Christina hurry up, we're gonna be late!" I snap as we run down the stairs. Only three minutes before class starts and she's meandering down the stairs like nothing's
wrong. She looks up at me with an annoyed look, and with a snap of her fingers, Christina and I are in our classrooms with all our school supplies on our desks. It
always scares me, even though she transports us almost everywhere.
"Hey! What did I say about doing that before I'm ready? I could have broken my leg again."
She just ignores me, mumbling something unimportant under her breath. At least we weren't late again. Tris, our protagonist, is always late to class.
"Settle down class, the bell has rung so it is time for you to shut up." I rolled my eyes as Mr. Daunting flies into the room as a bat before transforming back into her
teacher. Christina, as usual, gets all her notes out and starts to take notes as Daunting starts talking. Everyone turns around as Molly walks into the room three minutes
late. Mr. Daunting never says anything though because he doesn't care about her as much as his other students since she never tries and isn't "worth his time." Molly is
the definition of a bad student; she's been absent more than she's been at school, but when she does make an appearance, she never pays attention and always cheats
on her tests so it seems like she's at least a decent student.
"Ok class, pop quiz. You know the drill. Christina, a little help?" With a snap of her fingers everyone is in different seats so no one is sitting to each other.
For anyone who's confused, welcome to The Pit: The School for Misfits. This is a school for children who have powers. We're kind of like the mutants from X-Men except
less cool because we don't have a teacher in a wheelchair and the most exciting thing that's happened here was when a dumpster caught on fire when someone threw a
match in by accident. For example, Christina has powers of teleportation. Before she came to the school she couldn't even teleport a pencil from one spot to the other,
now she can transport a whole classroom of people around the room while taking a test without even looking up. She also happens to be my best friends so I have the
perk of always being at the front of the lunch line; we can go literally anywhere we please in the world or steal whatever we want. Though we have the power to, we
don't because she's is a goody-two-shoes, but when I can convince her we do amazing things. I have the power of suggestion. I can make people do whatever I want by
touching them, and when I really concentrate I don't even need to touch them; my mind becomes that powerful.
Last year, Molly tried to use me for my powers, but Christina helped guide me back to reality after I was arrested. Now I only use my powers when I need to or on
special occasions. Molly's powers are healing. She uses it to abuse drugs because she knows she'll never actually be harmed by them. It's a very bad habit that the
school is trying to break, but Molly is very powerful and pretends to have stopped using because she can get rid of the signs within seconds. She could be using her
powers for good, helping sick people or injured soldiers in battle, but she uses them for her own selfish reasons.
I contemplate using my powers to negate the thoughts of a pop quiz out of Mr. Daunting's head, but Christina pops into my head, her stupid words flowing into my brain
telling me to be a better student. "Tris Prior, please report to the main office. Tris Prior. To the main office." I look up at Mr. Daunting who shuts me out of the room. The
first thing I see as I enter the principal's office is Mr. Coulter's scowling face
"Ms. Prior. Do you know why you're here?" I attempt to lighten the mood with a joke, but he just scowls even more.
"You're here because you're failing two classes. Of course, this is unacceptable behavior and is not tolerated. Until further notice you're not allowed to participate in any
fun activities and you are restricted until further notice. Graduation is in three weeks, you're restricted until then, or until you bring your grades up to a sufficient level."
I contemplate changing his mind since I'm beyond capable, but I know I need to improve my grades in order to graduate high school, so I hold back and listen to what
he has to say.
"Ok, I understand. Is anyone else failing? Or am I the only one." I want him to say Molly's name so she has so suffer with me.
"Yes, a few others. We can't say names because we respect people's privacy here. You can go now." With a flick of the finger I'm shoved out of the door, it slamming in
my face. The teachers have telekinesis to make sure all the students stay in line and don't "try any funny business" as Mr. Daunting puts it.
I'm failing math and physics, Mr. Daunting class and Ms. Gators class. Fun fact, Ms. Gator is a real alligator who can stand on two feet and talk. Christina and I are
roommates so I often ask her for help, which she more or less grants me, but more often than not makes me figure things out on my own. I can honestly say Christina
is the best thing that has happened to me since Sweta, my best friend who moved away from our school after becoming to smart for our school, deeming it below her
and applying to a better school which she got in to. It's an understatement to say she was narcissistic. I still love her though.
