All who love me, behold! I am back with this story for Divergent, my most favoritest book series! (Yes I know that that isn't a word).
BACKGROUND ON THIS STORY! (READ! DO NOT IGNORE!)
My friend and I came up with this idea. We wrote this over the school year. It is about two girls that transfer to Dauntless and fall in love with their instructors. But this is not your typical story! One girl (EVE- or my friend-which isn't her real name...) has voices in her head. The other is.. well... extremely Divergent. My real name is Julia... so... Julia is me!
Most of the time, it will be in my P.O.V., which means it is written by me. All in Eve's P.O.V. is mostly written by her. I will specify each chapter, though. If it's in Ten's P.O.V it is written by me, except for one time, which I will specify. If it's in Sin's P.O.V. it is written by my friend (who we will call Eve for naming purposes) except for one time, which I will specify.
Thank you all! I will proceed when I get a certain amount of reviews/views. I DO NOT WRITE FOR PRAISE! I just want to know people are reading before I continue.
Now, to Chapter One!
Chapter One: Aptitude
I wake up this morning, ready for my aptitude test. I am done being nervous about it, done fearing the outcome. My mother is making eggs for me, which is actually surprising. I always end up making my own breakfast, pretty much defying Abnegation tradition and the rules of Abnegation. This morning must be special. My adopted brother Andrew comes down the stairs. I can hear him because our house is the only place we don't act entirely brain-washed Abnegation. My mom brought a CD player from Candor when she came, and my brother was adopted from an Amity household when his parents died. He was three.
Andrew is a few months younger than me, so his aptitude test is today, too.
"Good morning, Drew," I say, picking up a gray plate and heaping it with scrambled eggs.
"Morning, Jules," he talks quietly, as do I. I pretend that I am fully Abnegation, I am selfless and reserved, but our house is a clash of factions. My mother was from Candor, my father was from Erudite. Andrew was adopted from Amity, and I have lived in Abnegation all of my life. It is really hard to act entirely like the Abnegation, even though we are all supposed to.
My mother hums quietly, folding finished laundry. "You two had better pack tonight, just in case you switch factions." She says it as if she expects us to. I do, as well. In our family, we are exposed to all factions- besides Dauntless- all at once. After the war, our ancestors decided to keep the gates closed, and re-form the faction system. Now each faction has three representatives in government, Erudite are not allowed to try to "improve" on the simulations, and one of the smallest rules: You are allowed to bring one backpack from your old faction if you switch.
"Nervous?" I ask Andrew. He shakes his head.
"Mom knows we're most likely to switch factions," he says. "As long as she knows that, I'm fine."
"Same here," I say quietly.
"Hurry up, kids!" My mom says. She pushes strawberry blonde bangs out of her eyes, and holds out our backpacks. She kisses me on the cheek after giving me a big hug. "Good luck," she whispers.
I step out of the bus, pulling Andrew along with me. He stopped to talk to another Abnegation girl that I am sure he has a crush on. The only problem is that she is eighteen, and continuing to the place where my mom works: the hospital.
"See you later, Drew," I say, unobtrusively doing our handshake. Drew and I are really close, almost twins-close.
We split at the 4E hallway, and he walks quietly and meekly as a good Abnegation should to the Faction History classroom. I head to the English classroom, pausing only to watch the Dauntless train go by and the wave of Dauntless jump off. They all laugh and I hear their yells even through the glass of the windows. Then I weave through the mass of people to my class.
The cafeteria is full of energy, adrenaline, coursing through the air like oxygen. I sit at the Abnegation table, hands folded, head bowed, but eyes up, watching the Dauntless. One of the Dauntless boys, a tall black-haired boy pulls up his sleeve to show a tattoo of a dragon.
Names are called. Two from each faction. Corinne Reese and Daniel Formant from Amity. Sarah Brennan and Ron Dawes from Candor. Karen Siren and Brandon Ransom from Erudite. Jack Young and Riley Andrews from Dauntless. And then: "Andrew Renway and Julia Renway," The announcer, a young Dauntless woman with black hair and piercing green eyes calls me. A Candor man, wearing standard black and white takes Andrew.
I follow the woman nervously. We enter a room with a reclining chair. Mirrors reflect the white light from the ceiling, and I cringe back. I prefer the dark.
"Sit," The woman says. "I'm Trina, by the way." Her manner is stiff, gruff. I do as I'm told with hesitation.
She hands me a cup and I drink it. Then all goes black.
I awake in the school cafeteria. It is empty. There is no light, except for one shining on two baskets. One has a hunk of cheese. The other a knife.
"Choose," says a semi-robotic voice. I turn to see where it is coming from. I do not see a person, so I just choose both, having no idea what is about to happen. A dog prowls in, growling. The fierce glint in its eye is predatory. I don't want to kill the dog, so I give it the cheese, and it stops growling. The scene disappears.
A line of prisoners stands in front of me, all facing to my left. One, I see, is my brother. I look at him, a crease forming between my eyebrows.
"Drew!" I say.
"Julia…" he says, slowly.
I look to my right and see a guard.
"What did you do?" I ask.
"Nothing…" His voice is vague, and I see the bones of his arms. He's been starved. If I try to get him free, the guard will shoot me. I don't care! He's starving, and he did nothing. I am not strong, but if I can sneak behind him, there might be vines amongst the trees. I edge cautiously away, but the guard seems not to have noticed me. I turn and run, light-footed into the trees. There! There are vines hanging down from the tree. I yank on it. It won't come free. Oh, come on, Julia! This is a simulation, a test. You can pull it down! With that thought, the thick, woody vine comes free. I sneak back, right behind the guard. A twig snaps, and he turns around.
His gun is up, aimed at me. I think fast. I use the vine as a whip. It lashes out and hits the guard in the face. His finger squeezes the trigger, and I duck. The bullet creates wind as it grazes my hair. The second lash of my whip-vine hits the guard's hand. He drops the gun in pain. Then I rush in before anything else can happen, and wrap the vine around his neck. It closes around his airway, and soon he passes out. I grab the keys and rush to Drew's side just as the simulation fades.
Then I'm on a bus. A man reads a paper that says "MURDERER STILL AT LARGE!"
"Do you know this guy?" the man asks. I know I do know him. I don't know how, and I know it's dangerous to say anything. I see the knife in the man's pocket. But my mother was Candor, and trained me to never tell a lie. I say, "Yes."
He pulls the knife as I step up and pull off the rickety bench seat. Knocking the man unconscious, I take his knife.
The simulation is lifted. I am no longer on a bus. I am in the simulation room. My administrator pulls electrodes from my head and purses her lips.
"That was… interesting. I'll be right back," her expression makes me worried. It is fearful. I watch as she closes the door on her way out. Five agonizingly long minutes pass as I silently scream. What happened? Did I fail?
Trina comes back, shutting the door behind her again, and coming really close. Her eyes are wide, her hands trembling.
"Julia. You're aptitude results were… inconclusive. You-you have… equal aptitude for all five factions," she says, so low I can barely hear her. "You are… Divergent. Feeding the dog the cheese instead of killing it shows Amity. The next simulation proved you Dauntless, Abnegation- for helping your brother- and Erudite- for coming up with a way to save him. The next simulation with the man proves Candor, because you didn't lie… but also… Dauntless, because you pulled up the bench seat…"
Trina trails off. "Even though Divergence is no longer a really big threat to the government, this extent of Divergence is. I am going to erase your results and manually put in the result of Dauntless, because you got that twice. But, Julia." Her voice turns intense, scaring me. "You can NEVER tell ANYONE about this result. EVER in your LIFE."
I nod, and she says, "Go home. You have a lot to think about."
