Blue Eyed Man

Chapter 29

    I find Miles exactly where I thought I would. He's on the rocks by the chasm eating Dauntless cake. He sees me approaching and smiles. It's a weak smile, but it's a smile. As I sit down, he extends a piece of Dauntless cake to me.

    "I got you a piece," he says. I smile warmly at him.

    "Thanks," I say back.

    We sit in silence for a long time, neither one of us knowing what to say to the other. It's been a long day. Sims are ruthless and cruel, especially fear simulations.

    "Are you ok?" I ask. "You seem shaken up when you came out of the simulation room."

    "Yeah, well, it made me relive something I never wanted to think about again..."

    I look at him confused. I've heard of PTSD fears, but I guess I've never seen one up close.

    "I'm from Amity. We're supposed to be a peaceful faction. My mom was one of the leaders, like Joanna. She represented Amity. Well, one day, he was going to a meeting in Candor. She didn't go to many meetings, but this one required a rep from each faction. I went with her because dad was helping to fix something that day so there was no way he could watch me. Erudite cars had come to take us there. We had to go through the factionless section to get there. We were told we would be safe. We weren't. We didn't know what was really going on until it was too late. The Erudite that were driving us there stopped the car. A group of factionless had surrounded the car. They allowed the Erudite men to leave. My mom and I were trapped. They pulled mom out of the car. She told me to run... as fast as I could. I did. I ran until I find a place to hide. They beat my mother to death, and all I could do was watch. I felt so helpless. She had been helping investigate Jeanine. She was working closely with a Dauntless leader. They had been after the leader as well but never got them. My mom wasn't so lucky. She already had to watch her back because she was..." he stopped. I already knew what he was going to say. He lowered his voice a lean closer to me before speaking. "Divergent..." He took another long pause. "...Like me.... and like you I believe."

    I nodded my head. He knew. Of course he did. I just hug him gently.

    "I'm sorry." I can't think of anything else to say.

    Then I have an idea.

    "Wanna do something kinda crazy?" I ask. Miles now looks scared. He looks at me uncertainty.

    "Let's get tattoos!"

    "Okay..." Miles replies unsure of himself.

    I drag him down to the tattoo parlor. I've been dreaming of this for a while. I've wanted a tattoo for a long time. Tori laughs when we come into the parlor.

    "Sure your dad isn't gonna kill me for this? I mean, he can be..." Tori asks.

    Wait a minute. Does Tori know?

    When I don't respond she just continues.

    "Alright then. Pick out what you want," she says as she points to the books.

    When we're done, I have the Dauntless flames on my right shoulder, an arrow on my left wrist and the word "survivor" on my left forearm. I left my right arm free for something special for after initiation. Miles also has survivor on his left forearm. He has a feather on the right side of his neck and the word "forever" across his shoulders. He says that's for his mom. We pay our credits and head back to the dorms.