Just a Dream?

Chapter 2

     I feel my parents’ shame, even though they are not really my parents. I hear my mother saying, “I love you, no matter what” as she looks at me run out of the hall with the other Dauntless. I run up to the train tracks and jump into the train, not having as much trouble as I expected. “I’m Christina,” the girl sitting next to me says. I don’t have any trouble simply saying, “Beatrice.” We start to laugh and wait until we know that we will have to jump off this train.

     I look at her and grab her hand. We jump out together. I scrape my knee on the roof, but no one else knows. She looks as if she made it just fine and we laugh. Then I remember the girl who didn’t make it off the train, who fell onto the pavement several stories below. I shudder as I hear a very unwelcome voice telling us gather at the edge of the building and that we must jump. I volunteer, knowing that I will not be harmed by what is at the bottom, and everyone stares at me, the Stiff who volunteered to jump.

     I jump and nearly scream. However I laugh, staring up at the sky above. I feel the net move beneath me and see him. I can’t speak. He asks my name, but I am unable to make it come to my mouth. Then I confidently say, “Tris” and discover his name: Four. Well, I already knew that, but I feel as if I don’t know anything that’s going to happen. Will I ever? I feel Four’s hand on my back and my heart does a tap dance. Well, I guess we know who doesn’t want to feel like they’re dying. This girl! He is a fictional character. I can’t get attached to him! But I do. All too quickly.