Mother's Daughter - Divergent

Chapter Nine

Today I have felt nothing other than anxiety. We get our results today.

Four reckons I'll be okay since my training has been consistent all the time and I have often been in his shadow throughout. Is it a bad thing that I'm doubting him right now?

I sit on my bed with my knees to my chest with Four sitting in complete silence on his. 

The next thing we know, our friend Zeke comes rushing through the transfer dormitory with an excited grin plastered on his face. He's for sure up to something.

"Hey, guys! Me and some of the other Dauntless-born's are going into the city for some fun, want to join us?" Zeke asks, clearly excited. His excitement doesn't entertain me, unlike Four. I saw him nod his head and stand up and fist bump Zeke.

"Six, what about you?" Zeke looks at me with a worried look in his eyes. 

"No thanks. I'm not in the mood." I reply, bluntly. 

He looked at me with a muddled look on his face and chewed the inside of his mouth. 

Zeke slowly turns around, tapping Four on the shoulder and they both run out of the dormitory, pumped for the journey they were about to step foot on. 

***

The steady hum of the train wheels screeching on the tracks is all I hear in the dreadful silence on the train. The silence being dreadful since Dauntless is a constant headache; a familiar headache.

I'm crouched on the far-from-comfortable floor, biting my lip. I didn't plan to make a trip into the city after all otherwise I would have gone with everyone else on their adventure.

My mission? To sneak into my old faction, Erudite. An old friend of mine, Lauren, and I have been in contact recently and I wanted to see her again. In order to see her, that means going back to where I came from. That alone makes me anxious.

The train comes to a halt and I leap cautiously onto the pavement. Brushing the few strands of hair from my face, I make my way over to Erudite headquarters. 

***

Finally, crowds of people wearing some shade of blue, dressed formally and talking about test results and their recent finds. This is when I know I'm at Erudite.

Walking at a fast past through them, everyone moves out of my way, clearing a path for me. It confused me at first but I'm Dauntless now and that must make me visible. Not that I mind it.

I get a few glares here and there but luckily enough, I think my Dauntless appearance has made my identity unknown to them all. They all look at me like I'm an idol and I find it amusing. 

I reach the doors and walk on through. Inside there's a desk with a few people working at it and behind them is a picture of their leader, Jeanine Matthews. 

Below my mother's portrait is a quote from the Erudite faction manifesto. "Intelligence must be used for the benefit, and not to the detriment, of society." I sarcastically chuckle to myself. There's no way my mother is using any of her knowledge for the benefit of society. How corrupt this faction actually amazes me every time.

Reaching the desk, I ding the bell and stare at the woman who is clearly concentrating on whatever she's doing. 

"Can I help you?" She asks, a little bluntly. Then again, I'm not exactly in the same faction as her.

"Yes, I'm looking for a Lauren Gregson." I answer and never lose eye contact with her.

"I can't discuss their whereabouts with someone outside of this faction." Smirking, she turns back to her work. I slam my hand down, loudly, onto the desk, denting it. 

"Where is she?" I demand and the Erudite woman looks taken back by my aggressive nature. She opens her mouth to say something but never manages to say a word.

"You'll find her in the Erudite library. You go-" She says with her eyes glassy. This woman is clearly scared of me now, but I like it. I cut her off.

"I know where I'm going." I reply to her bluntly, just like she did when I first started asking her questions. I storm off through the corridor to the right-hand side and when I look back, she looks confused more than ever. 

One thing I hate about being inside of Erudite Headquarters is that it's always quiet, with people busy doing their work. It's the opposite of Dauntless, where people are screaming, yelling, and whatever else. Silence scares me these days. 

I pause a few feet away from the doors to the library. A portrait, another portrait, of my mother sits above the doors with a piece of the Erudite manifesto written underneath her. 

"Knowledge leads to prosperity." 

If only she could use her knowledge in the ways that she is supposed to do as a leader. My mother doesn't exactly fit the manifesto, not that I'm supposed to know that. She is failing her faction and no one here will question her about it because she's so smart. 

"Is that Jen Matthews?" Someone asks. When I turn my head around, I see Lauren. I take in her appearance. She's wearing a navy blue blazer that's longer than the ones we wore before, a dark blue shirt and a pencil skirt in the same shade of blue.

"Yes Lauren, it's me." I say back and we smile at each other. 

"You look almost unrecognizable. You've changed." Lauren says, ecstatically. She stares at my face looking at my ear and nose piercings. 

"Sorry, I'm getting distracted, let's go somewhere private." She clears her throat mid-sentence and I follow her.