♘ Be Brave ♘

LXXII

"Hey," Cassandra blurts out. "Want to get a tattoo?" I laugh. "You're kidding, right?" She raises an eyebrow. "Does it look like I'm kidding?" I scoff. "You actually want to get a needle stuck inside you? For fun?" She pouts. "Please? Pretty please?"

Sighing, I give in. "Fine. But if I die because of an infection it'll be all your fault." She grins. "Deal!" I roll my eyes as she drags me over to the tattoo parlor.

"You two want tattoos?" A tall Dauntless woman stares at us from behind the counter. "Yes, ma'am." The woman nods and pushes two booklets towards us. "I'm Tori. Here are the designs you can choose from. You're both initiates, right?"

Cassandra smiles. "Guilty." Tori nods. "That'll cost you each fifty-two of your allotted points." Cassandra doesn't seem to hear Tori as she gushes over each and every one of the drawings. "Look! They even have one design called "Dauntless Cake"! I want this one."

I smirk. "Are you serious?" Her smile evaporates. "On second thought, maybe it's not such a good idea-" I realize too late that I've embarrassed her. Ugh. I'm so stupid.

"No, listen, you should get it. I was joking. I'm sorry. It'd look great on you." I grin at her. "Besides, I'd love to get another baking lesson from you." She kisses my cheek. "Get a tattoo and that just might be your reward for putting up with me."

She flips through the catalog again. "Oh, I like this one too." It's a dove with some sort of leaf in its mouth. "My mom told me once that doves often symbolized peace in books." She sighs.

"David used to call me "little dove". I always told him to use my given name instead, because I found the nickname annoying, but now, I..." She looks away. "I miss that nickname so much."

I take her hand. "I know how you feel. My mom... died when I was younger. But I know she'd want me to keep going no matter what. I'll always be here for you. Okay?" She nods. "Okay." I smile. "That's my girl. Now go get your tattoos."