Matthew looks between my parents and I and shakes his head. "I have no idea. I'll have to send this through to David and the others- it makes no sense to me. This has never happened before, as far as we know."
I can't sleep. I can't. My eyes refuse to shut and my mind refuses to let me go to other places. I look over to my left at Ryde's bed. He lays on his back, his head turned away from me. I turn my head to the right. Jack is laying on his side, also facing away from me. Judging by how evenly they both are breathing, they're fast asleep.
I quietly slide on my shoes and sneak out. I'd seen this cool fountain thing back when we first go here- it was rock with this huge tank of water on it, a thin stream of water slowly carving away at the rocks. I'd asked this GD named Nita about it. She said that it had something to do with progress or something like that.
I don't know how long I sit there, staring at that stream of water. "Can't sleep?"
I jump. I didn't even hear the two girls come up behind me.
Both are about my mom's age. One is taller, with blonde hair and brown eyes. She's got long legs and wears black jeans with a black sweater thrown over it. Her long nails are black with red tips, and even though she looks deadly, the kind glimmer in her eyes says otherwise.
The other one is shorter, about my mom's height, with dark brown hair and eyes that look green from far away, blue from slightly closer, hazel when you get a bit closer than that, but- if you look hard enough- are really a mix of blue, green, gray, and hazel. They have a golden ring around the pupil. She has olive skin, and unlike the girl next to her, everything about her is deadly- from her steel-toed combat boots to her braided high ponytail.
"Oh, um...yeah." I snap myself out of it. "Um...who are you?"
They smirk at each other, though the taller one's doesn't look as sinister. "I'm Lacey Ritter. Amanda Ritter was my mother." Blondie says. "I'm from the New York project over in the east. They brought me over to meet my cousin. Your mother," she adds at my confused look.
The other girl rolls her eyes. "Ashlyn Eden. It was Ashlyn Leason, but apparently my family's name before this whole thing was Eden." Her eyes flick over me, seemingly unimpressed. "Nice to meet you, second cousin."
"What?"
She rolls her eyes again. "Your last name is Eaton, right kid?" I nod. "How the hell do you think they got the name Eaton? Change around a few letters and stuff. I don't know how the hell they got Leason out of that, but they did."
"What faction are you from, kid?" Lacey asks.
"Dauntless." I say. It's strange having to tell these things to people. I'm so used to everyone knowing because they've been watching me on the screens for my whole life. "What about you two?"
"Amity born, Dauntless transfer." Lacey says. "It's not as unusual as you think in New York."
"Abnegation born, Dauntless transfer." Ashlyn sounds bored. "It's just as unusual in Philadelphia as it is in Chicago. I was the first jumper." She sounds a little proud of the accomplishment.
Lacey looks down at a watch on her wrist. "Let's go, Ash. We've gotta get going." She smiles at me. How is this girl Dauntless? "Bye, Vae. It was nice meeting you!"
I don't realize how strange it is that she knew my name when I didn't tell her it until the next morning.