Definitely eating out with Eric had been a very pleasant experience, enjoying the appetizer with those blue eyes watching me while he cracked jokes.

"I guess Tom didn't bring you to this part of the restaurant."

"The food is delicious, isn't it? Or would it be tastier with Tom?"

I don't know how he found out, but Eric knew that Tom had taken me to dinner at this restaurant, the difference being that this time I'm in the VIP lounge, totally exclusive, which Eric reserved.

Eric's comments were filled with irony, sarcasm, and mockery. He insisted on my lack of class for being with Tom, also mocking me and how I didn't see the trap they were planning. Then we laughed, and he enjoyed telling me how he broke Tom's jaw with punches and finished with the shots.

We arrived at dusk, I had forgotten my annoyance with Max and Jina.

It was the perfect moment, and I slept like a baby in Eric's arms, concluding that I could survive in Dauntless. The new trainer of the borns is dying for the man sleeping in my arms, Eric is very aware of the situation, and it is evident that I am the owner of his heart.

Three days passed, and everything was calm. I tried to ignore the fact that I was no longer training the borns, avoiding passing by the training room. I only limited myself to an hour with the transfers, helping the big and weak Al.

Sometimes I would go up to my office hoping for a sign, something to detect a signal of a planted bomb or a new coordinate to meet up, but nothing.

The problem was this morning. Eric left very early. I remember in my dreams how he approached and kissed me on the forehead, whispering "See you in the afternoon." I think I fell asleep for another hour, and at 8:05 I got up and went to the cafeteria to have breakfast. The sign of supposed notices that are never used was hanging there. "Jina as the new trainer, congratulations."

My mind might be playing tricks on me, but I'd bet it was deliberate to make me angry. It was obvious they just wanted to rub it in my face that she was training them.

There were few people in the cafeteria, judging by the sign and the place, their celebration must have been yesterday. And I'm grateful I wasn't present. With a grimace and furrowed brow, I grabbed a tray and served myself three pancakes with caramel sauce around them; some days the fruits and vegetables stopped being fresh, there are only canned ones, so I didn't put any fruit on my breakfast.

With my tray in hand, I approached the table with the coffee maker, turned it on, and waited for it to start brewing. Several steps approached, but I didn't bother to find out who it was, we all wanted coffee, so it's likely someone's here for that.

"Grace." the familiar voice sounded beside me, sounding very melancholic. "What happened? Why Jina?" Uriah spoke beside me.

I turned to look at him with a completely serious expression, showing him that I definitely didn't like that woman. Marlene was beside him.

"She's your coach."I shrugged bitterly and dryly.

"Is this a joke? We want you. She's foolish, she makes us rest most of the time, and don't even mention her combinations, I can do them better than her." Marlene complained.

"Max told us you didn't want to train us anymore, so he had to bring in Jina as a replacement." Uriah crossed his arms.

"It wasn't my choice." I quickly corrected. "Max took me out of the position and put her in, my hands are tied."

"Isn't there any way to fix this?" the boy asked hopefully.

I sighed, I wished there was. I grabbed the ready coffee pot and poured it into the white mug.

"There's no way, she's your new coach, and you have to listen to her." I grimaced in disgust as I added two spoons of sugar.

"We don't want her." Marlene muttered.

"I don't like her either. Max put her there because he knows I don't like her. I'm sorry, guys. There's no way to fix it. After the cut, I can help you if you want with extra classes or routines." I suggested.

My former trainees had a perfect grimace and a pair of eyes full of disappointment. I reciprocated the grimace while picking up my tray and my coffee.

"Besides, it's past 8, she should be there." Uriah frowned.

"She'll arrive at 9, she gave us notice, said if we wanted to rest, we could." Grace replied.

"Grace, the cut is coming up, and she doesn't care. There are trainees who still need polishing." Uriah spoke disgustedly.

"Help each other out, let the whole group progress and pass the cut. If you can't trust her, then trust each other. Forget about me, it's for the best." I suggested.

              **************************

"Checkmate." she concluded with a triumphant smile, moving the queen and placing it in front of the king. I huffed, crossing my arms in annoyance. With victory, she tossed her black hair back over her shoulders, watching my defeat.

"Learn to lose, my dear Grace." Hill spoke, crossing her legs.

"It would be easier if you explained and had a bit of patience." I replied.

