A/N: I have returned xD My friend and I are like massive fans of the Divergent series and she had a burning desire to write a fanfic for it. We wrote in alternative paragraphs (hers being the odd paragraphs and mine being the even paragraphs), her character is a girl named Haylee and mine is Jem.
I hope our story format isn't too confusing and I hope you enjoy it!
[ CHAPTER - O N E ]
A Different Kind of Test
Haylee
"Haylee!" I wake with a start, "Haylee they're coming!" It's Billie, my little sister, screaming because of her night terrors. "HAYLEE!" I switch on my bedside light and run over to her bed.
"Calm down," I reassure her, stroking her hair in an effort to stop her screams. "You were dreaming Billie, it's okay. It's not real." Suddenly, she seems to snap out of her dream and her tears stop.
"But they were here!" she tells me, pointing around our small room.
"No, they were in here." I reply, tapping on her head. Billie's hallucinations have been happening for years, but recently, they've got worse. Our Mother thinks she'll grow out of them but she's ten years old; she should have already done that by now.
"Haylee," she starts, her voice a whisper now. "I don't want you to leave this faction."
I feel guilty about leaving her and my family but, I'm done with this faction. I've been taught to grow up with a hunger and passion for new knowledge but I've had enough with the Erudite ways. The Erudite greed.
Today I take the aptitude test, then tomorrow I choose where I spend the rest of my life.
o0o0o0o0o
Jem
I stare at myself in the mirror as I run a hand through my hair, my eyes squinting at my reflection as if I don't quite recognize myself. I stand straight, my shoulders back and chin tilted upward with pride. The red and yellow fit tight against my skin, the two colours that I've lived with since I was born, but for some reason today, they seem far too bright for my eyes and they don't really suit me at all. Maybe it's just the pressure of the aptitude test looming over me that's turning me insane, but no matter how hard I rub my eyes, nothing about me seems right in this comfortable, safe haven.
"Jeremy?"
I flinch at the sound of my mother's airy voice and turn to face her, a relaxed grin forming on my lips. Over the years, I've grown much taller than her despite the fact that she's taller than the average female. The top of her head barely reaches my chest and she stretches up on the very tips of her toes to wrap her arms around me and envelope me in a tight embrace.
"Jeremy..." she repeats, this time softer and muffled against me. "My little boy is finally ready for the Aptitude Test!" I let out a chuckle, my hands patting her back and my chin resting against the top of her head. We stay that way for a few seconds, comfortable in each other's arms, but she wriggles out of my grip and looks up at me, her eyes searching my face.
"Will this be the last time I see you in these clothes?" she whispers, her expression concerned and, if I look deeper, somewhat troubled. My grin fades and she takes my face in both hands, a simple gesture but a reassuring one. The way her thumbs circle the sides of my cheeks reminds me of when I was a child, when I'd cry and she'd tell me everything was okay. She looks at me, her mouth opening to say something more, but she just pulls me into another hug and I feel her shoulders droop beside my arms.
"I love you, Jeremy. You're always going to be my baby boy, no matter what." The phrase seems so unusual, like she doesn't expect to see me again. I pull her tightly against me and nod, my cheek resting against her hair. Will I ever see her smile again?
o0o0o0o0o
Haylee
"You need to eat Haylee." My father insists, sliding a plate of buttered toast across the table to me and pouring a glass of orange juice for my sister.
"What's it like Dad?" I ask quietly. "The test?"
For every single test I've taken before, I've been able to cram my head full of knowledge pre-examination. But I can't for this test. There's nothing that can prepare you for this test.
"You know I can't discuss the test Haylee." He replies sternly. I look at my mother but she subtly shakes her head. I pick up my toast and leave the table.
"Haylee!" My Mother yells, but I continue walking.
"Just leave her, Jeanine." I hear my father tell her.
"Haylee Matthews! I'm warning you!" She shouts but by now I'm changed into a blue dress with a navy cardigan and I've already set off for school.
I don't want to leave Billie behind but it's not like I'm leaving her forever. Not yet.
My family infuriate me sometimes. The Erudite are strange people that's for sure and, I've known for as long as I can remember that I don't fit in here. I'm intelligent, I know everything but that's not what the Erudite are anymore. They're bored of that. Now, they want power.
o0o0o0o0o
Jem
The sound of laughter and singing is loud in my ears as I sit in the midst of my class, my legs dangling off the edge of the table as I observe the people around me. They're carefree, their minds elsewhere, far from the aptitude tests which seem so close by. I strum idly at the guitar on my lap and the girl next to me hums a little tune.
"What's with the long face, Jeremy?" she sings, her head cocked to the left. Her eyes are bright and clear and her smile is genuine, like a child's. I can tell straight away that she's going to stay with her faction, like the majority of the people in my class.
