"This is the moment we've been training for," Tera says from her seat on my right. "We're about to officially be members of Dauntless."
Her words make my lips turn up at the corner, but they do not help calm the wave of nerves crashing in the pit of my stomach. We are about to go through our final stage of training, which determines what jobs we'll end up with. I'm not so much concerned about what my rank will be, but I am beyond nervous about all five of the leaders being able to see inside my head.
"I'm relieved and happy we're going to be full-fledged members," I say, "but I'm nervous and scared at the same time."
"I feel you." Finn sits on the other side of Tera, his knee bouncing as fast as mine is. "I'm ready to be finished with initiation, but I'm nervous about the future."
I catch Finn's eyes and I know exactly what he means by that sentence. He plans to ask Tera to be his girlfriend after we're actually members, and he's nervous about her reaction. I don't think he has anything to worry about; it's obvious they like each other.
"That's exactly how we felt when we first transferred here," Tera says, oblivious to the true meaning behind Finn's comment. "For the most part, things have been good for us. And when they weren't, we were okay because we had each other."
"You're absolutely right," I say with a nod. "I feel a lot better now."
"This is a touching moment." Finn wipes at his eyes, pretending to catch some non-existent tears. "I think it's time for a group hug."
I shake my head but lean into Tera to wrap my arms around both of them. My eyes flutter close and I sigh contently. I don't what what I did to deserve these two, but I am glad I have them in my life.
Four enters the room all of us initiates are in and walks toward our chairs. He stands in front of us and clears his throat, successfully gaining our attention. "Before the leaders get here, I wanted to tell you all that you have come a long way." Four pauses as his eyes wander over each of us, a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. "You are about to be members of Dauntless, and it hasn't been easy. Congratulations."
The Dauntless born initiates erupt into cheers at Four's speech. I catch Raiden's eyes from his seat on the far end of the row in front of me. He sticks his tongue out at me and waves at me. I chuckle and wave back. I haven't seen much of Raiden in a while. His training instructor must be keeping him busy. The last time I saw him was during our last capture the flag game and that was because Eric picked him for his team.
Speaking of Eric, I haven't seen or heard from him since the capture the flag game. Well, since he and his team had to run their laps. I assume he's been busy with leadership duties, considering the final stage of training is about to start. I bet him and the other leaders have been so wrapped up in preparing for today.
Still, the insecurity creeps into my mind. For the past couple of days, my thought have drifted back to the night on the roof, where I waited for Eric to show up and he never did. I couldn't help but wonder if he was avoiding me intentionally, to keep me from asking about that night. I shake my head, ridding my mind of those thoughts.
Focus, Rori. Now is not the time nor place to let your mind wander. I release a breath and close my eyes. You're going to do great.
***
"Rori."
The butterflies in my stomach take flight as soon as my name leaves Four's lips. The seats around me are empty, with the exception of a few. Raiden is leaned back in his chair in the row in front of me. The names hadn't been called out in order, and if I had to guess, I'd say they were called in the reverse order of our current ranks. That explains why we were some of the last initiates remaining.
I stand up and make my way toward the center of the room. A chair resembling the one from the fear simulation room sits on a platform. Four stands next to it with a syringe in hand. I wipe my hands on my jeans as I step onto the platform.
"Take a seat."
I do as he says and close my eyes, trying to calm my nerves. I'm not sure if it's the unknown of the future, or if it's the presence of all five leaders in the room, but the butterflies in my stomach are still wild. It could be a bit of both. The leaders sit behind a monitor with tubes connected to their foreheads, allowing them to see and hear what each initiate goes through.
It's unsettling, to say the least.
I focus on Four's brown eyes as he injects me. A few seconds after feeling the sting, my eyes start to droop. "Be brave, Rori."
***
"I can't believe we're finally finished with initiation." Tera slumps into her seat and pours herself a glass of water. "When do you think they'll announce the ranks?"
Finn sits across from Tera and me with his crossed arms resting on the table. "I overheard some of the Dauntless born talking about it happening shortly after the last stage."
"Hey, guys." Raiden takes a seat next to Finn, directly across from me, and starts building his hamburger. "I hope you don't mind me sitting here."
"Of course not, man." Finn raises his fist and Raiden bumps it. "We were just talking about when the leaders will announce the ranks."
"I think it'll be happening shortly," Raiden says. "It shouldn't take too long to decide the ranks, but they have to make sure our apartments are ready."
"That hadn't even crossed my mind," Tera admits. "I'm going to be so relieved to have my own personal bathroom."
"You and me both." I chuckle at her words. "It'll be nice to be able to shower whenever I want and to not have to hang towels in front of it."
"It'll be a relief to be able to get some sleep." Finn raises his brows and purses his lips. "You two snore louder than a stampede of horses."