"Hey Tris, come over here for a second, would you?" Hearing my name, I turn towards the sound, narrowing my eyes at the sight of Molly.
"What do you want?" She ignores the sharp tone of my voice.
"Are you failing your classes too? I heard you got called into Coulter's office."
"Yeah, math and physics. Same with you?" She nods her head yes. An evil gleam fills her eyes. I know this is going to end bad, nothing that involves Molly ends well.
"We should cheat. With your powers, we could be unstoppable. We could cheat our way out of high school then take over the world!" God she's over dramatic.
Something in my mind itches as her words flow through my brain. The thought of cheating makes the bad student in me excited, I always loved the rush of not being
caught when I did something bad. Christina pops into my head, but the bad side of me eats her words before they can penetrate my thoughts. I almost agree before I'm
transported into my room, seeing a disappointed Christina staring at me.
"What were you doing? I could see you from the stairwell, were you about to agree to cheat with Molly?!" All I could do was stare at the ground in shame and nod my
head yes, disgusted with myself. Have I not learned anything from the last time I got caught cheating? Christina quickly shoves an armful of books into my arms, she's
not a comforting or touchy person. "Well, you can't do that again. It's time to study. We have a physics test next week, we need to start studying so you can get your
grades up." I groan loudly in protest.
"I don't want to study, just let me fail and become a hobo." I flop face first onto my bed. I feel the familiar tingle at the base of my skull and open my eyes to my desk
with all my homework in front of me.
"Too bad, as long as you're my roommate you're going to do all your homework. No more failing tests, you're 17 it's time to start taking school seriously." She goes to
her side of the room and starts her homework. After four hours, all my homework is done and I want to die. "Do you feel good about the test now that you've studied?" I
shake my head no.
"I have no idea what's going on in either class that I'm failing. I only understand the homework because the book gives you the answers in the reading."
"Listen. This is not going to be an easy week, ok? It's going to be full of pain and suffering because all we're going to be doing is studying and eating. You're probably
going to cry a lot, just don't do it around me because you know I don't like emotions." Of course, how could I expect anything less from Christina.
I'm awaken by the sound of a book hitting my desk.
"Tris! Wake up!" I jerk my head up, suddenly embarrassed because everyone is staring at me. I must have fallen asleep in class again.
"Sorry, sir. I didn't get much sleep last night." It was true, I was up all night studying for my upcoming physics test and math test, which is the day after my physics
test. I was told that if I passed both tests with at least a 69% or higher my grades would be considered passing and I could graduate high school. Sleep was less
important than school now, though I was now falling asleep in class.
"I didn't ask, Prior. Stay awake or get out. We are having a very important discussion and don't need your snoring distracting everyone." I hate it when teachers call
students by their last names. I meekly say sorry, my ears burning, before focusing back on what we're talking about in class. As I'm finally beginning to refocus, I feel a
tap at the back of my head. I turn around to Molly throwing paper at me.
"Tris, I can give you something to help you stay awake if you want. It's really cheap, and it works. I haven't slept in two days." I shake my head without a second
thought. Molly looked awful, her eyes were bloodshot and her face was sickly pale. I may feel dead inside but I don't want to look dead too. "Suit yourself." She sneakily
pops another pill before shaking her head, her eyes growing wider as she speedily writes the rest of the answers of our class work. I know Christina would be proud of
me if she cared enough to turn around. The next day isn't any easier. The teachers are piling on the work because it's almost the end of the year and apparently finals
aren't stressful enough, so they assign 10 pages of homework for each class.
"What's the velocity of the train in question two. TRIS!" I startle awake at my desk as Christina screams my name. She's quizzing me, but I fell asleep again because I
haven't had over five hours of sleep in three days.
"What was the question?" I drag my hands over my face to try to wake myself up. It's almost midnight and Christina has taken the initiative of quizzing me since the
physics test is in three days and the math test in four. She looks annoyed as usual.
"Just go to sleep, you can maybe squeeze in 6 hours and study after school." I try to argue but am teleported into my bed before I could get another word in. The lights
are turned off and my eyes are shut, and I finally get a good night's sleep.
