Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent, any of the characters or any of the dialogue that comes directly from the text.
Chapter 15
Today is visiting day and while most people are excited to have a chance to see the family they left behind, mine will not come. My mother was very young when she got pregnant. So young that she hadn't yet chosen a faction. Her family didn't support her decision to have me so when the day came, she chose to leave her birth faction behind and start a new life in Erudite. She thought it was the right decision, but at sixteen she wasn't prepared for the struggles that were to come.
Things were okay at first and my mother did her best to take care of me, but Erudite was no more welcoming of a teen mom than her own parents had been and her mental health began to deteriorate. She turned to quick fixes to get her through the pain and by fourteen I was the closest thing to an adult in our household. During my last few years in Erudite Jeanine took a liking to me. It was gradual, but I started to crave her attention. In retrospect, my attachment to Jeanine was just a pathetic attempt to get the maternal love my mother was incapable of giving me.
But Jeanine was no mother. She lacked the compassion and nurturing nature one would expect of a mother and no matter what I did she never gave me the affection I craved. So when my day came to choose, the resentful, angry teen that I had become decided to run away and create a new, better life for myself in Dauntless.
Not long after choosing Dauntless, I found out that my mom overdosed and subsequently passed away. But I had made my choice and I couldn't let it affected me. Instead of losing myself in grief, I worked even harder during initiation, hell bent on coming first to ensure my place in leadership. And even though I failed at coming first I still made leadership. The youngest Dauntless leader in history. For the first time ever, I was proud of myself. I was no longer Eric, son of the teen mom turned druggy or Eric, Jeanine's little pet. No, I was Eric, Dauntless leader.
I thought I had escaped my old life, but I couldn't escape Jeanine. After my appointment to leadership, she approached Max and convinced him that I would be perfect for her special assignment. With Jeanine's plans to rid the factions of Divergents already common knowledge among Dauntless leadership, Max agreed and I was brought up to speed. Having grown up being taught how dangerous Divergents are to our society and not wanting to disappoint Max, I accepted my assignment without hesitation. Unfortunately, by accepting, I unwittingly agreed to be back under Jeanine's thumb and I've been stuck there ever since.
So while everyone else is enjoying time spent with their loved ones, I'll be avoiding the Pit at all costs. After prepping the transfers for visiting day, I'll head straight to the leadership wing for my meeting with Lauren to determine the rankings of the dauntless born initiates. Being from a long line of dauntless borns, today is just another day for her. After that I'll meet with Four. I don't know much about Four's past, but I know that he transferred from Abnegation and like me, has always spent visiting day alone.
I really should have made someone else deal with the initiates this morning. When I walk into the dorms the room is silent but everyone appears to be ready for the day.
"Attention!" I announce, running my hand through my hair. "I want to give you some advice about today. If by some miracle your families do come to visit you…" I scan their worried faces. "…which I doubt, it is best not to seem too attached. That will make it easier for you, and easier for them. We also take the phrase 'faction before blood' very seriously here. Attachment to your family suggests you aren't entirely pleased with your faction, which would be shameful. Understand?"
It might be a bit harsh, and that last part might not strictly speaking be true, but this day will lead to disappointment for many and they may as well be prepared for it.
With a quick glance at Tris, who seems to be lost in thought, I turn and leave.
The meeting with Lauren was fairly quick and I expect the same of the one with Four…if he would ever get here. I've been waiting for him in my office for almost 20 minutes and I really don't feel like trying to track him down especially since everywhere I can think to look for him would force me through the Pit.
I walk out of my office and almost run into Sam who is looking down at a file in his hands. "Have you seen Four?" I ask, annoyed.
"Last I saw, he was lurking around the Pit," he replies, looking up from his folder.
"For fuck sakes," I exclaim before slamming my door closed and stomping in the direction of the Pit.
I hear the noise from the crowded Pit before I see it. I stop at the end of the hallway and take a minute to prepare myself for the onslaught of people. When I finally force myself forward, I see him almost immediately. Jackass. My feet drag me over to him and I have to fight the urge to deck him.
I'm about to bitch him out when I notice the two women in front of him. On his left is Tris and next to her a dark haired woman dressed in grey. I look between them and Four. Is she introducing Four to her mom? The thought makes my already bad mood worse.
"Hello, my name is Natalie," the woman says to me. "I'm Beatrice's mother."
