CHAPTER ONE: MY LIFE
I turn a corner, and then I see him. Peeta, whose blond hair glisten in the sun, and whose bright blue eyes contrast greatly with the grey of Abnegation. They dance with laughter, but he knows not to let that show anywhere else on his face, or else punishment will await him. He nods his head in a somewhat formal manner, and I do the same.
"Hello, Katniss" He says in a monotonous voice, and I hardly suppress a laugh.
"Same to you, Peeta" I say, and this time we both can't help but smile. Then we begin a serious conversation about what awaits us at school. Aptitude tests.
"So, you nervous about what result you'll get?" he asks, and I simply nod head. I almost know my result already. Probably Abnegation, but possibly I will be Divergent, with Erudite and Abnegation. As nice as those results sound to me, due to the good qualities those results show, I know that being Divergent has the greatest consequences. The Hancock Survival Games.
These "Games" were created by our "glorious" leaders, President Snow, and our wife, Jeanine. Their hatred of the Divergent people is well-known throughout Chicago, and, although they wanted to exterminate them all, Abnegation and Amity ambassadors argued about the loss of lives among innocent people, and this was the compromise: 2 Divergent boys and 2 Divergent girls between the ages of 16 and 20 from each faction are chosen the day after the end of initiation, and all Factionless people are executed the same day. This day is known as the Reaping, and all young Divergent people fear it.
The day after the Reaping, all 20 contestants are placed at the bottom of the Hancock Building, and then the race is on to get the supplies (Food, water, daggers and blankets) from the tenth floor. Then it is a matter of surviving past the two month mark and all contestants know how long is left based by countdown clocks that are placed on every floor.
Sometimes nearly all twenty of them make it past this mark, other times none of them do. The "Victors" are given a beautiful cottage in an Amity field, and get to live the rest of their life in peace. My older sister by ten years, Nancy was Reaped when she was 16, the same year she had been initiated into Erudite. I still remember her death vividly, as the games are mandatory viewing and the only TV we watch in Abnegation.
It was about a week before the two month mark, and it was just her, a Dauntless boy a year older than her and an Amity girl her age. Mom, Dad, Prim (She was two at the time) and I started to believe she would win, and that everything would be alright, when it happened. I had just come back from school, so it was about 4 o'clock, and Mom rushed me into the living room, where the most horrible sight met my eyes. Nancy was hanging onto the edge of the empty elevator shaft by one hand, and standing in front of her was the Amity girl, Lucy I think she was called.
It was evident, then and there, that Nancy would fall to her death, and I remember crying loudly, despite it being considered self-indulgent. I buried my face in my hands, and when I looked up, Nancy was gone, her full name and time of death in neat white letters at the bottom of the screen. However, the Amity girl didn't have long to celebrate Nancy's death, as the Dauntless boy (Called Tobias) came out of nowhere and pushed her down the elevator shaft, never to be seen again.
Tobias became the only Victor of the year, and when we went to the Hub to get a certificate of Nancy's "achievement" of third place, I saw Tobias' younger brother, who looked nothing like his Victor brother, with his beautiful golden hair and dazzling blue eyes. Apparently, Tobias had transferred from Abnegation, and had known Nancy vaguely, which had been the cause for the avenging of her death. His younger brother was called Peeta, and that's where our friendship started.
"Are you?" I ask Peeta, realizing I had been consumed in my thoughts for a while. He shook his head, and I knew why: He would obviously get Amity as his test result, due to his kind and loving nature. He wouldn't have to worry about the Reaping, and would have a lovely, safe life in Amity.
We walk into the old, shabby building that is our school, and ignore the cries of "Stiffs in lurrrve!" as we make our way towards the English room, where we will spend our two hour slot of lessons for the day, before having our Aptitude tests after lunch. As always, I listen to next to nothing of the lesson, and instead focus on passing notes discreetly to Peeta. We know we won't get caught, as Mr. Smith, our English teacher, faces the whiteboard for most of the lesson.
Finally, the bell rings for lunch and I race out of the room, or at least walk quicker than usual. I remember having some plain oatmeal or something, and having some conversation about the Aptitude Tests, but I zoned out of the conversation when I looked around the room, and noticed an Erudite boy with grey-green eyes, dark hair and olive skin. He was staring straight at me, as if he was observing my life, like some creepy Erudite stalker. And then I heard names being called for the Aptitude Test: "Gale Hawthorne-Erudite," at this the Erudite boy stood up "Jenny Lane-Amity, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen." Peeta and I stood up, gave each other a reassuring nod, and walked into the rooms where our tests would take place.