Bewitched.
Chapter 1: Choosing & Odd Friendships.
My POV:
Disclaimer: I don't own the Divergent Universe. I only own my OC's.
I love to draw.
Perhaps that's the reason I bring my sketchbooks with me. All seven of my sketchbooks are neatly tucked away in my small brown satchel-bag, the strap drawn over my right shoulder as it moves backwards and forwards against my hip bone. My right hand falls to the zip that seals the bag closed, and I know it's more than just that.
I pour my emotions into all my art pieces, even if some of them are more basic than other intricate pieces I've done. My anger, happiness, sadness, even boredom has strewn itself against the paiges of my sketchbooks. I wonder idly if anyone see's what I see when I look at my drawings, or paintings.
Most likely not.
I snap from my internal thoughts when I'm lightly pushed into the elevator of the biggest skyscrapper in the city, dreading the moment to come. I catch my dad's eyes as the elvator doors close, brightly lit silver eyes meeting my own honey-yellow eyes. His smiles are rare, so when I catch the faintest glimpse of his lips turning upwards, my body washes with relief. I keep his smiling features clear in my mind's eye as the elvator begins moving upwards, tirelessly slow.
"I wonder what we'll have for dinner tonight?" An Amity girl wonders beside me, also the same age as me. The whole elevator is filled with eighteen year-old Amity girls and boys, of similar heights. Everyone in the cab stands under six-feet, even the men. I stand at 5'11" tall, towering over every single girl and a few of the boys. I'm use to my height, but it doesn't mean I'm immune to the awkwardness that is shared with boys that are shorter.
I cringe at the girl's words, finding myself getting uncomfortable. Unlike the rest of them, I don't plan on staying in Amity. I don't have anything against Amity, it's just that I feel no true happiness there. I feel calm and safe, but I don't wanna feel that. I wanna be exilerated at the feeling of walking throughout my new Faction, wondering what adventure comes next.
I inherited that type of behaviour from my dad.
"Turkey?" I suggest with a laugh. I laugh because I remember the time my mom tried to cook turkey without my dad's supervision. I don't know how she did it, but the turkey exploded. And the oven wasn't even on. Unlike most parents, my mom can't cook for shit, while my dad is the master chief of everything food included. I bet he can make sweaty socks taste like cake. Luckily, it's something else I've also inherited.
"Whatever it is, I hope there's peta bread." I try not to groan. It's a well known fact that Peace Serum is evenly mixed in with our bread, making everyone who eats it calm and happy. Personally, I don't eat the bread. The bread doesn't taste any different, it's just that I don't feel the same whenever I ingest it.
"Sounds good." I say enthusiastically, not agreeing in the least. The elevator doors open up and we all exit as a laughing and smiling group. I catch sight of Abnegation Members exiting the stairwell, all of their heads lowered in submission. Abnegation is also crossed off the list because of how submissive and boring they are. No offense intended.
Even the thought of walking around in grey layers of clothing seems absurd to me. And all they really do is listen to people and be their personal slaves. I think more than half of Abnegation has offered up their seats to me on the bus on the way to school. I understand their need of selfless acts to support and help people, but it over-steps a line when you wash someone elses feet. This someone being a complete stranger. Their thick layers of simple grey drab is also pretty depressing, even from where I stand.
I continue my walk into the lively lit room where I'll decide the rest of my life. The room is arranged in concentric circles. On the edges stand the eighteen year-olds of every Faction, including my own colourful Faction. We're not called Members until we pass Initiation of our chosen Faction, something that becomes daunting to those who choose another Faction instead of the one they were born into.
Every eighteen year-old, including myself, arranges themselves in alphabetical order, according to our last names we may leave behind. I stand between a Dauntless guy and a plain Abnegation girl. The guy stands at a nice 6'1" tall with timely muscles, only two inches taller than me. His blonde cropped hair makes me smile because of the way it contrasts brightly against his dark mocha-coloured skin and caramel-brown eyes.
Rows of chairs make up the next circle for our families. I find my parents sitting side-by-side with loving stares pointed at each other. Of course they wouldn't be paying attention to anything other than each other. They've arranged the rows into five sections, seperating the five Factions. Enough people come to this year's Choosing Ceremony that the crowd that begins to fill the room up is huge.
The responsibility to conduct this year's Choosing Ceremony rotates each year to another Faction, this year it's Candor's turn. Jack Kang is handsome with a more exotic feel to him. His warm slanted eyes search the crowds with a sort of detective stare. I find myself curious of Candor, but immediately brush away the curiosity.
I was taught that other's happiness always come's first, even if it means one has to lie to them. I only lie when I have to, but even if I didn't ever lie, I wouldn't be able to handle Candor Members and their big mouths. There's not enough Peach Serum in the world that can keep me happy with living with always brutally truthfull people.
