Chapter 15

The second half of training was much different than the first half. They only had a few weeks left, and Riley's fears were taking over. Four was starting to question her test results. It would only be a matter of time before he figured out she was Divergent. Although, Riley wasn't entirely sure what that meant. She knew it was dangerous. They hated Divergent's, and that meant they hated her. Riley didn't see herself as dangerous, not in any way. But that didn't matter, not to them.

Eric was still making them train, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before. The main focus now was their mental training, but they still had to keep up with their strength. Riley was grateful for the break from her brother and avoided him at all costs.

Riley also thought about Tris and the possibility she was also Divergent. There was a slim chance, and Riley knew that. Tris was very smart and most likely was able to handle her fear landscape on her own. That seemed much more plausible. Tori said that she couldn't trust anyone, not even her own family. As much as Riley wanted to tell someone, she couldn't. It could cost her life.

Training became her favorite thing, allowing her to forget about the possibility of being discovered. The only downside was that Eric ran their training. Riley didn't dislike Eric. In fact, it was the opposite. His hot and cold nature entranced her. With everything going on, that was dangerous. Riley had to focus on getting herself through initiation alive. "Sometimes," Christina's voice broke Riley from her thoughts. "I really hate you."

Christina's body was hunched over as she desperately tried to catch her breath. Riley let out a laugh, knowing her friend was only joking. Eric had split them into several groups. Riley and Christina were paired together to train for the day. They were tasked with sparing first and then would have to do a two-mile run. "Sorry, Christina." It wasn't a secret that Riley was a fast runner. Everyone knew that now. Peter had sworn she only outran him cause right before the finish line. She tripped him. "You're getting faster."

She huffed, "that's a complete lie."

"Well," Riley smiled. "That's why I'm not in Candor."

It was Christina's turn to laugh, and she did, loudly. It caught the attention of a few others around them who were also finishing their run. "Next time we get paired together, I'm faking an injury."

"I'm sure that will go over well with Eric."

Christina laughed and nudged her shoulder. "Took you guys long enough," Will trotted over for them. "Thought you got lost on the way back."

"We didn't," Riley ran a hand through her hair. It was sweaty from her run, and she pulled it into a makeshift ponytail. "Christina's a slow runner."

"I am not," Christina spoke. "I'm just shorter than all of you."

"Excuses, excuses," Will threw an arm over her shoulder. Riley raised an eyebrow, questioning with her eyes. Christina only smirked, leaning into Will, almost confirming her suspicions.

It was no secret the two liked each other. And now they seemed to be acting on it. "Look at you two."

"Shut up," Christina moved away from Will and towards Riley. She laughed as her friend brushed past her and into the building. As expected, Christina turned back and nodded for them to follow after her.

"I have to wait for Molly," Will called back.

Riley took the opportunity to question her friend. "You and Will?"

"Me and Will," Christina sighed. "Still not sure."

"You both clearly like each other," Riley began. She wanted her two friends to be happy. "It'll happen eventually." Christina was not a patient person, that much was clear. "Don't stress about it."

"You're right," Christina nodded to herself. "What would I ever do without you?" Riley chuckled and remained silent as they walked through the building.

~~~~~~~~~~

Riley fell asleep quickly that night, and when the screaming started, it was hard to process. At first, she thought it was a dream and tried to bury her head in the pillow. But after a moment, the screaming became louder, and Riley realized it wasn't a dream.

The red-haired girl looked up and around the darkroom. Her heart was racing. She was never a fan of the dark, and the screaming only frighted her more. Everyone else in the room seemed to be waking up from the sound.

Slowly flashlights began to light up the room. She slipped out of her bed and looked around for the noise. "Oh my god," Christina's voice was loud. Riley turned in the direction of her voice and rushed to her side. A part of her feared that Christina was hurt, but that faded at the sight before her.

Edward laid on the ground with a metal object lodged in his eye. There was blood rushing from the wound and onto the floor. "Get it out," Edward screamed in pain. "Pull it out!"

Christina bent down to do as he said, but Will pulled her back. "Are you kidding me," she glared at him. "We need to get that out."

"A medic needs to do it," Will responded.

Al moved past Riley and bent to the ground, "we need to get him to the infirmary."

Riley was still in shock. It didn't make any sense as to why Edward would be attacked. "But we need to move him."

Will looked around, "he could bleed out."

Tris bent down and grabbed his hand. "It's okay. It's alright." She repeated the phrase, bringing some comfort to the injured man.

Edward's breathing became labored, which wasn't a good thing. "Okay," Riley finally spoke. "We need to get him to a medic now. Keep the object inside. If we move it, he could bleed out." Riley dropped next to Edward and began giving more instructions. "Al and Will are going to pick you up now, okay?" He nodded, and with his approval, the two boys who Riley volunteered for the job grabbed him. "Christina, we are going to run ahead and tell them what's coming, okay?"

"Yeah," Christina was already pushing through the people. Riley stood and hastily whisked past the other initiates. Christina had already started running towards the infirmary, and Riley trailed behind her.

