YEAR 2248: AGES 13-14

February 6

Evelyn

"Look out there. Isn't it beautiful?"

Shivering in her old fleece jacket, Evelyn stepped carefully to the broken window and looked out. The snow was falling thickly over the city, hiding the sharp edges of the buildings in a serene white blanket. Gone was the roar of downtown traffic. From the thirty-fifth floor, the hills that were cars and smaller houses looked almost like lumps of melted sugar.

"It's lovely," she murmured, soaking in the fairytale-like landscape.

"I thought you'd enjoy it," said Zachary, smiling. "I would move in up here, but there's no running water and the elevator's broken. Want to go down to my place now?"

Evelyn nodded and followed him down several dizzying flights of stairs. At the bottom, Zachary pushed open a rusted door to reveal what must've once been a reasonably luxurious three-bedroom apartment. As with all the other factionless buildings in the city, it was now in a grimy state of disrepair—paint peeling off the walls, cracks creeping over the ceiling, and broken windows admitting the frigid air. Like little kids, Evelyn and Zachary threw a cloth over the rickety table and crawled beneath it.

"You know, factionless life isn't really so bad," Evelyn remarked as they sat facing each other.

"Really?" Zachary sounded surprised. "You're probably the only person in the whole city who would say that, even counting the factionless."

The girl shrugged. "Beats being teased by the other kids or listening to my father's drunken yelling all the time."

"Will he ever get over his depression?"

"How can he, when he has to deal with people looking at him like he's an idiot every time he's called in to clean up the labs?"

"That's one of the reasons I hate Erudite," declared Zachary with sudden vehemence. "They think everyone else is trash, just because they scored higher on a stupid little test! What are they there for, anyway? Ruining other people's lives?"

Evelyn looked up. "Ruining people's lives?"

"They're the reason I'm an orphan!" Zachary spat.

What is he talking about? wondered Evelyn. She had asked him about his past many times before, but he was always frustratingly elusive. "What do you mean?"

Zachary hesitated. "I…never mind." The boy folded his arms and stared off into the distance.

"Come on," Evelyn coaxed, burning with curiosity. "You can tell me anything. I won't tell anyone else."

The boy was silent for a long time before saying softly, "Remember that extremely cold winter six years ago? My parents and I teetered on the brink of death, freezing and starving…A couple of Erudite were testing some new chemicals. Said they'd pay my parents a thousand bucks to be human guinea pigs. We had little choice but to accept."

The girl held her breath. "Then…"

"Turns out they were testing death serum. As you can see, the experiment was successful."

Evelyn gaped. "That's horrible!" How could anyone be so cruel?!

"You don't know the least of it," said Zachary bleakly. "My parents were the lucky ones. Some other factionless came back deformed. Insane."

Silence fell within the small cloth tent. "I'm so sorry," she whispered after a moment. No wonder Zachary hates my faction. They're so self-centered they feel no sympathy for anyone else.

"It's not your fault, you just happened to be born there," he stated at last. "But when you grow up, don't become one of them."

Evelyn shook her head vigorously. "Never!"

"Good."

For a long time, neither of them spoke, huddling in their self-made sphere of warmth in a world of merciless cold.

May 16

Marcus

"He did that again?!"

"Doesn't surprise me anymore, really. It's become a habit for him." Marcus winced and rubbed his sore side, peering out the door of the deserted classroom to make sure nobody would come barging in.

Johanna sighed. "Didn't your father give you a beating just the day before yesterday? He didn't used to do that more than once a month. Are you sure he hasn't gone a little crazy?"

"He probably has," Marcus reflected. "But I can't just go and rat him out. It would completely destroy our faction's reputation. As much as I hate him, I just…can't." For the good of the city and the protection of the data, I must stay silent. What a nice trap Father's got me in.

"Well, at least let me take you to the nurse. I…well, you could say you fell down the stairs or something."

