Chasm

Chapter 13

TRIS POV

The final rankings for stage one are released in the evening, after our day of training review.

We gather in the dormitory after supper and shove each other to get a clear view in the front of the crowd. But Tobias has not hung up the chalkboard yet, instead obscuring it from us and depriving anxious initiates whose lives are about to be either saved for now or demolished.

"These are the final results for stage one," he declares. "After calculating the Dauntless-born scores, it has been decided that eight of you need to be cut, as previously estimated. These eight will be marked below the line, and you will leave us tomorrow morning when the rest of us go to the factionless sector to patrol."

There is a mutual intake of breath as everyone in the room anticipates his or her rank. Tobias hangs the chalkboard up on the wall and steps back so we can see the results.

As expected, I have not moved. Neither has Peter, and Christina only dropped by two spots—she lost a fight against a boy whose name I can't recall. And then I see that Dez moved up to number eighteen, much farther from the bottom than she was just last week.

My friends and I celebrate and congratulate each other. Throughout the room there is a chorus of cheers but also cries, and although I do have sympathy for those who have been cut, they should realize that being factionless isn't that bad. I used to consider it worse than death to not have a place in society, but the factionless have banded together since my first initiation, and everybody has seen how much they resemble their own faction with their organization.

Tobias leaves the room between the mixed reactions, and that is when Jessica snakes through the group of initiates in my direction with fury evident on her face. When she gets to me, she pounces, her arms outstretched so she can reach for my throat. I catch her wrists just in time, but I still bump into the wall behind me.

"This is all your fault!" she yells, clawing at my arms to make me let go. Thankfully, Peter steps forward to hold her back. "My best friend is getting kicked out so your little Amity minion can stay! How convenient that she moved up too!"

"What are you talking about?" I ask incredulously. Many pairs of eyes are glued to us, as a disruption like this is hard to ignore, especially since Dauntless enjoy their share of drama and fights.

"Don't play stupid! We all know that you're using your boyfriend to raise your rank, as well as your friends' apparently!"

My face burns as whispers spread around us. "He's not my boyfriend, and if anything he dislikes me." The last part might be a stretch, but oh well. "Your accusation is only making you look ridiculous."

"No, what's ridiculous is the fact that you're in first place, even without completing gun training because you're too much of a coward to fire one!" she exclaims, and the initiates around us seem to agree with her.

So I decide to put an end to the rumors. "I did complete gun training after hours on my own time," I clarify calmly. "And I'm in first because I deserve it."

Jessica growls and lurches forward again despite being restrained by Peter. Finished with my retorts and needing some air, I turn and walk out of the dormitory, trying to ignore the stares boring into me.

I sigh once I am alone in the hallway. I don't know where I meant to go, so I wander slowly and aimlessly down random paths. At one point I contemplate hunting down Tobias and asking if I could stay with him again tonight, but I figure that it wouldn't be appropriate.

My decision to approach him last night was fueled by desperation and fear and therefore not pensive; however, I don't regret it because of how refreshed I felt this morning when I woke up from a deep sleep in an actual bed. It was an added bonus that I didn't suffer from nightmares, likely having something to do with the fact that I woke up wrapped tightly in his arms. Obviously it was an accident caused by our bodies being familiar with the position and each other, but I wasn't complaining.