Chapter 10:

Juliunna/My Pov

I stand quietly, so quiet I can feel my heart beating in my chest. Yesterday, there was a new kid arrival at my school, and I think I'm in love. Again.

Okay so I'm a hormonal and needy teenage girl who is suddenly interested in boys (or men). Whatever.

But still. This kid is totally in my range. He's not dead, and as far as I can tell he has a lot of my interests. I'll explain this to you, because not only do I think I'm in love, but he makes my heart beat faster then Elliot did. My two gym teachers decided to bring the gym class outside for today, and I'm standing behind the column near the two double doors. Ahead of me, across the very close to me street and spread out along the grassy plain was my class. I was standing in the shade. I'm not doing gym today.

The new kid is sitting on the curb of the street, his body facing me. His eyes are planted on his finger nails, which he's tracing and covering with some pretty marker-like, nail polish brush. He's gothic, I guess. His hair is a wet black color, as if he had dipped his hair in wet black paint previous to coming to school. His skin is a little tanner then mine. He has beautiful eyes, outlined with black eyeliner. He's wearing black jeans and a black shirt with some kind of bloody band logo on the back of his shirt. His sneakers are black, and they have pretty shiny metal clips on the sides of them. He's got his little black notebook propped up on the top of his knees as he writes in it.

The best part is that while he's handsome, everyone at this school thinks he's weird, so they ignore him, except for the bullies, which sadly I've heard groups of the older boys talking rude things about him in the hall. But as I was saying, the good thing is that no one likes him, which makes me free to make my move.

Okay, that sounded oober selfish. But still, I have a problem. I'm not used to this kind of romantic, gushy thing. I didn't even care about romance in reality. I'm only in middle school! What is it that I'm going to get from a relationship here? We're children, so there is no sexual pleasures, no hugging, holding hands or any of that junk in this school to be honest.

I wasn't interested in reality boys, to be honest. I had my guy friends, and my romance in my fiction filled brain. Seriously, what was there to get out of reality romance? Except for nervousness and insecurities. In my head, I can control everything. I didn't really have to worry about anything. But in reality, you have to worry about keeping boys happy with you so that they don't leave you for someone better, deal with the anxiety of knowing that since your in middle school your relationship most likely won't last, no matter how hard you try, there's nothing you can do.

"Juliunna!" I heard a loud yell, and my head snapped upwords to look across the field. Brandy Thomas, a girl in my class that used to be a nobody, now a 'somebody' in the social club. She doesn't like me, and our relationship is totally vice versa. You will never get anywhere in life without intelligence, and she's in dire need of it. If you were to ask me, I think she has a depressing future raising two kids on her own and working the streets .

"Juliunna! Best friend!" Brandy shouted braggingly. I looked up to meet Brandy's eye defiantly, her friends smirking inbetween us. I rolled my eyes but bit my lip when the new kid looked up. She started shouting again, this time jumping up and down as if she was a cheerleader. Oh wait, is she a cheerleader?

"Thomas, back to the stands!" My male gym teacher called, and Brandy blew a sarcastic kiss my way. She then prounced back to the stands, her monkey friends right behind her, chortling and laughing. The new kid looked to me, and then back to the stands. I pressed my back tight against the column when he stood up and started walking towards me. "No, no, no, no," I whispered to myself softly as he got nearer. I inwardly smiled at myself for actually wearing my good tight black sweatpants. Along with Christian's huge black jacket. I never go out in public without a jacket anymore. I guess even though I tell myself I don't care about conformity or vanity, there's still a part of me that's self conscious about letting everyone see my arms. Yes, I know its weird but I'll go full sexy when I'm an adult, just not now. The new kid leaned up against the column next to me. At first he was silent, but then after a few seconds of the both of us just staring at crowd of flouncing children, he spoke.

"So, your not doing Gym either?" He asked me, and I pursed my lips. "Yeah." I said strongly, wishing my palms would stop sweating. "Why?" He asked, and I smirked.

"I just don't care for it." I said, and he stared at me for a few seconds. How I wish my skin was too dark for blushing. But sadly it's the color of the lightest tint of caramel. "Me too." He said. I nodded, and then kept my eyes trained on the column across from me. Count the tiles. One, two, three, four-!

"So your name is… Juliunna?" He asked, and I took the most quietest deep breath I could take. "Um, yeah. I'm sorry, I never caught your name." I said, and he held out his hand. "I'm Nathan." He said, and I smiled. "Nathon. That's a pretty beautiful name." I said nicely, and then blushed again. Five tiles, six tiles, seven tiles-!

