Starting Over

Chapter 5

Two days later we finally move on from throwing knives. So far I'm the best, not counting Tobias of course. He could beat my knife throwing skills any day. Today we move on to shooting.

After about 15 minutes I'm already tired of acting like I don't know anything. It's infuriating.
I could hit the center ten out of ten if I really tried, but I make my shots go wide.

"Stiff, your stance is wrong. Keep your feet shoulder width apart and don't tense up so much when you shoot. It's like your scared to pull the trigger. Just let it rip!" he shouts across the room. I turn a deep shade of red. This time when I pull the trigger I actually hit the target.

By this time Laurel has actually managed to work up enough nerve to shoot the gun. I watch as she lines herself up (wrong I might add), and pulls the trigger. She's holding the gun too close to her face and the kick causes the gun to hit her in the nose. I hear a sick crunch and watch as blood pours down her face. I almost want to laugh, but instead I start to reload my gun.

"B, why don't you walk Laurel to the infirmary? Get out of my sight for a while," Tobias tells me. He phrases it like a question but his tone tells me he's not asking.

"Fine, how do I get there?"

"Figure it out."

I put a hand on Laurel's back and walk her down the hall. I can tell she's trying not to cry.

"I don't get what his problem is," I tell Laurel.

"You," she responds a little cold.

"What?"

"Yeah. Incase you haven't noticed, you're not very nice, B."

"Well, he doesn't have to be a jerk." And if you knew him as well as I do you'd know he's still working on the whole nice thing. I'm not the one making him a jerk.

"He is kind of cute though," she admits.

I laugh and shake my head. "You have a broken nose and all you care about is if Four is hot."

"It's broken?" she asks, sounding a little panicked.

"Probably, but I'm sure they can fix it. And if not you could always get it covered with a tattoo." I smile at her to let her know I'm joking about the whole tattoo thing.

She laughs. "I'm sorry about the whole Abnegation girl dropping dead thing from the other day. I can't believe that was only a week ago!"

"It's fine," I tell her. "It's not like you meant anything by it."

"I kind of did," she admits. "They say she was really good and I was afraid you were going to be just as good. I was right."

I laugh. "I'm not that good, Thomas is right there with me." I'm not lying, Thomas is pretty good but I'm still holding back. She nods her agreement but she still seems unsure.

By this time we've reached the infirmary. I drop her off and return to the training room. I see Thomas has already hit the center three times. I'm able to fire a few more rounds before we go to lunch. Of those rounds I hit the center six times.

At lunch Malachi asks me to sit with him. He tells me that today Christina and Uriah held a shooting and knife throwing competition and that he won so they're going to get tattoos. He asks me to join.

"I don't know, I just got one the other day. I'm not sure I want another one yet."

He tells me I don't have to get one, that I can just watch instead. He also pesters me about seeing the tattoo, but I refuse. What he doesn't know is that I have three already and I'm not ready to tell him that.

<<<•>>>

That night I sit and watch anxiously as Malachi gets his tattoo. He gets the Dauntless flame right over his heart. By the time it's done everyone else is drunk. When the finally leave I decide to stay.

"Can I get one?" I ask the lady. She only shrugs. "Well, I want to add on to one."

"Take a seat. Where do you want it?"

I pull off my jacket. Underneath I have on a v-neck T-shirt that reveals the birds on my collarbone. "I need another bird."

When she's done I look at it in the mirror. It looks just like the others, but this one is slightly bigger. This one is for Tobias.