Inferno

Chapter 21: How Could You Not Know

By 5:30 we were all eagerly waiting in the cafeteria. My stomach is nauseous. I can't stop worrying about what the rankings will be. Will I be high up? Will I be last? I don't want to get a bad job.

"Will you take a chill pill? You're going to be fine." Christina rubs my back reassuringly. I try to smile at her but it turns out more like a grimace.

"She's not very good at dealing with these kind of events." Tris explains, shooting me a sympathetic look.

I swallow. "Anxiety." I say quietly. She nods and continues rubbing my back.

Tobias plops down at our table beside me. Everyone is in their normal seats, just Tris and Christina are on opposite sides of the table. None of the leaders are here yet. Tobias told me earlier they'll show up in the upper level of the cafeteria.

Loud shouting comes from all over the room as the leaders walk to the edge of the railing above us. Max, Hendricks, Ange, Lauren and Eric all look down at us, some smiling and some aren't.

Eric looks at me, or at least I think he is. There are a lot of people in here right now.

He smirks and continues scanning the room. Christina nudges my side. When I look at her she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. I roll my eyes and turn back to the scene above us.

"Attention everyone!" Max's voice booms. Damn, he can be loud.

Once the room quiets he starts talking again. "One the behalf of all the other leaders and I, we would like to congratulate all the initiates for making it this far and becoming official Dauntless members!"

Cheering and whistles fill the room once again. I see Uriah and Zeke across the room. Zeke rubs the top of Uriah's head in an affectionate way, while Uriah smiles and playfully shoves him off.

"Quiet down, quiet down..." Max orders, smiling. "Now, as previously stated, once your rankings are given to you, come up to the leaders table in order and pick a job that you're interested in. They are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Then once you have your job picked, you are to pick an apartment. You can either share one with two or more people, or you can have your own private one."

Tris nudges her knee against mine under the table. I give her a smile.

Tris and I decided to get an apartment together. We talked to Christine about if she would be interested in rooming with us but she said she was getting one with Will. We told her that's fine and they're both welcome to our place anytime.

I already know I'll probably be alone majority of the time. Tris has been sleeping at Tobias's apartment for a while now, so her and I's place will probably be her part-time home until she moves in with him full-time.

"If you will turn your attention to the front of the room." Max orders, and everybody looks at the giant scoreboard resting on the wall. "Welcome to Dauntless!"

He presses a button and the names light up on the board.

I take a deep breath and swallow, then look at it.

1. Crystal
2. Tris
3. Uriah
4. Peter
5. Will
6. Luke
7. Christina

I stop after Christina's name. Everything is a blur.

I got the number one spot.

How the hell did that happen!

I vaguely feel Christina hugging me. It takes me a second to realize she's talking to me.

"You did it! You got the number one spot!" She smiles widely and hugs me again.

"I'm not even surprised. You flew through your final fears fast. Like, abnormally fast." Will laughs.