~~~~~~~~~

The next day came around too fast, in her opinion. Eric and Four had gathered everyone and informed them that Edward would not be returning. He had been dropped from the leaderboards immediately. That was good for Al, who got pushed up higher on the list. But he was just below the red. Riley was confident that he would be able to pull himself. He only needed to move one more place to get above the red. Only one.

The attack on Edward was cast aside, and nobody was looking for his attacker. That didn't sit right with Riley, but she couldn't voice it. Whoever had hurt him would be facing no consequences. "Hey," Al sat beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Riley sighed. She was better than most days but struggled to let go of Eric's decision not to look for the assailant. "I'm fine." She paused, "I can't believe they aren't looking for the person who attacked Edward."

"Yeah," Tris agreed.

Will shrugged, "it is what it is."

But Riley didn't agree with that. As the others began to talk, she shifted her body towards Tris. "I saw you talking with Four. Did he say anything about it?"

Tris tensed briefly, "not really." She nodded, "it's part of the new rules."

"New rules," Riley wasn't sure why the new rules disregarded crimes. "Why would new rules allow them to sweep this under the rug?" Tris didn't know the answer to that. "I wonder who it was."

Riley scanned the room, thinking over every option. Edward was attacked in the initiates room, meaning it was most likely one of them. But who? That was the question. "I think," Tris spoke in a whisper. "It was Peter."

"Peter," Riley repeated. The brown-haired boy that Tris had accused stood tall on the other end of the room. Peter wasn't the first person who came to mind, but he should have been. He was cruel towards the Abnegation transfers and anyone else outside his friend group.

But Peter and Edward were friends. "I saw him afterward. He was just standing there, not even bothered at the scene." Tris leaned onto the table, "Four dismissed me."

"Why would he do that," Riley wasn't sure what was going on with her brother anymore. "It could be Peter. But why?"

"I have no idea."

Peter was one of the highest-ranked initiates, taking spot number two. He didn't have anything to worry about. Just then, Riley recalled that spot number one belonged to Edward. But since he had been dropped, Peter was now number one. "He wanted spot number one."

"What?"

Riley glanced at Peter, "Edward's gone, and Peter got promoted to spot number one."

Tris sat up straighter, almost as if the information had punched her in the gut. "You're right."

"Should we go tell them?"

"No." Tris grabbed Riley before she could stand. "No, they don't care."

"Then what do we do?"

Tris thought for a second, "I guess we don't do anything."

"But what about Peter?" He was dangerous, and if he attacked Edward, his friend. Then he could attack anyone.

"We can't do anything."

Riley wanted to argue but knew there was no use. Tris was right. The leaders didn't care about the attack and were happy to look the other way. "Hey," Christina waved at Riley. Easily capturing her attention. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing," Tris smiled at her.

Al, who was still close by Riley's side, spoke up. "Talking about Edward?"

"Yeah," Riley murmured. "I'm glad he's going to be okay." Edward would survive, but he wouldn't be staying at Dauntless. Her eyes found the Dauntless leader as he strolled into the room with Four. Eric's behavior had become cold once more, and the two haven't spoken in days. Riley was okay with that. It allowed her to focus on getting through her fear landscapes, which would start again tomorrow. "I'm going to shower."

"Really," Al sighed. "Right now?"

"Yes," Riley spoke. "No one's in there right now."

Christina pushed up from her seat, "good idea."

Without anyone else having the chance to speak, the two girls began walking away from the table. Riley didn't leave for the purpose of just showering. She wanted to distance herself from Peter and her brother. "Riley," the tone in Eric's voice was direct. It caused the red-haired girl to freeze mid-step and look at him with a slightly fearful expression. Eric had called out in front of everyone, including Four.

"Oh no," Christina mumbled under her breath.

"Hi," Riley could only focus on Eric. He now stood in front of her. His shoulders rolled back. "What can I do for you?"

She glanced at her brother, who was watching carefully, clearly unsure of what Eric was doing. "I just wanted to commend you for taking initiative last night."

"Oh," Riley was at a loss for words. "Uh, thank you?" It came out as a question. Eric nodded, signaling the conversation was over. 

Christina reacted first, grabbing Riley by the shoulders and guiding her out of the room. "What was that all about? When has Eric started giving out compliments?"

"I have no idea," and Riley wasn't lying about that.