𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍 | E.C

FOUR

ALEXANDRIA

My arm was yanked forward by Connie's excitement as she practically skipped her way to the dining hall, an excited giggle escaping her lips. The commotion in the hall travelled down the stone passages, echoing off the walls- cups banging, people cheering, loud belly laughs and a good amount of yelling as food was thrown around the room. Taking a deep breath, I embraced the chaotic dauntless way of life and took a seat.

Across from our table, dauntless leadership ate in silence with their eyes solely focused on their food infront of them. It was strange to see such a tense atmosphere among the wild yelling of the dining hall. It was as if he could feel me staring as Eric's eyes locked onto mine in that moment, his lips downturned into a frown before he looked away. Huffing, I looked away as well and joined in on the conversation at the table. 

"I came from Candor, names Finn." A boy across from Connie said, taking a bite of his hamburger. He had blonde hair that had been shaved off, dark green eyes surrounded by flawless skin. "This is Riley." His friend beside him looked almost identical except his hair was longer and one of his eyes were blue, the other the same dark green. 

"Twins?" I asked, playing around with the food on my plate. They both nodded.

"I'm older." Finn said, shoving his brother lightly before wrapping and arm round him. Riley scowled, shoving his arm off. 

"By 5 minutes." He retorted.  "How about you guys?"

"Connie, Amity." She smiled, flashing her perfect set of teeth.

"Dria, Erudite." I said with my mouth full of food, Riley smiled at this. My eyes couldn't help but wander back to Eric, his annoyed expression as the leader beside him spoke. Once again our eyes met but this time he didn't look away or frown, he simply stared. Something about his stare felt exposing and intimate, like he was trying to communicate without any words, like he was reading me or analyzing my every move. Maybe if it were a year ago I wouldn't have cared, but now it felt wrong to be open infront of him- he was not the same person. 

I got up from the table, quickly excusing myself with an awful excuse, and practically sprinted out of the hall. The halls were foreign and identical, my sense of direction was gone but I just kept running until I found somewhere familiar- the chasm. Four had taken us here earlier, expressing how dangerous it was if you were to fall but I didn't care, I leant against the railing and tried to control my rapid breaths. 

"You're not going to jump, are you?" Eric's voice echoed from the other side, startling me enough so that my foot slipped. My grip tightened around the railing and I caught myself, not before Eric's hand wrapped around my arm to steady me. I shook off his hand, anger brewing inside of me. 

"Why do you care? You've made it very clear that you hate me, wouldn't you just love to see me give up." I snapped, pushing him back lightly. His expression turned from angry, to guilty before it was void of any emotion. His mask was slipping. 

"You really think I want that?" He asked almost in disbelief, his eyebrows furrowing. "You think I want you dead? God, Lexi, that's the last thing I want!" He snapped back, scowling.

"Why- No, you know what?" I let out a breathy laugh. "I'm done."

"You're done?"

"Yes!" I screamed. "I'm done looking at you, talking to you, thinking about you. You have been the only thing I could think about for a year, you broke my heart and I still loved you. I don't know who you are but you are not the Eric I know, its sickening and I'm done." Tears welled in my eyes as I walked away but I didn't let them fall, I was done crying over him. 

I came to Dauntless to leave the past behind, to leave the broken hearted girl behind, so that's what I would do. 

***

My eyes snapped open at the loud clashing of metal before shutting immediately from the intensity of the light. "In the pit, 10 minutes!" Four's voice boomed over the room. A wave of groans emerged as the others began to get up, Connie's smiling face appeared infront of me. 

"Excited for the first day of training?" She asked, squealing as she pulled on a hoodie. I laughed and threw the sheets off of my legs. "I wonder what we will do, maybe running or fighting?" I stripped off my shirt and put a sport bra on instead, covering it with a zip-up. 

"Have you got any pants? I ripped mine." I asked and Connie raised an eyebrow. "Long story." I had ripped them during my near-death experience at the chasm last night. She shrugged and threw a pair of shorts at me. 

After dressing, we headed to the pit along with the twins who were not very happy to be woken up this early. Four and Eric were already waiting next to a large screen that listed everybody's name, we gathered around them as Four began to speak. "There are three stages to training, first is physical- pushing your bodies to their limits. Two and three are mental."

"You'll be ranked based on your performance, those below the red line at the end of each stage will be cut." Eric added, emphasizing the word 'cut'. A quiet roar of whispers emerged, Connie squeezed my arm lightly in fear. 

"Cut?" One of the Erudite girls, Sarah, questioned. Eric glared at her harshly. 

"Yes, cut." He hissed. "Those below the red line will be leaving us, become factionless." Realization dawned on me, I had to earn my place at dauntless. I mentally punched myself for not expecting this as others complained amongst themselves. "You chose us, now we get to choose you." His eyes locked onto mine as he said that, hinting something unknown to me. 

He had already chosen me.