This story is about Emma (the girl who Tobias shoots in his fear landscape) and how she met Tobias.
For Veronica Roth
Chapter 1
Another laughter outbursts from the girls across from me because Rebecca got eliminated from the stupid elephant slapping hands game. Red and yellow dresses moving around makes me sick. "You have to sit in the middle with Emma!" Kristyn yells, can't she learn to keep it down. Aptitude tests are scary enough, I don't need to get anymore stressed. I look down and try to breathe in and out, I'm not nervous, no, I'm fine! "Alright..." Rebecca says smiling, walking into the middle next to me, crossing her legs. The moment she sits down, they restart the game. I look left and right, is it possible to be so bored and so nervous at the same time? Erudite studying over there, Dauntless giving each other mischievous and suspicious looks, I don't want to know what they're up to. Candor gossiping about something that I can care less about. My eyes search the crowd, we are all so different, yet we are the same, It's so confusing My eyes stop and catch a tall Abnegation kid, all alone. Doesn't he have any friends? I look back at the three obnoxious girls left in the game, "Hey I'll be right back." None of them hear me because another girl just got eliminated, I stand up to, flattening my dress to make sure it doesn't go up, that only happens once, and start walking to the strange boy when a shock goes through me and I jump and turn around to see Rebecca grabbing my arm. "Where are you going?" she asks.
"No where." I say, she looks at me raising her eyebrows.
"Fine, I'm going to see that boy over there.", when I say the word boy I automatically look at him.
"Why? It's not like he's cute, well, maybe he is, but it's not like we can tell with all that grey on him. Plus, we're not aloud to leave our tables." she says, looking at him, too.
"Look, just don't tell anyone, okay?" I look at her and hope my big brown eyes will hide all the curiosity behind them. I wish there was a faction for curiosity, because I would finally fit in with people who'd belong. But they wouldn't do that, add another faction, it can't and won't happen. I can guarantee it.
"Fine." she says, holding my gaze for a long time, when she finally let's go, I start to walk away when I realize I have no reason to go see him if one of the teachers asks me why I am away from my seat. I take my red bow in my dark brown hair and try to throw it as far as possible. It doesn't get too far, but I still run for it and then walk to the table where he sits alone. He doesn't even see me until I sit down. His eyes are dark blue, I've never seen that before. It's interesting, no, different is the word.
"Hey." I say. I'm so lame! I need to learn how to start a conversation like a normal person. He looks at me, stunned that I even said a word to him, never mind came to sit with him. Are all Abnegation lonely, seems like it. Does being selfless mean not having fun or not being aloud to talk. That sounds pretty good at the moment, from the annoying girls at my table and the Candor gossiping so loud that you can hear anything, but I don't care what they're talking about, I'm not one to gossip.
"Hello." he says, looking at me, wearing himself with his posture and speech. I don't know why but he seems interesting, like he has a secret. I love secrets.
"I'm Emma." He just stares at me. Why doesn't he respond? Is responding self indulgent or something? "And you are..." I start to say. "Tobias." he replies.
"Tobias. Nice name." I look him up and down, he wears that name with pride. But with something else too, I don't know what, but I'd like to know.
"I really don't mean to be rude, but, we aren't aloud to interact with others who aren't at our tables." he says it like he's informing me. "Right, well, I'll see you sometime, maybe." I say, "Bye Tobias." I walk to our table and watch the girls restart their hand game for the fifth time. I turn around to look back at Tobias, he stares at me and meets my gaze. Normally, a guy who is staring at me will turn away the moment I turn around, but he keeps staring, why? We stare at each other for I don't even know how long when a Dauntless woman enters the cafeteria. "Emma Brown." I look at her, then back at Tobias, who isn't looking at me anymore. I stand up and take a deep breath, and walk toward the woman.
