♘ Be Brave ♘

XIV

"Is it just me or was that the awesomest thing ever?" Zeke sits next to me, his posture relaxed, like he jumps off and on trains every day. Which, actually, he probably does. I mean to correct him, to tell him that "awesomest" is not a word, but instead, the strangest thing happens; I start laughing.

I don't remember ever having laughed before. It is an odd sound, but I like it. I laugh until tears stream down my face. Soon everyone else is laughing. Zeke, even Cassandra, who was somber only moments earlier. Her shoulders shake, and she's trying to stop laughing, but, like everyone else, she can't.

Finally, I wipe my eyes and take deep breaths to calm myself down. Just then, Zeke tells me, "Okay. See that building over there? The brick one?" I nod. It'd be impossible to miss it. "We're going to have to jump on its roof. Come on."

He carefully heads over to the car's doorway. "What?" Zeke glances at me. "You did it once, you can do it again. You want to be Dauntless, right?" I swallow and head over to the doorway. Anything to get away from Marcus. We are getting closer to the building by the second.

"Jump. Now!" Zeke leaps off the train like a pro, and I force myself to do as he says. I'm only airborne for a few minutes, but that's enough to almost make me regret my choice. Almost. I land on the roof and the impact knocks the wind out of me.

Zeke is a few feet away from me, on the edge of the roof. My eyes widen. What was he doing?