I wanted people to tell me to skip, so as a compromise I decided to skip ahead to preparation for initiation. I'm getting really anxious to write the next initiation. I've planned it out a little too much, lol. I really appreciate your reviews it makes me really happy that people are enjoying my story. So please RR :)

Chapter 22

Tris POV

I sit down on the all metal chair. It's very uncomfortable, but it was the last chair left. I rest my arm on my leg. I got the cast off but it still hurts.

"Which one of you transfers are first?" Lynn asks next to me.

"I am," I tell her. I know somebody's gonna say something about it.

"I can take you," she says energetically.

"Undoubtedly," Peter replys on my left. If I had acknowledged his presence I would have just stand. "Anyone can take the stiff."

"Anyone but you," Christina laughs. "You're flirting mecognizum of beating up girls doesn't work."

"Well I wouldn't say that," he says staring at me. "I'm mean, Tris did kinda kiss me in the pit."

I want to punch him. "I hate you so much," I say just staring at the wall. I won't let him get a rise out of me.

"Wasn't really feeling it," he sighs. I want to punch him so bad.

"You sure about that?" Uriah asks. "Because I'm pretty sure the whole pit saw you feeling something." Uriah points to his crotch area. I laugh and Peter scoffs. Uriah continues, "A certain someone probably didn't like that." I give him a death stare before he continues any longer.

My focus moves when I see Jeannine Matthews walk into the room.

"Prior," she says satisfied that she remembered. "You're Andrew Priors daughter… Beatrice, right?"

"Yes," is all I can say. My father used to complain about her all the time. She must be a horrible person to make an Abnegation gossip. She nods her head and continues walking until she is in the simulation room. This isn't good. An Erudite here to watch the simulation. Not just any Erudite, but Jeannine the faction leader.

Divergence…

I feel panic, but I try to control myself. I wipe the sweat on my hands on my black jeans. She's here looking for me.

I remember back when I went into Tobias' fear landscape. That's what's happening now. If I can just act like I'm not aware then I should be fine.

"Myra," A man calls. She is last place of all the transfer initiates so I know I'm going last. Myra gives Edward one last kiss before walking in the room with the leaders.

~ P A G E B R E A K ~

I'm the last person in the room. I've been counting the seconds as the last person leaves. Twenty-four minutes.

"Tris," The man calls. I don't recognize him. Who is he? He has blond hair and is not much taller than me, but his features say he's probably in his early twenties. I push the thought away and follow him into the room where Jeannine stays still, her eyes planted on the screen, examining every detail of the last sim.

"Are you even a leader?" I ask him curiously.

He eyes me for a second. His eyes are bright blue almost crystal looking, "No, I'm Aaron. I am here to setup the test. I do not however watch. Only leaders are allowed to do that."

He tilts his head as he inserts the needle into my neck. I lay back on the chair and rest my hands on my stomach waiting for the simulation to pull me under.

~ S I M U L A T I O N ~

I feel a pain in my leg. I look down and see a knife. A throwing knife. Another pain on my back. They're coming from everywhere. There is no blood yet I feel like I'm going to pass out. I lift my head and see Peter, knife in hand. I look all around. Christina, Will, Edward, Myra, Molly. They all stand around me throwing knives a me. There's no way out. I can't wait change it. There's nowhere to run. I fall to the ground. I can't fight back, so I'll just stop. Stop moving, stop screaming, stop trying to find an exit. Just stop. I curl up and I feel calm as the pains stop.

I open my eyes and the knives are gone and the pain is no longer there. Instead my body is covered in dirt. I look at my clothes, my shirt is brown, Amity brown. My pants are too big and are blue. The only people who wear two faction colours are… the factionless.

I'm in a dark alleyway. I lift myself up off the ground and jog down to the end when a guy appears. I recognize him from my first sim. The man on the bus. He holds the same newspaper but the picture is different. The text reads 'Murderer burned to death'. He holds the paper like he is going to rip it in half.

"Do you know this boy?" He demands, holding up a picture of an eight-ish year old boy. He has tan skin and dirty blond hair. "My Dean, do you know him?" He asks.

