I wake with a snort, followed by laughter, but not from myself. Confused, I look around and see Tobias standing at the end of the bed.
I jump. "God, Tobias!" I say, clutching my chest. "You scared me!"
"That's what I do best," he replies, giggling to himself, "come on, get up, lazy bones!" He says jokingly.
I roll my eyes, and swivel, so that I get out of bed, feet first. Today is Choosing Day. The day that the new initiates come. I have a shower and get dressed in all black; a singlet top with black jeans and worn boots. I race to meet Tobias in the dining hall. I see him with Uriah, Lynn, Marlene, Zeke, Christina and Will. He looks in my direction and smiles. He beckons to me to come over. As I arrive, Tobias stands up and kisses me lightly. As he tries to pull back, I pull his shoulders so that he stays. He doesn't resist, so we stand there, kissing. I stroke the muscles on his arms, and work my way to his back. We stand there what seems like ages, until Zeke and Uriah chorus with a whistle.
After the laughter dies down, I'm blushing like crazy, we start to talk.
"So," Christina starts, "when are they getting here? The newbies, I mean."
"Umm," I try to reply but Tobias interrupts me.
"Half an hour from now, I think. No one's going to the choosing ceremony, I'm guessing?" He looks around at each person's faces, scanning our expressions.
He shrugs.
"I guess it would be better if we didn't, anyway." He adds, "I mean, we have to prepare for them, to have everything ready."
I agree, and it seems like everyone else does as well. I smile as everyone nods almost all in sync. Then I turn my smile to Tobias. He smiles back. I reach out to hold his hands. His and my hands meet and our fingers lace together. I lean over to give him a kiss. He kisses me back. We don't kiss for too long, I can feel other people's eyes burning holes into us. I blush.
"It's time," says Christina, staring awkwardly at her watch.
"Okay." I sigh, shaking myself all over. "I'll see you after, then, I guess." I say to Tobias.
"Yeah." He replies. He isn't at all nervous; he's done this before, unlike me.
"I have to go." I tell him as I get up. "See you!"
He smiles and gives me a peck on the cheek. "See you."
The sun is hot, and I'm standing on the roof of the Dauntless Compound, waiting for the initiates to arrive. I hear a rumbling noise; it must be the train, meaning that the initiates are hear. I stand up taller and try to look tougher. As the train comes in my general direction, people start tossing themselves out of the moving train, some landing fine; the dauntless born initiates, and others landing awkwardly; the transfers. I see a flash of grey on the train, and noticed that there is a smallish abnegation boy hanging onto the door of the train.
I stare at him, as though trying to communicate telepathically, but I know that he won't be able to hear. I see him close his eyes, then leap from the fast-moving carriage, then landing on the gravel surprisingly well. I take another look at him. He has short abnegation styled hair, deep blue eyes, skinny and a frightened but alive look on his face.
I stand up straight again, realising I was slouching quite badly.
"Listen up!" I yell as instructor-like as I could. "Down here is the entrance to Dauntless! But the only way to get there is to jump!" I hear gasps and a few whispers.
"Is there, like, a net down at the bottom or something?" A tall boy dressed in black and white blurts out; Candour.
"Who knows?" I reply with a smile. "But if you don't jump, you're out!"
I hear even more gasps.
"Who's going to go first?" I ask the group.
That's when everyone averts their eyes away from me. I see the abnegation boy looking at me hopefully. I give him a quick smile and a nod, and that's when he volunteers.
"I'll go!" He calls from near the back.
People exchange whispers and looks as he pushes his way to the front of the group, saying sorry if he bumps someone. I pat his back, as though to congratulate him almost, then he climbs up onto the ledge. After a moment, he jumps. No screaming or yelling. Everyone rushes to the ledge to see, but all they can see is the hole in the building.
An Amity girl was the last to jump. After her, I jumped. It is as thrilling as when I had first jumped; the air rushing past your ears, the feeling of weightlessness. I near the bottom, I hit the net. I bounce up and down a few times, then stop.
"Last jumper, Tris!" Tobias calls, jokingly. I smirk as he lifts me to help me off of the net, then sets me on the ground, laughing to himself. "Did you see? There was a boy from Abnegation! He looked so much like you!" I almost yell at him.
"Yes I did." He replies, averting his eyes.
"What's wrong with that?" I ask. "You look like you just saw a ghost!"
He looks back at me. I notice that he has tears building up in his eyes.
"That boy, his name is Joab, and he," he looks around, nervously. "He's my brother."
I stare at him in shock. "What?!" I yell at him. "You didn't tell me you had a brother!"
"Well I didn't for a while, either." He replies, looking guilty. I just stare for what seems like a long time. What does he mean, 'well I didn't for a while, either.'?
"Okay." I say after a while. I just want him to be relaxed; he looks really stressed at the moment. "Let's go have lunch."
"Okay." He replies.
We walk in silence to the dining hall, and sit down at a table with our 'group'; Christina, Will, Uriah, Lynn, Marlene, Zeke and Shauna, who just joined us at the table. Across the Hall, I see Joab with other people; two Erudite, one Candour and one Amity. He seems happy, chatting with his friends. I look away as he glances over his shoulder to look at Tobias. He smiles and turns back to his friends. After about five minutes, they suddenly burst out with laughter, earning themselves a scolding from the tables around them. I smile at the sight of him being happy. Hopefully he likes Dauntless. Maybe he's like me; like Tobias, Divergent.