Aberrant

Twenty-Six: Brooke

It's another day of training and everyone is exhausted and at the end of their tether. Plato is still in hospital, meaning that one person does not have to fight, and there's an audible sigh of relief as everyone realises that Isaac is without a partner. 

Training passes fairly quickly. Edgar gives up after one punch from Cassie, Jo forces Dex to the ground in the space of a few minutes, Sam does that to Phoebe in a matter of seconds and I quickly manage to beat down Amy. 

It's clear that everyone just wants to get to the end of the First Stage of Initiation, even the ones who are going to be cut. We all either just want to leave Dauntless for good or get that one step closer to being actual members. 

As we file out though, Edgar is worried about the consequences of being cut. 

"Hey Brooke?" he says. I look at him, surprised at how polite he sounded. And he see that he's terrified. It's as if the realisation that he's going to be cut and its' impact on his life has just hit him right in the face. He looks pale. 

"Yeah?" I ask casually, as we follow Isaac, as usual, towards the Cafeteria. 

"You know your dad is a representative of Candor?"

"Yeah?" I ask. I think I know where this is heading, but just to pretend otherwise, I add nonchalantly, "What about it?"

"Do you think he'll let me back into Candor?" he asks. Isaac leads us to an empty table and we begin to fill up our plates. I don't reply, knowing full well that my father won't, but Edgar takes my silence to mean that I don't understand what I've just said. Which is, ironically, the level of stupidity I've wanted people to think I am ever since I stepped foot in Dauntless.

"You know?" Edgar persists, "Pull some strings? Change a few rules?" He's growing in confidence now. "I mean, he does know who I am, I'm sure. I mean, he should know every Candor person." He looks at me for assurance, as he adds, "Right?" This time, he sounds slightly more subdued, as if he knows that it won't work. 

 I sigh. After a full day of training, this is not what I need. His line of reasoning makes no sense at all. The idea that Candor, the faction of all factions, that he wants to manipulate the rules is ludicrous. 

And it's almost funny to think that he's hoping that my father, a man who values honesty and law above everything else, will change the rules just for him. My father wouldn't change the rules for anyone. Not even his own daughter. Which is why that the moment I was told I was Divergent, I couldn't stay in Candor. 

"What?" snaps Isaac, looking at Edgar as if he's gone mad, and spits out half his food to command: "Repeat what you just said."

Edgar swallows nervously and loudly; so loud that I can literally hear him gulp, but he pretends to sound casual and offhand as he says, "I was just thinking that Brooke's father could, you know, let me back into Candor when I'm cut." He cringes slightly as he says it, as if hearing the fully-formed thought out loud has made him realise how stupid and hopeless it is. 

"You're an idiot." Isaac says curtly, and resumes eating. Then something seems to occur to him, and he starts laughing, a high-pitched laugh, that this time actually seems genuine, unlike the one he does when he's taunting other people. 

"Wait." He says, turning to me, grinning, "Your father's the Candor representative? Jack Kang?"

"Yeah," I say, eyeing him carefully, "What about it?"

He snorts and then getting control of himself, just sits there smirking maliciously. There's a pause before he looks at me right in the eyes, and says, "You must have really hurt his feelings when you transferred." I blanch inwardly, but outwardly I pretend to feel indifference. I shrug, and he begins to giggle, hysterically, this time.