Selfish
Natalie and Andrew Prior step into their son's room with little noise. It has been only a few days since their children left, and they are feeling the loss greatly. Natalie feels it more than her husband, however, as his feelings are clouded by his anger that their children abandoned the faction they were born to. He is disappointed with Caleb, especially, as his son had the makings of a member of the Abnegation counsel. Now, he wonders if the knowledge his son was blessed with was not the product of his selfless tendencies, but the product of books and a thirst for knowledge. His son did not want to learn as much as he could just in case someone was injured and needed help; he wanted to learn just for the sake of knowing.
Selfishly.
Now, as he looks blankly around Caleb's room while still standing in the doorway with his wife, he tries to motionlessly scout out places where textbooks and leaflets may be hidden. Natalie, clearly thinking on the same lines as her husband, walks forward and lifts Caleb's mattress. Underneath is a book and a couple of leaflets, all about medicine. Lodged behind his chest of drawers is a thick textbook about history, talking about the twentieth century, a time long forgotten to everyone but Erudite, who research the past and their technology, in their present.
Andrew clenches his teeth and his jaw flexes as his wife finds yet another book, this time about which plants can be eaten and which ones can't, even though there are no plants in any part of the city, except in perhaps Amity where a lot of food is grown. But even then, hardly anything grows without it having been planted by a member of the faction. "Where did he get these things?!" He asks his wife, only semi-rhetorically. Even though he knows the idea is ridiculous, part of him suspects his wife found and gave these books to their son, his son. She used to be Dauntless, but transferred after discovering she was Divergent and it became too dangerous for her to stay. She moved to Abnegation as it's the only faction where it is impossible to become factionless. Only he knows her secret.
"I don't know," His wife replies as she pulls up a lose floorboard she discovered in the corner of the room, unearthing five different books about science. "You can ask him on visiting day."
Andrew turns to his wife, rage marring his features. "You really think I'm going to visit him, or Beatrice, on visiting day?"
"They are your children, Andrew," Natalie replies calmly, looking under her son's bed. Finding nothing, she stands and turns to her husband. "Regardless of what faction they chose."
"They are not my children," He snarls, trying to stare Natalie down. She doesn't move. "They abandoned us for knowledge and bravery, or stupidity. Beatrice chose Dauntless. They will be teaching her how to use knives and guns and how to kill. How do we know that next time you see her she isn't a murderer?!"
Natalie stiffens at the insult to her old faction, glaring fiercely at her husband. He moves away from her slightly. "How dare you!" She screeches. "You seem to forget that I lived there. That it was my home. The initiates don't go around shooting at each other; in fact they rarely even have access to weapons unless they're with a faction member."
"How would you know that, Natalie?" He questions, almost mockingly.
"How do you know Jeanine Matthews isn't plotting to kill us all? You were Erudite, weren't you?" She retorts, with just as much emotion.
"Yes," He spits. "I was. And I left. I left it behind me. That part of my life is over, and the part of your life that was spent in Dauntless should also be over. At least I've let go of my old faction enough to admit it's faults. For all we know Jeanine might be plotting to kill us, and maybe our so called 'son' is helping her!"
Natalie almost screams in anger and frustration. Her husband is kind, and caring, but sometimes his anger overpowers him. "So what if he is?!" She asks him with force, storming towards him. "He is still our son, just as much as Beatrice is our daughter. I left my faction because it was too dangerous for me to stay there. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe our children do possess the values you apparently value so much? That maybe they're like me? I'm not sure about Caleb but Beatrice is definitely selfless, but that does not mean she cannot be clever and brave as well. Maybe she had a lot of factions to choose from, and maybe it included this one."
"If our daughter knew that she was Divergent, and then chose Dauntless… That makes her just as clueless as you."
Natalie doesn't reply, instead choosing to stalk past her husband, leaving the books on Caleb's bed. That night, Andrew burns them.
"Andrew," Natalie says, some days later. "Which of our children will you be visiting today?"
He looks up from his work to find his wife in the doorway of his office, wrapped in a limp, grey coat and clad in average, normal shoes. She is trying to stare him down. He does not meet her eye. "What children?" He mutters with a vaguely sarcastic tone, turning back to his work.
"Caleb and Beatrice." Suddenly his wife's hands are slamming on the desk in front of him. He jumps, and looks up at her. "Your son and your daughter. Personally, I would like to see how my old faction has changed and I would also like to warn Beatrice. I think you should visit your old faction, and talk to your son."
Anger passes through Andrew Prior's eyes as he looks back down at the paper in front of him. "No," He says simply, yet quietly, almost like a petulant child. Natalie stands up with a scowl and turns towards the door, her simple shoes clicking against the floor. Andrew expects her to leave without a word, as when she's angry his wife has a habit of staying silent. So he is surprised when he hears four words he never thought he would hear from his wife's mouth, let alone aimed at him, just before the front door shuts.
"You are being selfish."