THE REBEL CHILD OF MARCUS EATON

Chapter 3: Second Stage

Raven

I walked into the room to see a woman I don't recognize, and she holds a syringe. I push down the nervousness and sit in the chair, and she injects the serum into my neck. When I open my eyes, the woman has disappeared, but the needle hasn't as several other needles also pierce my skin. I take a some deep breaths to calm my rapidly beating heart, and the simulation ends, and the woman gives me a strange look, "Thirty seconds. That's not normal." I deadpan, "I never said I was." Her mouth twitches, "Right. Good job." I leave the room, and Tobias falls into step beside me, "Thirty second per fear. That explains why you only have a minute and half in your fear simulation." I tease, "If you were the same way, yours would be two minutes, Four." His mouth twitches into his familiar grin, "Mine was six minutes." I laugh as he slings an arm over my shoulder. He looks at me, "What was your first fear in the landscape?" "Having to choose who would live or die, between you and Marcus," I answer, and his eyes soften, "Who'd you choose to live?" "You. That's never going to change, T," I tell him, and he smiles as he kisses the top of my head, "I'm glad."

We go to the cafeteria, and Eric waves me over, so I split off and head towards him, where he introduces me to his friends, who all wink at me. I can't help but smile back as I laugh at their dirty jokes and comments, growing more comfortable as I support myself by leaning my forearm on Eric's shoulder as I am still standing while he sits. Not really paying attention, I start playing with his short hair, and his cheeks flush pink, making me realize what I was doing, so I stop, "Sorry." "It's fine," he says, not meeting my eyes with his own, his cheeks still flushed, and his friends start teasing him. I walk over to where my friends are, and they're somewhat laughing at Eric's embarrassed expression as he defends himself to his own friends.

Eric

I am properly embarrassed the moment she starts playing with my hair- none of the other initiates are bold enough to do that, but then, she's known me since my initiation year after I'd knocked my own mother out to save her. Of course, she's the only initiate that has known me since before initiation, not to mention, we've met before the incident three years ago, since she was constantly volunteering at Erudite Headquarters, putting books back on the shelf. Her volunteering took her everywhere. When she saunters away, I can already hear her friends laughing at my expression, and my friend says, "Hey, there's a party tonight. Even initiates are invited." I mutter, "She's an initiate, not to mention, Four's little sister. She's off limits." My friends groan, one saying, "Come on, Man. You've known her since before initiation, and why else would she be so comfortable around you?" "Maybe because I saved her from my own mother," I deadpan, and I hear laughter coming from her table, and look to see that one of her friends has managed to get ketchup in his hair. Raven's shaking her head while laughing at her friend, who is simply grinning while pulling the ketchup out of his hair and licking it off his fingers, earning protests from the others, "EWW, GROSS!" I see Tris shaking her head, along with Will and Christina, but all three are laughing quietly. Four is simply smirking, exchanging a glance with Zeke, who is slightly affectionate towards the younger Eaton sibling, treating her like a little sister.

That night, I see her grab Tris' hand, pulling her onto a table, dancing to the music, making everyone laugh, making it obvious she's already popular with the Dauntless. Either that, or they're amused that an Abnegation transfer is acting like a hooligan. Tris got off the table, and one of Raven's friends pulls her off the table, and they start dancing to the beat of the music. One of the older Dauntless offers a drink, but she shakes her head as her brother hands her a soda- typical big brother move. She's drinking the soda while dancing, handing the empty can to her brother while continuing to dance. I look at Tris, and then at Raven, having seen how Raven drifts towards Tris more often than the other transfers from last year. They act like sisters, but I know they're not, so I figure that they're friends. One of my friends staggers over to me, "Why aren't you making a move?" "Because I don't have a death wish," noticing that both Four and Tris are watching me. My friend rolls his eyes, "Whatever, Man. Just don't wait too long, or she'll get snatched up by someone else," gesturing to one of her male friends that seems to be way too familiar with her. The initiate is Dauntless-born, and they seem to get along well, dancing to the music together as he twirls her around on the dance floor.