"What? No! What long face? I am perfectly fine," I joke, looking around the room. The girl watches me with her piercing eyes before shaking her head, not convinced by my poor act. She doesn't want to create conflict. I'm glad she doesn't because if she raises a point against me I am sure that I'll subconsciously fight back.
"Well, I'm not going to lie but you look worried," she says. "And my bets are that it's down to the aptitude tests, am I right?" Her eyes don't leave mine but her hands play with the hem of her deep red skirt, her fingers toying with the material.
"Well, I'm not going to lie," I repeat, bringing a smile to her face. "But yeah, I guess I am worried. But I shouldn't worry, it's just a test." She pats my back, a walloping thump which is hard enough to hurt, yet too soft to be classed as a punch.
"Atta boy," she laughs, flashing me a wink. "Well... It's time for lunch. See you at the aptitudes?" I give her a nod and she hops off the table, spinning around before directing herself to the door. I wait for the rest of the class to file out before laying my guitar in its case and stowing it away in the music cupboard. Lunch, then the aptitude tests. I heave a sigh and exit the classroom. Maybe I should stop worrying so much. I mean, how bad can they be?
o0o0o0o0o
Haylee
The morning drags and I can't seem to pay attention to anything. I met my sister before first lesson started she asked me why I didn't listen to our parents. I just shrugged my shoulders. The little respect I had for my parents has gone completely now. Mum cares more about her stupid simulation serums and her precious plans to...
"Haylee Matthews!" I wake up from my daydream and realize the rest of the class has left for the aptitude test. I guess I'd better follow them.
I saunter down the corridor, taking my time. It doesn't ease my nerves at all though. When I get to the main hall, the rest of the year are already sat down, being addressed by the headmaster. When he's finished, five names are called out and are taken to separate rooms for the test.
My surname is Matthews so I'll be sat here until they reach M. That's enough time to try and stop my hands shaking so much. Enough time to pull myself together.
o0o0o0o0o
Jem
After lunch, we're all herded into the cafeteria to prepare for the aptitude test. No discussions of the results of our tests allowed. There are ten testing stalls and five tables of the teenagers that make up my year. Naturally, we're all sat in factions. My faction Amity are perched on the tabletops, swaying to the beat of nonexistent music with dreamy expressions. To our left, the Abnegation, or the 'Stiffs' as some people like to call them, sit with their heads down in their usual dull and drab attire. They are silent, their mouths sealed by the tight lines of their lips. To our right is Candor, battling in a heated debates about their 'righteous' opinions. We clash with the Candor; we're all smiles and agreement and they are our worst nightmare. We don't say it out loud of course, that would just cause arguments. Beside Candor is Dauntless, clad in black with their rowdy bouts of laughter ringing around the cafeteria. They play dangerous games, stabbing butter knives between the gaps of their fingers and daring each other to do immature tasks like flipping Amity girls' skirts. It's stupid, but for some reason, they look like they're having fun.
"... from Erudite; Eleanor Graham and Haylee Matthews." I watch as a string of students stand up from their respective tables, two from each. The two girls from the Erudite table follow from behind them. They're both wearing blue, the colour of their faction, and their hair is tied back in a casual way so as not to look too uptight, but so it won't get in the way of their studying. Kind of stupid, really...
The girl with the auburn hair at the end of the line looks around the cafeteria nervously, hands twitching subtly beside her before she disappears through the exit doors and almost bumps into the gangly boy in front of her on the way. I hear the laughs bubbling from the Dauntless table and I laugh at her as well, feeling the anxiety inside me dying down slightly. It won't be long until my turn, it couldn't kill to just laugh at her, but I laughed anyway and the nerves bubbling inside me didn't subside. I'm not ready for this test.
o0o0o0o0o
Haylee
I walk into the room I'm led towards and I'm met by an Abnegation women whose clothes are completely grey and her hair is neatly tied back in a tight bun.
"Hey, I'm Celeste." She greets me, "You must be Haylee, take a seat." she beckons towards a chair that reminds me of the ones they have in the Dentists.
I sit on the chair. She hands me a vial and I almost drop it.
"Are you nervous?" she asks. I nod. "Well don't worry, it's easy." she says, attaching electrodes to my head. I drink the vial before I completely bottle it and then everything goes black.
When I open my eyes I'm sat on a beach. The sand is white, the sky is sapphire and I am completely alone. Before me there's a pier. I stand up I walk to the end and there's a sign on a wooden post.
Option one: Jump
Option two: Go back
Option three: Wait for the boat.
I Look around and decide jumping seems like the best option. It's just a simulation after all; I can't be in any real danger.
As soon as I hit the water I'm submerged and for some reason, it seems like a better idea to swim down than up, so I do.
