Burning Sunflowers

Chapter 5

The cafeteria is louder than any room I've ever been in. No matter the fact that Amity is known for being talkative, we were never like this, so uninhibited.

"Where should we sit?" Clare asks, eyes scanning the room. Most of the tables around us seem to be full, leaving only two options, try and sit in with the dauntless born who - despite the kindness of Kai - seem more inclined to bite us than their food, or to cram in next to Eric. He sits with only one other person but the table remains empty besides them.

I nod my head at the leader and start walking forward, looks like this is our best bet.

Owen and Clare reach the table first, taking seats next to the other man, leaving me to sit next to Eric. My arm brushes his jacket as I sit and it sends a small shiver down my spine.

I can feel their conversation stop at our intrusion but pay them no mind as I begin loading up a plate.

Some of the food I recognize, basic fruits and vegetables, but others I've never seen before. With hesitant fingers I pinch at the circular slab of meat and place it onto my tray, it seems foreign among the rest of my plant based meal.

"What, have you never seen a hamburger before?" The man asks, he smiles at me and I can't tell if I should be embarrassed.

"Uh, no." I shake my head, grabbing a fork and knife to cut it with. "Amity is mainly vegetarian unless you raise the animal yourself, but even then we tend to keep them as pets before..." I glance at the man again, his head tilted as if interested. His hair, chin length and a dirty kind of blonde, hangs sideways.

"What?" I question, confused at his stare.

"Nothing, it's just not every day that we get an Amity transfer around here."

"Try 47 years." Clare pipes up mid bite.

"It's been that long?" I ask, feeling more nervous than I was moments ago.

She nods, "And even then they didn't make it, it's actually undocumented how long it's been since a person has successfully made the transition."

I sit down my fork and knife and stare at her in shock.

The man whistles and stares at me again, this time as if I'm a specimen.

"Well then I'll just have to be the first documented." I say, straightening my back and looking back down at my meal. I'm about to pick up my fork when a calloused hand stops me.

"You don't need that." Eric mutters from beside me, his voice deep. He reaches around me and my tray, gathering random items; a bun, pickles, a red sauce, and onions. He stacks them all together before setting it down for me.

I look up to see his eyes already on my face, his gaze intense.

"Try it." He motions with a hand.

Picking it up with too hands, I lean forward, sniffing slightly before taking a bite. My eyes close as flavor explodes in my mouth and I stifle back a moan.

"This.." I try and chew as quickly as I can so I'm able to speak. "Is absolutely amazing." I smile wide.

He merely smirks at me before turning back to his friend, saying something, and rising from his seat. Before he walks away fully he looks down at me.

"Glad you like it, Sunflower."

I mean to respond but he's already too far from the table for me to speak by the time my mouth catches up to my brain.

"So let me guess," the man pipes up again, leaving me to shake off the feeling that had came over me. "Amity," he nods to me exaggeratedly as if it was completely obvious, "Erudite," he points at Clare with his fork, "and Abnegation?" He signals at Owen, the only one he seems to be hesitant on. 

"That was pretty good." Clare comments a smile pulling on her lips. 

"Candor?" I ask looking at him, speaking in between bites of my hamburger. He gives me a shocked expression but nods in confirmations. 

"How'd you guess?" He seems genuinely surprised. I can only shrug at his, going for my drink.

"You're the best at perception, always trying to pick up on people's ticks. Doesn't surprise me that you'd be able to read us that well." Owen gives me a confused look from his end of the table and I explain myself. 

"Amity has you take classes on the relations and values of other factions. They always said it was to be sure not to offend them when we came in contact. They called the class 'Knowing Your Friends." I finished with a small laugh, thinking about how odd I thought the experience was at the time, only for it to come in handy now. 

"Sounds about like Amity," Clare says joining in with me laughing. 

"I'm Luke, by the way, before you somehow guess that too." He smirks at me and extends his hand. I take it, slightly less awkwardly than I had earlier. 

"Violet." I respond, giving him a smile. "And that's Clare and Owen." 

"Nice to meet you." He says, beginning to look off into the distance, as if bracing for something. 

Suddenly an alarm goes off, a short burst of three blaring rings making a few people jump but most just raise their heads to a catwalk that hangs many feet in the air. 

"Initiates, stand." A man with deep skin and greying hair calls and we all follow his orders. "I'm Max, a leader here. You have chosen the warrior faction, tasked with the defense of this city and all its inhabitants. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery. In the courage that drives one man to stand up for another. We believe that pain and death are better than inaction." He pauses, glancing around the room and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest as his stare catches on me for a moment before moving on. 

"Respect that. Be brave. Do us proud." He finishes and the crowd is moved from near silence into roaring cheers. People pound their cups on tables, their hands together, their feet against the ground. Anything to make noise. 

I can't help but feel their unrelenting power flow through me and I smile wider than I have in years. A true smile. I let a cheer out and feel as people grab my body, lifting me to be carried by the crowd. I'm gripped by my clothing, and as I'm passed over from hand to hand I feel a sense of unity like no other. 

This is family, not the forced niceties of Amity. 

Not the forced smiles. 

No, family - unity - is the deafening noise of a faction who won't just lay down and die. 

They will fight. I will fight. 

I am home.