"Hello, my name is Tori, have a seat Emma." the woman, Tori, says. She sounds like she's said that line a million times, maybe she has. "Hello. I'm Emma." Great going stupid, she already knows that. I giggle to look obnoxious. "Oops, you already know that, don't you." It's so easy to be annoying. I walk into the room and look inside. It is made entirely out of mirrors. Nothing in it except for a screen and a lounger chair thing that I've only seen in my dentist's office. I twirl in the mirror so she doesn't think I'm some Amity that isn't happy all the time. It's not that I'm not happy all the time, it's just, I don't want to be irritatingly amused "Yes I do." She says as she looks at me, and opens a screen. I am so curious on what's going on but I can't ask. Well, I can, but I won't. James told me what some of the adult Dauntless volunteers do when you ask them question after question, releasing your curiosity. I jump onto the chair and fall off, nice. "Oops" I giggle, then I jump back on and sit, flattening my dress again. I look down at my hand, when did they get so sweaty? I wipe them on my dress hoping it doesn't leave an ugly mark. She takes some electrodes and places them on my head. They feel like little suction cups, I giggle. I hope she doesn't think I'm deranged or something.
"So Emma, you are going to drink this, okay?" I look at her hand holding a glass of some clear liquid. When did she pour that "Oh, okay." I say, my voice wobbling, why am I so nervous? I'm not going to die, calm down. I take the glass and gulp in air, then drink it down.
I'm in the cafeteria, but it's empty, what's going on. I see a table with some cheese and a knife. Do I cut the cheese and eat it?
"Choose." An unfamiliar voice says out of know where. I jump in surprise, and look around. Voices don't come out of nowhere, at least I've never seen it.
"What will I do, eat the cheese, stab something?" I say, looking around.
"Choose." the voice says again. I pick up both the knife and the cheese. I start eating the cheese, and when it's almost gone, the doors to the cafeteria open and a wolf-like creature runs in. I gasp and throw the cheese, but there's almost nothing left. The thing eats it in a second and continues to run toward me. When it comes into the light, I see that it is a dog. I turn left and right and start running. I turn my head and look at the dog, I look down and see the knife. I have to, I just have to. I turn my whole body around and close my eyes, then I stab the dog.
I open my eyes and find myself sitting on a bench facing a park. I just sit here, I'm sure something bad will happen. I look around and wait, I then see 2 boys, about my age, fist fighting, well, if you can call it that, one of them is beating the other one up so badly. I just watch them, I don't know why I don't go down there to stop the guy from hurting the other, I just stare. The guy kicks the other in the stomach right away and he goes flying on the ground. Why am I not doing anything, I don't know. The hurt boy stands up and tries to punch the guy, but the guy grabs his wrist and flips him over and the he falls on his back. I hear a yell and I still don't do anything. What kind of person am I? Then the guy punches the other in the jaw and he screams, the boy who got punched let's go of his jaw and the the other takes out a knife. That's when I snap and I run to see what they're doing. I stand up and have trouble running to see them with my dress. I topple over rocks and twigs and sticks to make sure I don't get hurt. When they're closer, I run in the middle of them, spreading my arms apart so they will separate. Right when I get there, the man goes to stab the other but stabs me in the stomach, or so I think...
I gasp and I'm in the glass room. I look down at my stomach and gasp for air grabbing my stomach to make sure I'm not dead. I'm fine, oh thank God! I turn my eyes at Tori, still gasping for air. "What was - huh, huh - that for? What did I ever - huh huh huh - do to you or the Erudite who made the simulation?" I almost scream. "I'm sorry Emma, please lower your voice, I'll be right back." She turns around and walks out the door before I have a chance to object and tell her to explain what just happened to me. I lower my back on the chair and try to shut my eyes to relax, but that gets me even more nervous, remembering the boy, his knife and him placing it inside my stomach. I shudder, forget about it, it's not important. Tori walks back into the room and and looks at me.
"Emma, I have something we need to talk about, it has something to do with your results because they are, unusual." She informs to me, as she takes a seat on a stool that wasn't there when I walked in here before. "Okay..." I say. This is extremely weird, what's wrong with my results? Was I not supposed to pick up two items, or get stabbed in the stomach?
"You seem to have equal aptitude for the Amity and the Dauntless." she says. I jump in my seat when she says this. Amity and Dauntless? How is that even possible? They are nothing alike. "You see, choosing the chunk of cheese shows aptitude for Amity, and choosing the knife shows Dauntless, and since you chose both, it showed that you had equal aptitude for Amity and Dauntless. So I put you in a scenario where the two boys where fighting. Trying to make peace showed Amity, but also, standing in front of the boy and his knife was a sign of bravery. I know you must be very startled with this. I-"
"Startled?" I say, breathing in and out. "Startled would be finding out which aptitude result I got, but finding out I have 2! That's unbelievable!"
