Translucent: A Divergent FanFiction (Book 1)

Chapter 7

Suddenly I was aware of the cold sweat that drenched my face. I sat bolt upright, gasoing for air.

        "I-I'm factionless?" I gasped, unable to comprehend what she had said.

        "No, no youre not. Although you could be if you're not careful." Karen said, opening the draws on the other side of the desk and lifting out a glass and a jug of water. She poured some water into the glass and slid it across the desk to me: I took it gratefully and slowly sipped at it, my teeth cinking against the glass.

        "There are people in this city, Kara, who don't like people like you." She said in a hushed voice. "You need to keep this quiet, only you and me can know. But, I need to log your results as a faction, so youre going to have to decide where you want to go."

        I thought to myself, my brow forrowed. Where did I want to go? Should I stay in Dauntless? I'd grown up there, so I might pass initiation. But what about the part where we had to face our fears? I'd never survive.

        How about amity? I could go there, with Hartly. Even though I didnt know her results, everyone knew she would go into Amity. Would I survive there though?  I'd heard somewhere that they locked all the initiates up in a series of three rooms for two weeks, with enough foood and water, and left them there. It was to see if you could manage to stay peaceful and calm.

        Maybe Erudite? No. Just no. Two reasons why: I was not clever, and I hated them. For goodness sake, I had a choice. And I wasn't going into them.

        What about Candor? No... I would like to, I'd always like the Candors, but their initiation involved being put under the truth serum for weeks on end. I would never manage to hide my secret back.

        And last, there was Abegnation. No-one ever failed initiation there, all you had to do was community service for 2 weeks. But, I dont think I was selfless enough. Hadnt I just left my mum to die, to save myself? Although, it would be the safest.

        "Abegnation." I said to Karen, looking up.

        "That would be the safest option." Karen said. "But, no offence, you'd stick out like a sore thumb. Sooner or later, you would be found. I'll tell you what- why don't you come to Candor? I know that it involves truth serums, but I am in charge of the intiation process this year. I could guide you through it, and make sure you didn't blurt out your secret to everyone. I could even give you extra one on one sessions if you wanted, in secret of course. I could train you on how to resist some of the serums so at the final test I could either you a fake serum  or you could just hold back that secret? I could be your mentor, and help you survive."

        "O-okay." I replied. I knew this was a big risk, but every faction was for me. It might seem ionic, but with the help of Karen, Candor is where my secret would be safest.

        Karen nodded at me and gave a small smile, then started typing on the screen. I took anoher sip of my water and finished it off, then stood up and began to pace the room.

        When she finally finished logging my results manually, and deleting all of the footage, Karen pressed a button on the underside of the desk and the door opened. I stepped nervously through, expecting to see Hartly waiting for me, but no-one esle was there.

        An Abegnation woman standing by the door looked startled to see me.

        "Are you done already? My my, that was quick. Anyhow, would you rather wait for the rest of your group or go and start your lunch?" She said kindly, smiling softly at me.

        "I, er, could I wait, please?" I stuttered, and she nodded then gestured to a grey chair next to her for me to sit on.

        "Thanks." I mumbled and sat down gratefully. In that moment she knew I hadn't got Abegnation.

        After what seemed like and age, but in reality was only 10 minutes, another door opened and Harvey walked out. He looked confident and pleased. I wondered what faction he'd got.

        I waved him over and slid to the edge of the chair. A couple of minutes later Ed came out, closely followed by Mae and Alice, who came out simultaniously then laughed. We all sat in a circle on the floor together, waiting for the rest.

        One of the Erudites came out next, and then came Hartly. I smiled encouragingly at her and she nodded at me. She then sat down next to me and waved at the Amity girls, then leaned over to me.

        "I know we're not allowed to tell anyone our results." She whispered. "But- will you be coming with me?" I gave her a sad smile and shook my head slightly, I could feel her face drop slightly next to me ear.

        "And- will you be going home?" She whispered again. My heart ached at the thought: I would never go home again. I shook my head slightly and she gave a small sigh before sitting back up.

        Finally the last Erudite came out and so did the two Abegnation. The Abegnation woman by the door waved us all out and held the door open for us, then we were ushered into a classroom by an Abegnation man.

        As we walked into the classroom we could see through the open door of another classroom a group of other 16 year olds. Once we went in we saw packed lunches waiting and realised this was where we would have our lunch. The door shut behind the Abegnation man, who had just left, but we caught the sound of the next set of names being announced.

        Once we had all finished our lunches the Erudite retreated to a corner with their books while the Abegnation offered to tidy up. Hartly, Harvey, Ed, Mae, Alice and I moved the desks to the side and cleared a space, where we all sat in a circle. For the rest of the Afternoon we played games such as Wink Murder and Duck Duck Goose. Halfway through the Abegnation joined us. We learnt that their names were Simon and Sarah Seelie. Sarah's eyes were bloodshot: she'd obviously been crying, and Simon's eyes looked moist, but nobody said anything.

        At about 5 o'clock, three hours later, Karen appeared at the door. Harvey and Ed waved to her and I gave her a small smile, but she only tutted at Ed and Harvey. She then led us through the corridors and out of the school. It was time for the Choosing Ceremony.