"Thanks. Never thought about it that way." He said with the first smile I had seen him wear. It was small but true, weak but heated. It was beauty in a deadly form. We were in silence again for about a minute, when he finally turned to me again.

"Listen, I'm not much of a social person," He started, and I raised up a hand to cut him off. "It's okay. Neither am I. I'm alright with silence, so don't feel bad about it." I said, and he nodded, a smile on his face.

"Thanks. That sounds nice." He said. And then we stared at the columns again. I kept my face staring straight ahead, and counted columns. Every once and a while, I could feel Nathan's heated, dead gaze on my face. But I decided to think rather then look at him. He was tall, almost as tall as Tyler. Maybe 5"8 at the least. I let my eyes shift to the left of my vision, and so a skinny silver watch glinting in the sunlight. I wanted to ask him the time, but every time I thought about it, my mouth got so dry and scatchy I couldn't talk!

He was tracing the cover of his book with his finger, and then l=et his hand drop. His fingers brushed the back of my palm lightly, and my fingers itched. I have never been this close to a boy before in such a romantic or exotic way. (Tyler doesn't count!) I don't remember having such intense feelings about a boy like this in reality.

"Well," He said, pulling away his hand quickly as I went stiff as a wet cat. I bit my tongue. "Its 12:45. We can go in now." He said, and I smiled. "Thanks." I nodded to him, and we both pushed open the doors and made our way through. "So, what class do you have?" He asked. I bit my lip softly.

"Err, homeroom 106. What about you Nathan?" I asked. He shrugged lightly.

"Science." He said, taking a quick glance at the shiny watch on his wrist. "Sucks." He added, and the both of us walked off to the left of the room, avoiding the crowd of large children pushing and racing to get to the locker rooms.

"Heh, I don't know. Science is one of my best subjects, probably because I value intelligence and its easier to get it right better then everyone else. What science class do you have?" I asked.

"Hutnick." He said, and I hissed symthetically for him. "Yeah, I've never been in that class before, but I do go out at 1:20 for Woodruff's science class. We only have five kids, but yours has thirty." I said, and he nodded slightly. The both of us stopped walking when we got to the front door. "We've still got to wait four minutes-!"

"I know." I said softly, and he nodded to me. Up ahead, Brandy and Brittney were standing beside each other, both smirking at me. I shrugged and then turned to look at the big display clock on the wall. "Err… Are they your friends?" Nathan said, raising an eyebrow at me. With a sigh I looked up to see both girls jumping up and down and waving at me.

"No."

"Well do you know them?" He asked as the girls burst into laughter the second I looked away from them, as if they had just won a triumphant battle.

Just wait for your future girls, we'll see who's winning.

"Sadly. But we're not on a first name basics if that's what your asking. I don't like to associate myself with dim witted fools." I said rather loudly, and then opened the large double doors. Nathan followed me. "Wait a minute, don't you care about getting in trouble?" Nathan asked. And I shook my head no. I opened the doors to the nurse and walked inside.

"Not really. Besides, I need to take my medication." I said, and the nurse silently sets the small Dixie cup up on top of her desk. I grab it softly and then proceed to the sink. Nathan follows me, but then takes out his black notebook and starts doodling in it.

"What are you writing?" I asked, and he looked up. I love the blank look on his face, its somehow oddly appealing and pleasuring at the same time. "Writing… Stories." He added, and I inwardly smiled. Wow, he likes to write stories just like me. Does he have any faults?

"Quick question Nathan." I said, popping the pill out of the cup and holding it carefully in my palm. I flipped on the faucet and lukewarm water poured into the plastic cup. "Shoot." He said nicely. I took a deep breath.

"What is the strength within you that you most value in the world? Is it bravery, the ability to lie, intelligence-!"

"My ability to not care about the world or life itself. But intelligence is also important. It leads to power." Oh my. "Anyway, I have to go. Maybe I'll see you later." He said, and I placed the pill in my mouth. I drowned the cup in one gulp, a soft grimace on my face. This water is disgusting.

"Um, yeah. Bye Nathan. I hope you like it here, there aren't many guys like you around." Heh, there aren't any guys like you around this school, or my whole town as far as I'm concerned.

"Yeah, I can see that." He said, and then jetted his chin towards the door, where there were a crowd of boys at the water fountain outside the door, making crude innendoes. There were six boys. All of them fourteen years old. "Hey!" One of them gasped fakily, and then pointed Nathan and I's way. There were whispers, fast and loud whispers, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. What is going on today?! Normally I'm just ignored!

"Oh go jack off!" I heard someone snap as they neared the door, and smirked. "Come on." I said to Nathan, and the two of us started off for the door. When we reach it, I rounded the corner to run into Madaija and Taylor. "What are you two doing here?" I asked, but bit my lip nauseously when Nathan rounded the three of us and speedily walked around the corner.

