Translucent: A Divergent FanFiction (Book 1)

Chapter 3

The group of Dauntless swarmed into the school grounds laughing and chatting, Hartly, Sully and I included. The train, as usual, arrived 5 minutes before the begining of school, so we hung around in the playground outside while we waited.

        The Amity waved at us and smiled then retreated to a corner where they began to make up complicated handshakes and make each other daisy-chain friendship braclets.

        The Erudite sat on the cluster of park benches, noses stuck in books and quietly discussing the properties of carbon and other clever-people stuff like that.

        The Candor were gathered in the shadow of a large fountain at the centre of the playground. Us Dauntless sometimes dared each other to jump into it and and climb up the structure in the middle, but right now the Cador were having another debate at its base.

        The structure itself was magnificent. A large bronze tree stood at the centre of the clear water pool, symboling Amity. From the end of the lower branches shot out jets of water, which landed in the pool then got sucked back into the pipes. This symbolised Erudite. The Abegnation was symbolised by large flat grey stones in the bottom of the pool, just like the ones in the choosing ceremony bowl. Candor were symbolised by the shape of the branches. In the centre of the tree the branches intertwined to make the shape of a set of scales: the Candor symbol. And finally, Dauntless. The ends of the higher branches were alight, the flame flickering and dancing in the gentle breeze. The fires burned bright and were never put out.

        But there was a deeper meaning to the whole structure than there appeared to be at first glance. Amity (the tree) was always there, helping us along the way. Erudite, keeping our city going (the water flowing through it all). Abegnation, the base of it all. Without it, the whole structure would collapse (the water would leak out). Candor, at the heart of it all. Truth is always in the middle of everything. And lastly Dauntless, keeping the light burning bright and lighting the way. Without us, the other factions would have no light, they would not move forward or advance.

        "Kara?" Hartly's concerned voice brought me out of my thoughts.

        "Huh, what?" I asked, blinking madly as I tore my gaze away from the fountain.

        "Daydreaming again?" Sully cracked a smile, and I grinned back.

        The beel rang out across the playground, sharp and clear, and we all started to make our way across to the doors. At that moment the Abegnation filed silently into the playground having just finished their community service. Wow, I could never be a Stiff. They had to get up at 5 every morning to clean the streets, then be at school  by 8. Three hours of cleaning. Ma and Pa must've been right, I was Dauntless.

        As the Dauntless squeezed through the doors first, I caught the eye of a brown haired Candor boy who was trying to stay out of the debate his two friends were having. I grinned, and he grinned back. He rolled his eyes and jerked his head at his two Candor friends, who were deep in a depate, and I let out a laugh. Hartly who was standing next to be waving at some Amity girls, looked in my direction, and I looked away from the boy.

        The half-day past in a blur. All the lessons were cut short, so all the lessons were completed before lunch. At lunch, the younger children and Sully left for home, while the 16 year olds went to the canteen.

        I only just made this year group and I was the youngest in my class. If I'd been born a day later I would be in the year below, but I wasn't.

        Hartly and I sat nervously with the other Dauntless but for once we were silent. The Dauntless around us made small talk at first, but soon lapsed into silence. The names were called, 10 at a time, and slowly the canteen started to empty. Finally my name was called.

        "From Amity, Leadie and Carr, from Abegnation, Seelie and Seelie, from Candor, Maxwell and Halo, from Dauntless, Sonnos and White, from Erudite, Matthews and Prior."

        Hartly and myself stood up from the Dauntless section, two blonde haired girls stood up from Amity, a brown haired boy and girl, twins, from Abegnation, the boy I'd seen outside and his red haired friend from Candor, and a ginger girl and a brown haired girl with glasses from Erudite.

        We all made our way out of the canteen and stodd in the corridor. 10 doors branched off it, all numbered, where the apitude tests took place. The Erudite stood apart from the rest of us reading a book, and the Abegnation held the door open for us then retreated into a corner. Us two Dauntless, the two Amity girls and the Candor boys clustered togather and introduced ourselves.

        "I'm Kara." I started. "Kara White."

        "Hartly Sonnos." Hartly said next, her words mainly directed to the Amity girls. Even though she lived with us and was adopted by our family, the White's, she still kept her mother and father's last name, Sonnos. When we were younger I'd asked her why, and she'd told me it was so she could remember them.

        "Alice Leadie." One of the blonde girls said excitedly.

        "Mae Carr." Said the other.

        "I'm Harvey." Siad the boy I'd met, grinning wildly.

        "Ed." His friend introduced himself.

        We made small talk until an Abegnation apitude test administator stepped out of one of the rooms and cleared her throat.

        "Pick a room and line up outside the door. The two Abegnation must go in rooms 1 and 2." She announced. "When the buzzer goes, you can enter the room." I gave an encouraging smile to Hartly, who smiled back, and we lined up in fron of the doors. I was outside number 6, Hartly at number 7. The buzzer sounded, and we all stepped into the rooms.