7:54 a.m

I entered the training room again; many were warming up, while others were sitting, waiting for Four to start. I went to the bench where I had left my jacket, my cap, and my water bottle. When Four left, I got distracted, looking at the floor, forgetting my surroundings for a few minutes because I felt exposed. It was the first time I had told anyone about the problem with my father, and I must admit I had hoped for a bit of empathy from him, or at least a grimace showing sadness. But nothing, he just showed indifference, and again, I felt pathetic. He had no obligation to empathize with me, or even talk to me. I'm in Dauntless, and I had to behave as such. So, I started to warm up and stretch, exercising a bit until it was 7, then I went to get something very light to eat and take for the day.

Someone touched my shoulder; it was Tiana and Andrea, who both had a concerned look. "Grace, where were you? You worried us," my friend, the redhead, spoke.

I smiled to ease the atmosphere. "I had insomnia, so I went for a run and then to the cafeteria," I explained, nodding. Andrea squeezed my shoulder and nodded as well. That girl was very smart; she knew something was bothering me.

"Jade started boasting, saying she always knew you wouldn't make it and that you're probably at the bottom of the abyss or with the Abnegation," Grace said, rolling her eyes. "I wanted to shut her up, but Eric showed up and rushed us."

Ian and Jim approached; the green-eyed brunette stood by my side. "You worried me; I really thought you were dead or worse, abandoned," he said, gripping my shoulders with immense concern in his eyes.

I laughed. "I had insomnia, so I went for a run," I said confidently.

"Speaking of the rabid dog," Tiana whispered, looking towards the entrance.

I turned around; Jean was coming in, with the girls at her side and a displeased expression on her face. I turned back to my friends and sighed.

"I didn't think I had a bodyguard who was so concerned about me, not even my father cared for me as much as that bitch did," I said with a smile.

The guys started laughing, and the constant feeling of being watched appeared again. Four made his entrance, walking amidst the gazes of the others to position himself beside the board.

"Alright, listen up," he spoke, and we all walked over to stand in front of him. He looked at each of us until his gaze landed on me, lingering for an extra second. I didn't look away; I wouldn't allow him to see my weakness again. I shifted my gaze to Andrea, where I could see her eyes relaxing.

"You've been given six days of training and techniques, the basics. Today officially marks the beginning of the fights. What happens in these fights will affect your ranking. I advise you to give your best effort; it will help you improve later on. There will be four fights per day, followed by weapon training," he explained.

Eric entered behind us, his gaze somber, too serious, and his imposing steps made me question the attraction towards my leader that seemed to be growing little by little. Once he arrived, he placed his arms behind his back, standing straight, inspecting everyone, including me. "Let's begin," his voice was deep as he turned to look at the board. "Grace and Roy, to the ring," he raised his voice, his gaze fixed directly on me.

My blood froze, and I could swear I was pale. Eric had paired me with a man who was second on the list, one of the best. Although it was debatable, because despite Hall being the first, Roy was very good.

Several looks were directed at me, Four grimaced, looking at the leader who reflected satisfaction in his eyes. I walked to the ring, Roy following me, and we climbed in together. The brown-haired man with green eyes nodded with a half-smile, assuming a fighting stance. I nodded back, as we both knew what the outcome would be, and even if we ended up with a black eye, there would be no hard feelings. I assumed a fighting stance, both of us waiting for the other to start. "That's it for today, initiates," Eric announced, raising his voice.

I nodded internally, knowing I had to start first. I threw a punch at his jaw, but he dodged it, landing a blow to my stomach. The feeling of suffocation wasn't pleasant, but it was my first fight, and I couldn't afford to hesitate. I took a step back.

Closing the distance, I threw a right hook to distract him. He dodged it perfectly, but before he could counter, I lifted my foot and drove it into his knee, causing him to buckle and fall. Seizing the opportunity, I elbowed him in the chest and followed up with a punch to his jaw. He turned his head from the force of the blow, and I shook my hand—it was genuinely painful to hit someone.

As I stretched my leg, trying to regain my balance, he delivered another blow to my stomach and ribs. He had gotten back on his feet, and in my complete stupidity of getting distracted by admiring my tattooed hand—it did look amazing, though—he took advantage, causing me to fall.

