Chapter 3
Once the ceremony is concluded, the Dauntless rush to the door. I follow, my heart pounding with excitement, adrenaline, and a little bit of pride. I slide down a few of the stairwell railings, which are made of smooth, cool metal. The others I just run down.
"You're pretty Dauntless for a Stiff!" I yell while we're running. "Yeah." An Abnegation boy says as he jogs down the steps, his feet moving quickly. I'm very familiar with the Dauntless slang, and I definitely know that 'Stiff' is just another word for an Abnegation faction member.
Once we reach the doors, I run outside, Hunter and Olivia right on my tail. We reach the train platform, and the Dauntless begin to climb the small, metal rungs on the platform support beams.
I reach the support beam, and grip one of the rungs. I begin to climb, and soon, I've reached the top. I stand on the side, with Hunter and Olivia to my left.
I hear a vague sound, that I've always associated with the train horn, and I begin to sprint. The train approaches, and I launch myself at it. I miss the first time, then try again. I reach it, then grasp onto the handlebar so tightly that the skin on my fingers turns white.
I slam my hand on the 'OPEN' button, and pull myself in. Hunter rolls in after me, barely making it in, and Olivia keeps grabbing for the train, but misses. I reach out to help her in, and pull her in, with the help of Hunter.
"You need to work on my that, if you want to stay." A voice booms, and I turn to see a tall, slim Erudite boy says. "Who are you?" I ask, wanting to know.
"I'm Dorian." He says, reaching out his hand for me to shake. I reach out slowly, carefully, and shake it.
"I'm Maddie, but seriously, who are you to say something like that to a Dauntless born? You're a nose." I say surely. A couple of the other Dauntless borns raise their eyebrows. I normally don't ever talk much. I don't like talking.
He doesn't say anything for a minute. "I'm just as Dauntless as you are." He says as he raises his eyebrows at me. I cross my arms over my chest and raise an eyebrow.
"Oh really?" I ask, "Who's the one wearing black here? I think I've jumped on a train about a thousand more times than you, dude." I scoff. He rolls his eyes, and I turn back to face the rest of my friends.
Ashton raises his eyebrows at me. "Who are you? Is this some new thing you're trying? I've never seen you stand up like that!" He jests. I roll my eyes jokingly and smile. We continue to ride the train, and I look out the door, just to be greeted with a blast of wind.
I look down, and see that we are six stories up. I walk back inside the train, and see a small, frail, Amity girl against the wall, clutching against a thick, silver metal handle.
Hunter walks up to her. "You Alright?" He asks her. "Y-y-yes. I'm just not good with heights. At all," her grip loosens. "I'm Brianna." She says, beaming. "I'm Hunter, this is Maddie, and that's Olivia." He says, pointing in our directions.
She nods shyly, and a small smile creeps on her face. She looks back at Hunter, and he just looks at her, his arm around her back.
I think that they'll be dating before long. "Time to Jump!" Jordan says, looking out of the train, around at the shrinking buildings that surround us.
"Olivia, I'm jumping with you." I tell her quickly as I grab her hand. I don't want to watch her fall off of the building, I don't want her to die. "One... Two... Three!!" I shout over the wind.
I run faster than I ever have before, and launch myself out of the edge of the car, my left hand still holding Olivia's right. She screeches as I run, and I almost laugh.
I fly through the air, adrenaline pumping through my veins, instead of blood. I land on my side with a roll. Olivia landed next to me; she's examining a patch of red, puffy, scraped skin on her forearm.
I get up, and walk into her direction, my shoes moving against the pieces of small, bumpy gravel. I help her up, and then sprint to a brick step up on the middle of the roof. All of the initiates circle around a man in Dauntless Black.
"You all want to be Dauntless, Right?" His loud voice booms. As soon as I get close enough, I see that it's Max. Everyone nods as he continues. "Well, this is the only way in. I'm Max by the way. Dauntless leader; also, I'll be overseeing your training. Any first jumper volunteers?" He asks. Nobody volunteers.
"Me." I say. I almost take it back as soon as it leaves my mouth. I look around, and all of the initiates part ways for me. I know that I can get bonus points for having the bravery to jump first, and I'm definitely going to need those points.
"Okay, then jump." Max says. I nod, and take a few steps toward the ledge. I look down, and see a large black hole. I look up, then take a deep breath in. Then I jump.
The net flies closer and closer to me as each second passes, and I smile up at the sky, my eyes closed. I slam into the hard, stringy object that I've come to know as the net, then bounce back up towards the top of the building. I cringe when I fall again and again.
My feel a small pull at the net, and I roll over, and almost fall out, but someone catches me, before I fall out. I stand up, and brush the dust from my pants. "Name?" He asks. It's some older guy, but not my father, like I thought it would be. "You can pick a new name if you'd like, but you can only choose once." He says as he rolls his eyes, looking past me.
"Maddie." I say as I bite my lip, looking around. It's so dark in this one section of the compound that I can't tell where I really am.
"First Jumper: Maddie!" He shouts. "Welcome back to Dauntless." He adds before I walk off.
>>
I stand, leaning against a cold, stone wall. All of the initiates are lined against me, breathing heavily. Hunter and Olivia stand to my right, and the Erudite transfer, Dorian, stands to my left. He soon glares at me as he pushes himself off the wall to follow the transfers.
We met the transfers, and They have just walked off, and now two people remain. "We are going to be your trainers for the next two weeks. I'm Uriah and this is my brother Zeke."
Uriah says, gesturing to Zeke, Who always invited us over to play Candor or Dauntless when I was young, and always told me secrets about my dad, which made me laugh, but some made me cringe.
