Chapter 1

Every morning has been the same for as long as I can remember. I would wake up to my mother and fathers' irate yelling, and my brothers' indulgent pranks. Those pranks usually inflicted upon me. Today was no different. My brother, Camus decided an aquatic strike would be appropriate this morning. When I arose from bed all I could see was Camus Standing there with a large grin across his face. I began to ask him a question but that was cut short. "Do you have somethi…" is all I could say before he uttered a false statement. "Mom! Bartholomew pissed the bed!" Camus said as loud as he could. I looked down at myself and realized that he poured the water strategically so it would look like I wet the bed.

I could hear the guttural noises coming from the kitchen, and from the sound of it they were directed at me. As soon as she began to scale the stairs I stripped the bed and myself of all my clothes and sheets. I hopped into the shower and waited to hear what she would say. "Bartholomew, where are your sheets?" She said with a loud hacking noise at the end. "I put them down the chute to be cleaned." I replied, "Its laundry day and I don't want to be the last person to get their things back." I could hear my mother scolding Camus as they walked down the stairs. I don't why he tries to cause me so much grief, I've never intentionally tried to hurt him or go out of my way to cause him any discomfort.

After my shower I walked out to my closet. I left my towel in my bathroom so I stood there for a few minutes to dry off. I looked over at my mirror and saw an image of a pudgy pale skinned boy. I realized that boy was me. I don't think I've ever really taken in my own image before; it never really seemed important. I started at the top: Shaggy brown hair, deep blue eyes with a square jaw and a light beard. From the chest down all I could see were my broad shoulders and a flabby midsection. I don't know why but I began to cry. I think for the first time I felt some sort of vanity about myself. I didn't like it.

Once I stopped crying and dried off I picked out my clothes for the day. A black collared polo shirt with the letters BP embroidered on it. My favorite Black canvas shorts; I love them because they look slimming on me and that's when I get the most compliments. I grabbed my Lucky wristband, my shoes and socks and began to walk down the stairs. When I reached the last step I could see the whole house from there. A rickety looking kitchen attached to a dreary living space. Other than the bedrooms and bathrooms that's about all we have. When I was a child I remembered living in a great big hall with more rooms then anyone would ever need. The day we moved out of that place is still a little fuzzy to me though. I remember everyone looking at my father and mother and laughing at them. To this day I still don't know why they were laughing, but that's one of the reasons we live so far out of the Candor compound.

I sat next to my father on the couch while I put on my socks and shoes. I stopped for a second to look at him and realized, I look nothing like him but everyone tells me I'm the spitting image of him when he was my age. I have nothing to base that off of because He has no pictures from his youth. I think when we transferred homes he forgot to take all the boxes out of one of the rooms that had his pictures in it. We never used so the next tenants must have thrown out whatever was left. After my mother yelled at my father for a while he fell asleep; until I came down and sat next to him. Anytime someone wakes my father like that he always tries to punch them; at this point in my life I've been able to anticipate it and block him. Today he swung with his left instead of his right so I almost missed it. He began to speak but I almost missed it. "Will you just let me hit you so I can go back to sleep." He said with a garbled slur in his voice. "You shouldn't be drinking when I have school then should you?" I said with a bright smile on my face, even though I don't really care what my dad thinks anymore.

I walked over to the counter and was handed a bowl of hot oats and a glass of water. "What kind of shit is this mom?" my brother said with a sarcastic look on her face. I wasn't to happy with the meal either but I wasn't going to say anything. "If you don't like it than don't eat!" she began to say, "I don't care if you ever eat again you ungrateful bastard!" Camus looked over at my bowl as I was adding the raisins I was saving from my lunch yesterday and began to rant again. "Why does he get raisins and I get to piss off. What's fair about that?" My mom looks over and smiles at me. "That's because your brother knows how to be responsible and ration his food items until the beginning of the week." I knew she was right but did she have to say it like that? Camus got up and looked at me with a gnarly sneer on his face. "You're a scumbag older brother you know?" he said. All I could do is laugh.

Camus stormed out of the house to get to school but I had some time before my first class so I stood at the counter for a few more minutes. "Don't you have to get to school early today since it's technically your last day as a student?" my mom asked me with a bit more sincerity this time. I replied to her, "No, we get to skip out on the first class because of the aptitude test." "Are you nervous?" she asked. "Not really I just want to know what my real fit is." I say ask I take the last few sips of my water. For about a year now I haven't felt like I belong to the Candor faction. My parents could tell immediately. My mom told me in confidence that she was an Amity transfer. I didn't believe at first, but she showed me how to enjoy the little things in life; the Amity way. "You know no matter what you decide you will always be my son and I love you?" she asked. "I know." I said. "I'm gonna get going so I can meet up with a few of the guys." From there I grabbed my backpack and left, hiding the tears that began to fall from my face after my conversation with my mother. I still don't know why I'm so emotional lately.

I got about a block from the compound before I could see my best friend Leonius. We've been friends for as long as I can remember. "Oh look who got all dressed up for his aptitude test? Gonna scope out the ladies today?" Leonius said with a huge grin on his face. "Why can't a guy look good when he wants too?" I said catching my breath from running up to him. When I could inhale like a normal person again I began to look up at him. He had on old leather boots laced up all funny, white leather pants that were a little too tight, and a black tank top with a hole behind his shoulder blade. "You know you should work out more? Then you could keep up with me." Leonius said as he began to walk forward. He always knows what buttons to press when I'm exasperated. We began to walk to the bus stop when I caught my breath.

