"Ok, so let's see who would be a good pick for this chapter...hmmm...Johanna who should read?" I ask.
"Why me!" se exclaims.
"Because cookies!" I answer and she wines.
"Fineeee...You read it!" Johanna exclaims throwing the book at Natalie.
"She already read!" Uriah whines.
"Fine! Mr. Prior read it!" I decide. "And the song is Can't be Tamed by Miley Cyrus."
"Umm ok,
I wake to sweaty palms and a pang of guilt in my chest. I am lying in the chair in the mirrored room. When I tilt my head back, I see Tori behind me. She pinches her lips together and removes electrodes from our heads. I wait for her to say something about the test—that it's over, or that I did well, although how could I do poorly on a test like this?—but she says nothing, just pulls the wires from my forehead. I sit forward and wipe my palms off on my slacks. I had to have done something wrong, even if it only happened in my mind.
Is that strange look on Tori's face because she doesn't know how to tell me what a terrible person I am?
Johanna, Griffin, Daph and I share a look and burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Four asks.
"Most of the people that I know wouldn't even talk to the guy. I mean even if you are in a simulation, don't talk to strangers." I answer, and turn to Tris at the end, shaking my finger in disapproval.
"Well it is rude to not help someone who wants help." Natalie defends.
"Most of them don't want help, they want money so they can buy drugs, or just money cus they are too lazy to get a job. There was a college student that did a report on that and he ended up actually getting a lot of money." Griffin responds. Natalie looks down at the ground in defeat and Andrew continues reading.
"I wish she would just come out with it. 'That,' she says, 'was perplexing. Excuse me, I'll be right back.' Perplexing? I bring my knees to my chest and bury my face in them. I wish I felt like crying, because the tears might bring me a sense of release, but I don't. How can you fail a test you aren't allowed to prepare for?
As the moments pass, I get more nervous. I have to wipe my hands off every few seconds as the sweat collects- or maybe I just do it because it helps me feel calmer. What if they tell me I'm not cut out for any faction? I would have to live on the streets with the factionless. I can't do that. To live factionless is not only to live in poverty and discomfort; it is to live divorced from society, separated from the most important thing in life: community.
"And we are now in the land of The Giver." I mutter.
"Ya!" Griffin says in understanding.
"What's The Giver?" Tris asks.
"It is a book in the same genre as this book, let's keep reading." I answer, not really wanting to start a full on conversation about this book. It brings back too many bad memories of having to read the book one chapter at a time. (A/N True story D:)
"My mother told me once that we can't survive alone, and even if we could, we wouldn't want to. Without a faction we have no purpose and no reason to live. I shake my head. I can't think like this. I have to stay calm.
Finally the door opens, and Tori walks back in. I grip the arms of the chair. "Sorry to worry you," Tori says. She stands by my feet with her hands in her pockets. She looks tense and pale.
"Beatrice, you test results were inconclusive," she says.
"BUM BUM BUMMMMM!" Uriah exclaims, earning a slap in the arm by Marlene.
"Typically each stage eliminates one or more of the factions, but in your case, only two have been ruled out."
"Congrats, you are a round character not a flat one." I say shaking Tris's hand in a fashion that is like a teacher giving a student a diploma.
"Ummm thanks?" Tris questions.
"Just now you have a ton of psychopaths trying to kill you." Griffin states.
I stare at her. "Two?" I ask. My throat is so tight it's hard to talk. "If you had shown an automatic distaste for the knife and selected the cheese, would have lead you to a different scenario that confirmed your aptitude for Amity. That didn't happen, which is why Amity is out." Tori scratches the back of her neck. "Normally, the simulation progresses in a linear fashion, isolating one faction by ruling out the rest. The choices you made didn't even allow Candor, the next possibility, to be ruled out, so I had to alter the simulation to put you on the bus. And there your insistence upon dishonesty ruled out Candor." She half smiles. "Don't worry about that. Only the Candor tell the truth in that one."
One of the knots in my chest loosens. Maybe I'm not an awful person.
"I suppose that's not entirely true. People who tell the truth are the Candor… and the Abnegation," she says, "Which gives us a problem."
My mouth falls open. "On the one hand, you threw yourself on the dog rather than let it attack the little girl, which is an Abnegation-oriented response… but on the other, when the told you the truth would save him, you still refused to tell it. Not an Abnegation-oriented response." She sighs. "Not running from the dog suggests Dauntless, but so does taking the knife which you didn't do."
She clears her throat and continues. "Your intelligent response to the dog indicates a strong alignment with the Erudite. I have no idea what to make of your indecision in stage one, but-"
"Wait," I interrupt her. "So you have no idea what my aptitude is?" "Yes and no. My conclusion," she explains, "is that you display equal aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite.
