THREE

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ALEXANDRIA POV

Eric eyed me angrily as I approached the ledge, uneager to jump after my performance last time. I was the last person left to jump, adding to the rosy tint of my cheeks. I felt his eyes on the side of my face, staring daggers for reasons unknown to me- what had I done to make him hate me so much? My knees buckled slightly as I stood tall, overlooking the edge. "We don't have all day, initiate." Eric sighted annoyingly, stepping closer. 

"You know what, I don't care that you are a leader," I snapped, turning to face him with newfound confidence, "Why are you acting like this? Glaring at me with such hatred, if I remember correctly you are the one who left me- not the other way around." His eyes softened for a moment before his mask was pulled back up, the hatred returning. 

"I don't have to explain myself to you." He spat, taking a few more steps forward. "I do what I want, when I want and there's nothing you can do to change it." In a swift motion, his arms were pushed forward and connected with my stomach. The force sent me back, over the ledge and I was falling into the black abyss below me. 

My hair whipped around me in the air, the oxygen in my lungs had escaped and my body was sent into panic. My arms waved frantically, a small yelp escaping as my figure collided with a net and I ricocheted back into the air a few times before stilling. An exasperated laugh left before the net dipped and my body rolled to the edge, chocolate brown eyes hooded by thick expressive eyebrows met mine. 

Hid features were hard, a sharp jawline and full lips that wore a slight smile. He lifted me up from the net and set me on the ground. "Name?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Truthfully, I had always hated my name, it was too long and formal. Now was the time to change it, or well shorten it. 

"Dria." I answered.

"Last jumper, Dria!" The man announced, ushering me to the rest of the crowd. I stood at the front beside a boy from Candor and the girl from Amity who wore a relentless smile. "Dauntless borns, go with Lauren, transfers stay with me." He ordered and a girl on the other side of the room raised her hand and waled out, a large group following close behind her. "My names Four, I will be your instructor during initiation, along with Eric." He paused, seemingly waiting for somebody to say something but when nobody did he smirked and began to walk. "Follow me." 

As we walked, I couldn't help but think about Eric. His behavior has confused me, the initial shock of seeing him still extremely present and the hurt in my heart that he hates me still raw. We had parted inlove and for some reason we had reunited as enemies- what happened? "This is where you will be staying for the next 10 weeks." Four said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

The room was dull and grey, rows of metal bedframes with rusted springs lined against each side of the walls and worn concrete pillars standing in the center. At the other end of the room there was an open wall, the separated room held a wall of toilets out in the open, 'sinks' that look more like troughs  and showers with missing curtains. I almost threw up. "You should feel right at home Candors, everything out in the open." Four snickered before walking out again. "Get dressed, meet outside in five minutes." 

I sprung into action, practically sprinting the the bed closest to the door so to be farthest away from the bathroom. Everybody else followed in suit, leaving the last few beds by the bathroom unoccupied. There were 16 transfers in total, 9 Erudite, 5 Candor and 2 Amity, and groups were already starting to form. Ignoring everybody else, I picked up the clothes laid out on the bed- a black long-sleeve, black cargos and combat boots that looked slightly used. I stripped my Erudite clothes off quickly, not bothering to cover anything as we were going to share this room for the next 10 weeks anyways, and got dressed. 

As I laced up my boots, I couldn't help but notice a group of Erudite transfers snickering to themselves as they stared at the Amity girl whose clothes didn't fit entirely well. Aren't we too old for this? Rolling my eyes, I walked over to the girl and handed her a spare shirt. "It was a little big on me but it should fit better than that one." I said, a sympathetic smile on my face. 

She smiled back and took the shirt, I turned as she took off the other one. Glaring at the group of Erudites, I walked out of the room and stood by Four who was waiting impatiently for the others. I observed the man, he was tall with dark features, lots of muscle but still small enough to be quite stealthy, a tattoo peaked out of the hem on his shirt but none were on his arms. He wore a frown, wrinkles on his face indicated that he often did, and he would check his watched consistently every minute. 

After everybody had arrived, Four took us up a few flights of stairs until we reached an open furnace. The flames heated my face as the smell of smoke filled my lungs. We each dropped our old clothes into the fire, symbolizing our end with our old factions. I was a little too eager to watch them burn. "Dinner is at 7." Four said before walking away, leaving us to disperse ourselves. 

The Amity girl appeared beside me, looking up slightly due to our height difference, I was about 5'7. "I'm Connie." She introduced, a large grin on her lips. Initially, I had no interest in making friends, I wanted to focus on completing initiation but Connie seemed nice and it felt awkward to turn her down. 

"Dria, nice to meet you." 

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