"Oh, we went on ahead. We're going to the gym. Gym time remember?" Taylor said excitedly, and then turned to the group of boys, who had stopped to look at us.

"Hey." Dom whispered, and I looked at him with squinted eyes. "What?"

"What's the freak doing with the newest freak?" He asked, and I grimaced in place. Taylor leaned down, pulled off her solid and expensive sneakers, and then threw them hard at Dominick. He squealed and fell to the ground as he got hit hard.

"Idiots. Get the heck out of here!" Taylor shouted, and then started to slowly but mockingly pull off her other shoe. "Ah!" The boys screamed with laughter, enjoying it when Madaija threw her makeup bag at them. It fell promptly inches away from one boys foot.

That night I have trouble falling asleep. The dormitory used to seem loud to me, with all the breathing, but now it is too quiet. When it's quiet, I think about m y family. Thank God the Dauntless compound is usually loud. If my mother was Dauntless, why did she choose Abnegation? Did she love its peace, its routine, its goodness—all the things I miss, when I let myself think about it? I wonder if some one here knew her when she was young and could tell me what she was like then. Even if they did, they probably wouldn't want to discuss her. Faction transfers are not really supposed to discuss their old factions once they become members. It's supposed to make it easier for them to change their allegiance from family to faction—to embrace the principle "faction before blood." I bury my face in the pillow. She asked me to tell Caleb to research the simulation serum—why? Does it have something to do with me being Divergent, with me being in danger, or is it something else?

I sigh. I have a thousand questions, and she left before I could ask any o f them. Now they swirl in my head, and I doubt I'll be able to sleep until I can answer them. I hear a scuffle across the room and lift my head from the pillow. My eyes aren't adjusted to the dark, so I stare into pure black, like the backs of my eyelids. I hear shuffling and the squeak of a shoe. A heavy thud. And then a wail that curdles my blood and makes my hair stand on end. I throw the blankets back and stand on the stone floor with bare feet. I still can't see well enough to find the source of the scream, but I see a dark lump on the floor a few bunks down. Another scream pierces my ears. "Turn on the lights!" someone shouts. I walk toward the sound, slowly so I don't trip over anything.

I feel like I'm in a trance. I don't want to see where the screaming is coming from. A scream like that can only mean blood and bone and pain; that scream that comes from the pit of the stomach and extends to every inch of the body. The lights come on.

Edward lies on the floor next to his bed, clutching at his face. Surrounding his head is a halo of blood, and jutting between his clawing fingers is a silver knife handle. My heart thumping in my ears, I recognize it as a butter knife from the dining hall. The blade is stuck in Edward's eye. Myra, who stands at Edward's feet, screams. Someone else screams too, and someone yells for help, and Edward is still on the floor, writhing and wailing. I crouch by his head, my knees pressing to the pool of blood, and put my hands on his shoulders. "Lie still," I say. I feel calm, though I can't hear anything, like my head is submerged in water. Edward thrashes again and I say it louder, sterner. "I said, lie still. Breathe." "My eye!" he screams. I smell something foul. Someone vomited. "Take it out!" he yells. "Get it out, get it out of me, get it out!"

I shake my head and then realize that he can't see me. A laugh bubbles in my stomach. Hysterical. I have to suppress hysteria if I'm going to help him. I have to forget myself. "No," I say. "You have to let the doctor take it out. Hear me? Let the doctor take it out. And breathe." "It hurts," he sobs. "I know it does." Instead of my voice I hear my mother's voice. I see her crouching before me on the sidewalk in front of our house, brushing tears from my face after I scraped my knee. I was five at the time. "It will be all right." I try to sound fir m, like I'm not idly reassuring him, but I am. I don't know if it will be all right.

I suspect that it won't. When the nurse arrives, she tells me to step back, and I do. My hands and knees are soaked with blood. When I look around, I see that only two faces are missing. Drew. And Peter.

After they take Edward away, I carry a change of clothes into the bathroom and w ash my hands. Christina comes with me and stands by the door, but she doesn't say anything, and I'm glad. There isn't much to say. I scrub at the lines in my palms an d run one fingernail under my other fingernails to get the blood out. I change into the pants I brought and throw the soiled ones in the trash. I get as many pa per towels as I can hold. Someone needs to clean up the mess in the dormitory, and since I doubt I'll ever be able to sleep again, it might as well be me. As I re ach for the door handle, Christina says, "You know who did that, right?" "Yeah." "Should w e tell someone?" "You really think the Dauntless will do anything?" I say. "After they hung you over the chasm? After they made us beat each other unconscious?" She doesn't say anything. For a half hour after that, I kneel alone on the floor in the dormitory and scrub at Edward's blood. Christina throws away the dirty paper towels and gets me new ones. Myra is gone; she probably followed Edward to the hospital.

