Daring to be Divergent

Chapter 21

Hey guys! This is my last chapter before sophomore year starts for me... I'll miss you guys so much:'( No just kidding, I'll still be writing as much as possible. Chapter's going to be short because of my shortage of time today! Thanks for all the support and love for this story!! Please comment or vote if your liking it or want to share your opinion on it. V.Roth owns her Divergent books and characters. Thanks again!!

BTW: I had a comment last chapter about how Tobias seems like a weakling... Well Tobias has had a lot on his shoulders lately. The stress from trying keep a grip on his job and the... well you'll find out the rest later but still...He's doing his best! And although it seems like ages ago, Tobias just got shot a few days ago!! He almost died!! Would you all want me to kill Tobias? I CAN write that in there, you know....

~~~~~Chapter 21~~~~~~ 

My palms start to sweat. The Dormitory is extremely loud. People are either yelling in protest or yelling in celebration.

"How did she get fourth?" Jake, a Dauntless-born, points at me in disgust. "She can't even shoot a gun. I've seen her!"

"Hey back off, Jake." Collin shoves Jake back. "She can throw a knife better than you ever will!"

As soon as Jake shoves Collin, I step between them and yell loud enough for both of them to hear me.

"Both of you, just shut up!" I walk up to Collin and point my finger at him. "You, I can handle this myself!"

I turn around at point my finger at Jake, who I barely even talk to. "Now you, what's your problem?" Although Jake is a foot taller than me, I lay both of my hands on his shoulders. Before he cringes away, I knee him as hard as I can in the groin. "LAY OFF! I am much braver than you think Jake!"

He doubles over and groans loudly. I doubt anyone can hear it over everyone else in the dormitory.

"You just wait Ella. You will regret ever doing that." he says pathetically. I roll my eyes and shake him off. Collin and I walk away and towards Savannah to congratulate her.

"That was weird," I say to Collin.

"I know. I didn't know that he cared that much about this." Collin says. I shrug and worm my way through people to get to Savannah.

As we get closer to her, I can not help but take another look at the rankings.

1.Savannah 

2.Collin 

3.Troy 

4.Ella 

5.Josh

6.McKenzie 

7.Blake

8.Amy 

9.Noah 

10.Jake 

11.Carrie

12. Alexandria

Unless the transfers failed, Noah, Jake,  Carrie, and Alexandria are going to be kicked out and becoming faction-less. I feel bad for them but not enough to talk to them. I was never close with them anyways.

In the corner of my eye, I see Alexandria stalk out of the room after yelling at Carrie. Carrie seems to be the only one crying in the Dormitory, too.

Josh''s arm is draped over Amy's shoulders when Collin and I walk up. Josh nods at Collin, so we stand next to them. Savannah and Troy seem to be arguing about something stupid again.

"No, I was amazing at capture the flag. I basically won the whole game for my team, so I deserve to be first in the rankings." Troy scoffs. Savannah rolls her eyes and pats Troy on the head.

"That's cute, Troy, but rumor has it you screamed like a girl when you thought a paintball was a spider." Savannah says smugly. Troy pats his hair down and glares at her.

"I did not." he mumbles. We all laugh at Troy because everyone knows it was true.

"Congrats Savannah." I say, when the dormitory gets a little quieter. "You deserve it."

She looks at me and scans what I said for any insults. "Thanks, not too bad either." she says.

"WHO'S READY TO CELEBRATE?!?" Josh screams suddenly. Our small group of friends cheers loud, filling the dormitory with noise again.

"ENOUGH!!" my dad yells suddenly. Everyone in the room freezes. I had forgotten that he was even in here.

The tension grows cold as my dad stands silent in front of the rankings again, staring at us sternly. He takes a long look at me and my group of friends, the ones making the most noise earlier.

"I know that some of you are happy with your scores and you want to celebrate, which you allowed to do, but also keep in mind that others here aren't as fortunate as you are today." he pauses to put the chalk from the board in his pocket.  "Some of you will most likely become faction-less, while others may succeed or others may die. When this initiation is over with, these scores and your future scores will define who you will become. Dauntless initiation is not a game, it is life and death for all of you. I suggest you take this more seriously." 

My dad leaves the room as we all let what he told us sink in. But my dad is right, I need to take all of this more seriously. This is not a game we are here for.

By the time we all leave to celebrate, everyone does seem more tense.

As a few of my friends get new tattoos and clothes, I cannot let go of the fact that all of these people that have been my childhood friends for so long, are more like friendly competitors now. At one point during the night, Collin holds my hand trying to comfort me. He knows something is off after what my dad said.

I wonder if he'll ever want to talk about what happened between us in the Chasm a few days ago. I've known Collin my whole life, he is going to burst if he doesn't talk to anyone about the moment between us soon. Unless it was nothing to him, I think to myself.

It has to be nothing with me now, too. All of my friends know that there is something going on with me and Aden, but I'm not exactly sure what to call us yet. Something more than friends, that's for sure. I can't like Collin or feel anything for him. He is my friend and nothing more.

Also, I have to figure out the situation with the spies. I have no idea who they are, what they are doing here, and for what reason. The most information I know is that there are at least three spies from Erudite. Not to mention, they have to kill someone on a certain day, which I have yet to find out.

Not only have things become more serious, but I also have a strange feeling that things are about to get a lot more intense at the Dauntless Compound. And maybe these things are not going to be for the best.