A/N: I had to re-upload this chapter because I wanted to make a few changes, sorry for any confusion.
Ava
"Are you nervous?", my mom asks as she begins to pull my long ginger hair into two french-braids.
"No." I tell her as I smile back at her in the large mirror that hangs over my wooden desk in my bedroom, "Where were you? For your test?"
"Terrified.", she laughs, it's the kind of sweet laugh that only a woman from Amity could have, her smile reaches her big brown eyes.
My mother is beautiful. She's not the in-your-face type beautiful that some women are, her beauty is more subtle. Her black hair hangs just over her shoulders and her eyes are a deep brown, unlike mine which are a piercing green.
"You know you don't have to braid my hair for me anymore, mom. I can do it myself.", I say, half joking.
"I know you can but I braided it on your first day of school and I want to do it on your last.", she replies as she finishes the second braid and plants a gentle kiss on the back of my head, "I just want you to know that I love you, Ava. I don't care what your test results are or what you decide tomorrow, I will always love you, no matter what."
"I love you too, mom.", I almost choke on the words and tears begin to form in my eyes. I don't usually cry so easily but something about what she says makes it all seem so real, tomorrow I may decide to leave my faction, my friends, my family, but knowing that I have my mothers support gives me a sense of relief.
"Okay, okay, I'll let you get ready for school.", she says after a long silence whilst wiping tears from her own eyes, "And no more crying." I shoot her a sarcastic smile which makes her chuckle as she walks out of my room.
The rest of the morning goes by in a blur and before I know it I'm saying goodbye to my parents and on my way to school, wearing brown skinny jeans, a tight-fitted red t-shirt and a pale orange jacket with a bag slung over my shoulder. I've never liked the colors of Amity clothes, they've always made my skin seem even paler and made the freckles which cover my arms and face stand out.
Once I've passed through the row of trees that separate the houses from the fields I'm greeted with a familiar face and wide grin.
"God, Ava, you sure do know how to make a man wait.", Tommy jokes, his grin growing even wider as I hit him on the arm. Tommy has been my best friend, and pretty much only friend, since we could walk. I've never really gotten on with Amity kids, maybe because I've never really felt like I belong with them. I wasn't actually born in Amity, I was found abandoned by the fence when I was three days old with nothing but a blanket, a letter and a small picture of my birth-parents. I know what they look like and I know that they were in Dauntless when I was born but I'm not sure where they are now, since I was born two months before their Choosing Ceremony. I've never tried to find them and I don't think I want to, so all I know about them is what was written in the letter my birth-mother left with me. It's not like I'm not curious, which I am, it's just that I don't see why I should try to find people who didn't even want me.
I was lucky that my mom and dad decided to adopt me, otherwise, I don't know where I would be right now, maybe factionless, maybe dead. It's a dark thought so I try not to think about it too much, although it's true.
Tommy is so tall that I have to look up to talk to him, and I'm definitely not short, I'm not tall, but definitely not short. His skin is dark and his hair is short and black, it's the type of short hair you would expect to see on an Abnegation boy, but he's always kept it that way.
"Well maybe if you weren't so annoyingly early all the time then you wouldn't have to wait so long.", I tease, bumping him with my shoulder, to which he replies with a sarcastic face.
"Nice eyeliner by the way.", he says, swiftly changing the subject. He's always been good at keeping the conversation going, it's part of his Amity charm.
"Thanks, you know me, always perfect.", I joke, throwing my braids over my shoulders for dramatic effect, which leaves us both hysterical.
Before I know it my classes are over and I'm waiting anxiously in the cafeteria for my aptitude test. Tommy is telling me about something that happened in one of his classes but I'm not really paying attention, instead I'm just looking around the room at all of the factions trying to figure out which one I think I fit in to, not that it makes much difference that's what the test is for. The Abnegation are sitting patiently, none of them talking to each other, the Erudite are huddled around books, desperate to obtain new information, the Candor are having lively debates about something and if it weren't for the smiles on their faces you would think that their arguing, the Dauntless are laughing and joking loudly with each other and the Amity are playing rhyming games and giggling about things that I'm not listening to.
"From Amity: Ava Roberts and Thomas Riley.", the woman's voice snaps me out of my daze and suddenly I'm on my feet and making my way towards one of the aptitude test rooms. I give Tommy one last reassuring smile over my shoulder before entering the room and I am greeted by a thin Abnegation woman.