No one sleeps much that night.

…

I glumly awake on the hospital bed, ready for an era of boredom. I just need to get through this boring kidnapping scene so that I can get back to my fun Divergent world again. I had been counting tiles on the wall when the door slammed open. I looked up glumly.

"Hello Eric. And you must be Jeanine." I said drowsily, and I let out a small yawn. The both of them gathered around my bed the short woman holding a clip board in her hands.

"What is it that's wrong with her? She seems like a normal cranky teenager." Jeanine said, and Eric yawned. "I'm telling you Jeanine, she launched that kid twice the size of her all the way across the room with a single punch! And then laughed about it! She's not normal." Eric said in a scary, leering voice. Jeanine looked to me with a small look.

"Listen honey, Eric here seems to think that there is something abnormal about you, maybe even supernatural. I just want to run a few tests on you, and as my nurses have already told you, it might take a while. We also have reason to believe that since you weren't afraid in the slightest and even laughed when you jumped off the Dauntless Building during your initiation, and knew a lot of things about Dauntless that a non Dauntless person would know, you might have accessed secret files of Dauntless Headquearters property." Jeanine said in a slightly bored voice, and I fought back the grin that wanted to wedge itself onto my face.

"Guys right? They just can't accept that a girl has more intelligence then them." I said with a sly grin, and Jeanine nodded. "Ain't that the truth."

"What?! Jeanine, I swear. There is something up with her! She's insane!"

"I like to read and learn, did you ever think that I could have read about Dauntless surroundings in a book? Or have a cousin or family member that I visited on Visiting Day in pass years. Or I don't know. Maybe I laugh when I should be scared, because that's the best way for me to get through them. The more I tell myself I don't care, the more I realize that I don't care…" I ended my speech softly. Jeanine started writing down what I said on her clipboard. "That's good." She said. Eric glared at me heatedly, but I just smirked.

"Okay Juliunna, come with me. I'd like to get you out by tomorrow. Maybe even today. And you," Jeanine said, and then gripped Eric tight on his left ear. He winced and grimaced hard. I could see his biceps flex slightly, and I figured that his training was trying to kick in. But he also knew that if he did hit Jeanine he would be in great big trouble.

"If you are wrong about her, and her stimulations and tests don't prove anything your saying, you will be punished." She snarled, and Eric went pale. I almost felt bad for him. Except then I remembered that he was the one who tried to get me jailed and possibly killed, and now I'm mad at him.

She let go of Eric with a loud snap, and then leaned over to pull my restraints free. "Now, we're going to start with a physical. I want your blood test, and then I'm going to have you do combat with my newest trainee guard. Try your best. I'm not looking for you to win, but what I am looking for is my business. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." Jeanine said wisely, and then pulled my wrists restraints free. When I stood up, she watched me closely with her small, beady eyes. Okay, this is the moment of the hour. Its time for me to pay attention and do this well.

Just keep your indifference a secret, and everything will be okay.

…

"Its okay honey, just punch him." Jeanine called loudly from her spot against the wall. I was shaking in the middle of the floor. The man in front of me was about seven foot tall, and looked to be a great fighter. He was a trained kick boxer, and loved to clench his large fists. Just one of his was the size of two of mine.

"Listen kid, we've been here for a while. Just give me a little kick on the leg." The guard whispered to me, and I frowned. Alright, just take the beating. Take the friggen beating and then get on with your dream.

I gave him a small kick on the ankle, and then he grabbed my knees tightly. "Ahh!" I screamed as he swept me off my feet. My face was filled with real fear, much to Eric's anger. He shouted at Jeanine. "She's faking it! She's faking it!" He screamed, and Jeanine held up a hand to silence him. The man picked me up and swung me around. "Ahh!" I screamed as he let go of my knees, and then I swung across the floor.

"No more!" I screamed, and I couldn't help but inwardly congratulated myself on my great acting. This is what years of bad attitude and counting on no one but yourself gets you. A lot of intelligence, and a few close friends that love you and you know you can actually trust.

"Please, please no! I'm smart, not a fighter!" I screamed as the man pressed his foot softly into my stomach. Jeanine wrote down something on her clipboard, and then raised a walkie talkie to her ear.

"Hello, can we get a calming drought down here? Patient 102 is getting hysterical." She announced, and I rolled over and screamed in a tearfully cry.

Man am I a great actor today!