Divergent (Fanfic)

Chapter 18

The Candor room appeared around me again, and I saw nine faces staring up at me. Tristan removed the electrode from my head in silence.

'That was very good,' he said finally, as I stood up. 'Who's next?'

Nathan looked at me as if to say, I need to talk to you later, before volunteering to go next. Then Ross went. Then Chelsea. Then Amy, Kristen, Leigh and Jade. And we repeated this throughout the day.

Later on, at dinner, Nathan said, 'guys, I just need to talk to Mel in private for a bit, do you think you could...'

Ross and Chelsea exchanged a knowing look. 'Sure,' said Chelsea, smiling.

'Not like that,' Nathan hissed as we stood up and went back to the Apartment together. Chelsea and Ross stayed downstairs to give us privacy, though I didn't know what for. I was slightly panicky as we walked upstairs in silence.

'What's up?' I said once Nathan closed the door to the Apartment behind us. We stood I. The middle of the room to talk.

'Listen...' He said, playing with the sleeve of his shirt nervously. 'Promise me something before I start?'

'Yeah, sure, what is it?'

'Umm, well, I know I probably shouldn't ask you this,' he said carefully, 'because we aren't supposed to have secrets, but, I just... Promise me that what I say in a minute never leaves this room?'

'I promise,' I said, wondering what was so important.

'I know it's a lot to ask, but even if they ask during the lie detector test, I can't even say it, and I really shouldn't be saying this to you.'

'I promise!' I said. 'Now tell me!'

Nathan breathed in deeply to prepare himself. 'What you did in that simulation today... It was very brave. And erudite. I don't mean the faction - I mean, it was smart. And it made me think, well, maybe, are you...'

Something inside me awoke.

'Are you?' I asked, before he could finish the sentence.

'You don't even know what I was going to say,' Nathan said.

'And I'm probably far off, and I probably shouldn't have said anything,' I said, looking down. We were almost whispering now, standing very close to each other.

'Mel?'

'Yeah?'

'Are you Divergent?'

Neither of us spoke for a moment.

'Are you?'

We looked into each other's eyes, and I knew that he was.

A smile broke out on my face.

'What factions?' I asked him.

'Candor and Amity,' he replied. 'I came here because I thought it'd be fun, you know. Change of scenery, and stuff. And I'm glad I did, I mean... I got to meet you, didn't I?' He smiled. 'What factions did you get?'

'Abnegation, Amity, Erudite and Dauntless,' I said, my voice barely above a whisper. He was the first person tho know that I didn't have aptitude for Candor. I heard Eve's voice in the back of my mind, telling me that I should never reveal my Divergence to anyone, especially as mine was so strong, but I didn't care.

I trusted Nathan.

'The person who took my test told me that Divergents are rare, and they usually have three instead of four factions eliminated during the test, and to have two eliminated was extremely rare. She told me that nobody had ever only had one eliminated.'

'So did mine,' I replied.

'You were the first?'

'It seems so.'

'Wait... So, why did you pick Candor?'

'I was going to pick Amity,' I said, 'but then Chelsea said my name, and I looked around, and my hand moved.'

'That's bad luck,' was all Nathan said.

'No, it's not,' I said, and our eyes met again. In that moment, the term Divergent wasn't something to fear. It wasn't dangerous. Nathan and I were normal people. We had no secrets, and we were safe.

And his lips were on mine.