"I do not snore that loud!" The color pink spreads across Tera's cheeks when she realizes her outburst made some heads turn toward her.
Finn chuckles as she ducks her head in embarrassment. "Maybe I exaggerated...a bit."
"He's right," I say, a smirk forming on my face. "We may not have the quietest snore...but at least we don't sound like a tractor trying to start up."
Tera hunches over and her shoulders shake from her laughter. Finn opens his mouth to object, then closes his mouth, then opens it again. Ironically, he resembles a fish.
"I-I do not sound like that." His face is almost as red as a strawberry as he shifts in his seat.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Max's voice booms.
Finn releases a breath at the sound of the voice, visibly relieved at the opportunity to get the spotlight away from him.
I lift my eyes up to the balcony where all five of the leaders are standing. My eyes find Eric almost immediately. He stands next to Max with his arms crossed over his chest. His posture is rigid and his face is void of any emotion. The Eric that stands up there is the same Eric that I met on the roof when I first came to Dauntless, the same Eric that everyone sees. I know that his icy front is only a facade, but nobody else does.
I remove my gaze from Eric to ensure I don't get caught staring, and focus on Max.
Max's eyes scan the room before he continues speaking. "I would like all of the initiates to rise to their feet." I stand up slowly and look around at the other initiates. "For the last ten weeks, these young men and women have been tested. They have been tested physically, mentally, and emotionally. It was a difficult and scary journey, for some more than others, but they were brave and came out stronger than before." My lips tilt up at the corner as his eyes meet mine. "Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly introduce you to our newest members of Dauntless."
As soon as the words leave his mouth, the room gets loud. The people around us erupt into cheers, some clapping while others hit their cups against the tables. Their excitement brings a smile unto my face.
Max raises his arms to quiet everyone down, but doesn't hide his amusement. Once the crowd is quiet, Max begins speaking again. "We are going to reveal your ranks, and then afterwards, I want those of you who are standing to stay behind while everyone else is dismissed."
Max gestures toward Eric and he steps forward. Eric lifts his hand and presses buttons on the remote in his hand before the wall below the balcony lights up. The screen is blue for a few seconds before the screen turns white and reveals a list of names. My eyes find the bottom and I work my way up the list. Thomas is at twenty-one, Reid is at twenty, and Jillian is number nineteen.
My eyes skim over the names of people I don't know too well until my eyes stop on the number ten spot. Illuminated in bright red letters is Tera's name.
"You made the top ten," I say, unable to stop the grin forming on my face at the look of pure shock on her face. "Congrats, Tera."
I glance back up at the list and find Finn's name next to the number seven. I smile and continue reading up the list. Jax, a Dauntless born who was ranked second not too long ago, sets at the third spot. In the second spot is Raiden, who has a confused look on his face. And the name next to the number one spot is...mine.
"Rori, oh my chocolate cake." Tera grips my shoulders, her eyes as wide as saucers and her mouth agape. "You came in first."
"But...how?" I say, feeling as confused as Raiden looks.
"You must've done really well in the second and third stages of training," Finn says, a slight smirk on his face. "And we won the capture the flag game because you."
"Wow," is all I can manage to say.
I transferred to Dauntless with one goal in mind: to get stronger. I didn't plan on making friends, but I did. I didn't plan on having a connection with a certain blue eyed leader, but I do. And I certainly didn't plan on finishing first in my class.
"All right," Max says, "I need the new members to sit and stay behind, and I need to rest of you to leave. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day."
I sit down and watch everyone else clear out of the dining hall. A few of the older members clap my back as they walk past me, some of them telling me, "Congrats."
I watch as the last person leaves the dining hall before looking up toward the balcony expectantly. I have to force my eyes to stay on Max, and not wander to the ocean eyed leader standing right next to him.
"Rori, please come up here," Max says before he backs away from the edge of the balcony.
"I'm so nervous." I wipe my hands down the front of my jeans, and rise from my seat.
"You'll be fine," Tera says. "You will get to pick your job, and then you'll get your apartment, which I can help you decorate if needed."
"Thanks, Tera." I chuckle as I walk away from the table toward the stairs to the balcony.
I walk up the stairs as quick as I can, to keep the leaders from having to wait too long for me. The leaders all sit on one side of a table, one you can't see from below, their eyes all trained on me. I manage a smile as I walk toward their table and sit in the chair opposite of them.
"You look kind of nervous." The voice comes from Magnus, the male leader who looks to be in his late fifties or early sixties.
"Yeah... I'm kind of nervous, excited, and shocked at the same time."
"Why is that?"
All five of the leaders are watching me, waiting for my answer.