"Hi," I grunt in response, a weak attempt at a smile on my face. "Eric."
"It's nice to meet you," she continues.
I look over at Tris. She seems equal parts nervous and embarrassed. I need to get out of here.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I've been looking for this one," I say, smacking Four's upper arm with the back of my hand, hard. "I was expecting you in my office like 30 minutes ago for our meeting."
"My apologies," he replies with more than a hint of sarcasm. "I got distracted."
He smiles and gestures towards Tris and her mother.
"Please, don't let me keep you," Natalie interjects with a small smile. "It was very nice meeting you both."
"It was nice meeting you too," I reply before turning around. "Come on Four, let's get this over with."
I don't wait for him to respond before walking back from where I came.
"Okay, I don't think there's any question of who the top and bottom ranked initiates are," Four says, sitting across from me in my office.
"Edward and Myra, obviously," I supply.
"Peter is next best and Al, second to last," he continues.
"Will is the clear third place, but after that it's not as black and white. Molly and Christina are tied for fourth and Drew and Tris are tied for third last so we will have to use other criteria to determine their rankings," Four finishes. We both sit in silence contemplating his words.
Tris' ranking shouldn't be a surprise to me, but I can't help the panic that bubbles up in my chest at the thought of her being ranked third to last. Third last is seventh place and seventh place might not be safe.
"Give me your notes. I need to see the numbers," I say breaking the silence as I pull out Lauren's notes from our earlier meeting.
I scan over the dauntless born initiate scores and then compare them to Tris'. They're not far off, but Tris is still outscoring their two lowest ranked initiates and with Al and Myra both having worse scores, Tris is safe.
I let out a sigh of relief and pass Four his notes back.
"What?" he says, confused.
"Don't worry about it," I reply.
He raises his eyebrows and pauses, waiting for a better answer. When I don't give him one, he continues speaking.
"Okay…should we talk about Molly and Christina then?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Molly won her first fight, but after that she was against Edward and Peter so she lost two in a row, but they were both higher ranked than her and she didn't go down easily. Her last fight was against Tris…and we both know how that one turned out," he stops and gives me a pointed look that I choose to ignore.
"And Christina?" I ask.
"She lost her first two fights, but won her second two. So technically she beat Molly in number of fights won, but her opponents weren't as highly ranked which is what evened out their scores."
I think it over for a second. Regardless of their order, the two of them are safe this round.
"Let's go off of the win vs loss totals. Christina ranks higher because she won two fights," I suggest.
"Fair enough. Tris and Drew? We go by total wins vs loss' for them too then?" he asks.
"That puts Tris in sixth right? And Drew in seventh?" I say, confirming what I already know.
"Yeah. So that would make the rankings from top to bottom: Edward, Peter, Will, Christina, Molly, Tris, Drew, Al and then Myra," Four declares.
Al and Myra will be cut. I can't say I'll miss them.
"Works for me."
"So l'll post the rankings tonight?" he asks.
"Yeah, wait until after dinner," I nod.
With everything worked out, Four stands to leave. When he reaches the door, he stops and turns towards me.
"Before…you compared Lauren's notes and my notes, didn't you?" he questions.
"Yes," I reply simply, busying myself with putting away Lauren's notes.
"You were checking Tris' score, weren't you? Seeing if she was going to be cut?" he asks.
We lock eyes, but I refuse to answer. I really have no interest in discussing Tris with him.
"Is she safe?" he pushes.
"Why do you care, Stiff?" I'm getting pretty sick of his attachment to her.
"Why do you care? Nose?" he bites back.
"Why'd you run away from Abnegation if you were just going to fall for the first Stiff that walks into dauntless?"
His jaw tightens and his posture goes rigid at the mention of his former faction. I've struck a nerve.
He lets out a frustrated sigh. "Just tell me if she's safe."
I consider refusing to answer, making him suffer through waiting alongside the initiates. But from the look on his face I don't think he will leave my office until he gets an answer and I don't feel like spending another second with him.
"She's safe."
He gives me a quick nod before leaving. I let out an exasperated sigh and slam my open desk draw shut.
I know it isn't the most exciting chapter, but it was necessary to keep the story going! The next chapter will also be to keep the story going, but more drama to come! The next chapter will likely be posted on Friday. I have been trying to update Tuesdays and Fridays. I just started field placement for school though so I may not be able to continue being as consistent.
Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to feedback!
-MWB