Johanna wore the same concerned look as she did three years ago, when she accidentally stumbled upon Marcus crying in a far corner of the school. Serious, quiet, and withdrawn, nobody had ever paid any attention to the Abnegation boy, so Marcus was shocked when the Candor girl stopped and offered to help him.

"What happened to you? Were you beat up by bullies or something?" Johanna bent down to examine the figure curled up on the floor.

"I-It's nothing, just leave me alone," Marcus mumbled, pressing himself closer to the wall.

Johanna shook her head. "No, it's not nothing. I'm Candor, I can tell."

Marcus looked up at her with a mixture of shock and fear. "I'm not telling you anything! Your faction will tell the whole school what happened to me!"

Instead of looking offended, the Candor girl smiled and sat down beside him. "No, you can tell me, I can keep a secret. My faction says I can't lie, but that doesn't mean I have to go around saying every single thing that ever happened to me, does it?"

Marcus rubbed his eyes, feeling his whole body ache. Never before had he seen his father so angry. He hoped he'd never lose his temper like that again. "Well, what if somebody asks you about me?"

"I can say we're from different factions, so I'm not supposed to know anything about you," Johanna answered carefully. "That's not strictly lying. Just tell me what happened. I'm sure you'll feel better if you do."

With nobody else to turn to, Marcus gave her a brief history of his family, starting with his brother's mysterious death and ending with his father's manic campaign to "beat the divergence out of him." The effect was cathartic—all the pain, grief, and terror he'd had to endure seemed to explode in his words, leaving him with a curious feeling of lightness. Through it all, Johanna listened patiently.

Now, at thirteen, she was still the only one willing to hear his troubles. Johanna never comforted him with empty words, such as "I feel so sorry for you," or "You'll be alright," which sounded nice, but meant nothing. Nor did she suggest radical plans to get back at Dexter, plans that, though fun to talk about, tended to leave one feeling more hopeless than ever afterwards. Instead, she simply listened, offering any practical advice she could give. For this, Marcus was extremely grateful.

"No, I went to the nurse yesterday. It would look too suspicious," Marcus reminded her. "I-I can manage on my own."

"Alright, if you're sure," said Johanna doubtfully. Though nobody was around to hear them, she lowered her voice as she asked, "Have you ever thought about, you know…escaping? When the time comes?"

Marcus frowned. "You mean transferring factions?" He didn't know what to think of this idea. I'd be free of Father forever. But there's just one problem: where would I go? I'd never be safe in Candor or Erudite, but I could never live in Amity or Dauntless. "I don't know. Maybe, maybe not."

"Mm," Johanna nodded contemplatively. Just then, the bell rang, a sharp, piercing ring that left them deaf for a few seconds afterwards. "I gotta go. Come find me later if the pain gets worse, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Johanna."

"Hey, what are friends for, right?"

November 30

Tori

"For this next project," announced the aging science teacher, "I will give you a piece of technology, which you are to disassemble. In a 5,000 word paper, you will describe each of its components, including its size, shape, material, and weight, and then formulate ways in which the item could be improved. Am I clear?"

5,000 words? thought Tori in horror. Did she say 5,000 words?

The class of Erudite children nodded their heads and their teacher brought out an assortment of strange gadgets.

"Very well, then. Please get into groups of five."

Hunched over at the back of the class, Tori didn't even bother to try and join the numerous groups that were forming throughout the room. As an eternal loner and C- student, nobody would willingly accept her as a research paper partner.

When almost everyone had gotten together with their buddies, the teacher called out, "Who's not in a group yet?" Four hands shot into the air. "Alright, Jeanine, Andrew, Tori, and Evelyn, you'll be a group then."

Tori sighed. The four of them were frequently thrown together for projects, and none of them liked it one bit. It was no coincidence. They were the misfits, the leftovers nobody wanted. Evelyn wasn't a bad person, Tori reflected, but she was always so shabbily dressed that she resembled the factionless. Also, the girl was, if possible, even duller than Tori when it came to schoolwork. As usual, she folded her hands on the desk and put her head down, watching listlessly as their teacher dropped a radio on their desk.

