The Other Prior: Candice Prior || Divergent Fanfiction

Chapter 15: Andi vs Austin

522 Reads!!

Sweat trickles down my forehead as I punch the punching bag in front of me repeatedly. My  right forearm still aches dully from where I had my first tattoo engraved on my skin. It was simple one. The word 'freedom' written but replacing the top part of the 'm' there is a bird, ready to soar to greater heights. Just like I am. My knuckles have split from repeatedly punching the bag, and my arms ache from exhaustion, but I need to win. I have to.

Yesterday was my first win, and fortunately, or unfortunately, the euphoria of winning has gotten in my head. I know what it feels like to win, and what it feels like to lose, and only a fool would pick losing over winning after having felt both. The only sad part is I have to fight Austin today. He is possibly the worst opponent to fight with considering I want to keep the high that winning capture the flag has given me. Except maybe Eric.

Just thinking about Eric sends a wave of rage rolling over me, sucking all the exhaustion out of my arms, refueling me with energy manufactured from pure, raw, anger. Maybe a pinch of jealousy added to that mix, and you get a deadly combination on dark-powered fuel. Throw a little bit of sadness into that, and you get the fuel that drives most of the universe stuffed into one skinny, petit, bony, girl, and you have a pretty deadly machine. I would say Austin better watch his back today.

I punch the bag harder and harder as my need to win takes over my brain. I'm no longer thinking. All that is running through my veins is the rhythm of my work: punch, punch, jab, guard. And then I repeat. I stay there, working through the confusing feelings I had woken up with this morning by punching the bag as hard as I can, which granted, isn't much because of the exhaustion that has claimed my body from two to three hours of continuous exercise.

"Andi!"

Someone from behind me calls my name, but I am too caught up in my rush of emotion to pay any attention to whomever might own the voice calling out to me.

"ANDI!"

Punch. Punch. Jab. Guard.

Punch. Punch. Jab. Guard.

"CANDICE!"

The mention of my Abnegation name pulls me to a stop. I turn around, the anger I was channeling into the punching bag now looking for another way out.

"What?!" I snap, before seeing my friend, Four, standing behind in front of me, looking rather taken aback by the abrupt snappish reaction I gave him.

"Wait.... How do you know my name?" I ask, not understanding how he suddenly came to know about my name after he explicitly asked me what it was when we first met in Dauntless.

"You're the daughter of my father's best friend. It's kind of hard not to know you're name." He replies, shrugging his shoulders.

"So, you lied to me when you first asked me what my name was?" I ask, quickly getting angry once again, although not primarily for this reason.

"It wasn't lying exactly; it was more of not revealing the truth. And to answer your first question, I thought you might like to take a break. For breakfast? Cause humans need to eat... And you need the energy for today..." He says, trailing away because of the glare I'm shooting out.

Adjusting my eyes slowly, and pushing away my anger at who knows what, I finally calm down to reply, and realize that I slipped of my top in the middle of practice and am now standing in a room with a boy with only a bra and some shorts covering me.

"Yeah... Thanks. Tobias." I say playfully, wanting to get him back for the use of my Abnegation name, but he doesn't take it how I expect him to. He flinches. Then he turns away just as he locks his jaw and replies coldly: "My name is Four. You could do well to remember that. I changed it when I got into Dauntless because I didn't want people to identify me by that name. It's a serious deal in case you were too caught up in fun and games to realize, things can hurt people."