I'm probably going to regret this later, but it's okay.

See, I've just finished reading Divergent and I'm so obsessed with everything, and I really want to write fanfiction. But I don't want to write fanfic until I'm done reading all three books, but I've requested them at the local library and it'll take forever for it to come, so I can't expect to read it for another 2 weeks, which I'll surely die of temptation.

So here's the start of what will be a kind of long story. I don't exactly know where it's going, or if I'll really actually complete it. But it's basically just a way for me to fangirl and write even without reading Insurgent and Allegiant yet.

Enjoy :)

And disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the characters and kinda the plot. I know it might sound a lot like what happened to Tris in Divergent, but I did my best to keep it all… less similar? Yeah so, I don't own anything but the characters :)

People say the Choosing Ceremony doesn't change a thing about you. They say it could change your lifestyle, but it doesn't change you.

They're wrong, and I'm living proof of that (and coming from a Dauntless, "living" is something to be rather proud of, thank you very much).

This is how I went against the odds and won. This is my story.

I walk with my family. We're all dressed in red and yellow. I am almost sure it will stay that way.

It's no surprise to me that for the aptitude test, I got Amity. I've been in Amity all my life. I like being nice to others. I'm content with singing songs and picking fruit. Most of the time.

Yeah, which would explain why I'm thinking of joining a different faction.

My family consists of my father, mother, and myself. My older brother… he might be somewhere here. But if he is, we can't really talk to him. He's in Abnegation now.

As we reach the spot where we must part, my mother pats my dark hair, making sure every strand is neatly hanging down. "Now, Sophia," she says, her blue eyes shining at me with kindness, "We love you, no matter what you choose."

My father, who is a foot taller than me, stoops and holds both of my hands in his rough ones. "Soph, your mother's right. Of course, we'll miss you if you change factions, but…" His voice sounds a little sad, but proud at the same time. "It's your choice."

This makes me feel even worse, and I rush to stop them. "No, Mom, Dad. Don't worry. I won't leave you." But the words feel like a lie.

My dad stands up straight and tousles my hair, causing my mother to gasp and comb through the thick locks with her fingers. "It's okay if you do, Soph. Make us proud."

They both give me hugs, and I wave to them as they go and stand with the other parents. The smile is taken off my face, though, when I look at the front of the room. The soil. The water. The stones. The glass. The coals.

Which one?

Typically, people choose either the faction they are born in, or the faction they get on the aptitude test. In fact, I'm fairly certain that bad things tend to happen to the people who choose factions they are not meant for. "Bad", meaning factionless.

There's a part near Amity where the factionless live. Sometimes, I'm forced to walk past them. Their lives are terrible. They're treated horribly, with little clothes, and food so scarce that their bones all show. And their eyes…. well, honestly, I think they'd be better off dead than in this state.

But even with the idea of becoming factionless, the thought of spending the rest of my life in Amity already sparks a tinge of regret and reluctance in me. I just want to do… something more.

The ceremony starts. I can barely hear the speaker, a representative from Candor, make the regular announcements and formalities. And before I know it, Angelina Avalos from my faction is being called up. She chooses Amity, and from the sidelines, her parents smile.

I wonder if my parents will smile even if I pick Abnegation or something.

Theo Cannestra is the first to pick a different faction - Candor. I watch as he casts a glance to his family, who are looking at him sadly, forlorn smiles on their faces.

I glance back at the blood on the glass, and immediately decide I can't be in Candor. I don't lie all the time, but I don't tell the truth all the time either.

More people pass. A girl I don't really know chooses Abnegation. There's a boy who goes to Erudite. But other than that, everyone sticks with Amity.

And then, it's my name. "Sophia Peterson."

I walk up to the stage. My hands are shaking by my sides. Perhaps that means I can't be Dauntless.

I take my place in front of the five bowls. Not the glass. I decide to take out the water, too. I don't think I'm particularly clever enough for Erudite.

The man hands me a blade. I gently cut my palm. The blood swells up in beads of red, and I have to make a decision.

I'm not Candor. I'm not Erudite. I don't think I can be Abnegation. It's just Dauntless and Amity left, and I think I know which one I'm going to choose, because I would have to be brave to choose Dauntless, and I don't think I'm brave. Plus, I've never done that well in any sort of physical education, and you need to be fit to be Dauntless.

No, I think I must choose Amity.

And coincidentally, that's when I thrust my hand over the burning coals, and the blood drips, sizzling on the red-hot embers.

Maybe I am not supposed to be Dauntless. Maybe I'm not supposed to be brave.

But today, I am, and maybe that might just be enough.

My red and yellow clothes stand out in the group of Dauntless initiates. Most of them wear the black of the Dauntless-born. Some wear the white and black of the Candor. Few wear the scholarly blue of the Erudite. A couple are dressed in Abnegation gray. I am the only one who wears the red and yellow of Amity.