I don't recognize him. The first time I saw this man the picture was a familiar face. Why would my brain be showing me a picture of a boy I've never met?

"No, I don't." I say calmly before turning around and walking away. It's just a simulation. But I can't tell myself that. I have to act as if it's real.

A hand grabs my shoulder spinning me back around to face him. Except it's not the scarred man. It's the boy, Dean. He holds a knife in his hand. I notice the end of the knife in my stomach, but I don't feel the pain. The boy is crying.

"Daddy said he'd kill her if I didn't," he says shaking. "I'm sorry."

I don't understand what I'm afraid of here, but my heart is beating out of my chest. Murderers? Being factionless? As I think, I look up and see my mom. There's a blood patch on her stomach, and there's a knife in my hand.

No!

No, no, no, no!

I drop the knife. I hear the clatter of it on the ground. When I lean in and hug my mom I know it's just a sim, but this is the only time I get to see her. She brushes my hair with her fingers.

"It's okay, Beatrice," she says. "You had to shoot me."

"What?" I back away. I'm not in a factionless sector. Instead I stand in the choosing ceremony room. There's a gun in my hand. The assault rifles we shot at the beginning of Dauntless. My mom falls to the floor.

"Shoot them." A voice commands. I turn my head and my dad stands there next to Caleb.

"No," I tell the voice.

"It's okay, Beatrice," Caleb says.

"No, it's not!" I yell back.

"I love you, Beatrice." My dad says.

"Shoot!" The voice screams louder now. I pick up the gun. I know she's watching. I know what I have to do. It's just a sim. It's just a sim. I aim the gun at my dad. The gun goes off, I aim at my brother. The gun goes off. I don't look at what I've just done.

Without warning I'm under water. The water is dark. I can't see anything. Nor can I breath. I swim around but every direction I go there's nothing. Just water. I can't tell which is up and which is down. I go deeper into the dark. The water gets colder.

All a sudden I can breathe. I take in a big breath, only to cough it out again. Smoak. If there's smoak then there's got to be… I feel pain on my legs. Fire. I can't move. My arms are tied behind my back. My feet are tied together. I'm tied to a pole. My legs are tied together, but I can see the rope burning. That's it! I bend down so my hands touch the flames. I scream from the pain, but soon my hands are free. I untie my legs and run out of the fire.

I don't get far before three people pick me up from behind putting a bag over my head like they did in the first sim with Lauren. Except I never finished that sim because Tobias thought I couldn't handle it. But I can, I'll show him I can. I let my body go limp. My attackers grip falters and I take the bag off my head ready to fight, but there is nobody there. Nobody but one person.

Tobias.

I'm not afraid of Tobias. I look around for the real threat when I see it. In his hands Tobias holds a gun. He wouldn't kill me. And he doesn't. He holds the gun to his head. I try to tell him something but the words just come out strangled. He clicks the bullet into place.

"Please don't do this," I somehow manage to say. I try to get to him but it's like there's a forcefield. I can't get to him.

"Goodbye," he says before his finger pulls the trigger.

~ E N D O F S I M ~

I bolt up in the chair. I brush the tears from my face. It takes me a few seconds to be pulled back into reality. I check the wall clock. I was only under for five minutes. I try to remember my fears. I have seven fears. Please don't let anything I did be an act of divergence.

"Very good, Beatrice." Jeannine says. "You may leave." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. What if they know I mm divergent? What if they're just trying to get inside my head? What if they're just waiting for the right time to strike? What if it comes years from now and I never see it coming?

I push the thought aside when Aaron grabs my shoulder. He helps me to my feet and I thank him before walking out the door. When I go to the pit I see it's already dark. Shit, I told Tobias I'd meet him at the tracks. I run and as soon as I get there he's standing there. I feel like I'm back in the sim again. I need to blink a couple times before I can get the image of Tobias holding a gun to his head.

"You okay?" Tobias asks me stepping closer.

"You were in my fear sim," I say trying not to make eye contact with him.

