Ash's POV
I go into my mom's room with Amy expecting her to be sleeping, singing, or reading but today, I find her crying. What? Mom never cries. There's a black box on the floor. Pictures are scattered everywhere. I read the box, it's labelled Fourtris/10. What the hell?
"Mom?" I ask, my voice shaking. Her head snaps up. Her eyes are red and puffy and she's sniffling. She attempts to pick up the pictures and put them back in the box. We help her and we put them back in. Amy nudges me and I see she's holding 2 photos. She and a guy are kissing in one and she is laughing with the same guy and her head is resting in his lap in another. I take the one where they're laughing and I take the one where they're kissing. Mom looks up at me, wiping away the tears. "What happened?"
"Oh Ash, Amy, I never wanted you to see me like this." She sighs. "I guess it's time you found out."
"Found out what?" Amara ask.
"This is about your father and the factions." Mom says.
"You've told me stories about the factions. I always thought they were fake." I say.
"They're real honey. We're Dauntless." Mom tells us.
"I've always liked Dauntless the best." Amy and I tell her in unison. We share a little laugh.
"My mom and dad are Abnegation and my brother is Erudite." Mom says.
"Wow, Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. Completely different factions." Amy states.
"You know how we live in New York? Well, the factions are in Chicago." Mom says.
"Chicago? Is that why it's against the law to go to Chicago and there's a big dome with a giant fence there?" I ask
"Yes. Your father, Tobias, cheated on me 11 years ago so I escaped by having Robert, an old friend from Abnegation in Amity, sneak me out in a truck. It was really dangerous but I had to leave." Mom explains.
"Wait...but we're 12 years old. Mom, when he cheated on you were you pregnant with us?" I ask.
"...yes." Mom responds.
"Does he know about us?" Amy asks.
"...no." Mom answers.
"Can you tell us some stories about you guys?" I ask.
"Hah, yeah. Well, where do I begin?" She starts telling me about Dauntless initiation and how he was her instructor. He goes by Four and only she-we know his real name. They were engaged but they weren't married yet when he cheated and she was pregnant. Our grandparents are Natalie and Andrew Prior, we have an Uncle Caleb, and her name is Beatrice Elizabeth Prior while I am Ashlyn Ella Prior Amy is Amara Amelia Prior-both meant to be Eaton. Our godmother is Christina Kravitz-probably Christina Anderson now because she was dating Will Anderson when mom left. Our godfather is Uriah Pedrad who is probably married to Marlene Andrews-maybe Pedrad-now. We're learning so much it's over whelming. Mostly our mom and dad's relationship.
"Mom?" Amy asks. "Can we visit the Dauntless compound?"
"It's gonna be really hard to come back in." She sighs. "But I guess, I can give David a call and have him let us back in. But I have to warn you, once we go in, there's no going back...ever. We'd be living there from now on."
"Is that a no or...?" Amy trails off.
"It's a yes, start packing your things, I'll give David a call and I'll get you 2 books to read about Dauntless." Mom tells us. We squeal and head off to our rooms to start packing. My life is gonna be 100% more exciting now!
We just got off the plane which was super boring. The Dauntless book made Dauntless sound so fun, it made me just wanna get there faster. Mom laughed. Amy and I were so impatient and she told us that we were truly Dauntless because when we get impatient we start swearing. I like this side of mom because she's more loose. She lets us curse and she's more like a cool friend now. Dauntless is gonna be awesome. When we get there a guy named Max gives us keys to an apartment. We unpack and get settled in. Apparently she was a leader before she left so they gave us a big apartment though she told Max she now wants to be a tattooist with someone named Tori. At around 2, mom takes us to someone named Tori. She says we're allowed to get tattoos and piercings now that we're Dauntless. Just not in weird places and not too big. Sweet! Amy and I get our ears pierced and we get matching tattoos. Because Amy and I are best friends, we get an "A" on each side of an infinity symbol. Mom smiles at us.
"I trust you 2 won't get into too much trouble." Mom says before handing us each a pocket knife. "Stick em' in your boots and go to the cafeteria. If you get lost ask for Christina, Will, Uriah, Zeke, Shauna, Marlene, or Lynn and they'll help ya. Imma do some work with Tori."
"Seriously?!" Amy asks, shocked.
"You're letting us go off by ourselves?!" I ask, equally shocked. Mom nods, smiling.
"Sweet!" Amy and I say in unison before dashing off. We didn't really focus on the directions part of the book so, of course, we need help. We see a tall girl with tan skin and short dark hair. She has friendly brown, almost black, eyes and looks nice so we go up to her.
"Excuse me, we're lost. We need to get to the cafeteria, do you know a Christina?" I ask.
"Uh...that's me, why?" She asks.
"Are you Christina Kravitz?" Amy asks.
"Well yeah, I'm Christina Kravitz." She says. "What do you need?"
"Our mother is Tris Prior." I tell her. Christina's eyes light up and she drags us to where I assume the cafeteria is. She stops at a table with 3 girls and 4 guys.
"Guys!" Christina exclaims. "You'll never guess who these 2 are! Girls, these are my friends. My fiance, Will, and my friends, Uriah, Zeke, Four, Marlene, Shauna, and Lynn."
"I'm Ashlyn Ella, but you can call me Ash." I say.
"I'm her twin sister, Amara Amelia, but you can call me Amy," my best friend/twin sister says.
"Are you gonna say your last names or...?" Uriah asks.
"Well, my sister and I are a little offended at that comment." Amy says.
"Why? Should we know you?" Will asks.
"No, but you should see a little of out mom in us." I say. It's true, we both look like our mom in some way. Amara has long brown hair but she has mom's blue-grey eyes and mom's small mouth. I have mom's long dirty blonde hair and dark blue eyes. Amara and I both have hooked noses and small mouths.
"You guys look nothing alike though!" Zeke exclaims.
"Wait...you both have long hair, hooked noses, and small mouths. Small mouths...long hair." Marlene says.
"Who are your parents and what's your last name for god sakes!?" Lynn asks.
"Wait...are your...is your...is your mother-" Amy cut off a stuttering Shauna.
"Our mother is Tris Prior and our father is Four. Mom told us not to say his real name." Amy admits. Four's head snaps up and his eyes are wide. Everyone at the table's mouths are dropped. We hear our names being called from across the cafeteria.
"Ash! Amy! Come on, I wanna show you guys-" mom stops dead in her tracks. She's not looking at us anymore. She's looking at Four/Tobias/dad. I thought mom would be happy but she doesn't come closer. She runs. She runs so fast dad can barely say mom's name before she's out the door.
