Divergent: A Retelling

The Aptitude Test

When I wake up, the sun is rising. Amity kids have to wake up earlier than most to get to school because we're the farthest away than any other faction. Sometimes the bus doesn't show up, or it shows up late so we have to run to school. I look in my closet. Yellow, red, brown white tan, all these summery and autumn tones. I pick a pair of yellow overalls with an orange shirt and a yellow jacket that goes to my knees. Before the war, I read that there was a social construct, between feminine and masculine. Not any more. I leave without grabbing breakfast. Eating so early in the morning makes me nauseous. It's good though, because that means I'm able to catch the early bus out of Amity and get to school early. I like to spend time in the library, pouring over books.

Sometimes the Candor kids make fun of me, because I act more Erudite than the Erudite, but I don't care. I'm not Erudite. I'm never going to be Erudite. In our classes, we're encouraged to sit with our factions. Candor and Erudite sit in the front, and Amity and Abnegation sit in the back. The Dauntless have little groups sprinkled throughout the classroom. Every teacher knows that if the Dauntless were to sit together, all hell would break loose.

The Abnegation sit quietly among themselves, doing their work, never raising their hands. Apparently, if they were to answer a question and get it right, they would have a feeling of satisfaction, and to them, that's self serving. I think the whole thing is ridiculous, but I see the sentiment behind it. Of course I admire them for being so kind and selfless, but they're too selfless.

Amity isn't as quiet as Abnegation. We talk happily, but we're respectful when the teacher wants us quiet. I don't usually talk with the Amity kids, but rather the Dauntless or Erudite. I don't talk to the Candor kids because they usually pick on me. But then, one day I punched one of the Candor kids in the face and they don't do it as much. That's when some of the Dauntless kids took a liking to me.

I only talk to the Erudite kids because they think I'm smart. When I'm called on in class, I usually get the answer right, so some of the Erudite kids decide to kiss my ass and get me to hang out with them. I'm flattered that they think I'm smart, but they're almost as bad as Candor. The only difference was they are smart, and Candor are blunt and argumentative.

At lunch, I sit by myself too. I do it on purpose though. I pick a smaller table at the far end of the room and put all my stuff on it. While I eat, I read books. I read educational ones, like Faction History, or I read books dedicated to each faction. I mostly read the ones about Dauntless. But then I'll get curious and read about the other factions too. The only one I haven't read is the one about Amity. But why should I? I know everything about it. Why read what I already know?

After lunch, we all sit at long tables in the hallway. Abnegation, Candor, Amity, Dauntless and Erudite all sit at their own tables. I strike up a conversation with one of the Amity. A girl, who may be more invested in books than I am. She's obviously going to join Erudite. I found out that her name is Catherine. We talk about the choosing ceremony and she flirts with me until her name is called. Then I sit alone. It is just now when I realize that I am terrified. We weren't allowed to prepare for this test. I bite the inside of my cheek and stare at the floor as anxiety creeps in my chest, giving me goosebumps. I take deep breaths to try to calm down. Then someone walks up to me, wearing black pants and a white shirt.

"You okay, sunshine? Don't you have a book to hide in until they send you to the factionless?" I groan internally, and look up at him. "You don't have anything better to do than annoy me?" I say, not standing up, or even looking at him. "The fact that you're so comfortable betraying your faction out in the open just makes me curious." I close my book and look up at him. "I'd say the same to you. You're so confrontational I would've thought you Dauntless." Peter narrows his eyes at me. If he wasn't a dick, I'd be very attracted to him. The first time I'd seen him, I did a double take. But then I saw him picking on the Abnegation kids. That's where the attraction's lost. I look behind him and see his "friends", who are watching the two of us wearily. My name is called, and Peter smirks at me.