Jump

It all started with a choice. A choice either to use all my will to be brave and go first, or to shrink away and wait until another person or two gathered enough guts to do it. That would've been easier; It probably would've felt safer. But that wouldn't be me. Or at least, who I chose to become.

I chose to jump.

Being the first initiate to jump off of that building, especially as a selfless Abnegation transfer, garnished me a lot of respect. From then throughout the rest of initiation, I knew I had to have my guard up. With any success comes twice the amount of negativity, and sure enough, it was present. But it's almost over, thankfully. A week from now, all of the initiates get their final rankings. The top ten become full-fledged Dauntless, while the others become factionless. I'm pretty sure I'll at least get in; I'm just worried about who else will. There are my friends, Christina and Will, who are transfers, like me. Christina's from Candor, the blunt, honesty faction, and she has the smart mouth and attitude to show for it. She has short, dark hair with cocoa skin. Very pretty. She's also my best friend. Will is from Erudite, the faction full of brainiacs and intellectuals. Just like them, he's a genius. Though training to be Dauntless, he still wears those bulky glasses the rest of them wear. And there are others, like Peter, Molly, and Drew. All from Candor and all determined to make initiation hell for me. Molly is a crooked-toothed, slow, poor excuse for a girl, and Drew is a soft-spoken, yet still annoying, follower. Peter is the ringleader. Unlike his minions, Peter has a mind of his own, but he's cruel, irritating, downright villainous... I could go on and on. I just hope that none of them actually make it through. I guess we'll see.

"Morning, Tris," I hear Christina enter the dormitory from behind me. Speak of the devil. I'm in front of the mirror putting on some eyeliner. I look over to her and I see Will follow in behind her. What a surprise. I think that they're together.

"Hey guys," I greet them, going back to what I was doing.

"Why weren't you at breakfast?" Will asks.

"Wasn't hungry," I mutter, finishing my left eye.

"Come on, Stiff. Don't tell me you skipped breakfast just to avoid Peter and his crew." Christina chides. "Stiff" is slang for anyone from Abnegation.

I roll my eyes. "Please. I couldn't care less about whatever garbage comes out of their mouths."

We all went through a fear landscape for the first time yesterday. It belonged to one of the instructors, Lauren. She works with the Dauntless-born initiates. The fear landscape is a simulation. Like other simulations, it makes you hallucinate and think that whatever you're encountering is real. The fear landscape basically provides you an experience of your greatest fears and you either have to overcome them or find your way around them to move through it. The difference with me and other faction members is that I can manipulate the fear landscape, and other simulations, as well. My mind knows that they're not real. I found that out during my aptitude test, when I was supposed to determine which faction I had an aptitude for. I had an aptitude for three. These factors make me something called Divergent. I'm still not completely sure what it means, but I know that it's powerful enough to have to be made a secret. It makes me feel special because I stand out in a particular way. I'm not normal.

Anyway, during my turn in the fear landscape, something happened. Let's just say that I lost control, to a certain point where I, kind of, sort of, pretty much failed. And because people here already noted my success in other simulations, I didn't want to be ridiculed for this one act of weakness by the other initiates, especially Peter and his stupid cronies. So I didn't go to breakfast. But that was only part of the reason. The other reason was that I simply wasn't hungry.

"Well, whatever the case is," Will speaks, "I snagged you a muffin. Even if you aren't now, you may be hungry later."

I smile at him. "Aww, thanks Will."

He smiles back. "Well, I'm going back down for seconds. Later, Tris." He says in a softer voice, "Bye, Christina."

"Bye Will," She replies just as gently. They exchange a look and he exits the room.

As soon as he's gone, I run and sit down on the bed with her. "So, you and Will.."

I swear I see a hint of a blush in her cheeks before she says, "Is it really that obvious?"

I give her a wide cheeky smile before answering. "Yes, yes it is!"

She talks all about how it started, how sweet he is, how he treats her like a lady. For a moment, I'm almost jealous, before I remember that I'm not into having a relationship. But I have to admit, I like it on them. I wish them all of the happiness in the world, I guess.

"So, what about you?" She asks suddenly.

"What about me?" I reply.

"You don't admiiiire anyone?" She asks suggestively.

I frown. "Um, no. I'm good."

"C'mon, no one? What about Fooour?"

I give her a look and she laughs. "What? It's a valid question. He's attractive."

"Yeah, sure. That doesn't mean I'm interested." I wait a beat. "Plus, he acts strange."

"Strange how?"

"He always looks irritated, or anxious. And he doesn't speak, he just stares at you. As if he always wants to say something, but he can't find the words."

Christina frowns. "Hmm. I never got that from him. To me, he just looks serious. But in a cool, calm way."

I don't agree with that at all. Maybe it's just me.

Our instructor, the one who works with the faction transfers, is Four. I met him when I fell into the net after I jumped off of the building, my first act as Dauntless. At first, he didn't say anything; he just sort of gazed at me, too long, before I had to break the silence.

"Hi?" I sort of greet him.

"H-Hey," He starts, stuttering. I'm not sure why. "Welcome to Dauntless."

I nod. He finally begins to help me out of the net. He's still staring. I study his dark t-shirt, toned muscles, numerous tattoos, chiseled features, and dark, deep blue eyes. They remind me of deep water and I feel like if I look too long, I could get lost in the waves. But he looks like he'd have a cool demeanor, so I don't know why he seems out of it now.

"..Thanks," I say. I smirk at him before walking away.

Four is about a foot taller than me and has larger muscles and darker hair and more tattoos. And for one, he's much more attractive than I am. But he's also strange. Very strange. What kind of a name is Four? His kind of mysterious is the not the appealing kind. It's just... weird. Especially since he acts like that the most around me. Every time I'm around him, he either looks irritated or anxious. I can't find any words to say to him. The only time he acted cool and calm was when he was first getting me used to the simulations. He also somehow knew that I was Divergent. But other than that time, he's acted weird around me. And one way or another, I'll find out why.

"Well, whatever. Enough about him," Christina gets up, "I'm going to go join Will in the cafeteria. You want to come?"

"Nah. I'm going to go meet up with Uriah and the Dauntless-borns. They wouldn't tell me where we're going, but it's supposed to be really cool." I start to put on my jacket.

"Oh," Her face darkens a little bit. "Well, alright. Have fun."

"Thanks," I give her a small smile. She leaves the room. I look in the mirror once more and decide to throw my hair into a messy bun. I study my heavy eyeliner and the birds flying across my collarbone. I smirk at my reflection and head out. When I reach the outside of the building, I start toward the Pit. I look around me. All of the buildings, the people and their exotic appearances, all of the fire I feel emanating from their personalities. I see some zip lining from the Hancock building, and I see some sprinting and jumping onto oncoming trains. I see kids with multicolored hair chasing each other around the chasm, looks of pure excitement on their faces. This will all be my life, the Dauntless way of life. The bravery, the thrill-seeking, the heart-pounding effects of it all are just apart of an average day.

I can't wait to embrace it.