Jack Kang will give the opening address and read the names in reverse alphabetical order. Milo Cans, the Dauntless guy beside me will choose before me.
In the last circle are five metal bowls so large they could fit my whole body, if I was curled up in fatal position that is. Each bowl contains something that represents each Faction; grey stones for Abnegation, water for Erudite, earth for Amity, glass for Candor, and lit coals for Dauntless.
I imagine eash scenario slowly, like watching something running in slow motion. I imagine my blood dripping onto each of those seperate substances, wondering how my parents would take my betrayal. I can say for sure that my dad would shake his head with a smile and chuckle at my decision. I'm not so sure of my mom.
As the room slowly comes into order, I feel the swift ache of not knowing exactly what I'm going to do. Of course, the easy choice would be to return with my fellow Amity Initiates and pass through the Initiation test with flying colours. I can see myself marrying a sweet Amity man and bearing his children, whilst moving through fields of vegetation. I clamp my eyes shut and realise something.
I can't see myself doing any of that.
My chest contracts painfully at the idea of living a simple, and un-wavering life like that. I want to marry and have children one day, but I want to have fun first. I want to climb a tower from the outside and cheer from it's rooftops, knowing I was strong and brave enough to do something so reckless and amazing.
"Welcome to this year's Choosing Ceremony." Jack Kang's voice is deep as it runs throughout the speakers in the room. I clap along with everyone else, trying to keep my inner struggles from showing on my face. Ringing shrills in place of Jack Kang's voice, and I know I'm panicking.
And it isn't until Milo moves from my side that I realise I've wasted the whole time daydreaming. He moves with a practiced grace, closing the distance to his impending future. He wears a large, shit-eating grin. I can plainly see from here that he's not intimitated at all by the Choosing Ceremony and easily spills his blood on the lit coals of Dauntless.
"Dauntless!" Jack Kang yells clearly over the clapping and cheering of Dauntless. I clap as well, knowing he's picked the Faction where he belongs. Boys and girls of Dauntless clap him on the shoulder with matching grins and praising stares, something I envy. "Destiny Blake." Jack finally says my name as the cheering ebbs away into a comfortable silence.
I stride foward with as much grace as I can muster. My long red skirt starts at my slim waist and ends at my ankles, revealing my pretty brown gladiator sandals. The tight red crop-top I wear reveals a fair amount of my busty cleavage and I mentally yell at my mom for picking something so revealing. The satchel-bag at my side rings no warnnig bells from what I can see, and I do a little victorious jump in my head.
Jack Kang offers me a new, shinny knife and I nod in thanks. My gaze flickers to all five bowls and I close my eyes shut as I drag the knife along my clear palm. The pain is only a light sting, and I barely even notice it. Visions of children and a husband flicker behind my eyelids as I think of Amity.
Finally, I thrust out my hand and open my eyes only when my blood drips from my hand and onto the lit coals. My blood sizzles and I hear cheers from behind me as Jack Kang calls out my new Faction. I hand him back the bloodied knife and turn to walk towards the Dauntless group. Because my legs are long, I make it within a few measly strides.
Initiates and Members alike pat me on the shoulders and back, seemingly nodding in approval because of my decision. I notice, with quite a blush, that most of their eyes fall to my chest with praising and even higher nods of approval. This is including both girls and boys. I had gone through quite a growth spurt a while ago, boosting my height to 5'11" tall and making my chest more appearing.
My waist and hips still stay pretty slim, so I'm happy about that. Apparantly, the winning objects on my body are my toned and long legs. This doesn't surprise me, because even I fall in love with them every time I see them.
I smile to everyone who pats me and nods to me, enjoying the welcoming and accepting vib they currently vibrate off. I finally make it to the back of the crowd, standing between a pair of identical twin Dauntless-born girls named Summer and Winter. Ironic, I know. They share the same auburn curly hair and navy-blue eyes that stand out against their tanned skin tones.
"Hey." They greet together in sync as I take up residency between them. I say a quiet hello back and they continue on talking, throughout the rest of the Choosing Ceremony. I don't take offense of their whispered conversation infront me, I just zone them out and wonder if my decision was the right one.
I look around at my fellow Initiates and nod. I chose correctly. This is the only Faction I'll find true adventure. I don't know much-scratch that, I don't know anything about the Dauntless Initiation and it makes me a little nervous.
Than again, I chose this Faction for it's surprises and adventure, so I better get use to it.
I brush by a few Dauntless Initiates here and there, following after them as we make our way to the elevator doors. The crowd makes a sharp right and we walk through the door to the stairwell. I thought only Abnegation used the stairs? I'm thrown forward as everyone starts running, whooping in what I can see is happiness and excitement.