I swim until I reach an old shipwreck. It's dark and there's no fish. I swim through one of the doors and inside there's a huge chest.
"You want to open that chest don't you?" a voice asks. I look around but there's no one in sight.
"Yes. I do." I reply
"If you do, you will bathe in eternal riches." it says, I swim towards the clasp. "But everyone around you will suffer."
I pull my hand back and swim away from the chest.
"What now?" I ask.
o0o0o0o0o
Jem
I blink, and I appear in the next scenario. The first two weren't that difficult, painfully simple in fact. The next aren't that different.
The room before me is plain, but split into two different sections. The people are parted down the middle and are stood to the left, or to the right. Both sides wear black and white clothes, and as soon as they acknowledge my existence, the room erupts with conflicting shouts and screams. I press my hands over my ears to block the boisterous yells but the longer I do so, the louder they become.
"Left or right?!" they scream, each of them at different times, but their words merge into a huge mess. It's a simulation, I tell myself. There must be another way out. I look around the room, and there are four doors on each side. I think back. I must have entered from one way and it certainly wasn't left or right, because when the opposing sides took notice of me, I was standing in between them. I remove my hands from my ears and turn around, walking towards the door behind me. The people claw at my clothing, telling me to pick left or right, but I carefully remove their hands from me and smile.
"Think of it this way," I start, causing them to lower their voices. I turn so I'm facing the left side. "If I face this way, then the door which was the back door now becomes the left door." I turn towards the right wall and point back towards the back door. "And now that I face this way, the back door becomes the right door." The people watch me, their voices silenced. I walk towards the back door and open it, turning back to face the crowd. "Therefore, I pick the left and the right door. Does that make sense?" They look at me, and nod, and they burst into applause as I leave through the door of my choice. When I do, my vision blurs, and I feel myself stir from the simulation.
"... your test is over, Jeremy Abbott."
I blink my eyes open, groaning as I sit up from the chair. My inspector removes the electrodes from my head and stares at me, completely baffled.
"So... what did I get?" I question, seemingly impatient. Her eyes dart around the room and she checks her computer, scratching at her head. Before she gives me an answer, she leaves the room and returns after what seems like ages, but in reality was only a matter of minutes.
"Well... Jeremy, your results are-"
o0o0o0o0o
Haylee
"- inconclusive. You can't be categorized. Do you know what this means?" Celeste asks me, her voice suddenly quiet and serious.
"You mean.. I'm ... I'm-"
"You're Divergent." My heart stops. If my mother and father knew about this... I look at Celeste. Her face is plagued with worry.
"What faction do you want to go to?" she asks me. I shrug. I don't know. This test was supposed to tell me that.
"err...Dauntless?" I say, in panic. She types something into her computer and her attention is back on me,
"the system says your results were...inconclusive. The footage has been deleted. I'll keep quiet and Haylee, you must do the same," She warns me." You know what being Divergent means, you of all people."
I nod. I'm surprised she's being so nice to me, her being abnegation, me being erudite. But maybe show knows now; I'm not erudite at all, I'm Divergent. I don't belong in any faction.
"Now go." She tells me. I nod and leave the room in a hurry. I'm not thinking and I'm not looking where I'm going. That's when I walk into a boy, he's just finished his aptitude test too.
"I'm sorry." I offer. He looks up at me and smiles.
"Don't worry." He's from Abnegation, of course he'd say something like that.
o0o0o0o0o
Jem
"Divergent...?" I repeat. The woman nods hurriedly at me, her eyes wide and manic. Her fists are clenched and shaking slightly, her teeth gritting together.
"So, I'm dangerous?" I ask. She shakes her head. "You're not dangerous, you are in danger!" Her words are hushed, yet they are stern and have a sense of urgency. I've never heard an Abnegation speak with such authority, because they're pushovers if you think about it, so I try not to prompt her further, but she grabs my wrist before dismissing me.
"Smart like an Erudite, Peaceful like an Amity and Brave like a Dauntless. Do you see the danger in that, boy?" she hisses. Her grey eyes glint with a certain fear and I nod. I don't really understand, but by the way she stares at me with such desperation, I can tell that being Divergent is something that I don't want to understand.
"I do, ma'am." I say, smiling. It's in my nature, I'm from Amity. And apparently, I'm worthy of Dauntless and Erudite too. She releases me and I exit from where I entered, returning to the cafeteria. They are still noisy, bursting with energy even though they've just taken one of the most horrifying tests they'll have ever taken in their lives. I join in with their jesting, their jokes and their laid back attitude whilst I can. I'm sure it won't last long, this dull ache in my stomach that makes me feel sick. Amity, and Erudite, and Dauntless.
Amity, or Erudite, or Dauntless.