AN.

This is my first fanfic. I would love your feedback, and constructive criticism is welcomed! Anyways... off with the story!

Chapter 1

I stare out of the side window of the car. I'm not used to long car rides; we've only been driving for about three hours, but I could swear we'd been driving for about 10. I usually didn't mind car trips, but we were driving through absolute nothing. We hadn't seen another car in at least fifteen minutes, and there weren't any trees, signs, or anything! Just a completely empty Nevada desert.

For my whole life, I had lived in Phoenix. Phoenix was where my life (not that I really had one) was. I had a few friends, (few meaning Susan) and a great school. Now we were moving to Los Angeles.

"Beatrice, could you please pass me my water bottle?" My brother, Caleb, says. Caleb and I are exact opposites. He's the one that gets good grades, I'm the one that gets bad grades. He's the one that my dad likes, I'm the one that my dad doesn't like. He's the nerdy one, I'm the anything but nerdy one.

I sigh and pass him back his water bottle, then return my attention to the barren desert we're passing through. This is going to be a long road trip.


I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock going off. I groan, slamming my hand on the off button, and slowly get up out of bed.

We've been in Los Angeles for a week now, and I still haven't made any friends. Of course Caleb has found himself a group of nerds like himself. Today is the first day of school.

My parents enrolled Caleb and I in a private school. I don't know much about it, except that it's expensive, and that it's way different than other schools. I also know that we stay on campus during the weekends, and only visit home one weekend per month.

After I've showered and gotten ready, I head downstairs for breakfast. I inhale the wonderful scent of bacon. Yum. I take a seat between my father and Caleb.

"Are you ready for school today, Beatrice?" My mom asks me.

Caleb and I are not supposed to talk at all at the dining table unless one of our parents addresses us. "Yeah," I reply between two mouthfuls of scrambled eggs. My mom asks Caleb the same question, but I tune them out. I know that I'm certainly not ready for the first day of school. Usually I have Susan with me to start off new years, but now I have no friends at all. I'm really nervous because I'll also have to find somebody to bunk with, and I'm not at all good at making friends.

My mother and father talk while Caleb and I listen politely. Well, at least Caleb listens politely, I pretty much just tune them all out. When I'm finished with my scrambled eggs and bacon, I carry my plate and set it in the kitchen sink. Then, I go back upstairs to grab my backpack.

"Have fun today, Beatrice," my mother says to me. I flash her a smile, but when she's not listening mumble "not likely."

Caleb and I have to wait in front of our house for about three minutes before the bus arrives. Caleb gets on and immediately sits down by a bunch of nerdy looking boys. I look around for an empty seat, but there isn't one, so I sit down next to a girl with dark skin and hair. She introduces herself as Christina.

"I'm Tris," I tell her.

"Are you new here?" She asks.

"Yeah."

She nods. "Well, I'm looking for someone to bunk with, do you want to share a room?"

I'm a little shocked. I just met her, and she wants to bunk with me? But instead of voicing my shock, I just say, "Yeah, thanks!"

"What grade are you in?" She asks. I tell her I'm a sophomore, and she says that she's one too. "Do you know how this school works?"

"No," I tell her. "I haven't heard a thing except that we stay for the weekends and that it's a lot different than other schools."

"Well, we get to choose between 5 different factions," she explains. "Dauntless, the brave, Abnegation, the selfless, Erudite, the knowledgeable, Candor, the truthful, and Amity, the kind and peaceful. Your faction is basically your family. You have classes with the rest of your faction, and you do activities with the rest of your faction. The Dauntless does sports, Erudite does chess and computer clubs and stuff like that, Candor does band and photography, Amity does choir and orchestra, and Abnegation does Student Council."

I nod, absorbing the information. I can see why people say this school is different. "What faction are you going to be in?" I ask Christina.

"Well, my mom and dad want me to be in Candor, but I want to be Dauntless!" She says.