"Take it apart, Andrew," Jeanine commanded as she pulled out a notebook and began outlining the essay. "Section one…1,000 words on electromechanical telecommunications…"

Andrew and Jeanine, on the other hand, are freaks even among the Erudite, thought Tori as she watched Andrew disassemble the radio and sort the pieces into piles, muttering the names of each one under his breath. She had seen those two converse for hours in the library about obscure formulas and impossibly complex theories. For the longest time, Tori had assumed they were fraternal twins or something.

This is boring. The nerds don't need me and I have nothing to do. Tori pulled out a blank notepad and began doodling idly. Beats listening to science jargon.

Evelyn slid over and tapped her on the arm. "Do you have any idea what we're supposed to be doing?" she asked quietly.

Tori shook her head. "I never do. Honestly, I am the bane of Erudite."

"I know! We were born into completely the wrong factions!" the other girl exclaimed. She looked anxiously around her, but Andrew and Jeanine were too absorbed in examining the radio's parts to hear them. "I'm getting out of here as soon as I'm sixteen. You?"

Tori looked at Evelyn, surprised to find someone so desperate to transfer out of her home faction. "I'd like to. My mother would have a heart attack, though."

Evelyn shrugged. "So would my dad, probably. But who cares? It's my choice, my life. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life cleaning laboratories. Faction before blood, remember?"

"You said it!" Tori grinned. "Say, if you're so sure you're leaving, what faction are you going to?"

"That's the problem," Evelyn admitted. "I'm not sure what I'm suited for. I could never go to Candor; I'm not a constant liar, but I can't tell the truth all the time. I'm certainly not Dauntless material, either. I mean, look at me! I don't know what their initiation is, but I'd never pass. Amity and Abnegation are alright. I'm thinking about going to either of those. What about you?"

Tori closed her eyes, allowing her imagination to carry her away. She pictured herself in a yellow dress, strumming a banjo in an orchard while her friends sang along. Yucky! Definitely not Amity! Next, she imagined herself in a white blouse and a black skirt, pouring out her most embarrassing secrets before an assembled crowd. Not Candor. NEVER. She then put herself in a loose gray robe, passing out blankets and food to a line of dirty factionless people. Nope, not Abnegation. I'd probably die of boredom. Last, she imagined herself in a black tank top and slacks, firing a gun into the air. Dangerous and foolish, said her mother's voice in her head. But still, it seems oddly appealing. "I think I'd be—"

"Tori! Evelyn!" Jeanine pounded her fist on the table. "I'm going to delegate your tasks now, so listen carefully and DON'T MAKE MISTAKES!"

Evelyn fidgeted nervously, but Tori returned her gaze with a defiant glare. "So what if I do? Not everyone is a paranoid perfectionist like you, you know."

"You derailed our lab last time and caused us to get an F! If you do that again, I swear I will reconfigure the power grid so that it short-circuits every single electronic appliance in your house!" Jeanine growled through clenched teeth.

Tori smiled at the memory of the lab, which involved six flammable chemicals, two Bunsen burners, several jars of exploding dye, and, eventually, the Dauntless firefighters. "I don't think I can make a bomb out of the pieces of a radio, but that's not going to stop me from trying again."

Jeanine picked up her book and made as if to throw it. Andrew, who had been watching the escalating argument in fear, broke in, "Stop! Calm down! Let's just try to work peacefully for once, okay?"

Tori grimaced. Andrew, Andrew, always the peacemaker. She had actually been hoping that Jeanine would throw the book so she could have an excuse to give her a good punch in the gut.

"How can we have peace if those two can never do anything right?!" Jeanine snapped, rounding on her friend.

"I…just let them do what they want, and I'll fix it up, okay?" he said at last, exasperated.

"If anything goes wrong, it's your fault then," grumbled Jeanine, returning to her drafting.

Across the table, Tori and Evelyn winked at each other.

This chapter was shorter because the next one will be quite…surprising. Please review!