My skin tingled where Eric planted his kiss and I couldn't help but smile. On the tips of my toes, I silently and slowly creep back to my bunk in the dark. A hand suddenly wraps around my wrist, causing me to gasp.
"Hey," A female voice whispers. It takes me a while to recognize that it's my cousin, Zania Sordino. "Where did you come from? I was kind of worried because you were gone for more than an hour."
"Eric's." I respond with hesitation.
"Seriously? Wow." She says with a flat tone. This causes me to roll my eyes. I pause for her to register my response. "Wait.. Eric's... OH MY GOD!"
"SHHH!!!!" I shush her by slamming my hand onto her mouth, her voice now muffled. "Calm down, we didn't do anything. Let me in and I'll tell you everything." I feel her nod her head in agreement. She then scoots over and I slide in. After we're snug and facing each other, she giggles quietly.
"So are you going to tell me the details or what?" She pokes me hard in the stomach. I smack her hand away before I clear my throat.
"Okay, so after I left the dorm I started to head towards The Pit-"
"But I thought you sai-"
"Yeah, it's getting there so please shut up before I decide to leave and stay over at Eric's for the rest of the night." This shuts her up and the boiling feeling of irritation inside of my chest goes away. "Anyway, I changed my mind and headed towards Eric's apartment. There, he gave me some tea and let me rant. Skipping to the journey back, I almost fell off of the Chasm but Eric saved me and gave me a kiss right outside the dorms. Happy now?"
"Very." With that, she turns her back towards me and instantly fell asleep. I smile whilst shaking my head at her before dozing off. That night, I dreamt of when Eric kissed me. Then, the dream ends with a long and full kiss on the lips as the Amity priest pronounces us as husband and wife.
The next thing I know, I'm waking up to a loud banging noise. My eyes snapped open a little too early as the lights turned on. I groaned as I shut my eyes in pain from the lights blinding me temporarily. The banging continues as I hear the rest of the initiates mumbling and sitting up on their bunks or cots. I rubbed my eyes open to see Lauren standing on one of the steps near the switch.
"Time to get up. You have 30 minutes to get dressed and go down to the cafeteria. After breakfast, meet me at the indoor gun range. You know where that is.." And with that, Lauren left the dorm and shut the door behind her. We all groaned as we get up and change into different clothes. We all took showers the night before, so I didn't feel too gross. I grabbed a pair of leather leggings, a black t-shirt, and my favorite combat boots. After stealthily changing into the outfit I picked out, I went over to the mirror. I try not to touch my hair as much while deciding what hairstyle to do, because it will start looking greasy and that is not cute. I braid my bangs and secure it with an elastic that I wrapped around my finger the night before. Then, I collect the rest of my hair into a high ponytail that's a little bit to the side. I fluff my hair a little bit, and saunter towards my cousin.
She's wearing the same thing as me, except she's wearing a beautiful maroon tee. She gives me a bright smile when she noticed my presence. Zania looks me up and down and smirks.
"Looking good, Luella." She said as she playfully nudged my shoulder.
"You too," I said as I nudged her back. We both giggled as we wrapped our arms around each other's shoulders. The both of us sauntered out of the dorms and started heading into the direction of the cafeteria. The transfer initiates stole glances at us more than the average person would. With every step we took, a slight breeze made our hair blow back a little bit, which made me feel infinite and powerful. Seeing those weak transfers cower before the Dauntless born was thrilling and a little funny.
Suddenly the Candor transfer, who taunted Tris, stood up and blocked my path. He wore an arrogant smirk as he looked me up and down. I glare up at him.
"What do you want, Candor?" I snap at him. His little minions are giggling at the former Candor guy. He looked back at his friends and then back to me. The guy had a highly flirtatious smirk plastered onto his freckled face.
"I saw you heading towards the leader's bedroom. So what's going on?" He and his friends snicker and share sloppy high fives. Panic rushed through my body. The last thing I need the rest of the Dauntless to hear what happened last night.
"Leaver her alone, Peter." Tris says, angrily rising from her seat. It was ironic how her icy glare seemed to burn holes into Peter's hazel green eyes. Peter looks back at her and returns the glare. Surprisingly, Tris doesn't flinch.
"Shut up, Stiff. No one was talking to you." Peter angrily replies. This made her glare even more. Oohh's came from a few of the transfer initiates as they held their icy glare on each other.
"Alright, break it up, initiates." Max interrupts as he gets in between the two. Tris turns her head away and goes back to her seat with the tan girl that also transferred. Peter backs away but keeps his glare on Tris. By the time Peter sat down, the Dauntless initiates were already bursting into the cafeteria. I was lead by my cousin to the nearest table and sat down next to her. We were soon surrounded by Marlene, Uriah, Zeke, and Lynn. I ate breakfast in silence as the rest of them talked.
I looked around and saw Lauren waiting by the exit. I put my piece of bacon down and wiped my hands with a napkin. The others noticed and got up towards the exit to start the first stage of initiation. As everyone followed Lauren, they were joking around with each other while I just walked alongside Lauren in silence.
We arrived at an indoor gun range. Some of the people whooped in excitement while others groaned in annoyance.
"Aw, come on Lauren, we already know how to shoot a gun." Kayla, Vernados' daughter whined. She looked more like the girl version of her father. Long, dark brown hair with tan skin and hazel green eyes. She's normally up for a challenge, but she can be a little stuck up.
Lauren stopped in front of a rack with numerous firearms that can satisfy any Dauntless member. She turned around with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised with an annoyed look.
