✩
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐:
The Dauntless

A Dauntless-born was the next to jump. Then Christina, the annoying Candor boy, and Will. I zoned out after that, only noticing as the population of the room grew. The Dauntless leader who pulled me from the net calls for the room's attention.

"Dauntless-born, go with Lauren. Transfers, stay with me." The room disperses and those left form a loose crowd in front of him. "Most of the time I work in intelligence, but for the duration of your training, I'll be your primary instructor," he states, "My name's Four."

"Four like the number?" Christina pipes up, an eyebrow raising.

"Exactly like the number," Four replies coolly.

"What happened? One through three were taken?" She asks, earning some hushed laughter from the crowd, a smile pulling at her lips. Four looks down, a smirk playing on his face, then returns his gaze to Christina.

"What's your name?" he asks, though I know her compliance isn't an option.

"Christina," she replies. He steps forward, his intimidating height towering over her. I notice her breathing grow rigid.

"Well, Christina," he retorts, a subtle venom lacing his tone, "The first lesson you learn from me, is to keep your mouth shut. You understand?" She looks up at him, her round doe eyes pleading innocence.

"Yes," she croaks, barely audible despite the dead silence that chokes the room.

"Good," he replies, Christina's lungs flooding with air as he steps back. He turns on his heels to face the exit and starts toward the hall, "Follow me."

***

We follow him for a while through narrow tunnels, stone completely surrounding us. The halls are dark, only lit by hanging lanterns in intervals. Suddenly, I see light growing in the distance; the tunnel opens up into a large cavern.

"This is the Pit!" Four calls from the front over the sound of rushing water. As we walk by, I glance over the metal railing; an incomprehensible drop meets my gaze—it's beautiful, unlike anything I've seen before. Flowing waterfalls meet in a small moat at ground level, a chilled spray that fogs my vision drifting upwards. It's damp, condensation proliferating on the slick metal railing. The air smells fresh. I would've never seen anything like this in Abnegation. The scenery takes me for a moment before Christina calls my name.

"You coming?" she calls with Will waiting by her side. I turn my gaze to her and nod before stealing another glance and hurrying off.

***

After a brief tour of the Dauntless compound, he leads us to a large wooden door. He pushes it open and steps inside. As we're funneled in, I take in the room.

"This is the dorm," he states. Beds are arranged on the left side of the room, with them facing the east wall. Each bed is paired with storage space underneath.

"Boys or girls?" one boy asks.

"Both," Four replies, whistles and cat calls erupting from the male initiates, "If you like this, you'll love the bathroom," he says as he leads us further into the dormitory.

"Are they serious?" Christina mutters with disgust as we follow him into the bathroom. Just like the dorm, the bathroom is shared. Great.

"You Candor should feel right at home with everything out in the open," Four says, a smirk tugging at his lips. The crowd breaks into quiet murmuring as he heads for the exit.

"You have about 30 minutes before dinner," he says, "change into your new uniforms and throw your old ones out." He leaves us be and the crowd disperses. I grab a bed towards the back of the room, Christina to my right and Will to my left. A shy Candor boy, I think his name is Al, picked the bed behind me, and the annoying Candor boy, whose name is Peter, is two beds in front of Will. Two other Candors chose beds beside him, a girl and a boy; I think I heard Peter refer to them as Molly and Drew.

Most the boys strip almost immediately, but some of the girls are more reluctant. I slip off my shoes and find my uniform in the storage space beneath my bed. The uniform is a faded black tank top and dark grey cargo pants. I step into the pants, leaving my skirt for coverage, and try to keep my head down as I reach to pull them up, but my gaze wanders and lands on Will as he pulls up his top. My face flushes with red and he smiles softly to break the awkward tension. I weakly return the smile and look down as I hike up my skirt.

"Nice legs, Stiff," Peter calls as I pull the pants up to my thighs, earning a few chuckles from male initiates. I restrain the urge to roll my eyes and zip my pants. I sigh as I slip off my skirt, relieved I won't ever have to wear it again, and grab the hem of my top. I glance up as I pull it over my head, catching Peter's wandering gaze as it skims over my torso. He quickly looks away as my gaze meets his, but a fluttering in my stomach rises as I reach for my new top. I put the top around my neck then slide my arms through, sitting on my bed to tie my shoes once I'm dressed. After discarding my old uniform, Christina approaches me with Will and Al at her sides.

"You ready?" she asks and I nod with a soft smile. We leave the dorm and head towards the dining hall.

***

The Dauntless compound is massive, so it takes us a little while to find the dining hall. We push open the large wooden doors and step into the loud room, previously muffled chatter overworking our eardrums. Several long tables make up the hall; shadows are cast across the room by deep orange lanterns hanging above us. We each grab a tray and walk through the lunch line, looking around the room for seats once we have our food. The room is overflowing with people, but we manage to find a place to sit. Peter, Molly, and Drew sit at one end of our table while Four sits at the other. We have no where else to sit, so we file in next to Four. I play with my food a little, which Christina notices.