"You're afraid of me?" He asks stepping back. I never thought about the way he might take it. I step closer to him and wrap my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"I'm afraid of losing you," I say finally. I feel tears starting in my eyes. Tobias leans back but doesn't pull away from the hug. He takes his hand and brushed his thumb over my cheek, wiping away my tears.

"I'm not going anywhere," he says before kissing me gently.

I laugh a little. "Maybe I'll have only six fears now."

"We can be Four and Six," he laughs. "Come on, Max will be putting up the list of new members soon."

When we get to the pit I walk over to Christina and Will, while Tobias goes off with Zeke and Shauna.

"Hey!" Christina says. She leaves Will and walks over to me. "I need you to be a girl."

"I am a girl," I say confused. I know I look like a twelve year old boy, but still.

"You know what I mean." She says, "The kind of girl who giggles and talks about boys."

I twist a piece of hair with my finger, "Kay."

She laughs, "Will kissed me." I'm not surprised. I would have thought that they were dating in secret. She rambled on about how it happened but all I could think about was what number will be beside my name.

"Initiates!" Max yells across the pit. All chatter stops in an instant. "Those of you who don't make it, pack their stuff and leave by tonight." Max gestures to Eric. "Here are your rankings." The projector flickers on and a weight is lifted off my shoulders.

"Go Trissy!" Uriah yells. I make myself look down the list what if Chris and Will didn't make it.

Tris

Uriah

Edward

Lynn

Peter

Marlene

Will

Christina

Molly

The tenth name is a name I don't recognize. I hear cheers all around. A hand taps my non-injured shoulder. I spin around and see Tobias.

"You're a member," he says. I know what he's trying to say. We can let people know.

"I'm a member," I say back. Tobias grabs my hands and lace them with his. I step forward and already I'm getting stares. Even Christina and Will have stopped kissing. I lean in to Tobias and he leans into me. I kiss Tobias and Tobias kissed me. But than Tobias pulls away. I look at him confused.

"I think I'm in love with you," he says staring into my eyes. I almost forget we're not alone.

"You think? Should a get you a pen and paper? Make a pros and con list?" I laugh.

"Maybe I'm sure, but I don't want to scare you off," he says shyly.

"Than you should know better," I tell him.

"Then I love you," he says. He moves his thumbs in circles around the back of my hands.

"I love you too," I tell him before kissing him again.

"Sorry for breaching in on a good moment," Eric intervenes. "But Tris has to pick her jobs."

I look down the list. I know what everyone is expecting me to pick. Leader in training. But I want to do something like Four. Scaring the crap out of noobies. I put my name next to 'Initiation instructor' and 'Tattoo parlour'. I don't know exactly what I will do there considering my artistic skills, but I need something for when initiation is done.

I am a member! I actually made it! With all the crap Peter and Molly put me threw, I still came out ahead.

"Hey congrats," Edward says from behind me. He's with Myra. "I'm leaving, so I wanted to say goodbye."

"What do you mean 'leaving'?" I ask. He's third place. He can't be serious.

"Myra and I want to be together," he says. "Whether it's in the faction system or not."

I want to call him stupid, and he selfish. I don't though because I can tell that this is what he chose not her. "Good luck," I tell him. He gives me a head nod and walks off with Myra.

"Let's get drunk!" Uriah shouts over the whole pit. Everyone starts whooping in agreement.

~ P A G E B R E A K ~

I'm sitting down in the dorms smiling like an idiot that Tobias and I can be together now. He sits next to me on my bed and brushed the hair out of my face to kiss me.

"So I was thinking," he starts. "Considering you stay at my apartment almost every night…" he pauses for a second and scratches the back of his neck. "Maybe we can move in together?"

That's a big step but we already told each other that we love each other. That was a big step. I was to be with Tobias almost all so it only makes sense to say yes.

"Forget it," Tobias says clearly embarrassed. "I'm sorry I even ask-" before he can finish that sentence I kiss him. He stops talking and kisses me right away.

"Yes, Tobias." I say, "I would love to move in with you." Tobias' eyes light up.

This is my home.