CHAPTER TWO :
DARE ME — DARCIE’S POV
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Take your momma’s advice
So you can do what is right
Take a knife to the bed
Take a gun to the fight
Everybody wants to see me down
Everybody wants . . .
Grab me, stab me, go on and have me
‘Cause everybody wants something from me
Everybody wants something from me
—The Pretty Reckless, “Everybody wants Something from Me”
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They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. One look into someone’s eyes, and you immediately know their deepest, darkest thought.
I believe this idea is a lie; at least in my case. No one could decipher my character. I wasn’t the girl who could be read just as easily as a book. A more accurate adjective to describe me as an individual would be cryptic. I was one of those strange letters you would find on an ancient tablet. I would be written in a foreign language; likely that of hieroglyphics or cuneiform. There were symbols to foreshadow the truth, but only those clever and special enough would uncover the true meaning.
I was born Erudite. My faction valued knowledge above all. They were the inventors, the scientists. And to my dismay, they knew absolutely everything. Every time I wandered into a room, I couldn’t help but overhear an intelligent debate of some sort.
I was different, in more ways than one. I didn’t have a desire to research a topic down to its insignificant beginnings. I was intrigued by mystery rather than immense knowledge. My parents said I was defected.
My family had been Erudite since the beginning of the faction system. No one had ever transferred. Even if they wanted to, it wasn’t foreseeable. Leaving Erudite was not an option.
“Tomorrow is the aptitude test, Darice,” my mother said, glancing up from her papers. She pushed her wire-rimmed glasses down to the bridge of her nose and pursed her lips.
My stomach curled every time those two syllables left anyone’s lips. Darice. I despised my name. It was too formal, too uptight. It was exactly what my parents wanted.
“I know, mother,” I replied quietly.
She slammed her paper down on her desk and sighed. “I would appreciate it if you would demonstrate some enthusiasm. It is extremely disrespectful.”
“Sorry, mother.”
She scowled before she continued her lecture. “Now, I must reinforce a vital ideal in your head. Regardless of your results, you are to choose Erudite. I do not foresee this being a predicament. Our family is the backbone of this faction.”
I twirled my pencil nervously. “But what if my results aren’t Erudite…?”
She snorted. “You’re not honest. You’re certainly not selfish and you are not nearly kind enough to be Amity—”
“Dauntless?” I asked quizzically.
She tapped her pen against the top of her desk. “And why, Darice, would you ever consider joining such a faction?”
YOU ARE READING
Variant ▸ Divergent
Fanfiction[ON HOLD] Imara Ember was born Abnegation. She lives a simple, selfless life devoted to helping those around her. However, Imara feels as though she is an outcast in her faction. When the time for her aptitude test approaches, she desperately hopes...