"You've never seen a hamburger before?" she asks.

"Of course I have, I've just never eaten one," I laugh a little.

"Abnegation eat plain food," Will chimes in, "A plant based diet with no sauces and little seasoning."

"Which textbook did you swallow?" Christina teases, earning a chuckle from Al. "No offense, but I'm surprised Abnegation eats at all," she continues, "Too selfish, right? No wonder you left,"

"Yeah, that's why I left," I reply sarcastically and Will smirks.

"You gotta be pretty self-confident to be friends with a Candor," Will remarks with a chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snaps, a mouthful muffling her voice as a crease forms in her brows.

"You have no filter, you say the first thing that comes to mind," he replies, a smile playing on his face.

"Like you're an idiot?" Al retorts, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. The four of us erupt into laughter.

"At least we tell the truth," Christina says with a grin.

"Erudite can tell the truth because we have the facts—" Will starts.

"I don't wanna hear about your old factions," Four butts in, "You're Dauntless now." The table falls silent.

"Were you a transfer too?" I speak up after a beat, "Or Dauntless-born?" Four turns to me, blinking a few times as if he can't believe what he's seeing.

"Are you kidding?" He asks, a look of disgust plaguing his face, "What makes you think you can talk to me?" The table falls under awkward tension and my chest tightens. He turns back to his food but I keep eye contact.

"Must be because you're so approachable," I reply, earning a snicker from a few at the table. His gaze quickly returns to me, but I look away.

"Careful," he replies, taking a swig from his cup. Thankfully, a Dauntless leader pulls his attention away from me and air floods into my lungs.

"You have a death wish," Christina teases as she stands with her tray. I follow suit and so does Will and Al.

"You know he was first in his class, right? They tried to recruit him for leadership twice, but he declined," Will remarks, following beside me as Christina and I drop off our trays. Christina hums bitterly in response.

"Makes sense why he walks around with his head up his ass then," she replies and I jab her in the side with my elbow, stifling a laugh.

***

After getting tattoos, Christina wanted to look around the Pit for a bit longer, but I stayed back. I returned to the dorm and grabbed a pair of pajamas from underneath my bed. I figured it'd be better to catch a shower now than wait till morning, this way I could sleep in. I head into the bathroom and stop at the sinks, pulling my tank to the side to get a look at my tattoo in the mirror. I decided to get three crows on my collarbone to honor each member of my family. I trace my fingers along it, the skin still tender.

I'm pulled from my daze as someone exits from a shower stall. I glance over my shoulder and spot Peter with nothing but a towel around his waist. He must've also visited the tattoo parlor tonight because a black geometric band decorates his right forearm. I truly hate to say this, but it looks good. He looks good. His hair is wet and hangs messily in his eyes. His arm muscles tense as we make eye contact, well, as he makes eye contact with me and I make eye contact with his pecs. I flush bright red and return my eyes to his, rubbing the side of my neck uncomfortably.

"Never thought I'd see a Stiff with a tattoo," he says, a smirk pulling at his lips. I turn back to face the sink and grab my clothes.

"Yeah, well, I'm not in Abnegation anymore for a reason," I mutter, annoyance present in my tone as I search for a towel under the sink.

"If you'd said you needed a towel I could've lent you mine," he teases with a smirk, gesturing to his waist.

"I'm alright," I reply dryly as I turn his way and walk past him, though he stands unmoving.

"Turn it left," he remarks.

"What?" I ask as I turn over my shoulder to look at him, my patience wearing thin.

"The knob's weird; left is hot water," he replies.

"I'm sure I can figure out how to work a shower," I reply, rolling my eyes as I continue forward.

"Whatever you say, Stiff," he chuckles, running his tongue over the inside of his cheek.

I hear him leave as I step into a shower, closing the door behind me. I set down my change of clothes and hang my towel on the door. After stripping, I take out my hairtie and let my hair fall to the mid of my back, a sigh of relief escaping my lips.

The bathroom itself is quite nice, but the shower is beautiful; shiny black tile glistens with water droplets. It felt weird to shower someplace I'd never been before. It was even stranger to realize that I'd probably never shower in the one I had all my life ever again.

I turn the knob to the left and step under the shower head, submerging myself under freezing cold water.

"Oh my God!" I nearly scream.

I jump back and turn the knob entirely to the right. Turning left is for cold water. I hear Peter's laughter ring out and anger courses through my veins.

"I'm gonna kill him," I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest as my body shivers.

✩
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞

Hey, again! A little disclaimer; a section towards the end of this chapter was based on chapter 3 of "After Dark • Peter Hayes" by LouWrites4you on Wattpad. Make sure to give it a read if you're looking for more Peter Hayes content. That's all—let me know if you enjoyed!