Bite Me || Eric Coulter Fanfic - Divergent

13. Do you like pizza? - Eric's POV

It seems that every visit from an Amity member is always intense. Today's visitor though left behind more than just tension. He left a lost girl, struggling to seem carefree and unperturbed in front of her friends. I saw Iris that evening at the Pit talking to the other initiates almost like nothing happened. Almost.

She was smiling but it wasn't the genuine one she gave someone when caught off guard. It was her practiced Amity smile; a smile that was bright enough to blind you so that you didn't notice the way she kept tapping her index finger against her leg or the way she kept tucking her hair behind her ear nervously. If you looked close enough, you could see she was restless.

Oh, so now you're staring at her hands and hair?

That annoying voice in my head had been tormenting me since the visit from Amity. I wasn't purposely staring at her, but as her instructor I need to be aware of any changes in behavior that might have negative consequences. Dauntless initiation is tough enough as it is. Adding the death of your family, the ones you left behind, is bound to take its toll.

As always, my thoughts had consumed me to the point where I needed an escape from everything; people, responsibility, noise. I grabbed a light snack which consisted of two boxes of pizza and started walking to the staircase that led to the roof. If it were any other day, the all-too-familiar sound of knives hitting a target would not surprise me at all. Today however, no one was supposed to be in the training room.

I stopped at the entrance and curiously looked inside the room. Iris was furiously throwing knives at one of the targets aiming for the three key spots; head, heart, stomach. The most impressive part though was her accuracy. Each knife she threw sunk perfectly in the spot it was supposed to. Even after everything that happened today, she still had enough self-control to do this with stellar precision. Damn, I must really have a thing for knives, there's no other explanation for why I kept looking at her while leaning against the doorframe.

After a few minutes, she was running low on knives, her anger was wearing off and frustration was taking its place. She was moving around restlessly, collecting the knives and cleaning them, seemingly lost in her thoughts.

Deciding she had tortured herself enough for today, I stepped in the room. Her head snapped up to look at me and her eyes briefly flashed with surprise. She had probably forgotten that there were other people around here.

"I'm almost done cleaning up here, I promise" she started saying, but her foot was still lightly tapping on the floor. She noticed me looking and sighed. "I can't stay still. I'll lose my mind if I do" she admitted in a softer tone.

I understood that feeling too well. Restlessness is the reason why I escape to the roof a few times per week. Sometimes being surrounded by four walls all the time drives me crazy. I assume that's her situation as well.

I nodded slightly and she continued cleaning up; neither of us knowing how to continue this conversation or even if we should.

Maybe it was because she looked desperate for an escape or because I was desperate for someone to escape with me just this once, but I surprised both of us by asking:

"Do you like pizza?"

I immediately realized how stupid and crazy I sounded. She looked at me in confusion. I expected her to ignore my question, probably thinking I was finally losing it or even worse, being insensitive towards her at a time like this. But she surprised me yet again.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I do" she said and I noticed her trying to suppress a smile.

"Well come on then" I said gesturing towards the door. I saw her hesitate; probably deciding whether she should protest or not. The restlessness in my eyes probably mirrored hers, because she nodded and stored all the knives carefully before following me.