"First, I'm nervous but I'm about to have to pick a job and I've not really thought much about jobs." And the fact that a pair of ocean blue eyes are watching my every move and I'm trying hard not to look at him isn't really helping my nerves. "Um... I'm excited to get my own shower. Lastly, I'm kind of shocked I came in first."
Brenna, the female leader that looks to be in her mid-twenties, laughs. She bends forward and her faces turns red from the laughter. All heads turn toward her as she tries to recover.
Even though I know it was because of something I said, her laughter eases the butterflies in my stomach and brings a smile to my face.
"I'm... I'm sorry," she says, leaning back in her chair with her hand on her stomach. "I expected you to say you were excited about getting money to go shopping..." She chuckles as she says, "I promise I wasn't making fun of your answer. You just caught me off guard with the statement about the shower. Most girls are ready to finish initiation so they can get money to buy clothes and makeup."
"I'm not most girls."
"Believe me, we've noticed," she says, a smirk forming on her face. "Every time we asked Four if there were any initiates that stuck out in a good way, your name always came up."
"In the fights at the beginning of the first stage, you kicked butt," Max says, a slight grin on his face. "After you got attacked, you showed mercy on your attackers."
"In your final test," Garrick says, "you only went through eight fears. The average person has anywhere from twelve to fifteen."
Magnus coughs and takes a sip of water before he says, "You were on Four's team during both games of Capture the Flag. He told us you stepped up and acted like a leader, which led to your team winning. I thought that was impressive."
All of the leaders turn toward to the man at the far end of the table, the only one who hasn't said anything on my behalf.
"Eric, is there something Rori did that caught your eye?" Brenna looks at him expectantly, and I smirk. I kind of like her.
He shifts in his seat, the color pink painting its way on his face. "When you were in the infirmary after your attack, covered in bruises and having a hard time breathing, one of the first questions you asked was about training."
His eyes find mine and the intensity of his gaze catches me by surprise. "You weren't worried about your attackers. You weren't worried about being out after curfew. You were concerned about getting behind during training. That was something that caught my eye."
"I remember you telling us about that," Max says. "I thought that was admirable as well."
"I... don't know what to say." My voice is barely above a whisper, but the smile on Brenna's face tells me she heard me.
"Because of these reasons and your results in each stage of training," Brenna says, the smile still on her face, "we would like you to be the newest leader of Dauntless."
My jaw drops. I know I ranked first, but the thought of being offered a leader position hadn't crossed my mind. I remember Finn saying it could be any of the top three, but I pushed it to the back of my mind.
"That seems to come as a shock to you," Max comments.
"I... wasn't expecting the position to be offered to me," I admit. "The fact that I got first is still setting in."
"I seriously hope you say yes." Brenna smiles at me and claps her hands. "I like you already, and it'll be nice to have another female leader."
"What exactly would I be doing?"
"It depends on what exactly you want your main job to be," Max says. "Take Eric for example. He overlooked the transfers' initiation when he didn't have more important leadership duties to do.
"Like the rest of us, you'd have to do some paperwork and be present when we have our monthly meetings with the leaders of other factions. And if another leader needs help, we try to be there for each other. That's the basics of a the job, but we think you would be a great leader."
"I'll do it," I say, "but I want my main job to be overlooking the daycare."
"Perfect." Brenna smiles, and the rest of the leaders look equally pleased, even Eric. "We will announce you being the newest leader tonight during dinner."
"Think fast." Max tosses something at me and I catch it. Resting in my hand is a silver key. "That is the key to your new apartment. You will be getting the one on the far right end of the hallway, the one next to Eric's. Since he's your closest neighbor, he can show you to the leadership floor and help you get acquainted."
Eric stands up and walks toward me, an unreadable expression present on his face. He walks past me and I smile at the rest of the leaders before I turn and follow Eric down the stairs.
We exit the dining hall and I follow him up the many flights of stairs. The trip is silent, which I am thankful yet irritated about. We reach a floor I haven't seen before and Eric walks toward the far side. He motions to the door and I unlock it before stepping inside with Eric right behind me.
"Wow," is all I can say. This apartment looks bigger than the dormitory is.
"That was my reaction too," Eric says, a small grin on his face.
Instead of replying to his statement, I venture farther into the room. I hear Eric sigh and his footsteps coming toward me.
"I know you're probably mad me..."
"I'm not mad," I say. "I'm just hurt and want an explanation."
His face softens at my words and he says, "You'll get one. If we're not busy after dinner, I can come over and we'll talk."
"That sounds like a plan."
He nods at my words and takes a look around the living room. "But right now, we have some cleaning to do."
A/N: Hi, initiates! I know you've been waiting a while for this update... but it's finally here! There's probably only one or two more chapters, and possibly an epilogue! :) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, please vote and comment!
Q: How do you feel about Rori becoming a leader? Did you expect it?
Q: Do you think her and Eric will make up?