Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent series.
A/N: Here is chapter 14, directly following f12g94r's choice at the Choosing Ceremony! I will update as soon as I can, so please stay tuned to see what happens to our heroine and her crazy mom! Thanks for reading!
Mommy Dearest
Chapter 14
Age 16
The crowd was silent as the announcer declared "Candor" and as I turned around to face everyone, feeling my heart continue to race. Looks of pure, unabridged shock stirred throughout the crowd, and everyone was whispering about me. "Unbelievable!" said someone from Dauntless. "Her own daughter? No way."
Why was everyone so upset? Mom had made it perfectly clear to me in the seconds preceding my decision that I had to do what was best for me. When I truly thought about it, my striking sense of honesty is what has always distinguished me from my peers. Of course I had the highest intellect of any Erudite since Mom's time, but still, I never held back when it came to doing the right thing and shedding the truth, and wasn't that a quality best suited for Candor?
"f12g94r!" Even though Mom had spent years erasing all emotion from her face in the form of Bo-Tox treatment, she still couldn't hide the look of shock and hurt that greeted me now. Her eyebrows, normally carefully plucked and penciled in, were furrowed and her lip was trembling slightly. If I didn't know any better I would say she was on the verge of tears, but that wasn't possible for Mom. "f12g94r, what have you done?"
What had I done? Oh, Mom! Suddenly the weight of my decision crashed fully upon me like a freight train. I reached out for her, opening my arms and wanting nothing more than to embrace her like so many other children did but that I was never able to do. How could I ever think of leaving her? Honesty or no honestly, Erudite was my faction, and Mom was my DNA.
"This way, Miss." Before I could meet Mom, a man dressed in a sharp white suit put his arm around my shoulders and steered me toward the right.
"No, I made a mistake! I have to go see my mom."
"There's no going back." The man tightened his grip on me and forced me down the steps. Craning my head back, I saw Mom staring intensely in my direction, her face still scrunched up in a painful look resembling constipation. "Once you choose, you can never go back."
"We'll see about that," I muttered, my lip curling as he shoved me down in a seat and then took guard by my side. "My mom is Jeanine Matthews. You don't know what's possible."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Mom, can I come home yet?"
I was waiting politely in the conference room of the Erudite headquarters, flanked by two blue security guards and surveyed by two white ones. After the Choosing Ceremony, Mom had dragged me away from everyone and shouted that she would take this issue up to the Council, so there we were in the conference room.
"Just wait, f12g94r," said Mom impatiently, turning her attention back to Andrew Prior, the Abnegation representative. "Now, where were we?"
"You were just finishing your pathetically selfish request of having your daughter transferred back to Erudite." Andrew's eyes glared into Mom's before rolling over to mine. He'd never forgiven me for cutting off Beatrice's hair, so in that instant, I knew that I would probably never, ever be able to go home with Mom if it were up to him.
"Oh, enough of your attitude, Prior," Mom snapped, turning instead to Jack Kang. "Jack, you're the head of Candor, so you can identify my intentions as being pure."
"Yes, I can," said Jack slowly, "but I also can identity the fact that you're trying to steal one of my initiates."
"Steal? She's not yours to begin with!"
"But she is now."
"Johanna?" Mom looked at the humbly-smiling woman without even looking at Jack.
"I have to agree with Jack on this one, Jeanine."
"Max?"
It was all resting on the Dauntless leader now. Mom was still outnumbered, to be sure, but if she had at least one supporter, she'd be able to work her magic.
"Seeing as these idiots can't think about anything beyond their own interests, I'll agree with you."
"What?!" The three other leaders gaped over at him, drool forming slightly at the corner of Andrew's mouth.
"What you stiffs can't see is the potential we have here. F12g94r scored 100% on every single examination she's ever taken, and her research conducted during the beginning of this school year saved a group of sick Abnegation children's lives. Did you forget that, Prior?"
It was true. I had come up with a formula that neutralized cells reacting to foreign yet harmless substances entering the body via fluids, and as a result, a throng of practically dying Abnegation children fought off their bodies' malfunctioning fights.
"I haven't," said Andrew curtly, "but I still fail to see –"
"And Johanna," Max continued, "have you forgotten about the corn gasoline f12g94r helped create that has consequently saved your people fuel costs and fill-up labor?" Without even waiting, Max then turned to Jack. "And of course you won't lie and say that f12g94r hasn't been completely honest and humble in every endeavor she's even undertaken."
Nobody said anything and everyone averted each other's eyes, so Mom finally cleared her throat. "I think the decision speaks for itself: f12g94r needs to be in Erudite so that she can continue to improve the quality of life in our society."
Andrew opened his mouth to protest, but Mom cut him off. "Agreed? Good. Alright, f12g94r, let's go collect your things at Candor and then get you home."
As Mom put her hand on my back and steered me toward the door, I looked over at the white Candor guard, the same one who had stopped me earlier. "I told you that you didn't know what Mom was possible of doing. She can do anything."