Aberrant

Thirty-Six: Brooke

We all file into the training room, where Amar is standing in front of a board. I glance at Dex and Plato. Dex has small crease in between her eyebrows, appearing worried. She's also clutching her left wrist, a nervous gesture I've never seen her do before. Then, as she moves her right hand, to brush a strand of hair past her ear, I see a Dauntless symbol on her left wrist. I smile slightly and glance down at the symbol on my wrist. The exact same symbol in the exact same place. 

Great minds must think alike. 

I frown slightly, reminding myself to be serious, and shift my gaze to Plato. Unlike Dex, he's clearly much better at masking any anxiousness that he might feel. He stands there with a neutral expression on his face, his arms by his side. 

"Here are your time averages so far in Stage Two," Amar announces. He catches my eye and subtly shakes his head. I swallow. This is not going to be good. 

1. Dex - 2.04

No, April's time is definitely not good. Her place in Stage One was 5th. Now she's first. I glance over at her to see if she knows that she's in danger. Her expression is a mixture of happiness and fear, as if unsure whether to be proud of herself or not. Beside me, Isaac grins and fixates his gaze onto April. This must have been the sign he was looking for.

 I clench my fists inside the pockets of the jacket I'm wearing. I won't let him hurt her. I won't. 

I glance down at the next name on the list to give myself something to concentrate on, but the sinking feeling of dread inside me gets worse. It doesn't bode well either:

2. Plato - 5.03

Admittedly, he's managed to do slightly better than April. And it would have been a perfectly respectably score and position-his place in Stage One was 3rd, now it's 2nd. But his selfless actions have already given him away and one look at Isaac tells me that Plato's efforts aren't enough to convince him. 

3. Isaac -  7.51

4. Brooke -  9.21

I'm fourth and behind Isaac, which is good. And a slight smile spreads across my face as I see that my score is about average in the group. Not bad for a Divergent. But then my smile fades as I remember that April is in serious danger and there's an uncomfortable twisting feeling in my stomach. 

I scan the rest of the list, but there are no more surprises: 

5. Amy - 10.34

6.  Jo -12.56

7. Sam -14.40

Amar coughs to get our attention, "Now remember, for those of you at the bottom, your ranking can still change for the Final Stage." I glance at Sam, Jo and Amy who are looking downcast, "And I'm afraid that I cannot tell you how well the Dauntless-born have done. But there's still hope. For all of you." 

There's a silence as everyone takes in their scores. As I fixate my eyes on the board, I see Isaac look at me out of the corner of my eye. There's a knowing smile on his face, as if he's aware of all the effort I put into getting a high time.

 It's enough to send a shiver down my spine. Maybe Dauntless is in fact the worst faction for Divergents after all. Maybe I should have chosen Abnegation instead, despite of all the attention I've drawn to myself.

I shake my head slightly in an effort to dislodge the thoughts. There's no point thinking about 'maybes' and 'what ifs' now. I've chosen Dauntless and now I've got to live with the consequences. 

Sam breaks the silence. He looks pale, which is hardly surprising, considering that his name is in the last slot. He turns to April and Plato. 

"How did you guys do so well?" he asks, his voice sounding shaky and scared. Amy and Jo both cross their arms, waiting for an answer.