"No, you have to learn on the fly, and patience is for fools. But don't worry, you'll get there, or well, I wouldn't blame you if you don't learn today, you'd be at the basic level of bravery, especially coming from Amity, it's normal that you can't."

"And if I learn today, will you stop calling me stupid?" I raised an eyebrow, adjusting my chess pieces.

"I haven't called you stupid." she frowned. "I just hinted that you could be."

"It's easy for you, coming from Erudite." I replied.

"Don't let your past define your future and your way of thinking. There's a big difference between an intelligent Dauntless and a conformist one." she countered.

"I thought intelligence only mattered to the Erudite." I raised my eyebrows.

"Of course not." Hill scoffed, moving one of her pawns two squares forward. "Don't be swayed by the usual and ambiguous, there's more depth to each faction. The fact that someone is brave and intelligent doesn't make them divergent."

As I lifted my gaze from my chess pieces to give her my full attention, the idea of being a divergent struck me. I'm one, and I feel like I know very little about my own nature. I took a pawn and moved it to the other side of the board.

"How do you distinguish a divergent from an intelligent Dauntless?" I asked, showing her my keen interest.

"That's what makes them problematic and interesting." she chuckled, moving a second pawn. I also took one of my pawns, eating one of hers, and with my fingers, I took her piece off the board.

"Out of 20 divergent cases, only 6 are discovered. And of those 6, they're idiots who go against the faction system. But the other 14 who live hidden are extremely intelligent because they're following the rules of a system that eradicates them." she laughed, moving her knight and simultaneously eating my pawn. "A divergent is someone who has more than one aptitude, with practice, they can even create a formula for the deadliest serum, but they can also be the best at harvesting and the bravest and most fearless. There are very few references about them, they're discovered in the second stage because a divergent knows they're in a simulation and does whatever it takes to wake up." she licked her lips.

With my spine tingling, I took the pawn that was on the edge, in front of the rook.

"And an intelligent Dauntless?" I asked.

"Me." she shrugged, moving her knight to attack one of my pawns. I smiled, took my rook, and moved it four squares forward.

"It's interesting, an Erudite looks at the divergent with fascination for being different, but still, they make us kill them." she shrugged, again eating one of my pawns.

"And what do you think?" I whispered.

She sighed, made a face, and shrugged. "I don't care, I'm a leader, intelligent, and beautiful. I'm daring, brave, and with plans that I will apply when the time comes. A divergent is not a problem for me at the moment."

"And when it is?" I took my rook and placed it in front of the king, who was exposed because she moved her pawn.

She remained motionless, furrowing her brow, noticing how her king was defenseless and my rook was just a few steps away. I smiled as she made a noise of surprise. She lifted her gaze, connecting it with mine.

"I didn't misjudge you, you're a total intelligent Dauntless." she smiled with confusion. "I could even suggest divergence, but you wouldn't be that stupid." she closed her eyes.

I stopped breathing, my skin tingled, and my spine shivered. I lowered my hands, playing with my fingers while trying not to seem nervous.

Pretend to be stupid.

Pretend to be stupid.

Pretend to be stupid.

"Seriously, divergence?" I asked mockingly, avoiding her eye roll.

She laughed. "I'm kidding. If Eric didn't notice any divergence during your training, then I have no reason to doubt. Of all of us, he's discovered the most divergents, he only made a mistake once. So if you were one of them, you wouldn't be stupid enough to get involved with Eric."

If I'm stupid, a very in love one who got tangled up with a hunter.

I nodded with a smile. "Another round, Hill?" I asked, flashing a smile.

"Nope, I have things to do." she got up from the chair. "That virtual map is very dirty, Grace, send it to be cleaned or clean it yourself, have a bit of order here." she walked around my office, noticing the dusty map.

"Are you taking your chess set?" I asked, pointing to her game.

"Keep it, we'll keep practicing. See you, darling." she whispered goodbye, reaching the door and leaving the place.

I smiled, unable to hold back a chuckle. That woman is slowly revealing her caring side to me. Hill and Eric are like onions, they have layers, immense and solid walls that make them tough and cruel. I got up from my chair, completely alone now. The silence was beginning to echo in my ears as I left the chessboard behind, trying to shake off the scare from earlier, as if that were possible.

Freya taught me wrongly that I could attain leadership and be divergent, that I could blend in with people, but it's risky. The difference between her and me is that Max knew about her nature and still protected her, until he found out she broke her promise. I could never have those expectations with Eric. I can't expect much from him or Hill, but I can't blame anyone. I got myself into this predicament. My stubbornness to improve and be recognized led me to leadership.