I managed to roll away before he could mount me, but he swiftly kicked me, knocking me down again. I have to admit, he showed some mercy; his blows were lighter compared to those he delivered to the punching bag, but they still hurt, especially his kick to my ribs, which left me immobilized. He managed to climb on top of me, and his forearm struck my face, undoubtedly leaving a mark.

I lifted both feet to his armpits and pushed him away, successfully creating some distance. The stretching had paid off.

"Stop messing around and finish it," growled the leader.

It was a matter of seconds before I was about to get up and see his frustrated face when Roy's fist slammed into my jaw, causing me to fall to the ground again.

Damn it, I can't, I lost.

My vision blurred, the spotlight illuminating us started to double, and Eric's voice finishing the match sounded distant.

I couldn't get up no matter how much I wanted to. Someone helped me, took me by the arm, and supported me by the chin.

I blinked several times to focus as someone helped me down from the ring.

I could see that Four was the one helping me. We went to the bench, and he sat me down.

"Hey, look at me." he lifted my chin, disoriented, I turned to look at him, and he inspected me. "It was a hard hit, you'll recover, just rest." I nodded.

I looked up, and Eric had his eyes on us, a frown of disgust appearing, confusing me.

"Thank you." I whispered to Four, lowering my head, and he nodded.

"Four!" Eric called him, and the brunette smiled awkwardly as he got up and went.

Roy approached with a grimace, handing me a bag of ice. "Please forgive me." he apologized, sitting beside me.

I smiled half-heartedly, my face feeling numb.

"No hard feelings, Roy. You fought well " I reassured him, shrugging.

"You did well too." he nodded.

"Initiate." Eric turned to look at us, and with a "I'm sorry" from Roy, he left with the others.

The leader's gaze lingered on me for a few seconds; a half-smile appeared briefly before he returned to the fight, leaving me confused and sore.

Yesterday we were fine; he helped me with the technique, spoke well of me to the leader, and now he made me fight someone who's very skilled in combat. But not only that, there was satisfaction and mockery in his eyes.

"Ian and Hall, to the ring." he raised his voice, continuing with the fight. Ian glanced at me with a worried look, wanting to come, but Eric had put him in the fight.

I sighed, feeling useless and scared. If I was in the 6 before, I might be in the 7 now, or worse, the 8.

My gaze was fixed on the floor, lost in my thoughts while feeling the throbbing pain in half of my face. Someone sat down beside me, their presence felt as I drifted away from reality.

"Darling, are you okay? Looks like I arrived late." Freya's hand rested on my shoulder. I snapped out of my thoughts, still sitting with the ice pack on my cheek. Freya had a smile hiding her teeth, a gaze reflecting curiosity and compassion.

"I'm fine, thank you." I smiled.

"I didn't want to miss the fight." she grimaced. "What happened to you, did you lose?" she asked, raising both eyebrows.

I bit my tongue, cursing Eric infinitely. I lost, and I know it. It wasn't Eric's fault, I got distracted and didn't perform well in the fight. However, I wanted to avoid the situation of telling someone very important in Dauntless that I lost when the day before they had a good opinion of me.

"Yeah." I grimaced. "I thought I'd be fighting someone higher up the leaderboard, but no. I was clumsy." I huffed with annoyance.

She furrowed her brow, glancing at the leaderboard less than 3 meters away.

"You're number 6, who did you fight?" she asked.

"Roy, he's number 2." I replied.

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Who put you to fight?"

"Eric."

"The first round of fights evaluates them according to the number on the leaderboard. Number 1 fights number 2, number 3 fights number 4, and number 5 fights number 6." she shook her head with a grimace."Oh, sweetheart, I'll make sure it doesn't affect your ranking." she squeezed my shoulder with a smile."Is that okay?"

A spark of protection settled in my chest, was this what maternal love felt like? I liked it, just having her touch on my shoulder gently and giving me her protection made me feel secure.

"Thank you, Freya." I smiled.

"I'll go watch the fight, I need to make sure he doesn't do it again." she bid farewell, getting up from her chair.

