Dauntless Rising

Staring

The landing knocked the breath out of me. I looked down and discovered I was in a mesh net.

I felt someone pull on the net and help me out.

"What's your name?"

I looked up at him. Man, was he hot.

"Um-uh... Ana."

"Nice to meet you, Ana. I'm Four."

I smiled nervously. I looked over and saw Ara motioning towards me. I walked over to her.

She leaned into me. "Is Four hot or what?" I nodded, blushing. We burst out laughing.

We went to dinner and I sat with Ara, Angie, and the Candor girl from the train. Melody. That was her name.

We were eating, when I looked over and saw a boy I vaguely recognized from Erudite. He was staring at me, and I stared back, just to unsettle him. I remembered him being an awkward kid.

But his gaze didn't falter. Eventually I gave up and turned back towards my friends.

As I was leaving, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I whirled around and saw the boy that had been staring at me.

"Hi," he said nervously.

"Hi," I said, unsure of what to do.

"Anastasia, right? We were in school together?"

"It's actually Ana now. But yeah, I remember you..."

"Alex."

"Alex. Sorry."

"It's ok. People don't usually remember me. But I'm used to it, so."
That's so sad. I felt bad for him. I had to admit, he was really cute.

"Yeah."

We walked back to the bunk room together. Ara glanced back and gave me two thumbs up. I shook my head, embarrassed.

We were quiet for a second. "Why were you staring at me?"

"I don't know. I guess I was just trying to figure you out. I mean I saw you in school. You were the smartest kid in the class. So why did you leave Erudite? And why did you choose Dauntless? No offense, but you're not really the Dauntless type."

I chuckled. "I could say the same for you. Why did you leave Erudite?"

He sighed. "I had to get away from Erudite. My mom died a few years ago, and my dad became an alcoholic and..." he looked down, tears forming in his eyes.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. You don't need to tell me. I'm sorry I asked."

"No it's okay. I've just never really talked about it before." He took a deep breath and dried his eyes. "So what's your story?"

"I joined to be with my sister."

"That's it? That's the only reason you joined?"

"Well-" I stopped. We had reached the bunk room.

"This is where I leave you." Alex bowed goofily. I shoved him playfully.

I walked over to Ara. She nudged me and raised an eyebrow.

I glared at her. "Shut up."