Tris wasn't nervous at all when she walked into school the day of her aptitude test. At least, she tried to pretend she wasn't. She was almost positive that her result would be dauntless today. However, she still had doubts about actually picking dauntless on choosing day because she still felt an obligation to her family. And of course, there's the small part of her that might not be able to handle seeing Tobias Eaton again. But the more she thought about her family, the more she realized that Caleb would most definitely choose Abnegation. He was as Abnegation as they come! At least her parents would still have one child if she chooses to leave. And as for seeing Tobias again, he didn't matter anymore.. or so she told herself again and again.
The test itself wasn't particularly difficult. It was just weird. This was her first experience with the simulation serum and it was really disorienting at first. Then it just seemed very real. Like she couldn't remember how she got to room full of mirrors, but she was there. The dog she saw looked so real. Vaguely she remembered that she was doing some sort of test. And before she knew it, it was over and she was waking up.
She looked over at her test administrator; she was really quiet. She didn't notice before, but she was covered with tattoos. Must be dauntless. She muttered something under her breath that sounded like "Why is this happening more often now?"
"Is something wrong?" Tris asked.
Tori turned around and starred at her. "Yeah. I just don't even know what to say anymore."
Tris was getting nervous now. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. Your recorded result is Abnegation." She said dismissively.
Tris was shocked and sensed Tori's hesitation. "I don't think that's right. I thought for sure that I would come up as Dauntless." Tris was disappointed. Maybe she just wasn't brave enough or tough enough for Dauntless.
Tori seemed to change her mind about something. "Ok, fine. You gotta listen. You're results are Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite. It means you're something called Divergent. And you're dangerous to yourself and your family. My advice would be to go into a different faction from them to protect them from yourself." It seemed like Tori's speech was well rehearsed. Tris felt has though this same situation had happened to Tori multiple times.
"What? I thought everyone only has one result. What's wrong with me?" Tris was getting uncomfortable with this whole situation. Could she trust Tori?
Tori seemed annoyed. "It happens more than you think. You can't conform the way they want you to and that makes you dangerous. If they find out they won't just target you, they'll target people you're close to."
"The people I'm close to…" Something inside Tris clicked. Tobias?! He probably got the same results when he took his test and that's why he left. To protect her… She felt a wave of understanding and then anger. He should have told her!
"Listen, you gotta get out of here. You've been in here too long. If you don't leave now, they will know something's up. Just remember what I said." She ushered Tris out of the testing room.
What was she going to do now? Tris felt sick. She was different, damaged…. Something called divergent. How much danger could there be for her? Tori made it seem like her choice of faction was a life and death decision now. So, staying in Abnegation was completely out of the question. She had to sever ties with her family to protect them from whatever this was. And she wouldn't be caught dead at Erudite. So that left her choice. The only choice she ever wanted to make. The only choice she had now: Dauntless. She would have to face Tobias. But she was hopeful; maybe they could figure out this divergent thing together.
When she came home, she wasn't as sure as she had been right after leaving Tori. It all had changed when she saw her parents. They were so happy and cheerful. When they all had dinner together that night, no one brought up the choosing ceremony which was going to be held the next day. They had no idea that Tris was going to betray them. It almost made her change her mind. It wasn't until she remembered that Caleb was the Abnegation poster boy, so she was fine. They would all be fine and her parents would still have Caleb. And more importantly they would be safe without her.
The next day, she was resigned to her choices. She felt like Dauntless was where she was supposed to be anyway and this was the final push for her. She felt at peace with leaving her family. They would understand. Her mom would think that she was just following Tobias. But this was so much more than that. She was a little nervous about seeing Tobias. Maybe she was wrong about why he left. It made so much sense; the way it all happened when he left. But she wouldn't know for sure until she talked with him. Maybe she wouldn't even see him for a while. She would have time to figure out how to breach the subject with him if he would even talk to her. She thought about his note "Don't follow me there." Well, she wasn't left with another choice now.
At the ceremony, Tris thought everything was going way too fast. Her parents were sitting in between her and her brother. Suddenly it was her brother's turn and she was next. Caleb made his way up to the stage. Tris was fiddling with her shirt. She was really nervous now. This was it, the biggest decision of her life. Was she making the right one? She was barely even paying attention to what was happening on stage until she saw her mother flinch. Caleb had just chosen Erudite. What?!
This can't be happening. This was not the way this was supposed to go. Her parents were going to lose them both today. What was Caleb thinking?!
"Beatrice Prior." Janine called her name.
No! Tris thought. She needed more time. How could she betray her parents like this now? She needed to stall; she had to think. She didn't move.
"Beatrice Prior." Janine said again.
Tris stood up. She was drawing attention to herself now, which was not good. She walked up towards the stage. She still didn't know what she was going to do. She cut her hand and starred at the four bowls. This would have been so easy if Caleb had just chosen Abnegation. She looked at the audience and saw her mom and dad watching her. She was dangerous now; she had to leave them. They needed to be safe from whatever threat there was. She only had the warning words of her test administrator to go off of. But they were enough. She trusted her. There was something about Tori's tone that made it seem that she had personal experience with the danger. Tris looked down at her hand and put it over her choice.
"Dauntless." Janine's voice echoed through the room.
Tris looked up at her parents. They were heartbroken, just as she thought they would be. She kept telling herself that this was best for everyone. But she didn't know if she believed that anymore. What if Tori were some crock that got off scaring people with pretend "dangers" to mess with their lives?
That was ridiculous. And as she took her place seated with the dauntless, Tris got excited; she suddenly felt like she belonged with them. Her life was leading her to this moment. Even though everything seemed wrong a moment ago, everything was right.
After the ceremony, Tris left with the Dauntless. She didn't look back. She was ready to start her new life. The Dauntless initiates started running toward the train to get to the Dauntless compound. She ran with them. Tris felt free. She was running toward her new life, toward Dauntless and toward Tobias.