Blue, green, and a dab of white foam. The oceanic colors swirled together on the canvas. A puffy cloud in the baby blue sky. It wasn't white though. Clouds have more color than people give them credit for. A light gray shadow with purple and lavender highlights. It was as real as I could paint it. Our project was landscapes and we were just finishing them up for the semester.
"Very nice, Beatrice," my teacher, Mrs. Jones, complimented me. I smiled and turned red as a few other students leaned over to see my canvas.
Mrs. Jones walked to the front of the room and called everyone's attention to her.
"Alright everyone, it's time to clean up. It's lunch hour," she said but stopped us before we could move. "But before we break for lunch, Principal Roth is going to speak with you and the rest of the school in the Performance Hall."
My friend Susan and I glanced at each other. She gave me a questioning look and I shrugged.
"Okay, clean up," Mrs. Jones dismissed.
I pulled my gray Abnegation smock off and hung it next to some other paint spattered smocks. We took our landscape paintings into the drying room and slid them on racks.
"That's pretty," I told Susan before she pushed it into an empty slot. Her landscape was a sunflower field.
"Thanks," she grinned.
As we walked out of Abnegation, Susan asked me, "What's the assembly about? Did your mom tell you anything?"
"No," I replied with shock in my voice. "Which is weird because my mom always tells Caleb and I when we're going to have an assembly."
Susan and I met up with Caleb and Robert, Susan's brother, right outside of the building.
"Did mom mention anything to you about an assembly?" I asked him.
He shook his head no.
Caleb and I had the advantage of knowing things other kids didn't know about that were happening at DSTCA because our mother, Natalie Prior, was the photography teacher in Abnegation. She also taught her students film development and photoshop.
"It must be pretty top secret if she didn't share it with you," Robert said as he led us through the noisy and crowded Performance Hall to four seats in the middle section closer to the front.
A few minutes later when everybody had settled into their red cushioned theater seat, Principal Roth, a smiley woman with short brown hair, walked onto the stage.
"Good afternoon!" she chirped. "You're all probably wondering why you aren't at lunch right now. Well I'll try to make this as short as possible so you kids can go eat and get on with your day.
"All of you auditioned to get into this school and the factions you are in now. But for the next semester, we are going to do a school project," Principal Roth paused as if to create suspension. "Every student will transfer to a different faction and learn that aspect of the arts for their second semester."
The room erupted into screams of protest:
"What?"
"No, I like Amity!"
"But I can't do anything else except play the trumpet and French horn!"
"This is ridiculous!"
Susan and I gave one another nervous glances. I've never been good at performing in front of an audience.
"Quiet down!" Principal Roth ordered, the bright and cheery smile gone from her face. Once the students were quiet—still frowning and scowling, but quiet—she continued, "This has been decided so I'm not changing my mind. You may all find you have a great experience in another faction and make new friends.
"This isn't completely purposeless. At the end of the year when you finish your final project, if you did very well you may be put into an elite group of talented students: the Divergent, the name of our lovely school. And if you get accepted into the Divergent, you will have the opportunity to perform for large crowds that include celebrities, producers, gallery owners, and more. But if you don't get accepted into the group, it doesn't mean you are untalented. After all, all of you must have loads of talent to even be sitting here. Any questions?"
The room remained silent and full of grumpy faces except a handful who were hoping to get the Divergent title.
One girl wearing a leotard raised her hand. Erudite obviously.
"When are we finding out our new factions?" she girl asked.
Principal Roth smiled and answered, "Tomorrow at the end of the day. And I forgot to mention that you will be moving into new dorms and getting new roommates from your new faction."
Again the room got loud with angry shouts and pleas to let the dorms stay the same.
Susan and I were among those people. I liked rooming with her. Susan was the only person I could talk to without having to worry what she would think of me or if she would stab me in the back. We became best friends over the past two years we roomed together!
Principal Roth gave up on trying to shut us up and just yelled, "You are free to go to lunch!"