After the ceremony, I got to have the barest glimpse of my mother and father. They were both smiling at me proudly, but my mother was also wiping her eyes. I feel guilty for leaving them, but at the same time, I'm completely excited to see what's in store for me.

"What are we doing?" an Erudite transfer hisses out as we run up the stairs. The task tires me out, but I don't stop running. I don't want to be left behind.

A Dauntless-born initiate turns his head to the Erudite boy, a mischievous smirk on his face. "We're jumping on trains," he says, as if it's the most normal thing in the world.

I've watched the Dauntless jump off and on the trains before, many times. The trains go at full speed, never stopping, and the Dauntless hop on and off like… like they're bunnies or something.

Our group bursts out the doors into open air. The wind whips my dark brown hair to the side, and I impatiently whip it up into a ponytail. I suppose that's why I can't be in Amity anymore. I'm impatient.

Everyone stops running when we get to the edge of the train tracks. I can hear the whistle blow. It is close. I try to peer over people's shoulders for a first look at the train, but I find I am much too short.

Not more than fifteen seconds later, the train barrels around the corner, its cars chasing after it. The Dauntless members are the first to whoop and leap onto the train. The Dauntless-born initiates are next, their expressions gleeful. Finally, it's just the transfers.

"We have to jump?" says a boy from Candor. He looks half-excited, half-terrified.

Nobody answers him, but two other boys from Erudite daringly rush forward and grab onto a train car's handles as it passes by. One of them nearly slips, but catches himself just in time and hauls himself into the car.

Now there's ten of us left. A girl from Abnegation surges forward and successfully makes her way onto the train. Three from Candor quickly follow. They all make it.

Six of us. The train cars are coming to an end.

I look at the others, who seem to be just as scared as I am.

"I'm not doing it," says the boy from Abnegation.

"Me neither," nods a girl from Erudite. She looks positively green in the face.

I bite my lip. Everything screams to follow them. Better factionless than dead, right?

But then I think about the gaunt, hollow faces of the factionless. And suddenly, death is a little more appealing.

I turn to the remaining redhead Candor, a Candor girl, and an Erudite girl. "Are you coming?"

My voice is shaky, and I think my legs are wobbling, but I whip around, and without thinking, start running alongside the train. At first I panic, because I'm not fast enough to keep up, but when I see the door of a car approaching, I take a grand leap in the air and grasp for the metal handle.

My left hand touches thin air, but my right hand closes in on cold metal. My arms are shaking and I think I might fly off, when strong hands from inside the car reach my arms and yanks me inside the car. I fall and crumple to the floor, effectively crushing my savior.

"Sorry," I gasp out, trying to get the feeling back in my arms. I quickly get up and offer my hand to the boy I have just sat on.

He doesn't take it. Instead, he stands up by himself, and I realize he's not a transfer; he's already wearing Dauntless black. I see the open door behind him leading to the rest of the train, and conclude he's a Dauntless-born initiate.

He looks at me with light blue eyes that stand out against his black hair. When he speaks, it's sort of condescending. "Don't expect help next time."

The boy turns and walks back through the door connecting the train cars, and shuts it behind him. I am the only one in this particular car when I hear a brilliant scream from outside.

Rushing to the door, I see that the redhead Candor has befallen the same fate as I did. He's in the car behind mine, and holding on for dear life.

"Hang on!" I call, as if he'll let go.

For a brief moment, I consider running for the Dauntless boy's help. But something tells me that he only helped me because he happened to be in the right place at the right time. I am by myself, now.

I notice a door inside my train connecting to her car. I rush over and yank the wood door open, to find that instead of a nice little path to the next car, like the one the boy had walked through, this happens to be where hinges and metal bars connect our cars. To get to the other car, I must jump over the space of six feet and land on the other side. The tracks fly beneath me and I want to barf.

The boy's screams hit my ears again.

I can't afford to think. I leap and find my feet planted on the other side. The wind whips my shorter hairs all over my face as I thrust the door open and rush into this car.

I run over to the opening, where the boy's screams pierces my thoughts. I peer out and see his face, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. His knuckles are white, clamped down on the metal handle.

"I'll help!" I yell wildly out to him, even though I have no idea if I have the strength to haul him in. I don't think I do.

He gives the barest of nods, and I grab his arms like the other boy did to me. Even though I don't even do anything else, the boy suddenly finds the energy to survive. He catapults himself towards the opening of the car, making us both fall towards the ground.

We both breathe heavily for a moment. Once we've caught our breaths, we get up. I groan as I sit up, rubbing my neck.

"Are you okay?" I groggily ask the boy.

He flashes a smile. All fear is gone from his face, replaced by a wild, exhilarated look. "Perfect," he declares. "You?"

"I've been better."

He extends a hand. "I'm Dean."

I shake it. "Sophia."

We both stay on the floor, watching the landscape pass by.

Dean speaks up. "This is one of the first. An Amity getting Dauntless?" He grins. "You must be something special."

