Reading Divergent. Chapter 1.Tris: I wake up in a strange room. I see Tobias, Tori, Christina, Will, and Uriah. What's going on?
I see a letter on the floor. It says: A woman named Veronica Roth rote a story about you and your friends. In two months, you will have to finish the three books she wrote. The first one is called Divergent. The second is Insurgent. The third one is Allegiant. Finish these three stories, and they won't come true. Don't, then it will happen. I look around and see everyone is reading their own letter.
I look on the ground and find six cushions and three books on a table. I pick up the first one and open it.
I sit down on one of the cushions. I glance threw and find that it is written from my point of view.
Uriah sees me holding the book and sits down on another cushion. "Start reading it, Tris."
Everyone else sits down and looks at me. I go to the first page and start reading:
"There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair.
"I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blond ring.
"When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can't say the same of myself.
"I sneak a look at my reflection when she isn't paying attention-"
"Why?" Uriah asks. "Why can't you just look at yourself when she's looking?"
"It's considered vain in Abnegation," I answer, and continue:
"-Not for the sake of vanity, but out of curiosity. A lot can happen to a person's appearance in three months. In my reflection, I see a narrow face, wide, round eyes, and a long, thin nose-I still look like a little girl, even though sometime in the last few months I turned sixteen. The other factions celebrate birthdays, but we don't. It would be self-indulgent.
"'There,' she says when she pins the knot in place. Her eyes catch mine in the mirror. It is too late to look away, but instead of scolding me, she smiles at our reflection. I frown a little. Why didn't she reprimand me for staring at myself?
""So today is the day,' she says.
"'Yes,' I reply.
"'Are you nervous?'
"I stare into my own eyes for a moment. Today is the day of the aptitude test that will show me which of the five factions I belong in. And tomorrow, at the Choosing Ceremony, I will decide on a faction; I will decide the rest of my life; I will decide to stay with my family or abandon them.
"'No,' I say. 'The tests don't have to change our choices.'
"'Right.' She smiles. 'Let's go eat breakfast.'
"'Thank you. For cutting my hair.'
"She kisses my cheek and slides the panel over the mirror-"
"Wait, why did you lie to your mother?" Tobias asks.
"Because if I had told her the truth, she would've told me that it's selfish that I was even thinking of leaving them," I say. "Let me continue!"
"I think my mother could be beautiful, in a different world. She has high cheek bones and long eyelashes, and when she lets her hair down at night, it hangs in waves over her shoulders. But she must hide that beauty in Abnegation.
"We walk together to the kitchen. On these mornings when my brother makes breakfast, and my father's hand skims my hair-"
"Wait, what?!" Christina asks. "Why the hell does that happen?"
"I dunno. Stiff ways, I guess," Will says, shrugging his shoulders.
Tobias takes the book from my hands and reads:
"-As he reads the newspaper, and my mother hums as she clears the table-it is on these mornings I feel gultiest for wanting to leave them.
"Then there's a page break," Tobias says.
"Alright, can we go eat?" Uriah asks.
"There's only 5 more pages until the end of the chapter," Tobias says.
"Continue, then!" Tori says, frowning.
"The bus stinks of exhaust. Every time it hits a patch of uneven pavement, it jostles me from side to side, even though I'm gripping the seat to keep myself still.
"My older brother, Caleb, stands in the aisle, holding a railing above his head to keep himself steady. We don't look alike. He has my father's dark hair and hooked nose and my mother's green eyes and dimpled cheeks. When he was younger, that collection of features looked strange, but now it suits him. If he wasn't Abnegation, I'm sure the girls at school would stare at him.
"He also inherited my mother's talent for selflessness. He gave his seat to a surly Candor man on the bus without a second thought.
"The Candor man wears a black suit with a white tie-Candor standard uniform. Their faction values honesty and sees the truth as black and white, so that is what they wear.
"The gaps between the buildings narrow and the roads are smoother as we near the heart of the city. The building, that was once called Sears tower-we call it the Hub- emerges from the fog, a black pillar in the skyline. The bus passes under the elevated tracks. I have never been on a train, though they never stop running and there are tracks everywhere. Only Dauntless ride them.
"Ok, let's go eat really quick, and then we'll get back to this," Tobias says.
We all nod. We go eat, frowning that we'll be reading this for the next two months.