People who get this kind of result are…" She looks over her shoulder like she expects someone to appear behind her. "... are called… Divergent."
"TITLE OF THE BOOK!" exclaims Daph.
"And the definition of it is:adjective: divergent
tending to be different or develop in different directions:
(of a series) increasing indefinitely as more of its terms are added.
"So divergent is just another word in the dictionary?" Caleb questions.
"Exactly, not even a common one at that." I answer.
"Tris! why didn't you tell us that you are Divergent! We are your friends we could have helped you!" Christina complains.
"She was just trying to save her own ass! Stop complaining!" Daryl growled.
"She says the last word so quietly that I almost don't hear it, and her tense, worried look returns. She walks around the side of the chair and leans in close to me.
'Beatrice,' she says, 'under no circumstances should you share that information with anyone. This is very important.'
"We aren't supposed to share our results." I nod. "I know that." "No." Tori kneels down next to the chair and places her arms on the armrest. Our faces are inches apart. "This is different. I don't mean you shouldn't share them now; I mean you shouldn't share them with anyone, ever, no matter what happens. Divergence is extremely dangerous. You understand?"
Tris makes a pointing look at Christina and she puts her hands up in surrender.
I don't understand- how could inconclusive test results be dangerous?- but I still nod. I don't want to share my test results with anyone anyway.
"Okay." I peel my hands from the arms of the chair and stand. I feel unsteady. "I suggest," Tori says, "that you go home. You have a lot of thinking to do, and waiting with the others may not benefit you."
"I have to tell my brother where I'm going." "I'll let him know."
"So you were the person who left early." Andrew concludes.
"Yes." Tris approves.
I touch my forehead and stare at the floor as I walk out of the room. I can't bear to look her in the eye. I can't bear to think about the Choosing Ceremony tomorrow. It's my choice now, no matter what the test says. Abnegation. Dauntless. Erudite. Divergent.
I decide not to take the bus. If I get home early, my father will notice when he checks the house log at the end of the day, and I'll have to explain what happened. Instead I walk. I'll have to intercept Caleb before he can tell anything to our parents, but Caleb can keep a secret. I walk in the middle of the road.
"Now that is a stupid decision." Johanna states.
"Ya, um I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to get run over by a car." I agree.
"Just wait for the next sentence." Andrew states.
"Yes I know, but still, you try that where I come from. You're road kill, no joke." I defend.
The buses tend to hug the curb, so it's safer here. Sometimes, on the streets near my house, I can see places where the yellow lines used to be. We have no use for them now that there are so few cars. We don't need stoplights either, but in some places they dangle precariously over the road like they might crash down any minute.
Renovation moves slowly through the city, which is a patchwork of new, clean buildings and old, crumbling ones. Most of the new buildings are next to the marsh, which used to be a lake a long time ago.
"It was one of the Great Lakes right? I think it was Lake Michigan right?" I ask.
"Ya, we learned it last year in US history." Griffin agrees.
"If I'm not mistaken they were formed by the ice age right?" Daph questions.
"The glaciers dug them out." Johanna agrees.
"Wait, how many lakes are there?" Caleb questions.
"Five, Lake Erie, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario and Lake..." I start and trail off.
"Huron." Griffin answers.
The Abnegation volunteer agency my mother works for is responsible for most of those renovations.
When I look at the Abnegation lifestyle as an outsider, I think it's beautiful. When I watch my family move in harmony; when we go to dinner parties and everyone cleans together afterward without having to be asked;"
"I can't picture my family doing that...like ever. Really it's only one person that does the dishes. It could be different in a military home? I'm really not sure." I ramble.
"I would love to watch my brother wash the dishes. I can just sit across from him eating popcorn and watching him suffer!" Griffin exclaims.
"That would be almost as rewarding as watching one of my teachers run the mile." Johanna comments.
"That would be the best!" Daph agrees.
"Why do you guys take pleasure in people's suffering? That is very rude." Natalie states. Where did her fun side go?
"We are human. Who doesn't think that watching people suffer is funny?" Chris asks.
"Remember the clip where the dude was trying to do a flip into a garbage can, but missed the garbage can!" I ask.
"Oh Yeah!" Griffin agrees.
"Weird people..." Andrew mutters.
"when I see Caleb help stranger carry their groceries, I fall in love with this life all over again. It's only when I try to live it myself that I have trouble. It never feels genuine.
But choosing a different means I forsake my family. Permanently."
"I'm pretty sure that without the cutting of initiates, Dauntless would have WAY to big of a population." Griffin notes.
"Actually, there are a lot of faction transfers to all of the factions." Four defends.