I raise my eyebrows and laugh. "No, just jealous."

"Jealous? Of what?" Dean snorts. "Nearly killing yourself?"

I shake my head. "Of adventure."

Dean's face turns solemn as he nods in agreement. "I see what you mean."

I'm about to reply, when we both hear a commotion from the earlier compartments. We peer out the door to see people jumping out of the train, onto a rooftop. We're high up. Very high up. There's a large gap between the train and the rooftop. I think I'm going to die.

"We have to jump!" I scream, more for myself than anything.

The roof gets closer. My heart is pounding so hard I think it might stop.

"On three?" Dean shouts over the wind. I want to say no, but the faces of the factionless pops into my head again.

I force myself to nod, and out of instinct, take his hand. Before I lose all sense of courage, I shout out, "One… two… three!"

We take a flying leap out of the car. For a brief moment, I think that we're going to fall, because I feel us dropping and we're not above the roof yet.

But then we land on the gravel and stumble forwards. Our hands hit the hard roof, and we crawl further away from the ledge.

Both of us are breathing heavily. I have to pry my fingers from Dean's left hand, because I was clenching so hard.

"You nearly cut off my circulation," Dean jokes, but he looks nauseous.

I nod, and push myself off the ground. I watch as a few other transfers jump from their cars onto the roof. All of them make it.

Before I even have time to count heads to see who's still here, a man with dark brown hair calls out, "Everyone, pay attention here!"

He scans the crowd. His voice is strict, but his eyes are kind. "Welcome. I am Felix, one of the Dauntless initiate supervisors. Congratulations to you new initiates, as you have all passed the easy part of initiation today." He pauses. "We are now at the entrance of Dauntless headquarters."

A Candor boy calls out, "I don't see anything, where is it?"

Felix fixes him with a stare. "Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not here." He turns around and looks down the side of the building. Looking back to us, he points down and shouts, "This is our entrance! You must prove yourself worthy by jumping down! Transfers get the honor of going first."

He gives a slow, slightly daunting smile. "Any volunteers?"

I want to volunteer, I do. In Amity, when we read stories to each other at night, the heroes were always the one who did things first. Who weren't afraid. I want to say I'm one of them, which is why my legs almost start moving.

But fear of what may be down there keeps me from continuing. I still my limbs. I can't. I was born to frolick in meadows, not jump off buildings.

"I'll go." I'm surprised to hear Dean's voice. It's nervous, but it's also determined.

"That's the spirit," Felix says, but he doesn't really sound enthusiastic. More… mildly interested.

Dean walks to the edge of the building. All of us transfers inch forward so we can see what's over the ledge.

I nearly scream. Seven stories down is a huge, gaping hole in the ground. It's black. I can't see anything in it. Maybe there's skeletons down there, of people who jumped.

A few feet away, Dean takes a deep breath, and finds me in the crowd. He gives a shaky smile. Closes his eyes. And jumps.

We can all hear his yelps as he plummets down, but it gets further and further away, until we can't hear it anymore. There's some murmurs through the crowd, a few laughs, and someone claps and cheers.

Felix looks down. "Well, kudos to him for going first, I suppose," he sighs. "Alright. Who's next?"

The transfers slowly volunteer to go, one after another, and with each person, my fear increases. It's the Erudite girl that goes next. Another Candor boy, then a Candor girl, and on and on, until it's just me and the brunette Abnegation girl left. She looks terrified. I'm terrified.

"You want to go?" I ask, but it's more of a plea for her to go.

She hesitates, and I can see it in her gray eyes: She doesn't want to.

I open my mouth, ready to say I'm going next, but then I glance towards the hole again. The sight of the pit fills me with dread, and a sick feeling settles in my stomach. I can't do this. I've never particularly liked heights. Why should I start now?

"Hurry it up and choose," Felix says with a hint of impatience.

Before I can say anything, the Abnegation girl slowly walks to the edge of the building, and without even stopping, drops herself off. She's a blur of gray and a frequency of screams, and then she's gone like the rest of them.

I'm the last transfer initiate.

"Go on," Felix says, gesturing to the edge.

I take a deep breath and walk to the side. I try not to look down, but I feel the tingles in my toes already.

Glancing behind me, I somehow lock eyes with the boy on the train. He's looking at me with a slight sneer on his lips. Somehow, this makes me very angry, and I temporarily forget my fear of heights, forget that I'm plunging to my death.

I just bend my knees and jump.

As I'm falling, I'm aware of the fact that I'm screaming, and that my lungs are plugged and I can't breathe. I'm also aware of the fact that my heart is at my toes and the wind is bringing tears to my eyes.

And when I hit the net, I'm aware of cheering and stomping feet, except the only thing I can say is, "Never again. Never again. Never again."

But as I get pulled out of the black net by a lady with tattoos all over her arms, I start laughing and I think I might start jumping off buildings more often.

How is it so far? Should I keep it going? Tell me what you're thinking :)