Uriah is a shorter guy, with a snake tattoo right behind his ear. He always used to call me a Pansycake when I was little If I didn't choose Dauntless in Candor or Dauntless. He is also Jordan's dad, and he always goes absolutely gaga over the fact that Jordan and I are dating. The only thing is, I don't really like Jordan. I never actually have. I just don't want to hurt him, so I'm careful around him.
"Come On, time for the tour." Uriah says, looking down at his phone, which he smiles at. Zeke slaps his arm quickly.
"Uriah, why in hell do we need a tour if they're all from Dauntless?" Zeke says, slapping him once again, only this time he slaps the back of his brother's head.
"Oh, you're right, you're right." He says, then laughs. "I guess we'll just take them to the dormitory." He says, then shoves his phone into his pocket as he rubs the back of his head where Zeke slapped him.
We walk through the dimly lit hallways, and my feet almost fumble against the rocky, uneven ground. The ground is uneven everywhere, but especially here. Zeke walks down a short hallway that's near the training room, and opens up a door.
"This is your home for the next few weeks. Some of you will leave here and go to factionless. The rest of you will leave here and be assigned an apartment at the end of initiation. You chose us, now we get to choose you." Zeke says as he stands by the door.
Everyone nods, but I just stand in the back and twist my foot in circles on the ground, wearing out my combat boots even more than they already are. "Be in the training room at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. You're free for the rest of the night." Uriah says, and together they turn and walk out.
Uriah's snake tattoo burns into my eyes even after the door shuts and they're gone. I sigh, then look at the bottom bunk that I've chosen. I picked the one closest to the door so that I can get out of the room easily, and also because bottom bunks in general are some type of advantage. Speed, maybe, since you don't have to leap off or climb the ladder to get to the bottom.
There's a stack of clothes on the bed, along with a trunk-box thing. I out the clothes inside of it, then put it under my bed. I yawn, then walk over to the dormitory door.
I guess I might as well head to the Dining Hall. I stuff my hands into the pockets of my black jacket and begin walking that way. After a few minutes, I pass through the Chasm, and then approach the Dining Hall. I hear heavy breathing behind me, and I turn to see Ashton racing up beside me.
"I thought you'd wait for me!" He exclaims, "Shit, I had to run to keep up with you!" He takes in a deep breath and pushes open the heavy metal doors. I follow him in, and see a guy come running up to him. He hugs Ashton, an Ashton hugs him.
They high five, and then he stands on the other side of Ashton. I just sit there awkwardly as we walk to the tables. We find a table, and I try to hide behind Ashton.
"You actually made it to my Choosing Ceremony, you fucking wuss!" Ashton says, and I sigh. He's talking to his brother, I guess. I just stay silent, not wanting to ruin their brotherly reunion.
As long as Ashton and I have been best friends, he has hated it when his brother is near me. Near any of us, his friends. He thinks his brother would ruin the fun. "Of course I did. I had to watch the other three Pedrads make their choice." He jokes.
I smile, and watch as Ashton's brother looks at me. He's so mysterious. He looks absolutely nothing like Ashton, which I find odd. "So, Ashton." His brother nods over at me, and I feel my eyes widen. "Did my brother finally get a girlfriend?" He asks, raising his eyebrows.
Ashton and I both look at each other and shake our heads. Ashton gags, and his brother laughs a deep laugh. "This is my best friend, not my girlfriend, you idiot." Ashton says, and his brother nods.
"Okay, dude. Chill." His brother puts his hands up defensively, and I smirk. I still don't even see how they're related. His brother is so hot and Ashton's so not.
Ashton rolls his eyes. "Get out, fucker. My friends are about to get here. Also," He glances down at his brother's cheeks and chin, where dark brown stubble lies, "You should shave." He says.
His brother rolls his eyes before ruffling the somewhat curly hairs on Ashton's head, and leaving. Ashton turns back to face me and laughs. "He's an asshole." He says, and I laugh.
"How are you two even related?" I ask as I shake my head. Ashton grins.
"Well, ya see, when two people—" Ashton begins but I cut him off.
"No, no, I know that, just, you two look nothing alike. He's like a foot taller than you, he has brown hair and you have blond hair. His skin is tanned, like he hasn't spent his whole life underground, and your skin is as pale as a sheet. I don't know, it just, it confuses me." I say, looking off in the direction where I see his brother sitting with who I'm guessing are his other friends.
"Yeah, that's always gotten me, too. We don't talk that much anymore, but I still love him. I'll always love him, even when he is an asshole." He says and I laugh, looking back over at Ashton's brother's table and making eye contact with him. He smiles at me, raising his eyebrows and I return the gesture before laughing and looking back over at Ashton.
It's silent for a second before I speak up. "Hey, Ashton." I say and he nods, his face now serious. I guess he can tell that I'm being serious now. "I want to break up with Jordan because I've never really liked him like that, but I don't want to hurt Uriah's feelings. What do I do, all powerful magical wizard of relationships, Ashton Pedrad?"
Ashton rubs his hands together, then places them in front of him. "You have come to the right place, young flame warrior. My advice for you is to just break up with him. I honestly have never liked him 'cause he's a sneaky little bitch, and I wouldn't care what Uriah thinks. He's not the one stuck in this relationship."
"Ooo, Thank you, all powerful Ashton Pedrad. I can always count on you for hardcore advice." I say as I laugh. He bows his head.
"It's what I'm here for." He says, and we both practically die from laughter. I'm glad that I have a friend like Ashton, especially right now, since I don't know who to trust.
And another thought soon crosses my mind. I don't know what I would've done if I had left this place. Dauntless is my home, it always has been and it always will be.
a/n: ****rewritten on 11/13/16