Chapter 1

One year ago, I stepped off that building into my future. And now I was living it.

My room in the Dauntless compound was small and simple. But that didn't mean I loved it any less than Christina's elaborately decorated pad, or Four's small apartment. My bed was a double (a feat that was hard to pull when Sandra at housing hated my guts all because I bought the last size six dress that one time) and it faced one of the only windows in the entire compound. The view was terrible, literally only the side of a drab, grey building but I could open it a crack and it helped me feel like I wasn't suffocating for at least a few hours at night. I had a small walk in wardrobe that was filled with mostly Christina's clothing as she ran out of space, and an even smaller bathroom that allowed you to shower and use the toilet at the same time. Everything was very practical. The only indulgence I allowed myself was the floor length mirror I religiously used every day.

I guess you could say it still felt like a guilty pleasure using a mirror when my old faction forbade it, but I loved being able to see what I looked like. I was slowly learning to recognise my face, with my long and point nose, shallow cheeks and large blue eyes. My hair, still not cut since the last time my mother did it for me cascaded down my back in blond waves and reached the top of my black shorts. My thin and wiry frame was definitely more skin than fat, although I could see slight muscle definition lacing my arms and legs. Three days a week in the Dauntless gym does that too you.

A knock at my door snapped me out of my observations and I opened it cautiously. As expected, Christina bounded in, wearing a flimsy dress and super high heels.

"Hello Christina," I sighed as she flopped down on my bed and messed up the sheets I had spent at least ten minutes arranging perfectly.

"Hey Tris. You look nice today," she said offhandedly, as though it was a default compliment. I looked down at my simple tank top, shorts and converse and shrugged.

"You look nice too. Suspiciously so. Are you seeing Will again?" I enquired, seating myself next to her on the bed.

She cast her eyes down and I felt bad for asking. Christina and Will broke up a while ago, and I hadn't seen her this excited since they were together.

I hurriedly corrected my mistake. "Okay not Will. What're you excited about?"

Christina snapped out of her depression and her face broke into a wide grin. "The new initiates are coming today."

I slapped a hand off my forehead, surprised I forget since I was supposed to be helping Four train them. "I can't believe you forgot!" Christina shoves my shoulder softly.

"Well we better go!" I grabbed her hand and we raced out of the apartment and into the Pit. Then we followed the stream of trainers to the big room with a net in the middle to capture the initiates when they jumped off the building. I can only remember too well the adrenaline pumping through my veins when I heard 'Tris Prior, first jumper.'

I spotted Four and my stomach jolted. I always turned into an incredible shy creature when Four was around. After a few intimate moments, we had agreed it would be better until after I had settled in to pursue a relationship properly. We had yet to have that conversation even though I finished initiation months ago. But he smiled freely at me, and I shyly waved back, hoping to God it wouldn't be awkward.

We were waiting around for a long time before we heard the whitle of a body slicing through air, and the net jumped a little while we all craned our necks to see who had the balls to be the first jumper. Surprisingly, it was a boy from Amity, dressed in a yellow t-shirt. His glasses were off-skew and he had curly, ginger hair that stuck up at every opportunity. Perplexed, everyone stared at him as he cowered in the middle of the large net. Out of nowhere, a large callused hand appeared beside me and pulled the boy to safety just as a Dauntless initiate thudded into the net. I followed the arm up to the face it belonged to and my stomach rolled around.

It was Peter, and he was smiling right at me.