Her once true love defects to Dauntless, abandoning her.
Penelope finds herself lonesome two years later. She has everything she could ask for, but nothing is fulfilling. That's until she comes across Charlie again. Old feelings are lost but somethi...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
OUR society was laid out in different ways. The smart and extremely rich ones belonged in Erudite. They were snobbish and always looked to have smelled something bad, their noses stuck high. The ones that never held their tongue were those in Candor. Their words hit you like a knife but you could never do anything. There was no filter to what they were to say, so you'd have to brace yourself for the blow their words would bring. The quiet ones, and the closest to being like us, were Abnegation. You never heard a peep coming from them, and were beyond selfless. Too selfless.
My own faction was Amity, where we were about peace and harmony. We weren't just hippie loving people—despite what most of Dauntless and some of Candor said. We strives to have peace among all factions.
Then, there was Dauntless, the complete opposite of both Abnegation and Amity. They were always rowdy, but our protectors. I secretly admired them but questioned how I ever received dauntless in my test results, unlike Charlie. I sought out his mother out after that day, hoping to get some answers for his departure. But his mother wasn't much help, only saying he was curious on how they lived their lives.
That was the key word: curious. I was curious as well, but didn't transfer because of our one promise. The one thing he easily broke, just because he was curious. He gave up on our future and left me behind.
—
TWO YEARS LATER
Eighteen. It was my birthday, and the day couldn't have been more dreadful. Mama insisted that she throw together a small party, with a few guests. She said that people from another faction were to come over, but she hadn't given more information on which faction.
Hopefully Dauntless.
I gave myself a scolding look and smoothed out my dress. The dress was beautiful, but I didn't feel it. My silly wish was to wear dark clothing, just to show people how I felt inside. Empty and broken after these past two years. Maybe I was just being dramatic.
"Are you ready?" Mama called from downstairs.
"Yes, Mama. I'll be down in a bit," I called back, keeping my eyes on my reflection.
The long sleeve dress was just an inch above my knees, but I felt too exposed. I was only used to the long skirts and dresses. My hair was up in a low bun, a couple loose strands. I wore some jewelry and little makeup.
He'll never see you again, there's no one to impress.
I exhaled slowly then checked that nothing was showing from behind. When everything was in check, I made my way downstairs. Mama and Papa were waiting, with Xavier on mama's hip. He let out a string of incoherent nothings when he set his eyes on me and reached out. I made baby noises at him and took him out of Mama's arms.
"We'll be late," Papa grumbled quietly, checking the watch on his wrist.
"Papa, it's only my birthday. Why do we need to be all dressed up?"
