CONVERGENT - [Divergent] ADOPTED

Chapter Ten

                  

[ELLIE]

A sudden loud banging woke me from my restless sleep. "Ten minutes, in the Pit."

Oh, great. A wake up call. I rubbed my eyes, propping myself up on my elbow.   

Trudi was already tying her laces up on her new boots, her auburn hair in a quick ponytail, which was a strange sight, since I'm used to the tight bun knots. She looked up at me, amused.

"You might wanna get up, El. He doesn't seem like the pushover type," she chuckled. "Nine minutes' left, and it takes three to get there."

"How long have you been up?" I asked, groggily swinging my legs over to put my boots on, too.

"A while, couldn't sleep," Trudi stood up and walked over to Alice, shaking her awake. Kori was yawning and complaining about 'not getting her beauty sleep.'

"Yeah, I get it, I didn't sleep well, either."

The change of colours felt odd, all my life I've worn grey, but now, its suddenly all black. Although, it's one of the smallest detail changes I'll have to get used to. 

My family. A pang of homesickness spread through me. I know they'll come, on Visiting Day, but still. I left them, for adventure and a change of scenery. I truly didn't belong there, because of how selfish I was. I'm a disgrace.

Stop. If I'm going to survive initiation and become a Dauntless member, I had to forget about anything negative. I am going to be Dauntless. I will be Dauntless. I have time to grieve the loss of my family later. 

"Ugh," a voice of disgust interrupted my thoughts. I turned to see Kori grimacing at her reflection in the only mirror in the room. "It's not easy being this beautiful, y'know. And I need my beauty sleep. I mean, look at this bags. I look like a druggie, for goodness sake!"

I chuckled softly at her ranting. The guys on the other side heard what she said and they either looked completely confused or amused. 

"It's okay, Kori," I tried to reassure her, trying not to laugh. "It's just for today, you can get more sleep tonight?"

Kori thought for a moment and was about to reply but one of the guys interrupted her. "Ten minutes almost up!"

Kori forgot about her imagery for the moment and ran to get something off her bed.

Trudi had met up with us, practically dragging me to the door. "Quick, quick, quick! We don't want to be late!"

I laughed. "I can walk myself," she let me go, but didn't stop pestering me to quicken my already fast pace.

She called over her shoulder. "Quickly, girls! Don't get left behind!"

I regretted not getting up for breakfast. I was starving.

We started our day with Ajax telling us about the three stages of initiation, which includes physical – shooting, aim and fighting. The second is emotional, having you face simulations of your fears. And the third is mental capability, consisting of the first two stages.

"This morning, you'll be learning how to shoot, this afternoon I'll teach you a few things about fighting. So gear up, and follow me," Ajax led us to the shooting range.

He showed us a few tips about how to hold and shoot a weapon.

"Never point your gun at anything you aren't prepared to shoot at," Ajax has never looked more serious or more deadly. "Not playing around, not threatening, never, ever. Understood?"