the split

Initiation

I sat down. No. I mustn't be angry. I mustn't be brave. I mustn't be dauntless. I felt eyes boring into my back, whispers dancing around the room. Caleb rose nervously, and said "everyone calm down. We should all be friends now, we aren't supposed to talk about our past factions. Go back to eating please". He squeezed my hand and I nodded at him, grateful. He smiled back at me. The boy who had yelled the things about abnegation had turned back to his friends, smirking.

  I wondered what faction he was in. Dauntless? He seemed very outspoken and loud, common traits of dauntless children, but he could be candor, considering the bluntness at with which he spoke to me. I guess it doesn't really matter what faction he was in. He's erudite now. We all are.

  Dinner was soon over, after a few awkard introductions and small talk. A man, lean and dark haired, came to the front of the room and called us to silence. "Welcome, new initiates! Welcome to erudite! Now, I shall get straight onto the point. To become a full member of our faction, you must pass the initiation exam. There will be classes running throughout the time between tomorrow morning and the end exam, all of which you must attend if you hope to pass. Your timetables will be emailed to you later on today. We allow 50 initiates into our faction per year. Since so many of you have chosen Erudite, it will be even harder to gain a place, so you have to work especially hard. Thank you. You may now go back to your rooms."

  A low murmer spread throughout the crowd as we left. I started to get worried. An initiation exam? "Caleb, did you know about the initiation exam?'

  "Of course, I read up on everything to do with erudite before I joined."

  "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "I didn't know you were going to join. I thought you would stay in abnegation, for sure" he said, and then smiled, "but I'm glad you did join erudite". I smiled too, but I was still nervous about the exam. What if I failed? I would be factionless! That couldn't happen. I wouldn't let it happen.

  I stared at my iPad screen. It showed all of my lessons for the next few weeks. So much maths. So much chemistry. Those two seemed to be the main focuses of the faction. So, if I am going to pass this exam, then I'd better get good at them.

  It was as I was just about to go to bed, that something out of my window caught my eye. Men, dressed in black. Dauntless.