Stumble Across the Fire (Divergent Eric fanfic)

Last Day As Initiates

 The next morning, I am surprisingly feeling alright. Sure, my head hurts a little bit, but not nearly as bad as my last hangover. Which, is totally weird, because I drank so much last night. But as soon as I convince myself I got off lucky, I get a heavy nauseous feeling and I run to the toilet just in time to empty my stomach completely. Not long after, Blake and Sterling are on either side of me, puking up their guts. Cole comes up behind Blake and holds her hair back. Lucky little shit.

I wash off my face when I am sure I'm done heaving, and now my hangover is in full force. Pounding headache and that steady nauseous feeling. I pull on my hoodie and a pair of yoga pants before heading down to breakfast with Sterling, Blake, and Cole. Cole seems unaffected by last night, well, at least a lot less than the rest of us. I think I recall him denying drinks after his he finished his third.

We enter the dining hall, which is as loud as always, making Blake, Sterling, and I wince. We find The rest of the gang when we see Hayley waving us over. She must have been the Cole in the Dauntless-born half of our friend group.

"Morning." Cole says, and Hayley is the only one to reply.

"Hey, fun fact everyone, it's our last full day as initiates. Our final test is tomorrow, and if we pass, we're officially Dauntless!" Hayley says excitedly, which earns a smile from all of us. We are really excited, but just don't feel like showing it with a massive hangover.

"Listen up!" A voice booms throughout the hall, making the Dauntless loudness cease. It was Eric.

"Here we are about to show the rankings to initiates, for the last time before their final test." Max begins to explain. "If you are below the red line, which will be eight of you, there is a slim chance you will finish initiation. There are twenty four of you, so eight of you will be factionless, and the rest of you will receive jobs as follows. Rankings one to four will be up for top jobs, which is leadership and supervisors. Five to eight will get the second best jobs, such as training initiates, assistant leadership positions, and supervisors. Third best jobs such as the monitor room and body guards will go to rankings nine to twelve. And guarding the factionless or fence will be for rankings thirteen to sixteen. Here's your rankings." Max finishes.

My heart rate picks up incredibly, and my palms get clammy. My knee begins bouncing, making the table shake, and I earn a few looks from the others at the table. Luckily no one says anything about my nervous habit.

Max looks to Eric, and Eric presses a button on a controller in his hand, revealing the rankings on a glass panel on the wall.

1) Zac     2)Cole     3)Arielle     4) Daniel     5)Hayley     6)Connor     7)Kaden             8)Alex     9)Meg    10)Dylan    11)Blake     12)Miles      13)Mia           14)Sam      15)Sterling            16)Cyrus

-----------------------------------------------(red line)--------------------------------------------------

17)Erin    18)Toby    19)Bryan    20)Kylie    21)Destiny    22)Victor    23)Kenny               24) Jenna

(Sorry if that whole part looks really crappy...)

I can't believe it, we made it! All eight of us were in the top sixteen! And five of us were in the top six! Our whole group cheers in happiness, ignoring our hangovers, knowing it is unlikely that any of us will be cut.

Some people stare, but we don't let them dimmer our mood. Our group leaves the hall, high on life, and head for training. We know that we will face our fears soon, but this doesn't worry us yet. We are all busy congratulating each other and picking which jobs we would prefer when we are stopped by none other than Eric himself.

"Congratulations, initiates. Now, I would like to speak with you all regarding the events of last night." Eric says seriously, making eye contact with all of us. His cold gaze holds mine a little longer than necessary, but I ignore it. I won't give this asshole a reaction, he doesn't deserve it. "Follow me to my office." He says, and begins walking away. All of us look to each other, and we follow Eric solemnly. What a buzz kill.

After a long walk to the other side of Dauntless, we come upon Eric's office. He walks inside, and takes a seat behind his desk. We all file in, standing in front of his desk, awaiting the lecture that is sure to come. I take note of the tidiness in Eric's office, even though I know all Erudite's are trained to be neat and tidy to prevent being strayed from more important things, like research and studies.

"It has been brought to my attention by a concerned initiate that some other initiates were drinking at the party in the Pit last night. And they provided all of your names. Now, I'm sure you all know it is against the rules for initiates to drink, so there must be consequences. Your rankings will not be affected, but I will personally ensure you all get some sort of consequence. First off, you all have a curfew of 8pm for the next week." Eric states, and all of our jaws drop. We're going to miss the initiate party tomorrow night after our final test! No fucking fair!

"Secondly, I will have a list of jobs that need to be done, and you will all get to pick which ones you want. These will also be carried out for a week. I am being easy on all of you because you are, after all, top ranking initiates. Well, most of you anyways." Eric says, and I just about lunge for his throat. He is referring to Sterling, Meg, and Blake about being at a lower ranking, even though they're still safe.

"All of you except Arielle stand outside. I will call you in one by one." Eric demands, and everyone leaves the room. Zac looks to me, asking through his gaze if I want him to stay. I shake my head. This doesn't go unnoticed by Eric, as he glares at Zac.

Eric follows Zac to the door, and he shuts the door behind him. He stands behind me for a few moments before he takes his seat behind the desk again. His cold eyes stare at me, begging me to say something. Too bad, asshole, I'm stubborn as hell.

"I want to say how sorry I am Arielle. Laying my hands on you was extremely uncalled for, both times." Eric says in a small voice, and I instantly feel bigger than him, more powerful.

"Where is the list of jobs?" I ask, completely ignoring his apology.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Eric asks, completely ignoring my question.

"Honestly, Eric, I'm tired of this. All we do is fight. All you do is curse at me, and all I do is egg you on and piss you off even more. It's draining, and I don't want to do this. You hitting me again just kind of woke me up from the trance I was in. This won't work, we're both too hotheaded and we both piss each other off more than the other knows. Yeah, we've had our small moments, but right now, looking at our entire situation, I feel like I'm not worth it to you. So let me carry out my sentence, and leave me the hell alone. I don't want you, and I know you sure as hell don't want me. We were both lying to each other." I finish my rant, and for some reason, I feel worse. Like way worse.

Eric just stares at me, pain taking over his eyes. He looks away, and searches for the document with the list of jobs. Without looking at me, he pushes it in front of me.

Cleaning initiate equipment, cleaning the kitchens, cleaning the dining hall, and cleaning the initiate dorms, after initiates have moved into their new housing arrangements. There are two people required per job, so I decide to take the equipment cleaning job. I sign my name beside it, and without a word, I leave Eric's office.

As soon as I am out of my friend's sights, I run, and run, and run. Somehow, I find my way to the train tracks, and conveniently, the train is passing. Without thinking, I run and hop on, leaving Dauntless behind me.