JAX [1]

•Chapter 10: Training Day 5•

Jax's POV

(Time Skip)

We were loading all our supplies from the supply truck.

"So, we pass the first stage of training, and this is our reward." Chris said as she passed a Dauntless a bag. "Glamorous." I passed my bag up to the girl. I chuckled as I went to go get my next bag. Suddenly, I noticed something flashing on me.

"What the..." I said. I slowly walked over to the spot and looked behind the high pile of bags. No one was there except for some people father away. I walked between two more piles and saw no one. Suddenly, someone grabbed me, causing me to gasp and panic. But then, I looked to see it was my mother. "Mom?"

"Hi, sweetheart." She said.

"Mom." I said and hugged her tight.

"My beautiful baby girl." She said and kissed the side of my head.

"Mom." I said, pulling away. "What are you doing back here?"

"I knew they'd assign you to go here sooner or later." She said. "Oh my god, look at you. You look so strong and courageous. So, beautiful."

"Mom, you know you can't be seen here with me." I said.

"I know." She said. "But I had to see you. You're in danger."

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"I have to ask you something." She said. "And I need you to answer me, honestly. Okay?" I nodded. "Were you truly sick the day you took your aptitude test?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, avoiding the question.

"What was your test result?" She asked. I started panicking. "Sweetheart, it's alright. You can tell me anything." I looked down at my hands that were in hers. "Jackie." The desperation in her voice caused me to look at her. "I promised you that I'd love you no matter what your result is, right?" I nodded. "So, tell me. It's okay. You can tell me." She rubbed my hands.

"I can't." I said, looking down as shook my head, trying to prevent the tears from coming to my eyes.

"You're Divergent, aren't you?" She asked. I looked at her, nodding as my eyes water. "It's okay, baby." She let go of my hands and put them on my cheeks. "It's okay. Alright? You just can't tell anyone. That means your friends, your instructors, you can't trust anyone you know."

"What about papi and Mateo?" I asked, about to cry.

"Your papi has a good heart, and is the strongest man I know." She said, letting go of my face and brushing the hair out of my face. "We'll tell him when the time is right, okay?" I nodded. "And Mateo, he has enough on his plate right now. The people are questioning his motives. They think he's trying to change everyone into Amity. Trying to get more recruits. He can't know now, not yet. Alright?" I nodded. "The system and people like Jeanine have always been threatened by people like you. And Erudite is purposely making their existence known. They think if everyone knows about them, they'll find them much easier. They don't understand Divergents. How their minds work in over a billion different ways. They're afraid of things they don't understand. Listen to me, this next part of your training is going to be much harder, okay? Stage two, you're going to have to try a lot harder to hide your secret. This part is about getting inside your head and watching your response to your worst fears. But you can do this. You can beat this part. I know because I've seen it be done before."

"How do you know so much about this?" I asked.

"Focus, Jackie." She said.

"Wait a minute." I said. "You were in Candor. How do you know about this stuff?"