"Hello, my name is Natalie and I will be administering your aptitude test.", she says with a small smile, "If you could please take a seat and we will get started." I suddenly realize I'm still stood next to the door and I walk over to the chair in the middle of the room. There's a machine with a bunch of wires attached to it next to the chair, which I can only assume allows Natalie to see what is going on and record my results. The walls are covered in mirrors but aside from that, the room is bare.
Natalie starts to attach wires to me, herself and the computer before handing me a vial of clear liquid. Clearly, she can see my confused expression and says "It will induce the simulation, you need to drink it." I pour the contents into my mouth and the simulation begins.
The test is over almost as quickly as it started and Natalie is pulling me out of the chair by my arm.
"Stand up, I'm taking you out the back door.", she says, clearly worried about something.
"What's going on? What were my results?", I ask, nearly tripping over my own feet as I'm dragged across the room.
"T-they were inconclusive.", Natalie whispers so quietly I can barely hear her, "You have equal aptitude for Amity, Erudite and Dauntless."
"What are you talking about? That's not possible.", I say, trying to match Natalie's volume, although I'm not sure it works.
"It's not impossible, just extremely rare.", she replies, her voice still quiet, "They call it Divergent." I've heard about Divergents before but I never really thought much about it until now.
"You can't tell anyone about this, not your friends, not your family, no one. This can be very dangerous and you need to be extremely careful to make sure that no one finds out. Do you understand?", you can hear the concern in her voice growing as she speaks and all I can manage to do is nod, "I want you to go straight home, don't wait for your friends. If anyone asks you tell them that the serum made you sick so I sent you home early. I've manually entered your result as Amity so hopefully no one will ask any questions." Before I can even answer she's pushed me out of the door.
I decide to walk home to avoid questions from my parents about being home early, I don't think I can deal with that after the day I've had. I keep going over what Natalie said in my head. You have equal aptitude for Amity, Erudite and Dauntless. I never thought that I would have an aptitude for Dauntless, I mean sure I was born there but I've never really been around them, and it's so different from Amity. They call it divergent. I've heard people mention Divergents before but I never really thought about them, and now I find out that I am one. This can be very dangerous. I don't understand how being Divergent is dangerous, what's so bad about being more than one thing?
"Ava?", the voice makes me stop in my tracks, "What are you doing back so early?" I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't even realize that I was already walking through the Amity fields where my mom works.
"I-I got sick so they sent me home early.", it's exactly what Natalie told me to say if anyone asked.
"Oh honey, are you okay?", she says, her tone instantly turning from cheerful to concerned as she places a hand on my cheek.
"I'm fine now mom, I think it was the serum they gave us.", I say, giving her a reassuring smile.
"Okay, well, go home and rest, it's a big day for you tomorrow, I'm sure you have a lot of thinking to do." She's right, I do have a lot of thinking to do, I was relying on the test to tell me where I belong, but I'm even more unsure than before.
Amity. Erudite. Dauntless.
Divergent.
The room that the Choosing Ceremony is held in is arranged in concentric circles, divided into factions with the sixteen-year-olds lined up in alphabetical order by surname around the edge. Our names will be read in reverse alphabetical order which means that my turn is even sooner. Tommy stands a few spaces down from me and a huge grin grows on his face when he sees me, I try to smile back but I'm too nervous, I still haven't made a decision yet.
In the middle of the room are five bowls. Each bowl is filled with something to represent each faction: earth for Amity, grey stones for Abnegation, water for Erudite, glass for Candor and lit coals for Dauntless. Soon I will have to drop my blood into the bowl of the faction I choose.
The faction that conducts the Choosing Ceremony rotates each year; this year it is Abnegation's turn. Marcus Eaton, Abnegation's most influential representative, begins a speech about the faction system and why it is so important but I tune him out, instead, turning my attention back to the bowls in the center of the room. This is one of the biggest decisions of my life, but it's also one of the hardest. Am I smart? Honest? Selfless? Kind? Or brave?
My aptitude test ruled out Candor and Abnegation, so that narrows down my choice slightly. I've always thought that the Erudite are too pretentious, I don't think I could deal with them. That leaves me with Amity and Dauntless. On one hand, I grew up in Amity and I love it there, but I've always admired the Dauntless.
"Ava Roberts.", Marcus' voice fills the room as he calls my name and I start towards the center of the room. He hands me a knife and I slice my palm, cutting a little too deep. I stand there and let the blood pool in my hand for a second, my eyes flicking between the Dauntless and Amity bowls. I know what I have to do. I thrust my hand over the burning coals and my blood sizzles and it hits them. Angered shouts rise from the Amity section and cheers erupt from the Dauntless.
I am brave.
I am Dauntless.