Falling in love with Eric was part of my downfall. I fell in love with the Devil, and I can't go back. But it's okay, everything will be fine, because if I don't have comfort from anyone else, I will be the one to give myself that comfort while letting Eric be my salvation and my downfall at the same time.

The door suddenly swung open, a totally surprising noise that made me jump and spin quickly toward the entrance, Hill re-entered, this time with a smile and eyes wider than usual.

"You won't believe what happened in the training room." she said, amazed from the doorway.

"What happened?" I frowned. Lately, the training room hasn't been my priority.

"Max is looking for you. Apparently, certain initiates started a strike because they refuse to obey their new trainer." she bit her lip. "They want you."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and total concern.

"Are they okay?" I asked.

"Of course, they're fine. They're born and their families are in the faction, it doesn't suit Max to unleash the wrath of their Dauntless." she scoffed. "Did you do something? Did you ask them to strike?"

"Of course not."

Her smile didn't reach her lips, she nodded in approval and crossed her arms.

"I don't know what you did, but you must have done something very well for the initiates to turn against Max, they love you." she said.

"I was just making them suffer with training." I shrugged.

"And why are you still here? Go to Max, he's looking for you. Get your position back and tell me the looks on their faces, it'll be incredible." she said.

******

This time was different. I entered Max's office with confidence, caution, and total tranquility, trying not to let them notice my triumphant smile, the lively energy I felt building up in my chest. The door was open, so I entered normally, noticing not only Max's and Jina's presence, but also Jeanine, Four, and Uriah.

"Are you looking for me?" I asked seriously.

Jina's face was priceless, her downtrodden expression and grimaces were unique, while Max tried to keep himself relaxed but his eyes unleashed the same hell, constantly glancing at Jeanine who was looking at me with a smile.

"Yes." Max cleared his throat. "Do you have anything to do with what happened a few hours ago?" he asked sternly.

I frowned. "I don't know what happened."

"She wasn't involved." Uriah intervened, but was stopped by Four as he raised his hand, preventing him from advancing towards Max.

The glare that Max gave Uriah worried me. I have to watch him, prevent him from hurting him. The bitter taste in my mouth didn't let me breathe normally, my protective instinct insisted on taking the gun hanging on Jina's waist and shooting Max.

"You get the position back as a trainer, Grace. You may leave." Max finished, looking away.

I wanted to laugh in his face, his actions fed my ego. His attempt to escape from a moment that for me was a triumph, for him was a disgrace.

"Max is bad at giving speeches." Jeanine began speaking with a small smile. "I'm not part of his faction, but I'm here for business matters, as you well know, Grace. Being here made me see everything from the beginning, and let me tell you, I only saw a true leader training the kids, and the kids demanding their leader back when they were taken from them. You know how to handle the herd very well, and I congratulate you."

"Thank you, Jeanine."

This is an alternate reality, everything has changed, as if they had taken another reality and shaken it up and put us there.

I never thought I'd smile at Jeanine sincerely compared to Max. Since Freya's death, he and I have been like cats and dogs, we hate each other. Meanwhile, the leader of Erudite has been the most loyal.

"You can leave now."

I turned around and walked out of the office, not stopping, and just kept walking, feeling Four and Uriah's footsteps behind me. I had a purpose, and it was to get away from Max's office. When I was far enough, I stopped, turned around, and crossed my arms, watching as Uriah stopped in front of me.

"What happened?" I asked with a half-smile.

Four stood beside me, looking at the initiate with a smile, shook his head, and then looked back at me.

"Your now 9 initiates linked arms and put up a sign in front that said 'We want Grace, Jina is incompetent'." Four explained.

I chuckled, and Uriah returned the smile. "Did they do something to you guys?" I asked.

"Jina yelled and insulted us, Four had to intervene until Max arrived and spoke." he shrugged with a smile. "You're back."

I shook my head with a smile. "What they did was risky." I sighed. "But anyway, tell them to rest well today, tomorrow they'll train and make up for the days they had off."

He nodded. "See you." he said with a smile and walked past me.

Immediately, Four's gaze invaded me. I tilted my head with a half-smile, occasionally looking at Uriah, and rolled my eyes.

"Uriah." I called out, turning on my own axis.

The boy stopped and turned. "Thanks, it was great." I said.

He smiled, his lips stretching into a half-smile, letting out a chuckle, and nodded.