"Everyone up! You got 30 minutes to be in the training room."
I sit up, seeing Four standing in the doorway. I'm the only one who moves, pissing Four off. He picks up a large metal pipe and starts banging it on the door frame. The rest of the initiates practically jump out of their skin from the sudden sound. Four looks at me before heading out the door, his eyes almost showing a hint of amusement.
I get up slowly out of bed. I get dressed in a pair of gray leggings and a black tight tank top. Liam, Olivia, and Calum do the same getting out of bed and getting dressed.
"If we hurry we can still eat before training starts," I tell them.
With that I put my shoes on and put my hair in a ponytail not bothering to brush it.
Olivia grabs my arm and starts dragging me along with her. "Let's go, I'm starving."
I can't help but laugh at her as I'm dragged out the door.
After finishing our food quickly we arrive in the training area with two minutes to spare. I look around noticing only seven of us are standing there, meaning two people are missing. The clock on the wall strikes eight and it's still just the seven of us.
Surprisingly Four doesn't wait for them to show up. "Thankfully, if you are here, you already know how to get on and off a moving train, so I don't need to teach you that." Four is interrupted by the sound of the door slamming open and a boy and girl running in. I turn my attention back to Four who is showing no emotion on his face. "Amy, Scott nice of you to join us," his voice dripping in sarcasm.
Before he can continue the girl, Amy, interrupts him, "Sorry we fell back asleep when you..."
Four cuts her off, "I don't need excuses from either of you. When I say training starts at 8 it starts at eight. Do you understand me?" Scott and Amy don't answer, simply nodding their heads at him. "Now go run 20 laps."
The two look shocked for a second before taking off to do their punishment.
As if nothing had just happened, Four continues, "Initiation is divided into three stages. We will measure your progress and rank you according to your performance in each stage. The stages are not weighed equally in determining your final rank, so it is possible, though difficult, to drastically improve your rank over time. We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear. Therefore each stage of initiation is intended to prepare you in a different way. The first stage is primarily physical; the second, primarily emotional; the third, primarily mental."
With that Four leads us to what looks like a gun range. He hands each of us a gun, without giving us any directions.
"But what..." Scott, yawns through his words. "What does firing a gun have to do with... bravery?"
Four flips the gun in his hand, presses the barrel to Scott's forehead, and clicks a bullet into place. Scott freezes with his lips parted, the yawn dead in his mouth. I can hear Olivia suck in her breath next to me as I hold my own, not knowing what Four is going to do.
"Wake. Up," Four snaps. "You are holding a loaded gun, you idiot. Act like it." He lowers the gun. Once the immediate threat is gone, Mikey's brown eyes harden. I've never seen Mikey look so angry, so tough. He wasn't embarrassed, he was angry. Four continues, "And to answer your question... you are far less likely to soil your pants and cry for your mother if you're prepared to defend yourself."
Four positions himself in front of one of the targets made from plywood with a red target on it. "This is also information you may need later in stage one. So, watch me."
Finally giving us some direction on what to do with the loaded guns in our hands. Four stands with his feet apart, holds the gun in both hands, and fires. He doesn't speak back or falter from the gun's recoil. The bullet went right through the center of the target.
I turn to my own target now unsure of myself. I'm between Olivia and Liam. I've never held a gun before this moment, the metal unsurprisingly cold. But I have seen Dauntless members carry them around while watching the factionless. I try to position myself like Four was. I stand feet shoulder width apart and wrap my hands around the handle holding tight enough that I hopefully won't drop it when it recoils. I hold it as far away from my body as I can. Olivia and I look at each other, her stance mirroring my own. She nods her head waiting for me to fire first. I squeeze the trigger and the recoil nearly sends the gun back into my face, I stumble backwards a little. Olivia lets out a small laugh, and so does Liam. I look up to see that the bullet hit the white between the innermost red ring and the second red ring.
I look towards Liam. "What's so funny?"
For the first time I really take in how tall Liam is, at least 6 foot. And how dark his blue eyes are.
"You've got good aim, just point your right foot a little farther back then the left to steady yourself," Liam tells me. "Also bring your arms straight up when the gun recoils not towards your face. You don't want a broken nose on the first day of training."
He laughs a little and I do the same, "Thank you for the help."
Four clears his throat, "Get back to shooting I didn't tell you to stop."