Once we arrived at the bus stop I pulled a few cans of soda out of my backpack and handed one to Leonius. "Sorry they're warm. If I had put them in the cooler Camus would have drank them." I said as I popped the top of mine. "I thought he didn't like soda?" Leonius said. "Yeah he does but if it would spite me he would do it." I said after taking a huge gulp of the warm bubbly beverage. We sat at the bus stop for ten minutes sipping on our soda until the bus arrived to take us to school. We got to sit in the back feel all the bumps in the road as we went by. I could see the Hub from the outskirts of the Candor compound but when we're up close its just so awe inspiring. "I wish we could find out what they do up there Leo." I said craning my neck to see the top of the tower. The hub used to be a huge tourist attraction called the Sears Tower but that was before our time. "You have to be a divergent to enter the tower. To be honest I don't think either one of us is." Leonius said with a crestfallen look on his face. "Yeah I guess." I said with the same expression.

We got to the school just in time to get in line early for the aptitude test. I didn't think I would ever get this far in life but I was so excited to take the test. I know I'm not a Candor but I can't see myself as anything else. It took about an hour to get through the line to be tested. Leonius was in the group before me so I could ask him how it goes before I go through with it myself. I didn't see Leo again but I could finally see the door I'm supposed to go through. I marched through the threshold. I was greeted by a small abnegation woman in a gray robe. "I thought the abnegation could also wear purple and black?" I said without thinking about the words spilling out of my mouth. "Some things are harder to get used to than others. Nice to meet you too." She said with a very mellow tone. She then said, "My name is Susan Black. I will be administering the test to you today. Do you have any questions?" "None that I can think of off hand." I said as I sat in the chair.

When Susan walked to the other side of the room I got a good look at the room I was sitting in. It was a room with all glass walls. It gave me the opportunity to look at the nervous boy sitting in the chair sweating profusely. Susan began to turn around and started talking, "Now before I begin the test there are a few things I need to go over with you." She continued to say, "Once inside the simulation you will be given a series of choices. These choices will impact the way you are ranked." "What do you mean "ranked"" I said with a raspy twinge in my voice. "Don't be nervous, it's not a test or anything like that. The ranking helps us determine which faction is best for you." She said. Relief began to flood my face as my skin color was returning to normal. All I could think of was scoring low and being told I was factionless. I began to feel a nauseous pang in my belly and the room began to spin. It felt like hours packed into a few minutes. Susan could see the distraught look on my face and brought me a glass of water. "Thanks." I said in between sips of the water. "You're going to be fine." Susan said with an even more reassuring look on her face. "Okay now we can begin. I'll need you to drink this and sit back. You won't feel a thing." She said as she handed me a vial of thick clear liquid. I chocked it back and began to feel sleepy instantly.

When I woke up I was in a black robe with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. The room was poorly lit and all I could see was the floor in front of me. I began to walk a few steps forward and saw a figure standing in front of me. He looked up at e but all I could see is his mouth. He started to say talk, "Prepare yourself now." I didn't know what he meant until he swung a sword at me. Before I knew it I had the shield blocking his sword. He was still swinging at me with such viciousness, that all I could do was swing right back. That's when I cut off his arm and he fell to the ground. At the exact moment I blinked the scenery changed. I was in a field of roses that extended for miles. I decided to take it in for a moment only to be brought back by the sound of buzzing. I turned around and got a good look at the enemy around me. Hornets, the size of fists were coming after me. I ran for about a quarter mile before I realized I couldn't outrun the deadly insects following in my wake. I turned around and said all that could be said, "Thins isn't real." At that point the hornets swarmed around my body and covered me in a black cloak. I crouched down and began to shake, realizing I had nothing to fear. I stood back up and was on a train. I had never been on one before so I really got to enjoy that part of the simulation. I took a seat in a booth next to a man wearing a blue coat and white pants. He looked at me and smiled. My only response was to ask him how his day was and where he was going. He then pulled out a newspaper. He began to flip through the newspaper ignoring my questions all together. He showed me an article of my father and another figure next to him on a couch. They looked like they were sleeping. The man finally spoke out to me saying, "Do you know the man in this news article." Instinctively the only thing I would say is yes. He looked down and said, "I see. Very well then." Before I knew it, the train had stopped and it started to get very dark. It wasn't a normal dark however. It was like my vision was going in and out until it was completely out.

I awoke to a room of fear, sweat, and confusion. I looked up and saw a puzzled look on Susans face. I hadn't even noticed the other two men in the room until then. I looked up and tried to speak but nothing would come out. "Kid do you realize what you just did?" One of the men asked me with the most creepy monotone voice he could. "No how could I, I was told this was a simple test. I thought I did fine." I said at this point yelling at the mysterious men. "Young man, what my associate means to say is you have a remarkable aptitude test score." The other man went on to say, "You didn't just score well in one faction. Let me introduce myself, I'm Vincent Mullard with the Faction Development Team; or FDT for short." "Okay, but what does that have to do with me?" I said, a little calmer than the last time I spoke. "What we're trying to tell you is that you're a Divergent, but not just any divergent. You're one of the ones we have been looking for." Vincent said with a bright look on his face. "My other associate, Mr. Grant Fithian would like for you to come to The Hub after school. We'd like to talk to you as well as a few other students." Vincent said, calming down a little more. Grant handed me a silver card with the numbers "369333" on it. "What is this supposed to be for?" I said scanning the card a little more carefully. "This will get you into The Hub, no questions asked." Grant said. He continued to say, "When you arrive ask for Professor Caleb. He'll let you know what going on.

Before I could ask them any more questions they had already walked out the door. "Susan I don't get it what does this all mean." I said getting a little more exasperated as I uttered each word. "I'm not entirely sure but if anyone can shed some light on the situation it will be Caleb. Oh and don't worry I am a close personal friend to him so you'll be fine, he's a very nice person." Susan said showing almost no emotion to keep her Abnegation look. All I could think was one thing, my life as I knew it would never be the same.