The Fault In Our Love ::HIATUS::

Chapter Six: His Announcement

We get to the mess hall a few minutes before the transfers come in. So, the four of us sit next to the Lam siblings. Elly Lam, Justin Lam, Kai Lam, and Christina "Chrissy" Lam. Elly and Justin are the same age as Four and Eric, but they both guard the fence. Whereas Kai and Christine, who are twins, are also Dauntless born initiates. The twins notice us sitting down and they greet us in unison. Elly and Justin notice us and wearily smile. "Glad you guys stayed." Justin said as he took another bite of his burger. Grease spills out of the burger and trickles down his hands.

"Luella here was about to transfer to Abnegation." Lynn said, jabbing a thumb in my direction. They turn their heads toward me, shocked. Even Justin stopped eating.

"No, I wasn't, Lynn!" I defended against her. It's the truth.

"But you were thinking about it." Uri adds. Anger and frustration boils like hot soup within me. I glare at him.

"I was looking at the Stiff, who was observing us." I roll my eyes. "You really thought I would leave you guys?"

"I don't know." Chrissy shrugs. I sigh. As if on cue, the transfer initiates walk in.

We all begin to stand and applaud for them. We stamp our feet. We shout and the noise grows louder by the second. I feel a small bit of satisfaction as I begin to think that they have the guts to join the cruelest of all faction. We are brave and we are warriors, but we are also cruel. They begin to scatter to find seats and we get back to what we were doing. Luckily, my friends pushed the previous topic aside and we begin to crack jokes. All of a sudden, the doors to the cafeteria open and a sudden hush fills the room. Ever so slightly, I roll my eyes as Eric walks in, his feet lightly echoing against the silence. He walks over to the back table where Four is sitting and sits between him and the Stiff, whose name I learned was Tris. He begins to talk. Someone softly pokes at my arm with a fork. I turn my attention to see that Chrissy prodding my bicep with her silverware.

"Hey," Chrissy says, still prodding the fork at my arm. "You're glaring, and you don't glare too much. Is something wrong?" Blood rushes up to my cheeks in embarrassment.

"I'm fine." I respond in a flat tone, suddenly losing my appetite. They shrug it off and continue their conversation. Why was Eric sitting next to Four? He hates his guts. He wouldn't even have a drink with him, not for merely ten seconds or if he got a raise on his points earnings. Unless Max had ordered him to give Four a message. I guess that mystery has been solved. Now the next question, will he inform Max of his engagement in secrecy and gradually all of Dauntless will find out, or will he have Max announce our engagement tonight? Tomorrow night? After initiation is finished and I'm an official Dauntless member? Will I be able to get through initiation in the top three, top five, or end up factionless? The sound of metallic cups clank on the tables fill the air and I am brought back down to reality. Every individual began to look upward, so I follow their gaze to see the Dauntless leaders walk up to the railing. My parents' eyes lock onto mine for a moment and look forward with stern faces. The noises stop as Max, Eric right beside him, pauses to make a speech. Which is not very Dauntless, because ediquice is Erudite's specialty.

"Initiates," Max says with a dramatic pause. "stand."

We stand.

"You have chosen to join the warrior faction, assigned to defend the City and its inhabitants. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery and courage that leads a person to stand up in defense of another." His eyes scan the whole cafeteria as he speaks. "Respect that, do us proud."

Just as he lifts his hands off of the railing, which cues us that he has finished and we take our seats, Eric stops him and whispers something in his ear. Whilst his whispering, Max furrows his eyebrows. He then looks Eric in the eye and then my parents, who nod. He hesitantly turns back to the railing. "Everybody stop!" we stop. I wasn't doing anything, at the moment. "We have a last minute announcement from your other leader, Eric." A sudden cold rush runs through my veins, fearing the next few words that will come through his mouth. My hand finds Marlene's hand and I clasp it, as if I were to be lifted in the air and she was my only source to keep me from flying away. Our eyes meet and she knits her eyebrows together, puzzled by my actions. I bite the corner of my lip and give her a worried look before turning my attention back to Max.

Eric stands up to the railing where Max once stood. His eyes scanned the whole cafeteria, and locked his gaze on me. I bite the corner of my lip, as he nods at me. "Luella, please stand." I slowly rise from my seat, unclasping my hand from Marlene's. The heavy weight of the eyes in the cafeteria weigh heavily on me, but I try my best to ignore them as my eyes are still locked onto Eric's. Eric then nods his head, signaling to stand beside him. I slightly stumble from the small struggle of lifting my legs over the bench. Someone snorts out a small laugh. I snap my head to see the ugly Candor girl I instantly hated so much. I send her a menacing glare, which surely scares the shit out of her. I make my way towards the steps that lead up to where the leaders are, smoothly weaving my way through benches and bodies. Once I'm by Eric's side, we look into each others eyes. Then, Eric's fingers lace into mine. He offers me a small smile and I return it before we look back over the room full of confuzzled people.

"My fellow Dauntless members and Dauntless initiates, it has been decided by Melissa and Adrian Rolfe, your other Dauntless leaders, that Luella and I..." Eric pauses and looks at me. I give him an encouraging smile to rid him of his nerves. It may not be visible to everyone, but I can still notice it. We break our gaze and look at the others waiting for the announcement.

"Luella and I are to be married!" Eric raises our clasped hands like it was a victory. I glance at him, to see a smile pulling on his lips. Something inside of me lifted up in joy, which brought a real smile to my face. I looked at the Dauntless members and initiates below, who were hollering, screaming, and wooting with enthusiasm. Eric brought our hands down and pulled me in a tight hug. Our heads rested on each others shoulders. My heart sped up a little and butterflies were fluttering around inside my chest.

"Your heart is beating really fast." Eric sexily whispers in my ear. He probably doesn't mean to sound this sexy, but goddayuuummm! I pursed my lips and lightly bit them to keep my shiver to myself. The way his mouth moved against my earlobe was chill-worthy. "Really?" I chuckle a little, "I didn't notice."

He chuckles too and pulls back from the hug. He takes both of my hands and looks down at them. Eric gently rubs his thumbs over my slightly scarred knuckles and looks back up at me. "I hope you make it through Dauntless initiation."

My heart skipped a beat, and I look down at his hands, which were still holding mine. I caress my thumbs against his fingertips. Lightly biting my bottom lip, I look back up at him. His pirecings and neck tattoo suited him perfectly.

"Me too."