𝑭𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑴𝑶𝑹𝑨𝑵𝑻 . Tobias Eaton

*ೃ༄ 19 ༄ೃ*

Visiting Day. The second I open my eyes, I remember. My heart leaps and then plummets when I see Molly hobble across the dormitory, her nose purple between strips of medical tape. Once I see her leave, I check for Peter and Drew. Neither of them is in the dormitory, so I change quickly. As long as they aren't here, I don't care who sees me in my underwear, not anymore.

Everyone else dresses in silence. Not even Sarai smiles. We all know that we might go to the Pit floor and search every face and never find one that belongs to us.

I make my bed with the tight corners like my mother taught me. As I pinch a stray hair from my pillow, Eric walks in.

"Attention!" he announces, flicking a lock of dark hair from his eyes. "I want to give you some advice about today. If by some miracle your families do come to visit you..." He scans our faces and smirks, "...which I doubt, it is best not to seem too attached. That will make it easier for you, and easier for them. We also take the phrase 'faction before blood' very seriously here. Attachment to your family suggests you aren't entirely pleased with your faction, which would be shameful. Understand?"

I understand. I hear the threat in Eric's sharp voice. The only part of that speech that Eric meant was the last part: We are Dauntless, and we need to act accordingly.

On my way out of the dormitory, Eric stops me.

"I may have underestimated you, Nose," he says. "You've been working well, lately."

I stare up at him. For the first time since I beat Molly, guilt pinches my gut.

If Eric thinks I did something right, I must have done it wrong.

"Thank you," I say. I slip out of the dormitory.

Once my eyes adjust to the dim hallway light, I see Sarai and Will ahead of me, Will laughing, probably at a joke Sarai made. I don't try to catch up. For some reason, I feel like it would be a mistake to interrupt them.

Al is missing. I didn't see him in the dormitory, and he's not walking toward the Pit now. Maybe he's already there.

I stop just before the hallway ends.

Clusters of families stand on the Pit floor, most of them Dauntless families with Dauntless initiates. They still look strange to me—a mother with a pierced eyebrow, a father with a tattooed arm, an initiate with purple hair, a wholesome family unit. I spot Drew and Molly standing alone at one end of the room and suppress a smile. At least their families didn't come.

But Peter's did. He stands next to a tall man with bushy eyebrows and a short, meek-looking woman with red hair. Neither of his parents looks like him. They both wear black pants and white shirts, typical Candor outfits, and his father speaks so loudly I can almost hear him from where I stand. Do they know what kind of person their son is?

Then again...what kind of person am I?

Across the room, Will stands with a familiar woman in a blue dress. I always assumed she never looked old enough to be his mother, but she has the same crease between her eyebrows as he does, and the same dark hair.

Next to him, Sarai hugs a dark-skinned woman in Candor black and white. Standing behind Sarai is a young girl, also a Candor. Her younger sister.

Should I even bother scanning the crowd for Parker or mum? I could turn around and go back to the dormitory.

I stood there with my arms crossed as I scanned the room to see if they came. It was getting lonely standing on my own as everyone else was with their family.

"Is that you Aurora?" A woman called out.

I turned my head. It was Will's mum. Before walking over, I searched the room once more to make sure my family didn't make it, I noticed Four leaning against a railing, staring at me. I looked back over to where Will and his mum stood and walked over to them with my arms still crossed.