Molly continues to harrass me. It becomes harder to resist her temptations because I'm always off my game. I'm constantly tired and stressed, and I want to accept her
offers of drugs or help her in her attempts to cheat. Of course I don't, and I continue to study and fall asleep in class and get 3-4 hours of sleep a night. I'd like to say
that I feel confident about tomorrow's test, but I don't. I feel better than I normally do, but I don't think I'm going to get above a 69%. That night Christina forces me to
go to bed at a normal time because cramming the night before doesn't help. I get a full 7 hours of sleep that night, but I don't feel well rested. I feel like my eyes are
about to fall out, but I also feel prepared. Dr. Gator is surprised to see me when I walk into class.
"Prior, I'm surprised you showed up. I wasn't expecting to see you today. Thought you might've skipped." I nervously laugh, it's hard to talk to a seven foot alligator
women. I slink down in my seat as more people walk into class, thankful to not have her gaze on me anymore. Christina walks into the room and sits next to me,
yawning and stretching her arms above her head.
"Ok class. This is pretty much your exam, but we don't call it that because you only have an hour to complete it instead of the normal 2.5 hours. The test will begin in
five minutes. No talking." As soon as she turns her back I start talking to Christina who ignores me while she does some last minute studying.
"Tris. Psst. Tris." I roll my eyes and turn around to Molly.
"What?"
"I didn't study. Can I cheat off of you?" She doesn't even try to whisper. I cringe and turn to who sits at her desk, oblivious to Molly.
"No, you can not cheat off of me! I did not stay up all night for a week for you to cheat off of me. Cheat off someone else." I turn back around, doing last minute
studying with Christina.
"Christina, if you could please move everyone." She snaps her fingers without looking up and I'm suddenly sitting alone across the room. Molly is alone as well, looking
panicked which brings a smile to my face. When the test lands on my desk, my mind momentarily blanks and I start to panic. My best friend pops into my head, showing
me the breathing exercises she went over a few days ago that help me feel calm. I close my eyes, breathing in and out, and open my test.
Sweat pours out of my face as I start the next math problem. I'm on minute 15 and I just finished the first question; this is going to be a long test. Yesterday I took my
physics test, and today is my math test. I blocked yesterday out of my mind so I could focus on today's adventure. The numbers start to blur as the sweat trickles into
my eyes and bleeds into the paper where it fell seconds ago. Thirty minutes later, five problems are completed, leaving thirty minutes and two problems. I feel good,
they aren't extremely difficult but they take a lot of brain power that's hard to use because I'm so tired and sweaty.
"Tris, do you need a tissue? You seem to be dripping." I don't even look up, I grab the tissue from Mr. Daunting's hand and wipe my face and push through the next
problem. Ten tissues later I complete my test. I flop onto the floor in exhaustion, I've never worked so hard in my life. The bell rings but I can't find the strength to get
up. Thankfully my roommate transports me to my room where I drink water and nap for the first time in a week.
"Tris Prior, please report to the main office. Tris Prior, to the main office." It's been about a week since I took the test. They must be giving back test results to failing
students. I'm not sure if I feel confident, maybe if I explain how little sleep I've gotten they will let me graduate because I studied so much. I walk into Coulter's
office to find Ms. Alligator and Mr. Daunting.
"Tris, please sit down. We have your test results." At that, Molly walks into the room, smelling of marijuana as usual. "Molly, thank you for joining us. After reviewing
your results, it has come to our attention that one of you have cheated. We're not sure who it was, but if you come forward the punishment won't be as great if we have
to find out ourselves." They sit waiting for one of us to confess. I shoot a look at Molly, who shoots a look at me. I'm about to call her out when she calls me out.
"It was Tris, she used her powers on me to coerce Ms. Alligator into not looking at her while she silenced me as she cheated." My mouth drops, I have no idea what to say.
"Is this true, Tris" I want to shake my head no so badly, but I'm too shocked to do anything.
"I..I...N-" Molly cuts me off before I can get another word in.
"Of course it's true, she's too good at using her powers. She should be expelled." She starts crying for good measure, and since I haven't said anything they make the
decision of letting Molly leave so they can talk to me privately.
"Tris, do you not want to defend yourself? You haven't said a word about any of this." A single tear drops from my eye as I finally find the right words.
