𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝟎𝟎𝟔

"𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 
𝙊𝙛 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚
𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩."

𝘠𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘍𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘵 - 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋𝘌

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

As soon as you entered the cafeteria, Christina waved you over to the quiet corner where all of the initiates had gathered. Every single member of Dauntless must've been there in that room, either spaced out over a span of dozens of tables or leaning casually against the steep stone walls. A few even lingered on the upper floors, looking down over balconies and threatening to pour bottles of mysterious liquids over your heads.

Most of the faces that you recognized from the rooftop were still collected in their little groups. Candor stuck with Candor. Erudite stuck with Erudite. Lucky for you, there was no other Amity for you to form a clique with. 

The three of you huddled like scared chickens along one side of the long table and despite Christina's stand-offishness, you knew she was at least a little intimidated by the surging crowds of black-coated people. The same black coats that you were wearing now.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" she asked, shoveling food from the center of the table onto her plate. She was right; you should've been starving. You were starving. But there was something about the slab of hard brown meat on the silver plate in front of you that made you feel even more nauseous than you already felt. The fall was finally catching up to you.

"What...uh...What is it?"

She stopped chewing and furrowed her eyebrows. "You've never had a hamburger before?"

"A what?"

Christina and Tris both paused to shoot you a mixed sympathetic and concerned look. You swore they would have stayed that way all evening if it hadn't been for the boy sitting directly across from you who cleared his throat with a knowing smirk.

"Amity is a vegetarian community," he supplied, looking far too proud of himself for doing so. "Their livestock are shipped out to be butchered by the factionless. Not many Amity come into contact with processed meats in their entire lifetimes."

Tris glanced your way and the boy raised an eyebrow down at you, daring you to testify. You let your eyes flicker distastefully down at your plate. "Yeah. What he said."

Perhaps your transition into Dauntless would be more daunting than you first imagined. No pun intended.

He chuckled and reached into the inner pocket of his new uniform jacket. "Here," he said, holding out a familiar round red object. "Grabbed this before jumping the train this morning. You look like you need it more than I do."

You let him drop it into your cupped hands. It was an apple. A ruby red apple. A wave of homesickness hit you like a train, but you were still thankful more than anything. You could only nod in thanks before biting into it and welcoming the taste of home into your mouth.

"I'm Will. Erudite," Will introduced himself to your row of friends. He had dark wavy hair swept over one side of his head and a pair of burnt umber eyes that reminded you of the forests in autumn. You were only half-listening to the words he was saying. Tris was more focused on her burger than anything else and Christina always just looked a little less than impressed.

"Of course you are," she joked with her mouth full. Tris nudged her in the side and she choked on her hamburger.

"And you must be Candor," Will guessed, folding his arms over the long steel table. "No filter, says the first thing that pops into your head."