Delirium (A Divergent Fanfiction)

Chapter One: Amity

I'm told I'm very beautiful. But I don't see it.

My hair rolled down my shoulders in natural loose waves. The locks, that were such a dark brown color they threaten to be black, fell just above my waist in a slightly uneven line. Nothing special. My eyes were a simple blue wrapped around black pupils. My skin had tanned over the years I'd spent assisting in the fields.

My patched, pale yellow skirt fell to my ankles over my knee high cream colored socks. Mud was dried in the treads of my light brown laced up ankle boots and working had worn the soles. The mint I helped farm sweetened the scent of the faded red vest that I wore over a light beige long sleeve blouse, a braided leather belt with red and yellow beads knotted on the ends wrapped around my waist. I threw my hair into an intricate crown braid, a convenient style which I had perfected over the years.

I stared in the mirror before hearing my name being called. "Olivia!" my father shouted. I had always hated the name. I pushed back the curtain door of my room, almost tripping on my sister's cat, Merlin, as I exited the room. I walked down a narrow hallway that led to the kitchen where my father sat, a large bowl of sliced fruit in the center of the table. The fruit in the bowl was all from the farms that stretch along the inside border of the fence. I'd seen the fence as I worked in the fields, and I daydreamed for hours on end of what could be outside of it, but I knew I'd never know for certain. We weren't allowed to go beyond the fence or even know what hid behind it.

My father was cross that morning, even though it was out of an Amity's character. He avoided any eye contact with me or any conversation. He defied Amity's general rule of peace as he struggled to accept that today, I would be attending the Choosing Ceremony.

There were five factions: Amity: the peaceful, Candor: the honest, Dauntless: the brave, Abnegation: the selfless, and Erudite: the intelligent. I was Amity-born. The Amity had always been known for their friendliness, forgiving natures, and kind, bubbly spirits. I didn't fit in. My aptitude tests showed it. In all honesty, I didn't know who I was. Almost seventeen years of my life had passed, and yet I was still struggling to learn where I belonged.

Aside from the set five factions, there were also the Divergent. They were the lepers, the ones who couldn't be categorized in one way. They matched the description of more than one faction, though they could only choose one.

My father was upset because he feared I would be leaving him today, just as my sister had two years ago. My older sister, Erin, had left Amity and joined Candor. My father struggled with losing another family member after my mother had died three years before. He feared that today, he would lose another. I was sixteen years old, though I wouldn't be for much longer. Only a couple weeks after last year's annual Choosing Ceremony, I had turned sixteen, barely missing the age requirement for the ceremony.

"You look handsome today, Father." I told him, complimenting the clothes he had picked out for the occasion: yellow tinted tan slacks and a light, loose maroon button down shirt. The collar of the shirt folded over the neckline of an earthy green colored suede vest. Even in the horrible colors that I had always hated, my father managed to look rather dashing. He looked young for his age and his sandy colored hair was devout of any greying. He didn't respond. He slipped another spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth and continued to stare forward where I was out of his direct line of vision. "The Choosing Ceremony is today." I said gingerly, taking a sip of tart, freshly squeezed orange juice. Again, Father didn't reply. I hated it when he was upset because he automatically became passive aggressive, though it was hypocritical of me to judge since I was guilty of the same thing. We may not have looked very alike, but we were very similar in personality. "I know we're not allowed to discuss our aptitude tests--"

"Then don't." Father interrupted, dropping the wooden spoon he was holding onto the folded napkin next to his bowl of oatmeal, topped with freshly picked blueberries. My father so rarely acted like this, and when he did he tended to take a while to get over it.

"I just want to discuss--"

"What is there to discuss?" He snapped. "We both know what your choice is going to be." He saw the intimidated look in my eyes and his tense body loosened. "I'm sorry, Olivia. It's just, ever since your mother passed and Erin left..." he paused. "You're all I have left."

"Father." I said, comfortingly slipping my hand into his. "Even if I do decide to change factions, I will still get to see you!" I explained. "I won't truly be leaving you. And I definitely won't forget you." This seemed to assuage some of his worry, but his face was still sunken.

"If you do decide to move factions, we need to discuss what will happen to that cat." Father glared at Merlin as he strutted into the kitchen. He had always hated the cat.

"Forgiveness, Father." I said to him, patting his hand as I stood up, taking the empty bowl from in front of him and bringing it to the sink. "That is what you have been teaching me for nearly seventeen years, after all."

"That reminds me." Father said, standing up and reaching into his trouser pockets. "While I still have the chance, I want to give you this." He handed me a small item that had been placed in the center of a small square of leather. After it had, Father had brought the corners of the leather together and tied them with a strand of darker leather string. I pulled the end of the string to loosen the knot and exposed what is inside the makeshift leather pouch. I pinched part of the chain and held it up, admiring the familiar necklace.

"You're really giving me this?" I asked Father, who nodded in response. He took the necklace and clasped the chain around my neck. The gold chain fell to the bottom of my sternum where a small pendant hung. The pendant was an oval shape that was an inch tall and when opened, it exposes two pictures: one of my sister and one of me. My Mother had worn the necklace everyday before she died. Engraved in the front of the closed gold locket was a rose, symbolizing the shortened version of her name, Rosalee.

"You remind me of her." He acknowledged. "You look just like she did when she was your age." A warm feeling flooded my body as I reminisced, remembering stories about my Mother, my Father describing her as being very beautiful. I touched the pendant around my throat before wrapping my arms around my Father's neck, burying my face into his shoulder.

"Thank you, Father." I told him. After I had released him, I glanced at the locket once again, bringing the pendant closer to my face by lifting it with the palm of my hand.

Father smiled in response, glancing through the window into the backyard where there was a wooden pole stretching from the ground. He followed the shadow of the beam with his eyes and sighed. "It's close to ten o'clock." He told me. "The Choosing Ceremony will begin shortly."