Her Secret

Faction Leader

Tris was rapidly scribbling down answers on an exam. She slows down as she realizes that there are only ten minutes left, and she only has three questions left. Tris finally reads the last question.

If there are ten billion fish in the sea and Sam has ten crayons, then what is the mass of the sun?

Tris starts panicking.

Is there any way to solve it? "What the literal fuck?" she thinks to herself. "If you were Jeanine, how would you solve this?" Tris writes an answer down with a small smile before handing her test in just in time. The class is then dismissed and free to roam about the compound. It was the last test in the first stage of initiation, and Tris was glad to have that part of initiation behind her. About two hours later, Cara finds her.

"Tris. Jeanine wants to see you," she whispers.

"Not again! This is the second time in three weeks!" She groans.

"I think it's good news this time," Cara responds. Tris nods before heading off to her dorm. Tris fixes her hair into a ponytail before cleaning her glasses and taking in her appearance. She wanted to leave Jeanine with a good impression of her. She wanted Jeanine of all people to believe she truly did belong in Erudite. Her main goal was to hide the fact that she was divergent. Divergents were believed to be a threat to society and the faction system. Tris knew Jeanine was part of the Anti-Divergent squad but didn't know her role. Either way, she wanted to be as convincing as possible. Tris straightens her collar before sighing and leaving the dorm. She heads to Jeanine's office where she bumps into a girl. The girl offers a hand to Tris to help her up.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm Elise by the way," she says with a smile. Tris smiles at her and opens her mouth to introduce herself. "Tris, right?" The girl asks.

"How did you- How did you know?" Tris stutters.

"I've heard a lot about you," Elise says with a shrug, her dark curls bouncing around her face. 

"Who's been talking about me?" She asks her curiously. 

Elise shrugs. "Mainly my girlfriend." Tris raises an eyebrow but doesn't question her.

"Um, Elise. If you don't mind, I ought to be going. I have a meeting to get to."

"I wouldn't want to make you be late," Elise says with a smile and a wave before heading out. Tris waves to her before finding her way to Jeanine's office. She knocks on the door right away.

"Come in!" Jeanine calls.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Matthews," Tris says, taking a seat across from Jeanine. She crosses her legs and straightens her posture, folding her hands in her lap. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Jeanine nods. "You seem to be settling into Erudite nicely," she says with a small smile. "But of course that's not entirely what I called you here to talk about."

Tris nods. "Please continue, Ms. Matthews."

"According to Erudite customs, the Erudite leader is to step down at forty-five years of age, or in the case that something were to happen to their health medically. Now a new leader can be elected as long as they are over the age of thirty. In my case, I. was twenty four. However we were all shocked when my predecessor had a heart attack in his late thirties. Now I'm currently seven years younger than when he died."

"With all due respect, Ms. Matthews, why are you telling me all of this?" 

"Well, I'm meeting with a small group of initiates that are currently showing potential to be a future faction leader," Jeanine explains. "In case something were to happen to me."

"And you think I show that potential?" Tris asks, seeming slightly in shock.     

Jeanine nods. "Do you really think I would've wasted my time explaining if I didn't think you had potential, kid?" Jeanine asks. Tris contemplates this before shaking her head.  "Could I give you a task?"     

"I suppose you could," Tris says carefully. "May I ask you what it is?"     

Jeanine smirks before opening a desk drawer and grabbing a stack of papers. "I'm wondering how you would grade these," she says. "Student tests."     

Tris raises an eyebrow but takes the small stack from her. "Would you like me to do it here or somewhere else?" She asks quietly. 

Jeanine looks up from a piece of paper she was working on. "Whatever you'd like. If you want to stay here, that's fine. Just don't be a bother." Jeanine says, a hint of kindness in her voice. Tris nods and gets to work, wondering why Jeanine had asked her to grade papers. About a half an hour later, she hands them to Jeanine. Both of the females seem quite aware when their hands touch as Jeanine takes the papers from Tris. She then looks through the papers before looking back up at Tris. "Do you know why I asked you to do this?" Jeanine asks curiously.    

Tris shakes her head. "No ma'am, I do not."     

"As a faction leader, one must do their work timely, while getting it done properly and correctly. I like to shoot for above expectations."     

Tris nods. "So by doing this, you're testing my ability to do something correctly and efficiently?" She asks.     

Jeanine nods. "Very good, Beatrice Prior. I'm sure I will be seeing more of you based on how well the other initiates performed," she says with a small smile. It was a genuine one at that.     

"If you don't mind me asking, what made you consider me?" Tris asks Jeanine carefully.     

Jeanine stares at her for a second. "For starters, your grades are great. But that's because you're willing to put in the work. You are smart, but it's not naturally. You're dedicated, and you don't lack patience, which is something I can't even fully say about myself." Jeanine stands up and places a hand on her shoulder. "I think you would make a great faction leader one day, Beatrice," she says with a small smile. She then notices where her hand is and pulls it away quickly. Her smile drops and she looks at the girl. "I think you should go," she whispers. 

"But-"    

"Now," Jeanine insists. Tris hurriedly runs out of the room and Jeanine sighs.

Jeanine was not used to being nice to anyone, and yet she had not only smiled at Beatrice prior, but she had also complimented the girl. Jeanine found this very odd as she never did this. Could Beatrice be a girl she would want to be friends with?