I don't give it a second thought as I begin running and whooping along with my fellow Dauntless Initiates. A tall Dauntless-born guy bumps shoulders with me and my eyes flick to his. His dark eyes pop against his pale skin as his shaggy green hair falls to the nape of his neck. He's well muscled and stands at 6'2" tall, only three inches taller than me. The top of my forehead reaches just below his light eyebrows, making me smile.
The wide grin he wears makes me smile back at him, hurting my cheeks at the intentsity of happiness that swells in my chest. I notice almost instantly that every Dauntless-born boy is over six-feet tall, making me whoop louder in success. I love being tall, but sometimes I just want to stand next to someone of similar height, or taller.
He winks mock-flirtacously, making me smile even wider as we descend down the stairs. My breath comes out a little more forced, but I enjoy the tingling in my calfs, like I'm running a marathon against the Dauntless-born Initiates. I'm squarely in the middle of every Dauntless-born, the transfers far behind.
When we burst through the double doors, I take a long whif of clear air and continue running. My colourful attire makes me feel a little stuck out against their black clothing. I catch dark reds and a few other shades, but there all so very dark that there hard to disern between black and there real shade.
It isn't until we stop in front of support beams for raised train tracks that I truly appreciate my gladiator sandals. I lift my skirt excitedly and begin climbing side-by-side with the energetic green-haired guy. He smirks at the challenge and we share a laugh as we quickly make our way up the beams. I was always the main apple collector because of how much I love to climb the trees back in Amity. The support beams are no different.
As soon as we lift ourselves up and onto the platform, we cheer together in sync. We catch our breaths as I feel the slight ache in my arms, legs and chest. I brush it away with little trouble and he looks at me in a new light.
"Alright singing banjo, you're pretty cool." I laugh, for only a moment before a train comes barreling towards us. No screeching comes from it, meaning it ain't slowing or stopping. "Hope you're ready for this!" He yells and we take off with the other Initiates who made it onto the platform with us.
The head of the train passes us and when the first car nearly passes us, the green-haired guy leaps into it. He yells at me to jump and I shake my head in exasperation before leaping into the car with him. I smash straight into his muscled chest and he easily catches me. The adrenaline that is pumping through my veins makes me laugh and smile widely as others begin jumping into cars.
A lean short girl jumps in moments after me, falling into the green-haired guy and myself. We fall to the ground in the car laughing as I help her up. She's a Dauntless-born with crimson red hair styled into a pixie-cut. Her bright green eyes find mine, the colour striking against her light tan skin. She stands at 5'2" tall, standing below my chin with a wide and energetic grin.
"I'm Alex!" She yells over the loud wind and before I can properly introduce myself, another body comes flying through the open door of the car. Again, we all go crashing to the ground with pained groans at the force of the body, and happy laughter. The new-comer is another Dauntless-born teen, with nicely cut ash-blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin. He stands at 6'1" tall with lean and prominent muscles. No wonder the force of his body hitting mine hurt so much.
We help each other up and I can see that the three Dauntless-born Initiates are friends, noticing the way they didn't threaten to hit each other over the head. Alex is rather attractive, if not beautiful up close. Both Dauntless-born guys are extremely handsome, and they seem to know they are as they stand tall with heart dropping smiles.
"I'm Hayden!" The green-haired guy yells over the wind next, and he extends his hand with a pompous smile on his face. I laugh and shake hands with him. I look over to the blonde Initiate and he smiles in greeting, weighing me with his intelligent stare.
"And I'm Justin!" He introduces loudly and we shake hands. I can see that he's obviously really intelligent, maybe even Erudite-smart. It takes only a moment for us to come to an immediate agreement; I'll be the nice one of the group, and he'll be the ridiculously smart one.
"I'm Destiny!" I yell back to them, giggling as Alex pumps hips with me. She's tiny, like a little hampster. A little hampster that can kill people. I shudder to think of what she does to those who call her out on her smallness.
"We know! The only Amity Inititate to transfer this year! And the only one to transfer into Dauntless in a few years!" Hayden praises as he pats me on the back like we're old friends. I laugh and nod along with Alex who simply shakes her head in exasperation.
"No shit Sherlock!" She yells, making me burst into laughter with Justin, his wide blue eyes registering her words. Hayden gasps in mock-horror, grabbing at his chest as though she's physically struck him.
"And that, Justin, is why women belong in the kitchen!" He yells over to Justin who shakes his head along with me. I laugh when I catch Alex staring Hayden down with bright green daggers.
"Just so you know, that's where the knives are kept!" I shoot back, smiling as both Justin and Alex burst into uncontrolled laughter. At first, Hayden wears a mock-offended expression before it give's way to reveal one of praise.
"You, banjo strummin' softie, are officially my new best friend!" And with that, Alex flings her arm around my waist, resting her head in between the crook of my neck and shoulder. I just shake my head and fling my arm over her shoulders. She's so cute and short!