I nod. I know that my parents would want me in Abnegation, but I don't know what I'm going to do. I know Caleb would probably choose Erudite or Abnegation.

The bus pulls up to the school, and all of us get off the bus. The school looks awesome! There is a big building, probably for meetings, assemblies, and the cafeteria. Then there's another big (but not quite as big) building off to the left that would probably be for classes. Then come the sports fields, tennis and basketball courts, and everything! Last is another big building that I assume are the student dorms. Christina and I follow the crowd of students into the first building, and we take seats in a large gym that they are using for an assembly.

A woman that looks to be about in her thirties walks towards the front of the gym with a microphone in her hand. "Welcome to Faction High!" She says enthusiastically. "Most of you know how the system works here, but for the newcomers, I'll explain.

"Here in Faction High, you get to choose between 5 factions. The first faction is Erudite. The Erudite believe in knowledge. In Erudite, you can find yourself a friend who is responsible, nice, and respectful. I, Jeanine Mathews, am the head of the Erudite faction.

"The next faction is Abnegation. The Abnegation believe in selfness. They try to be selfless in everything they do, and helping others comes before helping themselves. The student council is made up of Abnegation members. The head of the Abnegation is Mr. Marcus Eaton.

"The next faction is Candor. The Candor believe in being truthful and honest in everything they do. The Candor are outgoing and not afraid to express their feelings about someone else, whether they're negative or positive. The head of the Candor is Mr. Jack Kang.

"The next faction is Amity. The Amity believe in being peaceful and nice. Amity are fun people to be around, and they can make friends with anybody. The head of the Amity faction is Ms. Johana Reyes.

"Our last faction is Dauntless. The Dauntless believe in standing up for one another. The Dauntless sometimes do things that other people would be afraid to do. Our sports teams are made up of Dauntless people. The head of the Dauntless faction is Mr. Eric Smith.

"If everyone would please make their way to the dormitories, that would be great. A representative from each Faction will be there, and there you can pick what faction you will be in and who you will bunk with. Please remember that your roommate has to be in the same faction as you!"

Everyone files out of the gym and walks down a sidewalk to the dormitories. I still can't decide what faction I'm going to be in. I want to be in Dauntless with Christina, but I also kind of want to be in Abnegation.

I follow Christina. There are seniors standing around, helping new students to find their faction representative. Christina and I walk up to a senior with a lip piercing, and black greasy hair.

"Hi, I'm Eric, what faction are you thinking about joining?" he sounds bored.

Christina says, "I want to be in Dauntless." Eric points down a hallway, and Christina walks down it, not even looking back.

"What about you?" he asks me.

"Um..." I say. "I haven't quite made my choice yet."

I think that this is a harmless comment, but apparently I'm wrong, because Eric grabs me by the shoulders and looks at me right in the eye. "Listen. You choose one faction now, or else I will have the principal make sure that you're expelled."

I think that he's overreacting a bit, but I just make my choice anyway. "Um... Dauntless then," I say.

He pushes me down the same hallway that Christina went down. "Now go!" he yells at me, and I'm startled so I start running down the hallway.

I finally find Christina and a group of other sophomores standing around a tall, muscular guy. Without turning to us, he says, "Follow me," and leads us down a series of hallways until we reach the Dauntless dormitories.

"My name is Four, and I'm a Dauntless Senior." Christina sniggers a little bit about his name, but doesn't say anything. "Please find a roommate and wait until I get you assigned a room." Two boys walk up to him, and Four shows them their apartment. Then, he turns to Christina, and leads us to an apartment next door to the two boys.

"Here's a key for each of you," he says, dropping a key into each of our hands. "For now, you can get settled, but in about thirty minutes, the Dauntless all need to go and get their schedules."

He's about to walk away, but for a split second, our eyes meet. And I can't help but stare at his deep, blue eyes.

AN.

I hope you guys liked it! I'm hoping to be able to update maybe once every one or two weeks. I'm really busy right now, or I would update more. Please R&R!

-Jess