"Wait, there are teens who want to be a fucking farmer!" Daryl exclaims. Robert looks offended and Griffin, Johanna, Daph, and I and holding back laughter. Robert is about to say something, but decides against it.
"Just past the Abnegation sector of the city is the stretch of building skeletons and broken sidewalks I now walk through. There are places where the road has completely collapsed, revealing sewer systems and empty subways I have to be careful to avoid, and places that stink so powerfully of sewage and trash that I have to plug my nose."
"Get Fabreze!" Johanna exclaims.
"This is where the factionless live. Because the failed to complete into whatever faction they chose, they live in poverty, doing the work no one else wants to do. They are janitors and construction worker and trash collectors; they make fabric and operate trains and drive buses. In return for their work they get food and clothing, but, as my mother says, not enough of either.
I see a factionless man standing on the corner up ahead. He wears ragged brown clothing and skin sags from his jaws. He stares at me, and I stare back at him, unable to look away.
"These people sound like walkers if you ask me." Daryl comments.
"Ya, that's what a lot of people call them on Pinterest and Instagram." Griffin agrees.
"So your saying that the factionless are zombies?" Andrew says disgusted.
"'Excuse me,' he says. His voice is raspy. 'Do you have something I can eat?'"
"Never mind, he just went old lady." I mutter.
"I feel a lump in my throat. A stern voice in my head says, Duck your head and keep walking."
"Yup, that was Four." Zeke teases. I look over at Four and see that he is actually slightly pale. Well one things for sure, this book is not going to be easy for him, oh well.
"No. I shake my head. I should not be afraid of this man. He needs help and I am supposed to help him. 'Um… yes,' I say. I reach into my bag. My father tells me to keep food in my bag at all times for exactly this reason. I offer the man a small bag of dried apple slices."
"I LOVE THOSE!" I exclaim and get some weird looks from...well...everybody."What type were they?"
"Red?" Tris answers hesitantly.
"Oh, never mind. The green is way better...Wait a second did that say chips or slices?" I respond.
"Slices." answers Caleb.
"Ewwww never mind." I respond.
"He reaches for them, but instead of taking the bag, his hand closes around my wrist. He smiles at me. He has a gap in his front teeth. 'My, don't you have pretty eyes,'"
"You have very pretty eyes." Four agrees resulting in Tris blushing and hiding her head into Four's shirt.
"he says. 'It's a shame that the rest of you is so plain.'"
"Well, that was rude. You are not plain at all." Four disagrees. FourTris!
"My heart pounds. I tug my hand back, but his grip tightens. I smell something arcid and unpleasant on his breath. "You look a little young to be walking around by yourself, dear," he says. I stop tugging and stand up straighter.
I know I look young; I don't need to be reminded."I'm older than I look," I retort, "I'm sixteen." His lips spread wide, revealing a gray molar with a dark pit in the side.
"No futuristic perfect teeth?" Griffin teases.
"Nope, our homeless have high quality broken teeth." Christina jokes, smiling.
"I can't tell he's smiling or grimacing. 'Then isn't today a special day for you? The day before you choose?'"
"But yet the homeless have a calendar?" I question Andrew.
"Ummm we never gave them calendars so I guess they just have connections." Andrew shrugs. Yup, I can see how the factionless made a plan to destroy the factions right under their noses.
"'Let go of me,' I say. I hear ringing in my ears. My voice sounds clear and stern- not what I expected to hear. I feel like it doesn't belong to me.
I am ready. I know what to do. I picture myself bringing my elbow back and hitting him."
"Your Dauntless is showing." Uriah teases.
"I see the bag of apples flying away from me. I hear my running footsteps. I am prepared to act. But then he releases my wrist, takes the apples, and says, 'Choose wisely, little girl.'"
"Done!" Andrew exclaims.
"Dramatic ending much?" Uriah questions and everyone nods along, looking at Tris.
"What I didn't say that!" Tris defends.
"But the other chapters." Will pushes.
"Whatever" Tris grumbles.
A/N So...I'm still alive! That's good news right? I'm really sorry for not updating in so long. I want to murder school and burn it to the ground...just saying. My season for softball just ended so that should help the level of updates because how much I have updated recently is unacceptable. Truthfully, I'm going to be happy if I can go to sleep without someone murdering me. For you information I am constantly on fanfiction, even though I rarely have updated for so long I have been on the site itself almost everyday. I do a lot more reading than writing...but I will say that reviewing randomly after I haven't updated in a while really helps me actually write the chapter because I have more motivation. Anyway, if I make it through the night I will be happy. Thank you so much for reading this EXTREMELY long a/n sorry...Thx again:D
~FourTris18