Truth (a Divergent Fanfic)

Chapter Three

"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits" ~ Albert Einstein

*****

Something I never really anticipated is that is if Callie and I were to become best friends, hot guy and I would also automatically become besties. Trio rules – Callie explains this to us as we sit down on the carpet of the common room, in what I think is supposed to be a circle, but ends up more triangle-y. We decide to make friendship bracelets and plait each other’s hair – one major advantage of having more girls than boys in a friendship group is all the fun things you can force them to do. Like what we were doing now.

“Must I?” Julian groans pitifully (introductions happened – Julian is hot guy, though he’s less hot with braided hair).

“You must.” We chorus cheerfully.

“Fine.” Julian pouts. “But I am taking it off right away, got it Amber?”

“Yes Julian.” I laugh, while Callie goes to get what supplies we need.

Thickly and stylishly, thanks to Callie’s careful hands, the black eyeliner is smeared around Julian’s dark eyes, while I add essential white glitter to his cheeks and rim his white-painted lips with black to match Callie’s handiwork. We decided to deck him out in Candor colours because… well, why not? Plus Callie has tons of the stuff, having lived here all her life.

We face our friend, desperately trying to keep a straight face, but badass Julian has had a complete makeover – and it’s adorable, so inevitably, we both squeal. Loudly

His face looks like that of the Dauntless gymnasts and the Amity entertainers that used to perform for us in school. Countless threads adorn his wrists and… oh god. His hair.

Julian scowls at us, but even that’s cute and you can tell he doesn’t mean it. He smiles at us, enjoying our reactions, because, even though I’ve not known him long, I know him enough to realize that Julian loves to make other people happy. I guess it’s kind of in his nurture – he did come from Amity after all.

“I’m going to wash this off now.” He says, starting towards the door, but before he can reach it, a bell rings and a deep voice echoes through the sound system speakers dotted around the walls.

“Could all initiates please report to the assembly hall immediately for an introduction to each other and you future trainers. Thank you.”

Julian looks down at himself and runs his fingers frantically through his knotted hair, ripping off the bracelets with his teeth as he does so. “Aw, shit. I can’t go into the assembly hall looking like this! Help me out here guys!” And we try, but when you’re laughing really hard, your hands shake and don’t hold steady, so I’m not sure how much help we actually were.

Seven and a half minutes later, the three of us sneak into the hall, treading toe-heel, toe-heel, silently in our black and white rubber shoes. The speeches from our trainers have started, but I honestly doubt we missed much, if the welcome speeches at Erudite were anything to go by. For one thing, they weren’t welcoming; it was simply Jeanine spouting random facts and figures of no particular relevance to me (although some of them were quite interesting. Did you know… no, never mind).

“…So, welcome to Candor. We hope you play fair and think of all things truthfully, or else you’ve got another think coming!” All the Candor-born, including Callie, groan, as if this is something they’ve heard many times before. The trainer glares at them before catching my eye and smirking in a way that is quite… I think an appropriate word to use would be ‘flirtatious’. Long, lingering, and extremely flirtatious. It leaves me slightly shocked and incredibly confused. What the hell… I’m starting to think that this is about more than just being forthright and free-of-tongue. Letting people see this much of you and your emotions is unheard of back in Erudite. You like someone, you hide it – it’s a weakness. How am I supposed to adjust to a way of life so very different?

*****

A/N: Dedication to... BlackStarrySkies - check out her new-ish book, 'Lovesick'!