I gasp and reach for my bag, only now just remembering my satchel-bag and it's occupants. I feel the rectangular shapes and smile, knowing I still got my stuff. I had piled up my bag as much as I could with art supplies that I would need. I don't know if Dauntless sells art supplies so I'm just gonna have to depend on my own supplies until they run out.
"Do you think we'll be trained together?!"Alex asks, staring up at me with a sort of childish glee. I make sure we're as far away from the car door as possible, not out of fear of falling off the train, but in fear that if I let her go, she'll go sailing out the door.
"I hear that Lauren and Four are still the Instructors this year!" Hayden pips up, standing on my other side as all four of us, Justin included, watch the city pass us from the open doorway. We're all leaning against the opposite side of the car, directly opposite the car door as other Dauntless-born Initiates laugh and hit each playfully. I notice quickly that I'm the only Transfer Initiate in this car, surprising a few Initiates here and there.
"I hear Eric is instructing this year!" Alex says with a flirtatious pout. I snort and we share a girly giggle.
"Eric is a Dauntless Leader!" Justin informs with a matter of fact tone. I nod, guessing as such. I remember hearing that name back in Amity, but his name is usually held in bad light. It's not like it's the strangest thing to run into an Amity Member and hear that they may dislike someone, it's just really rare.
I mean, someone so high off Peace Serum shouldn't even be able to tell from friend or foe.
"He's extremely scary!" Alex yells, her voice dripping with warning at the word 'extremely'. I nod, watching as we pass one huge skyscraper outside.
"What's HQ like?!" I ask, having to yell so my words could be heard over the still howling wind. Justin goes to explain something when Hayden quickly cuts in, wearing a large cheeky grin.
"Huge! I mean, city-huge!" I laugh, enjoying the act he puts on. His shaggy green hair falls into his eyes multiple times but he hardly seems bothered as he stretches his arms outwards to let me know how huge.
"The hallways remind me of a maze! I can't get around without either of these two, or I'd be lost within seconds!" Alex seems extremely bothered by this revelation, rubbing her temple like it would somehow relieve her of her inability. I can tell she doesn't really mind being unable to move around in Dauntless, but it does seem a little irritating to her.
"Like I was trying to say!" Justin yells, asserting himself forward with a playful glare at both Alex and Hayden. "We're all the way at the edge of the city! Handy with our patrols to the Fence!" I nod, listening carefully to him. Of course Amity is situated opposite of Dauntless all together, what with differing views and all.
"Is it as bad and evil as they say?!" I joke and they laugh lightly, smirking as though my question is the best they've heard in ages.
"Totally barbaric!" Alex jokes back, smiling widely. I smile and try not to snort at the expression she makes.
I go to say something when a woman just ahead of us yells. All four of us turn to her, along with every other person in the car. She doesn't wait for us to ask any questions before she's running towards the only exit. I want to scream at her to stop, that she has another choice other than death. But then I see where her goal lies.
The rooftop of a seven storey building.
The gap between the raised train tracks and the building is several feet wide and my throat tightens with worry. The worry isn't for me, though. I can easily make that leap with my long legs, but Alex is so short I worry she may not make it across. I mean, of course she's a Dauntless-born, but the gap mocks me into wanting to carry her across.
The woman jumps out through the door, and a man follows right after. They both land perfectly and waltz forward like nothing ever happened. Everyone else in the car cheers before running towards the exit at max speed. I shut my eyes for a moment to process why Dauntless wants to kill us, and then I spread my stance to get ready to run.
When I'm ready, Alex offers her my hand and I stare at curiously. I don't need any reassurance that I'll make it. But when my gaze flickers to her face, I see the fear in her eyes that is directed to the road below us. She's afraid of heights. I don't question it, or mock her as I lace our fingers together.
Her whole body relaxes from it's rigid stance and she breathes in the air like it'll run from her very being. Justin takes my other hand with a small smile and I nod, watching as Hayden takes Alex's other hand. We're all lined up facing the exit, getting ready for the shock that is sure to come with our landings.
I nod and we run forward at the same time, jumping out and into the air with more force than necessary. For a fleeting, weightless moment, everything seems to slow down into a calm nothingness. Almost seducing me into closing my eyes.
When my feet hit the ground, I bend my knees and allow myself to absorb the shock that travels up my calf muscles. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alex is about to smash straight into the ground as I jog off the impact. I turn almost fluidly, and allow her to smash face first into my chest. Her arms instantly wrap around my waist to steady herself as I jog backwards and she forwards.
She glances up at me and we share in our hysterical laughter. Justin and Hayden have stopped next to us, shaking their heads like it was simply too normal to see a pair of girls laughing like they were planning someone's murder.
Considering our life and death experience with the train, I'd say she was the first person I'd go to if I needed someone dead.
The End. Please r&r, it'll make me smile like a dumb ass :3