I took one final look at my new friends and went to my brother's side.
"Where are we going?" I asked as he high tailed it out of the area and down a hallway.
"Tris wanted to finally meet you. I would also like to see my little sister but it would be best to do it in private, so no one sees you out here for protection purposes, initiates aren't allowed near this part of the compound until they get in for sure. Being you are my sister, I don't want Eric or Max to use that rule against you and have you thrown out." He hurried down a hallway, everything around us was apartment like. Black doors with numbers on them. It was dark in the hallway which made me feel like I was in a prison. Lights only gave enough to help us not trip over ourselves walking.
"They would throw me out of here for being your sister? That's not fair at all." I tell him as we turn a corner.
"Like I told you before, they'll think I let you pass based on that and not on your skills. Faction before blood is life here Elizabeth. This isn't abnegation, no one is just going to help you out. You have to work for your spot here. Just like I did." He stands in front of a door marked with the number 460 and knocks.
"Can you help me train? You know what lays ahead. I don't want to be factionless Tobias, I want to be here with you." I say
"I can only give you the same amount of training I do the others Elizabeth. Maybe less to prove to Eric and Max you're a strong person, you're not just following in your brother's footsteps." He says as the door opens. Tris smiled at me and ushered me in quickly to their medium sized apartment.
"Elizabeth. I'm glad to finally talk to you under better conditions." She gave me a quick hug and then moved to my brother where they shared a loving kiss.
I looked about the apartment. The walls were painted an abnegation grey but the furniture was a shiny black. There was a big couch facing a TV and another against the wall and a coffee table next to both. The room was filled with pictures and bookshelves filled with dozens of books. The apartment looked like a mix of all the factions. Near the TV was a door that led to a balcony where you could see the fence. It wasn't as nice as my view from my old room but it was alright. A potted plant sat on the other side of the door. To the left of where we were standing was a closet and a shorter hallway. Peering into the hallway I could see 4 doors, three bedrooms and a bathroom maybe.
"You have a big apartment." I commented, looking back at the couple.
"We might have kids in the future, but that's still a while away. However you're more than welcome to live with us when you get initiated. It might be better, to say with us until you get situated in here with a job and have your own money saved up." Tris said hopefully.
"If she makes it." Tobias put in as he walked over to the sofa.
"She will. She's your sister, I'm sure she's just as good as you." Tris smiled at me and ushered me to the couches. I sat on the one against the wall and she sat next to my brother in the other.
"She reminds me more of you. It won't be easy, you remember the way Eric treated you." He took her hand and pulled her closer to him, seeing them made me think of Connor. On no..
"Eric will treat her worse because of me." He finished. "So I have to push her harder than the others."
"I'll be able to prove I'm strong and I didn't need a connection to get in." I tell him. "Things are different now Tobias, I'm not the same child from abnegation that you remember."
"She was a little more outspoken." Tris added in taking my brothers hand. "I'm sure she can handle it. " I nodded and smiled at the girl. Though I didn't know Tris very well, but I liked her.
Tobias kissed her hand and smiled a little. She made him so happy and for that I was glad. "I know things are different. I believe you'll be able to make it into dauntless. My little sister is and has always been brave. I'm sorry I left you alone with him."
"I understand why you did, eventually. In the beginning I was pissed and upset. That night you left was the first night he went full force against me. He didn't stop until I had passed out from pain, he never did that before and continued for years. I decided on that first night you were gone that I was going to leave too no matter what I got on my aptitude test." I shook my head to rid myself of the memories of Marcus, but I also couldn't help but wonder what he was doing now. Who was he taking his anger out on? Or was he reflecting on how shitty of a parent he was.
"Lizzie, what did you get on your aptitude test?" Tobias asks cautiously. I glanced over to Tris unsure if I should tell him. Tris and I give each other the same look of nervousness and he was my brother, so I could trust him. Hell, I trusted him with my life. She nodded and looked back at her boyfriend.
"Divergent. Amity, Candor, and Dauntless." I say quietly afraid as if someone other than my brother could hear me. Tobias sat quiet for a few moments which worried me.
"Tobias?" I call out his name.
"I'm actually not that surprised you're divergent. Marcus would always comment and say things about you being different. He wasn't sure you were divergent, but he assume you were. Which is why he would abuse you. I started to act similar to you so he would take it on me and not you. But to have Amity and Dauntless. What kind of freak are you?" He turns the last question into a sly smile. I couldn't help but laugh and get up from my seat on the couch and walk to them. He quickly embraced me into a long meaningful, I missed you hug. The kind that made you feel safe and you know that nothing will happen because your big brother was there to protect you. At that moment, I started crying. I haven't cried since Tobias left and Marcus turned to me to become his punching bag.
"Why are you crying Lizzie? I didn't mean you were a freak. It's just odd that someone would get those two factions, or two in general." He rubbed my back soothingly and awkwardly. He didn't know how to handle a sobbing sixteen year old girl.
"I just missed you. Three years Tobias, gone. Wasted. I never heard from you again after that night. I lost the only person I talked to and cared about. I lost my best friend. I've changed so much and so have you. Three years strained us." I hugged him tighter and cried into his chest.
"After the initiation, things will go back to normal. You'll be an official member, without my help, and then you can move in here with Tris and me. Things will be okay Lizzie. Please stop crying." I pulled away from my brother and wiped my eyes from my tears and nodded. I was with my best friend again, things have to be better.
"It's almost lights out." Tris reminded us. Tobias let go of me and stood up to headed to the door. Tris hugged me one last time and helped me out.
By the time I got to the dorms I was back to normal, I wasn't crying or sniffling. Tobias stopped before the doors and looked down at me.
"Goodnight Lizzie, I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well." He smiled at me and went back the way he came. I stood by the door and waited until I could no longer see him before walking in. The other initiates stared at me but said nothing as I made it to my bed. Olivia was sitting on the bed next to me.
"Where did you go?" She asked.
"My brother's apartment." I told her quietly and sat on her bed after changing into a sleepwear set left on the bed. There was one set out for everyone, "I met his girlfriend and we caught up, talked about the last three years." I told her and shrugged.
"So you have a free pass into Dauntless?" She asked bluntly.
"No, he said he is going to push me harder. I have a lot to live up to I'm sure."
"Yeah. You have a lot. I was talking to Connor. He said when Four was an initiate he was the top of his class. In the initiation we have to go through a fear landscape. He only has four fears. The average has 10 or more..." She spitted out facts as I tried to retain them. My brother was a legend. I had my work cut out for me. "...His girlfriend Tris, was the first jumper last year like you. I heard she was a good fighter."
"It's late Olivia, we should get some sleep." I stand up, hearing enough about my brother and Tris. They were the poster child for initiates apparently. I really needed to blow the leaders and everyone out of the water to get a shot at making it into dauntless. I also needed to prove to Tobias I was just as good as him and that I'm not some little girl who needed constant protection like when we had to deal with Marcus. I needed to prove that I wasn't him either. I am my own person and I can handle my own.