"I didn't cheat. I've been studying all week, I haven't slept in five days and I haven't eaten a proper meal in a week. Molly has been trying to get me to cheat with her
using my powers, but I've continued to turn her down because I've changed. I studied so hard and I've been working non stop with Christina. You saw me working,
didn't you Mr. Daunting? You saw me sweating through that test because I was spending over fifteen minutes on each question. That wasn't fake, I've been studying so
hard because I want to graduate. Please believe me, Molly is lying." They only nod and let me out while they talk. Molly is waiting for me outside. "How could you do that
to me? You know how hard I worked. You cheated off of me? How could you?"
"I didn't cheat! I swear! How could I, I was sitting across the room from you." I stare at her, shocked once again. Her eyes are watering again, but it doesn't look fake
this time.
"So what happened? Do you think they're just pulling our legs or something?" Molly just shrugs, looking defeated.
"I didn't study, but I tried. I really just want to get out of high school and move on. If I don't pass these I was planning to-" She's cut off my the sound of the door
opening.
"Come back in." We sit down once again in the office seats. "Would you like to see your tests?" We both nod our heads yes, still confused about the cheating incident. I
shriek at the sight of a B on my math test, the best grade I'd ever gotten on a math test ever. I shriek even louder at the sight of an A- on my physics grade, once again
the best grade I have ever received in Physics. I sneak a look at Elise's' paper and see she got a D+ on both of them. I can see why they thought we cheated, we've
never done this well and Elise never studies.
"If you look through your test's, pretty much all your answers are the same which is concerning. Care to explain?" We look at each other, not knowing what to say. I
strangely feel obligated to protect Molly even though she's brought nothing but pain to my life.
"Sir, I know I said that Tris cheated off of me but the truth is neither of us cheated. We both really want to graduate, but I failed to study. If you look at the security
tapes, you'll see that I was sitting across the room from Tris and never got up or vice versa. Please, we don't know what happened, ok?" She looks close to tears again,
making me uncomfortable. Damn, Christina is really rubbing off on me. It hits me then: Molly can change. I can see it by her tears which I've never seen on her face
before. I know I have a chance at life even if I don't graduate, but maybe one last push could help her change for the better.
"Mr. Coulter, it was me. I cheated off of Molly." Her hands fly to her mouth, a gasp escaping her intertwined fingers. Coulter lets out a disappointed sigh.
"I see. Molly, get out." She starts to protest, but Coulter throws her out with his powers, the door slamming behind her. "Tris, I know you're lying." I do my best to keep
a straight face, this is for Molly.
"I'm not lying sir, I swear." Sweat runs down my back, Coulter has the meanest death stare ever.
"You should know I'm a mind reader as well as a telekinetic. No students know because it's a secret tactic I use when I talk to students. I've been reading your mind this
whole time, I know you're lying." What? He's a mind reader? He talks with me for a few more minutes, telling me I'm not getting expelled because I did well on my
tests. Molly goes in looking nervous and comes out looking the same, but she doesn't tell me what happened.
I graduate with my class the following week. I graduate with my best friend while my parents watch with huge smiles on their faces. I don't see Molly at all, she
disappeared after the talk with Coulter.
"Congratulations, Tris. I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it." My parents and brother all hug me and take pictures with me in my cap and gown and high school
diploma. I miraculously found a college willing to take me, and I'm going with Christina who didn't want to go to a fancy school like Harvard or Yale, even though she
could have gotten in no problem. I somehow managed to pass high school, and everything is turning out amazing.
I was told Molly was given a chance to be held back and redo senior year again, but she declined. No one had heard from her since. I still worry about her even though
we were never friends. I push her out of my mind as I study for my college exams. Christina helps every now and then, but I take the lead this time with my own
studying. I don't want another repeat of High School, which was a literal nightmare.
A/N
So, this wasn't originally a divergent story. It was a school assignment; we had to make an epic which is like a hero story based in our school. I wrote it like last year
and got an A, if you were curious. I was recently thinking about it and thought it would be cool as a Divergent story, since it's like them with powers and stuff and it's
relatable because Tris isn't good in school, like a lot of us are I'm assuming. So, I changed the names of the characters and a few things here and there, and got this.
I'm giving up on Adventure of a TCK for now because it's getting no attention and I have no ideas for it. I'll probably come back to it soon, but for now it's going to stay
as a single depressing chapter. Ok. Well, hope you enjoyed this. Bye.