OVERTHROW - Eric Coulter

Chapter 46

I felt abandoned, to some extent, annoyed and betrayed. I was alone in the training room, starting to warm up, ignoring the other Dauntless who were doing the same. I began with several exercises to warm up my muscles while waiting for a signal from Eric, who had agreed to supervise the forbidden training sessions. Although we hadn't agreed on a specific day, I at least hoped that today we could do it.

However, I've been here for an hour, and there's no sign of him.The last time we had a continuous conversation was in the kitchen, eating cake and him promising to kill my father if I wished. After that day, it became impossible. Freya would send me to talk to her, taking away my time, and on those occasions, I heard that Eric had gone to Erudite, and there were days when I didn't see him at all. There were times when I saw him, but he was accompanied by Ronald or Max, and I had to pretend he didn't exist, just greeting them if they greeted me. Only once this week were we alone and able to talk, or rather, kiss.

It seemed like everything was returning to normal, except now I had to go meditate with Freya for an hour, as if it served any purpose. I had hoped to train with Eric, but not seeing him had once again discouraged me, followed by anger at myself because the emotional dependence I had on him was unacceptable. So, I had to force myself to continue training even if I was alone.

I entered the cubicle where the weighted vests were and grabbed one. Then I took the wooden box and grabbed the files to evaluate which one was the least dangerous, something I could do alone.

"Do you know that as an initiate, you're not allowed to snoop through Dauntless information?" Four's voice surprised me, but I refused to pretend that I wasn't doing anything wrong, even though clearly I was.

"I wasn't aware," I murmured, placing the long march on the box. I turned to look at him when he was already beside me, raising an eyebrow.

He crossed his arms, looking at what I had in my possession. "Your file shows that you did the Murph, Eric supervised it, and you agreed. How did you find out about the existence of the forbidden exercises if they're not part of the program?"

I shrugged. "Actually, it was a lot of fun. The point is, I want to do most of them and I give my consent."

"You need supervision. Max allows them to be done as long as the consequences are considered and there's someone to watch over you." he tilted his head.

"I know, but Eric isn't here. I'm still resentful towards you, Raphael spends his time doing tattoos, and I'm left without friends." I crossed my arms, rolling my eyes as I spoke disinterestedly.

He looked at me sternly, sighed while closing his eyes and shaking his head. "It's like dealing with Eric." he chuckled. "Let's do something. If I let you do those exercises alone and something happens to you, they'll blame me. I don't have the time or the mood to deal with it. Put your pride aside, and I'll help you make your file shine. How does that sound?"

I lifted my chin, inspecting his face, processing the information with my arms crossed. I rolled my eyes, lowering my hands and chin. Who was I fooling? Freya's comment and the help she offered made me feel stupid; I forgot what he had done. My head spun just trying to find a reason to hate him.

"Deal." I said, raising my hand to shake his.

He smiled and took it. "Let's go, leave that there. You need to fight someone who knows how to do it." he turned around.

I followed suit, leaving the files in the box. "Who am I fighting?" I asked as I walked beside him.

"With the one who trains the Born, his name is Damian." he replied.

"I thought you and Eric trained both."

"No, I train the transfers, and Damian trains the born; Eric supervised both." he commented, looking around. "Hmm, there he is. Damian!" he called out.