I don't know why but we're clearly annoying him. Olivia shoots her gun also falling backwards a little with the recoil. She doesn't aim as well as me and hits the outermost red circle, still not bad. I keep shooting, managing not to stumble back anymore, and not hitting myself in the face with the gun. Each time I shoot getting closer and closer to the center until I hit a perfect bullseye.
After we finish target practice, Four dismisses us and we break for lunch. I sit with Calum, Olivia, and Liam again. We walk into the dinning hall and look for an empty table. Starving, I pile food on my plate. I start eating my sandwich like I've never eaten before in my life. Olivia and Liam chuckle at me.
Calum teases me, "So you weren't just starving last night you just don't know how to eat."
I laugh and take a big bite of my sandwich. The three of them start a conversation, but I don't pay much attention. I'm still thinking about my aptitude test results. It feels like forever ago I found out I was divergent when it was really only two days ago. I feel as if people know what I am. What if they do? I feel like I'm a threat to everyone, but also to myself. Being divergent could get me killed.
I pulled from my thoughts by Olivia's voice, "Oh, come on. You don't remember me?" Olivia asks Liam as she makes a sandwich. "We were in Math together just a few days ago. And I am not a quiet person."
"I slept through Math most of the time," Liam replies.
"It was first period!" Olivia shouts.
"Exactly," Liam argues.
I smile at my friends. This is my new home. It's about time I made some friends.
After lunch, Four leads us to a new room. It's huge, with a wood floor that is cracked and creaky and has a large circle painted in the middle. To the left of the mat is a green chalkboard, with our names written in alphabetical order. On the other side of the room is a row of worn punching bags. Everyone walks over to the bags, Olivia on one side of me and Charlie on the other this time.
Four stands in the middle of the row. "As I said this morning, next you will learn how to fight. The purpose of this is to prepare you to act; to prepare your body to respond to threats and challenges which you will need, if you intend to survive life as a Dauntless." He makes it sound so easy, when in reality I might not even make it through initiation. "We will go over technique today, and tomorrow you will start to fight each other. So I recommend that you pay attention. Those who don't learn fast will get hurt." Four demonstrates a few different punches against the punching bag.
Once Four is finished we each practice on our own punching bag. I'm surprised by my own strength, every time I landed a punch or kick the bag swung back and forth farther than Olivia and Charlie. I stop to take a break. Looking down at my hands they are red and my knuckles are split open. I look over at Olivia and she is struggling worse than with the guns. She isn't hitting or kicking very hard, the bag hardly moves when she makes contact with it.
Four walks up and down the row, stopping when he gets to me. "Who told you to stop?" He asks me with the same cold expression he always has.
I don't answer him, I simply turn back to my bag and start punching it. He stares at me, his eyes following my body from my head to my feet. Suddenly he presses a hand to my stomach. I can feel my heart racing. I don't want to admit it but the gentle touch makes me nervous.
"Never forget to keep tension here," he says in a quiet voice.
Just as quick as he came he removes his hand and is gone. I feel the pressure of his palm even after he's gone. It's strange, but I have to stop and breathe for a few seconds before I can keep practicing again.
Not long after Four dismisses us for the night. He hasn't helped anyone else the way he helped me, it was strange.
On the way out of the training room Olivia nudges me with her elbow. "I'm surprised he didn't break you in half." She wrinkles her nose. "He scares the hell out of me. It's that quiet voice he uses."
"Yeah. He's..." I look over my shoulder at Four. He is quiet, and remarkably self-possessed. But I wasn't afraid that he would hurt me. "...definitely intimidating," I finally say.
Liam, who was in front of us, turns around once we reach the Pit and announces, "I want to get a tattoo."
From behind us, Calum asks, "A tattoo of what?"
"I don't know." Liam laughs. "I just want to feel like I've actually left the old faction. Stop crying about it." When we don't respond, he adds, "I know you've heard me."
"Yeah, learn to quiet down, will you?" Olivia pokes Liam's thick arm. "I think you're right. We're half in, half out right now. If we want all the way in, we should look the part." She gives me a look.
"I for one agree," I say, "I may dye my hair a strange color, get a tattoo, maybe I'll even get a piercing or two."
"How about your bellybutton?" she says.
"Or your nipple?" Calum says with a snort.
I groan.
