Author's Note: This story is set in modern times at an intensive athletic boarding school, Dauntless. The characters were pulled from Divergent (when, in my opinion, they were the most likable), before anyone died. This is another one of those 'fluffy' high school stories, but, at the same time, I hope to make it more meaningful. The POV will change throughout the story, but I will always label each section, so never fear! I'm a stickler for grammar and spelling, but some things might have slipped by; I apologize in advance :)

Now, without further ado (cue the fanfare), I present...the prologue (yes, you read that correctly)!

Tobias's POV

2 years ago...

Two hundred seventy-three tiles line the floor of the room. Inside, there are no windows, two flickering lightbulbs, eighteen cobwebs of various sizes, and one thousand five hundred sixty four textbooks. I would know, I've counted. This is the cell in which I have spent the majority of my life. I'm told it is for my own good. For thirty brief minutes of freedom each day, I am allowed out into the rest of the house. The other time I spend studying in my room. I do not know what Father intends for me, nor do I care to ask. All that I understand is that ever since Mother mysteriously vanished, his mental state has been slowly deteriorating. In order to avoid his wrath, I do what I am told. I accept that my door is forever locked from the outside and that I must never venture outside of the 'safety' of our house. But what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

The burst of fresh air that blows into the room as I push aside my bookshelf to reveal the hole in the wall feels particularly crisp this morning. Perhaps it is due to the culmination of months of anticipation, or perhaps I am finally going insane, but as I lace up my sneakers and climb out for my daily run, I feel invigorated and anxious at the same time. The rhythm created by the sound of my sneakers hitting the beaten path brings a sense of familiarity and comfort. Today is the day my letter from Dauntless arrives—the letter that determines the outcome of the rest of my life; the letter that Father must never know about. I applied to the elite boarding school in secret months ago and am just now feeling a pang of guilt—Mother always said that to run away from one's fears was to be eternally selfish—but the feeling quickly fades as I make my way around the final bend in the trail and head towards our mailbox. I find that my hands are shaking. Inside lays a single envelope, bent at the edges from being handled too roughly and stamped with a faded image of Dauntless's insignia, a lone black flame, but, nevertheless, the entire package appears formidable in my eyes.

Slowly, uncertainly, I open the envelope and read the words on the paper:

Dear Mr. Eaton,

We are pleased to offer you a place at our globally ranked school in conjunction with a full athletic scholarship…

The rest of the words blur as a small smile spreads across my face. I may be selfish, but for the first time in my life, I am free.

A/N: I realize that was probably a little intense and I most likely made Tobias seem like a psycho, but I promise you my writing style changes in the main storyline (with innocent Tris narrating). On another note, what did you guys think? I know that ideas that seem great in my head come out a lot differently in writing. So, questions? Comments? Recommendations?

Thanks for reading!