"I know, I understand." she says, lowering her voice
I look up at her, taking my hand and brushing away my tears. "So, what does this make me? What do I do?" I stand up and get off the chair. She kneels down next to me.
"Emma, you are to be very quiet about this." She says, putting both arms on my shoulders. "You are Divergent."
"Divergent? What does this mean" What's that?
"It's very very dangerous. Go home, and I suggest you take a nap, you will need it, you have a lot of thinking to do."
"Oh, ok." I stutter and as I am walking out I glance her way. I notice a tattoo on the back of her neck. Maybe I would ask her about it, but I'm just too tired.
I walk into the cafeteria where people stare, mostly Candor, but only for a few seconds. I walk up to my table and grab my school bag when one of my 'friends' you can say, Dianne, turns around and sees me leaving.
"Where ya going?" she says, with a bounce in her voice, but not only that, there's curiosity there too.
"Oh, I'm a-" I think of possible lies I could say really quick in my head. "I forgot something in my locker, I'm going to go get it." I say, hoping that she can't tell I'm lying.
"Oh, ok. Bye!" She says. Before I can say anything, she turns around and listens to some stupid story that supposedly is the funniest thing they've ever heard. I start walking to the doors when I hear a call of his name.
"Tobias Eaton." Someone calls. Tobias, shaking a little, but barely noticeable, stands up and starts walking to the lady. When for a second, he turns around and sees me. I want to smile, but why? That was the most horrible experience of my life, for me, and I hope it's not the same for him. So I say nothing. I stare into his eyes for a few seconds when he turns around and continues walking. I shake my head. Grow up Emma, forget about him. You'll probably never see him again anyway. With that, I push open the doors of the school and start skipping outside towards the way to the Amity compound.
Once I get home, I take the key from around my neck and unlock the door. Mom and dad aren't home, what else is new. I walk in and find a note on the kitchen counter. What's this? I pick it up. It's from mom.
'Hey Emma, be back soon. I love you'
Whatever. I put the note down and go to my room. Once I'm in I jump on my bed. It makes a big noise. I throw my school bag in the corner of my room and lay down on my back. So, It's Amity or Dauntless. Who would've thought, I was Divergent, whatever it means. I cannot stay with the Amity, I'm kind but not that kind. I'm not obnoxious like the other girls. So I guess I'll be Dauntless. I wonder why I'm not sad about it. Shouldn't I be sad about not seeing my family ever again? I'm not. But I'm not sure why.
By the time I wake up, mom is calling me. "Emma! Dinner's ready!" I get up and my feet slump on the floor. I immediately wake up and get y posture straight. I'm still Amity, for now. I walk into the kitchen and there's my mom, getting dinner ready and my dad sitting at the table, reading some kind of newspaper or something.
"Hi hun, how was your day?" my dad says, as he looks up from the newspaper.
"It was ok, as good as aptitude tests get I guess." I say, as I take a seat next to him. He's probably the one I'll miss the most. "Oh right, I completely forgot." Definitely the one I'll miss the most. He's lying, he knew. He's just teasing me, in the playful way he always does. I love that about him. God, will I miss him. My mom turns around from the boiled corn she just made.
"How'd it go, hun?" she asks. I look at her. "We're not supposed to discuss the results mom." I say, looking up at her. "I know that silly, I meant, are you feeling ok? Were you nervous? Scared?" as she says this, she brings dinner to the table and sits across from me. "Dinner is served." she says. Last time I'll ever hear that from her.
"I was a little nervous like everyone, but it went good." I remark, taking a piece or corn with my fork and bringing it into my plate. "Well that's good, so Mark, how was your day." My dad starts talking about his big boring day. His job doesn't get that much action. He's just one of the 'guards' you keep the peace. Who use the peace serum when violence or conflict erupt. While they talk I tune out, and when I'm finally done dinner, I stand and excuse myself from he table. And walk up to my bedroom and jump onto my bed. That is all I remember before I drift off.
Please Please Review/Critique even if you didn't like it! I want to be an author really badly! I don't want to post Chapter 2 if no one will read it, so I'll wait until I get 5 "positive" comments.
Also, this story is also on wattpad if you want to see it in a different format
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