"You think I don't know that? Every other week I'm here and I see most of you, sometimes all of you, here. Besides, the guns we'll be training with are much more challenging than what you usually deal with." Lauren looks at everyone else and shifts her weight to her left leg. "Everyone form a single file line in front of me."
Everyone rushes to the front, but some eventually give up and move one spot behind. I end up third. Lauren hands everyone a large shotgun and sends the next person to load their guns by themselves. Fifteen minutes later, everyone had a target several feet away from them.
Lauren teaches us how to aim with these types of guns because they tend to be more difficult. After a few tries, I already start to get the hang of using a shotgun. Each boom from my firearm pumped up my adrenaline. A sadistic smile crept up on my face as I pulled the trigger a little bit faster. I imagine my target as the transfer initiate who confronted me earlier this morning. Each time I pulled the trigger, the bullet hit the same spot. Right on center.
I pulled the trigger once more, but only got a click. This means I have to reload my shotgun. It was perfect timing because Lauren started to teach us how to shoot at certain angles.
"This time, it's freestyle," Some of us whoop briefly before letting Lauren continue. "That means you can choose whichever gun you would like. Whether it be a handgun, a sniper, a shotgun, whatever. Go."
We all dash towards the gun rack and grab the gun of our choice. I chose a rifle because I find it easier to use. I pick up two packs of the correct ammo for my rifle and go back to my target. Just as I loaded my rifle, the metal door slid open. Everyone looked towards the door to see Eric walking in. He was a little bit tanned, so he must have been outside with the transfer initiates. He sent me a small smile once his eyes met mine. I return it before preceding my practice.
I pressed the green button on my left to make the target a couple feet farther and then pressed the orange button that made a platform rise up to my thigh. I ducked low and aimed at the target. As I pulled the trigger, the small blast made me stumble back on my butt. I looked at the target to see that the bullet hit the last ring on the outside. I groaned and tried again. To my surprise, it kept missing the target.
"Do you need help?" A husky voice asked from behind me. I stood up and faced the man, who was Eric. We just looked at each other. I glanced to my left and back at him.
"Thanks, but I got this. I need to look strong and independant in front of everyone." I turn back to the target and get back in position. The sound of his boots get a little bit louder until he's right behind me.
"Lock out your arms and relax your shoulders... like this.." Eric murmurs into my ear as he gently repositioned my arms. I look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't worry, almost everyone is messing up too." He says. I sigh and turn my focus onto the gun. His hands travel down to my stomach and my back.
"Hollow out a little," Eric slightly pushes my stomach towards him with his right hand. I gasp and pull the trigger. It hit dead center. I stood up in shock and happiness.
"Good job. Just remember to breathe."
Eric kisses the back of my head and moves on to the other initiates. Butterflies started furiously fluttering around in my stomach. Lucy, my ex-best friend, laughs harshly on my right, and I furiously glare at her. Her bright green eyes contrasts with her extremely pale skin, and her hair is transformed from her long and beautiful brunette waves into shoulder-length flaming red hair. Frustration boils in my chest like a boiling pot of water that's sitting over a raging flame.
"May I ask what you find so funny?" I ask her with a sassy tone. She then gave me the "up-down" look and ran her tongue over her teeth, making the most obnoxious noise she knows that I hate so much. She remains silent. I swear, if she wants to carry on with bullshit, she can be my guest because I don't have time to fail my initiation if I want to keep up my reputation and be able to marry Eric. I roll my eyes and shake my head before returning to my work. I breathe, like what Eric had told me to do, and focus on aiming at my target.
"Of course he would help you get through initiation..." Lucy mutters under her breath so that only I could hear. I pull the trigger and the bullet hits through the dummy dead center. She scoffs at this before adding, "Cheating bitch. Bet you can't get through the physical stage without his help, let alone hold a rifle properly."
As I continue to ignore her negativity, I feel her dark aura clouding over her head like a stormy cloud constantly shooting out lightning bolts and thunder. I don't know if she's trying to rant or get under my nerves, but what I do know is that it's not working. A couple of years ago, my Amity counselor once told me that if you give your bullies the time of day, even if you're fighting back with greater force, it would only make them stronger. I have been living up to that motto for quite sometime, and a lot of things got easier. Lynn nudges me and gives me a pitiful smile acknowledging I have to stand next to Loony Lu. Her nickname was discreetly given when she actually went off the deep end and accused me as well as every girl in our class that her boyfriend, Brad, is cheating on her with all of us. As if! Brad was, and still is, a sweet guy who was a nice guy and believed in things such as second chances, sweet parts within the heart, double rainbows, those kinds of things. We all knew he would transfer into Amity. He always complained about the darkness of the cave we live in. Brad would always run around in the sun rather than run around the dangerous rocky paths inside the Pit.
"Bang." Lucy says in a normal tone. I turn to see a pocket handgun aimed at the middle of my forehead. I freeze in my spot, my mind suddenly empties out any strategies I could use to get myself out of this situation. Lucy's smirk only widens as I tremble under the gun.
"Don't you fucking dare you crazy fuckhead," Eric growls with a Glock 19 pressed to the side of her head. The icy feeling of dread is suddenly replaced with a warm rush of relief. "Make one single move, I will definitely not hesitate to splatter your brains all over the floor." Lucy only glares straight into my soul while I keep my emotionless blank. If she didn't have a gun pressed smack dab in the middle of my forehead, I would stand there with a cocky smirk. She then lets out a frustrated scream and threw her gun at the dummy before stomping away. When the door slams shut, Eric puts his gun away.
"Poor girl, if she didn't pull that stunt, she wouldn't have lost so many points." Lauren sighs whilst shaking her head. Eric coolly glares at her and she responds with an innocent shrug. "Alright everyone, let's take a lunch break."