I drink the liquid.
I am once again in the school cafeteria. I freeze as Jeanine's voice tells me to choose. That evil, lying, murdering… I see the knife and cheese disappear. Now I have to see what I can do. I am now marked. I see the dog. Without thinking, I lie down. I'd rather never kill again… The dog licks my face. I breathe rapidly now. I'm going to get divergence. I see the girl, and jump on the dog. I sternly tell it, "NO!" It stops, to my surprise. The bus scene again. I know that lying may save my life. And I need to get rid of Jeanine and Eric. Not real. The guy looks at me.
"Well? Do you know him or not?"
He is a Dauntless, that I've seen in the pit.
"I don't."
"You could save me. YOU COULD SAVE ME!"
Not real.
"I don't know him, sir. Please stop harassing me."
He stops, then grabs me.
"Oh, but you've done this before, haven't you? It's too easy to carelessly throw away lives."
I gulp. I'm that bad in real life. Al. Will. Mom. Dad. Tori, even. All dead because of me.
I straighten up, and glare at him.
"You have no idea, what has happened. LEAVE."
To my great surprise, he sits down. I walk off.
"Tris."
"Tori, that didn't happen before."
"I know. It seems our dear friend Jeanine has already modified simulations, in this reality."
"So, the 'my name is…' thing?"
"A ruse. Cameras pick up the first bit, making sure there is no animosity, and then they stop. Don't know why, but be thankful they don't record the whole thing."
"Now, I will log your results as Dauntless. Oh, and Tris?"
I turn.
"Welcome back."
I grin.
I sit back down, shaken a bit. Caleb is white- Erudite again, I suppose. Susan is smiling serenely, as if she always knew she was Abnegation. I catch the eye of Will. He gives me a half-smile, barely noticeable, and returns to study. I catch a glimpse of the chapter title- "Throwing effective punches." I laugh silently.
Christina looks where I look, and laughs loudly, so it coincides with a debate topic. Uriah, Lynn and Marlene look over from their card game. Uriah recovers quickly, and switches some cards so that he can play, winking at me.
I have friends.
We both get home on time, Caleb talking to Susan. She nods, and I see a tear in her eyes as she walks away.
"I told her of switching. I'm going to spy on Jeanine, sabotage her as well. I couldn't believe I trusted her!"
"It's in the past- erm, future."
We walk home, and plan with our parents what we are going to do.
Dauntless, here I come.