Betrayal

Caleb/Susan Fanfiction (based on Divergent by Veronica Roth)

Chapter Three

When the Choosing Ceremony is over, chaos erupts from the Dauntless section. They leap out of their seats and storm the doors that are not big enough for all of them to squeeze through. They shout, and cheer, and I spot Beatrice Prior near the back of the crowd, looking lost but happy. Relieved.

The Erudite file out next, woven into the crowd of Amity and Candor. Despite our nickname, it's Erudite who all look the most stiff. There is an air of superiority hovering around them; they think they're better than the rest of us because they supply the city with necessities like medicine. I look for Caleb, but the crowd is surging forward too quickly. I wonder, briefly, if he is looking for me too.

Marcus, still at the podium, addresses the only remaining faction. My faction.

"Welcome, new Abnegation members," he smiles. "To begin your initiation process, you will stay here and help us clean up the room. Please form a single-file line at this table." He gestures to his left, where Andrew Prior and another middle-aged man are pulling up a table and two folding chairs.

Chairs screech against the marble floor as the initiates stand. The adults remain seated, talking quietly to one another. There is one word I hear repeatedly: Prior.

"Hey." A gentle hand nudges my shoulder. "The line."

I turn to see Liam, his warm brown eyes sparkling with amusement. I whirl back around to see that I, distracted by my eavesdropping, didn't realize our row was the only one left. The initiates are just too timidly polite to say something.

I mumble a thank-you to the extremely tall boy, who is strangely muscular for an Erudite, and hurry to snake around the empty rows of folding chairs to the line in front of the table.

"Nervous?" Liam smirks slightly, in a friendly, not insulting, way.

The Candor girl had asked me the same question during the ceremony. "What makes you say that?"

"You seem distracted," he explains. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"Oh, you didn't—"

"Is it because your brother transferred?"

This surprises me. "No, not at all. Robert . . . Robert wasn't happy here." I could see it. Caleb could see it. And I hope my parents could see it.

"But you are?" Liam raises an eyebrow. "Happy here?"

I nod firmly, almost instinctively. "Of course. I stayed, didn't I?"

Liam smiles, dimples in both of his cheeks prominent. My face flushes with heat as I force myself to turn to face the back of the person in front of me. Why am I examining Liam's facial features? I am with Caleb; I should not be looking at other boys that way.

"Our choices today don't completely define us," Liam says, lowering his voice. I know that it is rude not to turn around and face him, but I do not want him to think I am interested.

"You could have stayed because you're worried about your parents. The fact that they'd already lost your brother." I reach the table, and his last words are barely audible. "And if that's the case, you truly are Abnegation."

I want to respond, but it is too late. Andrew Prior and Marcus Eaton sit behind the table, each shuffling large stacks of paper. Marcus smiles up at me, and so does Mr. Prior, but I can tell his is forced. There is hurt in the wide blue eyes that Beatrice inherited from him; his are lined with age and shadowed with a bruise-like color that suggests insomnia.

"Hello, Susan," says Marcus, selecting a file from the stack of papers.

"Hello, Mr. Eaton," I say politely, and nod at Caleb and Beatrice's father. "Mr. Prior."

"I'm glad you chose to stay, Susan." Even Mr. Prior's smile is sad. My chest aches with guilt, which is strange, because I am not one of his children. I did not betray him. I want to comfort him, tell him Caleb will be back soon, but I can't.

"During initiation, you will share a room with Audrey Callahan," Marcus says, studying the file carefully. He glances up at me and explains, "The initiates live in dorm rooms in the building at the end of my street. After initiation, Abnegation families allow you to stay with them until you've gotten a job."

I know that building; an old apartment complex comprised of deteriorating brick. I'd never really inquired about Abnegation initiation before, because I'd always known that no matter what it entailed, I would still have to endure it.

"For now, you can help the adults put the chairs away." Marcus gestured to the large room, in which chattier-than-usual adults were folding chairs and storing them in a closet.

"Thank you," I tell them, nodding slightly, and approach the gray-dressed mass of people crowding the storage room area.

They are talking, but quiet. Even the initiates seem to be avoiding eye contact with each other. A few kids are reuniting with their parents, but since the Abnegation tend to not show affection, I can see where we get our nickname from. Maybe we are stiff.

If Caleb were here, I can't stop myself from thinking as a lump forms in my throat, I could talk to him. His father would not look quite so pained, and there would be no uneasiness lurking in the back of my mind.

"Susan." The voice is calmingly familiar, and I turn to see my parents approaching me. They stop a couple feet away, but they are smiling, genuinely happy. My mother reaches out and grips my hands tightly. "Thank you for staying," she says, and I notice that her amber eyes are glassy.

Impulsively, I slip my hands from her grasp and throw my arms around her, hugging her tightly, burying my face in her familiar gray sweater. I know that it is frowned upon by my faction, but at the moment I do not care. Her arms hesitantly envelop me as well, and at this moment I try to shove all of my doubt away. I made the right choice. I belong here.

When I finally pull away from my mother, I notice someone lurking about ten feet away, staring at my family thoughtfully. When he catches my eye, he immediately turns away and saunters off, offering help to a girl struggling to lift four chairs at once.

Liam.