Starting Over

Chapter 36

Today we are teaching the initiates how to shoot guns. This should be interesting after how long it took some of them to figure out how to throw a knife. Their aim should be better but I'm not sure I trust some of them with a gun.

After all of the initiates arrive I demonstrate how to shoot. I fire 10 bullets at the target and hit the center all 10 times. I make sure to point out all the little nuances in technique. When I'm done I ask if anyone has any questions. Kaden raises his hand and I call on him.

"Have you ever shot anyone?" he asks.

"Yes," I reply.

"Have you killed anyone?" Madison asks.

"This is not what we're talking about. We are talking about how to shoot guns, not my life. You all know about the war a few years ago. I was in the middle of it. That's as much of an answer as you are going to get right now."

They all stare at me for a second before Tobias snaps at them to go shoot and for them to actually do something productive. A few of them jump when he snaps at them. It makes me smile a little but I'm still in a bad mood. I think he can tell because raises his eyebrows to ask if I'm okay as he passes. I nod yes because I'm fine. I'm just a little angry.

<<<•>>>

By the time lunch roll around I've cooled off. The initiates aren't as bad as I thought they were going to be. So far Lila is the only one who hasn't hit the target, but she's close to hitting it.

"I've been thinking about inviting the initiates over for a game of Candor or Dauntless," Uriah announces as he sits down.

"Sweet! When's the game?" Zeke asks.

"Tomorrow night."

We spend the rest of lunch planning out what to do tomorrow night. We want to have some good dares ready for the initiates. Just because they're still initiates doesn't mean that they're off the hook. We come up with some pretty good ones but the majority of the time we just laugh about past dares we've gotten or given.

After lunch when all the initiates come back we bring them to the other training room so Uriah can make his announcement about Candor or Dauntless and explain what it is. Some of them look excited and some of them look nervous. This should be fun.

<<<•>>>

The next night we meet at Uriah's about a half an hour before the initiates show up. We all want to be there when they get there. Finally everyone shows up and we can start the game.

"I'll start," Uriah announce, like anyone had any doubt that he would let anyone else start. "Lynn, Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless."

"I dare you to kiss Rowan for at least a minute." She looks at Rowan who is sitting next to her. He's blushing and avoiding her eyes. Lynn shrugs and pulls him to her. He looks shocked but quickly starts kissing her back.

After a minute Uriah calls time and Lynn quickly pulls away. She looks unfazed but Rowan's face is slightly red.

"Quentin, Candor or Dauntless?" she asks and he quickly answers Dauntless. "I dare you to shave off one eyebrow."

He contemplates it for a second before he goes to the bathroom, grabs shaving cream and a razor, and leaves the apartment. We all follow him because we really don't know what he's doing. When we finally get to the Pit he grabs a guy an pins him on the ground. I can't help but laugh when I realize that it's Grayson. Before he even realizes what's going on Quentin squirts the shaving cream on one of his eyebrows and shaves it off. When he's done he jumps up and runs away.