Venus Eaton is desperate to escape the abuse of her previous faction although she is unaware and unprepared of the ordeals of Dauntless initiation. She is a stranger to her own brother until he accuses her of murdering their mother, and finds out th...
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VENUS
I WAKE up late, blinking sleep from my eyes. Harmonie stands at the mirror, fixing her white bow into her hair and Emily is rewrapping the bandage covering her new tattoo around her wrist. She got a simple rose, although equally as beautiful.
I want to get more tattoos, just to defy my previous faction, but it isn't as easy as it looks. Every tattoo has a story to tell, and it just doesn't seem like I have a good enough tale to tell.
My eyes flick over to the toilets, someone has constructed walls around it from old bedsheets and pillowcases.
I get to my feet and wobble over to her, my clothes in hand. "A bit too late for that," I say, grinning at her, because initiation ends in a few days. She looks a little pissed at first, then cheers up when I say, "But still perfectly useful."
I enter the DIY cubicle and pull on a tank top and black jeans before leaving. The construction, thankfully, stays up as I exit it and walk over to my bed where I pull on my boots.
Boots scuff to a halt in front of me and I glance up immediately, my eyebrows drawn in. Rhett stands above me, one lip curled into a devious smirk. I scan his face for a moment,
"What do you want?"
"Nothing." He says, and stares into my eyes for a second longer, like he wants me to say something but I say absolutely nothing. "Just wanted to say good morning, that's all."
I nearly laugh, but I don't. The fact I'm allowing Rhett Morley to talk to me is one thing, but him wishing me good morning is another. My palms begin to sweat.
"Uh... You too?" Shit. Did I really just say that? Why didn't I say fuck off, why in the world did I say good morning?
He scans my face, not entirely just my face, before nodding quickly. He's still smirking. "Rankings are up today." He continues, and I want him to just go away already. What am I supposed to say?
"But they're temporary." I say. He must think I'm competition. The weak girl might just be good at something, and it's ridiculous, because if I'm good at Stage Two it's only because I'm something no one else understands. "They could change."
Rhett shrugs, and his eyes are cold. I think about looking away, but dropping my head seems weak. So I continue to look him in the eye, until he finally gets the message and walks away.
"See you later," He calls, and nervousness rises in the pit of my stomach. Whatever he's playing at, it seems like I need to watch out.
***
Breakfast. The refectory around us is loud, but we are quiet. At least, we aren't shouting or throwing food. At least I'm not.
I sit down with Harmonie, who tucks into a bacon roll. I figure I should eat as well, so I 'have more energy for the sims' as Harmonie tells me, but I'm not completely sure if it's energy I need.
