We Are Divergent

Chapter Thirty

I searched the full pit with my eyes, trying to find Tobias. There were people everywhere. Christina took a seat in the back next to Danielle and Delaney, her friends that I met at her party from the hospital. I walked to the front of the room where the initiates were gathered on one side. I saw Olivia first, so I walked up to her, touching her arm to get her attention. She looked overwhelmed and kind of nervous.

“I didn’t know this many people would come,” She said once she saw me. Her eyebrows were furrowed. “Tris, what if I don’t make it?”

“Shh, calm down.” I said, trying my best to reassure her. “It will be okay. The hard part is over with now.”

“Not if I don’t make it!” She said.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Olivia, have you seen Four? I can’t find him anywhere and they are going to start soon.”

“Uh, last time I saw him he was standing over there with the Dauntless instructors.” She pointed across the room. I looked in that direction for a moment before I saw him.

“Okay, thank you!”

I walked across the room, trying to be polite with my shoving as I walked towards him. “Four!” I said once I was near him. He turned his head in my direction and his eyes fell on mine. I continued to make my way over, ducking through a few groups of people to finally get to him.

“Sorry,” I said once I was in front of him. “We were running kind of late and it took me forever to get over here and… Four?” My sentence trailed off when I saw the look on his face. I couldn’t quite distinguish it. Oh god. Is it my dress? Does he hate it and think I look skanky? Or do I just look bad?

“Tris… you look… beautiful,”

I broke into a huge smile and my heart fluttered at his obvious loss for words. I looked at his outfit for the first time. He was wearing black slacks and had a long sleeved buttoned down dress shirt tucked in. “You look so handsome,” I said back.

He quickly pulled me into not so chaste kiss, shocking me slightly since we rarely kiss in public. I could feel myself blushing after, and tried to ignore some of the stares we got. His hand skimmed the bare skin on my waste and he looked down. “I’m not going to be able to stop staring at you all night… I’ll have to keep you in my sights because I know that I won’t be the only one.”

I laughed. “I have a bad ass boyfriend. No one will try anything.”

He kissed me once more. “We’re starting in a minute. I’m introducing everything tonight so I’m going to have to leave you for a little bit.”

“Okay,”

He walked off to the front of the crowd and everyone immediately started taking their seats. The initiates remained standing off to the side. They were all in their usual clothes. They aren’t supposed to change until after they are sure they are staying here.

“Thank you all for coming tonight,” He spoke loudly, crossing his arms. “We are gathered here tonight to honor the bravery it has taken for these sixteen year olds to come this far from what they have known.” The crowd erupted in cheers and hoots, and he waited for them to calm down.

 “I am one of the transfer instructors, and I think I speak for us all when I say that we had an incredible group this year. They were strong when everything was so alien to them, and they faced many things as a team, which is something we don’t see often anymore. Rather than pitting for each other they encouraged each other, and they helped remind me why I once loved being dauntless so much.”

He looked toward the group of initiates. “We believe in freedom from fear,” He said, quoting the Dauntless manifesto. “in denying fear the power to influence our decisions.” His eyes landed on me when he said that, and I knew he was thinking about the Allegiant. “We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another. So on those terms, we will announce the ranking of these initiates, which will decide whether or not Dauntless is where they belong.”