practicing. I could see that his knives grouped in the center of the bullseye.
"You really need more practice?"
Eric jerked at my sudden appearance.
I nodded, "I have the list ready for you."
I took the note out from my back pocket and held it out in front of me. He grabbed it from my hand and scanned it real quick, raising an eyebrow in the process. A slight smile spread upon Eric's face as he folded the piece of paper and put it in his back pocket.
"Nice lip piercing."
My cheeks heated up, "Thanks."
Giving me a look, Eric went back to the target, getting ready to throw another knife at the target. I stood at the target next to him and followed his lead, throwing knives and hitting the bullseye every time.
"Do you need practice?" Eric said, mocking my comment.
I smiled, "Just keeping my skills up."
After a little more silence, I finally spoke up.
"Do you enjoy knife throwing?"
Eric looked over at me, "Yes. But, I enjoy Dauntless in general."
I smiled, "Can I ask you a seriously personal question?"
Eric raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"Why do you put on this cruel persona?"
"What do you mean?"
I walked up to him as he kept throwing, "I feel like there is another side to you no one has seen. You may act cruel and angry, but I know there is another side to you. And I want to know."
Eric stopped throwing and turned toward me, "What makes you think I have 'another side'?"
I looked at him dead into his blue eyes, "When you're around me, you tend to be more open. I want to know who you are when you are vulnerable."
Eric set down the knives he held in his hand, not giving me a second glance.
"I'm going to my apartment. You don't know who I am, and you never will. Sure, I may have told you some things, but that doesn't mean I am willing to open up. Goodnight."
And with that he walked away, leaving me alone in the training room. One question went through my mind: Is he scared? Because why else would he react like that if he was?