Now that training is done for the day, we can do whatever we want until it's time for bed. The Pit is swarming with people. Olivia announces that she and I will meet Liam and Calum at the tattoo parlor and drags me toward the clothing place. We stumble up the path, climbing higher above the Pit floor, scattering stones with our shoes.
"What is wrong with my clothes?" I say.
"Nothing," Olivia laughs, "You're the one that is going to help me."
I smile, I have never thought of myself as fashionable before, but I guess Olivia sees me as such. Ten minutes later Olivia stands in front of a mirror in the clothing place wearing a knee-length black dress. The dress is skin tight with long sleeves. I stand next to her in a pair of skin tight black jeans and a black tube top. Olivia is wearing a pair of black knee high boots while I'm wearing a pair of black sneakers.
Then Olivia holds up a black pencil. "Eyeliner."
"I've always wanted to wear makeup," I say, "There was never any real need for it back in Amity. It would all just be wiped away by the hard work we did."
I close my eyes and hold still. She runs the tip of the pencil along the line of my eyelashes. I open my eyes and for the first time stare openly at my own reflection. My heart rate picks up. I've never seen myself like this before, but I like it. I feel like I'm finally me.
She looks at me and says, "You're... striking."
I shake my head and turn to her. "Have you seen yourself before? You're gorgeous."
We laugh together and neither of us can stop smiling. We each pick up a few pairs of pants, some cute tops and makeup. Every Dauntless gets a certain amount of points to spend per month, and our clothes cost some of them.
After we pay I turn to Olivia. "Let's go watch Liam get tattooed."
Olivia and I race down the narrow path to the tattoo parlor. When we get there, Liam is sitting in the chair already, and a small, narrow man with more ink than bare skin is drawing a spider on his arm. Calum and Olivia flip through books of pictures, elbowing each other when they find a good one. I wander around the room, looking at the artwork on the walls. It reminds me of home. These days, the only artists are in Amity. In a lot of their free time people draw, paint, even sculpt.
The air feels close and warm, and I could get lost here for hours without noticing. I skim the wall with my fingertips. One drawing sticks out to me, it's a cluster of vines that remind me of the ones that used to grow on the trees and on people's homes back in Amity.
"Pretty, right?"
I turn to see Tori standing there. I feel like I'm back in the aptitude test room, with the mirrors all around me and the wires connected to my forehead. I didn't expect to see her again.
"Hi."
She smiles. "Never thought I would see you again. Emmeline Rose, is it?"
"Just Em now," I say. "Do you work here?"
"I do. I just took a break to administer the tests. Most of the time I'm here." She taps her chin. "I recognize that name. You were the first jumper, weren't you?"
"Yes, I was," I inform her.
"Well done," Tori congratulates me.
"Thanks." I touch the sketch of the vines. "Listen I need to talk to you about..." I glance over at Calum and Olivia. I can't corner Tori now; they'll ask questions. "...something. Sometime."
"I am not sure that would be wise," she says quietly. "I helped you as much as I could, and now you will have to go it alone."
I purse my lips. She has answers; I know she does. If she won't give them to me now, I will have to find a way to make her tell me some other time.
"Want a tattoo?" she says.
"Yes and a few piercings too." I hand her the vine design.
"Where would you like it and how big?"She asks.
"My whole right arm from my hand up to my neck please."
"That's going to hurt a lot, you know." I nod my head. "I'll get things set up. You can get your piercings first if you'd like, maybe that pain will keep your mind off the tattoo pain."
I smile and walk towards the piercer. I wind up with four ear piercings, my belly button, and two cartilage piercings in my left ear.
It takes an hour to get my tattoo. Tori telling me how centuries ago this kind of tattoo would probably have taken closer to eight hours with the old way of tattooing. I admire the green vines going up my arm and into my neck. Tori was right. I focused on the pain in my ears and not my tattoo and it helped. I'm mesmerized by the design.
Olivia, Liam, and Calum are shocked when I walk out to them, their jaws all hit the floor.
"Go big or go home I guess," Olivia laughs.
"That's badass." Calum adds.
Liam just stands there speechless.
I smile and say, "It reminds me of home. My house had one whole side covered in vines like these." I'm starting to get sick of the stares. I grab Olivia's arm. "Let's go, I wanna get my hair dyed too," I say.
Olivia nods and we head out.