Rat (A Divergent Prequel and Eric Love Story)

Chapter 7- Truths

I laid in my bed in the dormitory, trying to pretend that I was asleep. Practice had just let out and everyone was probably in the cafeteria, chatting and laughing loudly, which seemed like the way all Dauntless ate.

I felt a hand touch my back, gently rubbing where my scar was. "I know you're not sleeping." A calm voice spoke, rubbing circles on my back.

I turned around to see Kait, in a leather jump suit, smiling at me the way you smile when someone loses someone they love and you're trying to comfort them. "I don't want your pity," I snapped. I pulled the black blanket over my head, turning away from her.

"I wasn't offering it." She said. Even though the blanket blocked my vision of her, I knew if I pulled the blanket down, she would be smiling that regular Amity smile. Her smile seemed as though it was engraved onto her face. It never left her face. "I want you to come with me. I've been in Dauntless for so long. Like a full week and a half. I want a tattoo! You can get one too!"

I gave in after about a two minutes of being persuaded. I quickly pulled a brush through my crimson hair, which I took pride in, and threw on a smudge of eyeliner and mascara. I didn't want to look like I had sulked in my bed for hours, crying my eyes out.

The tattoo parlor was magnificent. Beautiful, elaborate drawings were everywhere and were probably similar in amount to the stars in the sky.

As Kait went into the back of the parlor to have a withered tree tattooed on her wrist, I tried to busy myself by looking at each drawing. However, I already knew what I wanted. I had known before I even came here.

"Getting my name tattooed on your ass?" Eric's cocky voice teased from behind me.

I blushed at the mention of my private area, causing Eric to laugh. "Fuck off," I replied.

"C'mon. At least let me pick out the font considering it's my name," he laughed.

"Not in the mood," I grumbled.

Eric's expression grew serious. I supposed he realized that I was still upset over today's training. "I wanted to make you laugh because I know you're really upset." He spoke quietly, probably afraid that someone would hear him actually being compassionate. "What tattoo are you getting?" he asked.

"I'm covering up my scar," I answered, looking away, "with angel wings."

He brought a hand to my back, making sure that no one could see the gesture. "You may want to forget about it, but that scar represents what you've overcome in your life."

"She wanted me to remember. I just want to forget."

"You'll never forget it as much as you try. The best thing to do is learn from the past." Eric replied.

I stared up at him to see he was looking at me. He actually looked sincere. He had been so cruel to me when I had first met him, but now he was trying to comfort me. And it was actually working. I remembered last night, when Eric had become my first kiss, the chill of his lip ring mixed with the heat of his lips. I thought of the little boy who had no mother, no father, no... no one.

"That kiss was a one-time thing. Stop staring at me like you're going to eat my face." He laughed.

"You were staring first," I argued.

"Because I was talking to you." Eric spoke, as a woman with some kind of bird tattooed brightly on her skin called Eric into the back. As he left, Kait appeared, smiling brightly. The skin around her arm was red and blotched.