I watched her walk towards the ring, Eric glanced at her and nodded. I saw Freya talking to him, and instantly the leader's gaze turned towards me, a look that made me know I'd probably be in trouble.

They nodded and returned to the fight, a fight where Ian ended up lying on the ground with his nose probably broken. I winced.

Four went to his aid, helping him down, and between him and Jim, they brought him over to where I was.

I stepped aside as they sat Ian down, and Four ordered Jim to fetch the first aid kit as the bleeding from his nose continued.

"Hey, look at me." Four ordered, and Ian complied with one hand trying to stop the bleeding. "It's just the nose, it's not broken. Grace, can you help with the bleeding?" the brunette asked, and I instantly nodded.

Jim arrived with the first aid kit, and I took it, opening it and grabbing a gauze pad to apply pressure to his nose. I placed the ice pack on his head.

Four and Jim left, leaving me alone with him. In the distance, I heard Eric, who had ended the fight and named Tiana against Elena.

"You're worse than me." I said with a smile.

"Yeah, I think so." he smiled tiredly. "It won't help me with the girls."

I shook my head amusedly. "That I can't help you with."

"Hold the bag." I ordered, and he took it.

I removed the gauze and took a cotton swab with alcohol.

"It'll sting a little." I warned and inserted it into his nostril. He grimaced, clenching his fist while pressing his leg.

"You're good at this. Do they teach in amity how to stop nosebleeds?" he asked, his gaze fixed on me, and he managed to smile amidst the discomfort.

I smiled. My father taught me how to stop a nosebleed after he slammed me into the table for not knowing what 6x7 was.

"They work under the sun, nosebleeds are common." I shrugged.

He nodded, setting the topic aside as he let me finish. It took me less than 4 minutes to stop the bleeding, and I set everything aside, closing the first aid kit.

"There you go, good as new. Just go to the bathroom and change your clothes." I took a step back.

Ian smiled and nodded. "Thank you, doctor."

"We need to take her to the infirmary." I heard Four's voice from behind.

I turned to look at what I believe is Elena unconscious in the ring and Tiana standing there, looking at her expressionlessly. I raised both eyebrows, ignoring the pain, and smiled slightly seeing that my friend had won the fight.

I shifted my gaze to the scoreboard. Elena was number 5, Tiana was number 8. Eric is really making a mess of the fights, but it's likely that Tiana will end up in 5th place and Elena in 6th, while I remain in 7th or 8th.

I looked back at Four, who was about to carry her. Eric watched the scene expressionlessly, even a bit annoyed, while Freya had her mouth covered by her hand, looking at the unconscious girl.

The blond turned to look at me, and it was a matter of seconds before he raised his hand as a signal to stop. Four halted, looking at the leader without understanding.

"Grace, take her to the infirmary." Eric raised his voice.

I raised an eyebrow, and all eyes turned to me. Despite the pain in my body and face, I approached Four, who lowered the girl he was trying to help up. I took her arm and leaned her against my shoulder.

"Last fight, Karl and Jade." Eric raised his voice.

Ignoring the others, I took Elena, wrapping my arm around her back. She was very light, so it wasn't difficult to leave the room and head to the infirmary.

I recognized her face; she was part of Jade's group of friends.

Approaching the infirmary, a man immediately came to carry her.

"What happened to her?" a girl who came to her aid asked, shining a lamp to check her pupils.

"The fight." I responded.

They laid her on the bed, began examining her and treating her wounds.

I stepped back, as I had fulfilled my duty.

"She'll be fine." the guy said. "I need you to stay." the man who apparently noticed I was leaving informed. "I need her information; she'll be disoriented when she wakes up."

I nodded slowly.

"I can go get her friends. I'm pretty sure she'd prefer their presence over mine."

He smiled, shaking his head. "No need. I can fix that eyebrow and prevent that eye from swelling even more." he pointed at my face.

I furrowed my brow, touching both eyebrows, feeling a slight burning sensation and moisture. I looked at my finger, which had a few drops of blood on it.

Turning back to the dark-haired guy who was smiling at me, I nodded with a thank you.