Transparent: A Divergent FanFiction (Book One) ©

Chapter 2

                    There were different types of candor; the honest, and the brutally honest. While I easily fit into the first mold, my sister Mara was the perfect example of the later. She was the type of person who’d tell you anything that popped into her head, the moment it did.

                    Say I met a man with a large nose; I would never mention it or openly question him about it unless it somehow came up in our conversation. Taking this same situation but switching it with my sister would have drastically different results; Mara wouldn’t even ask his name or say hello before saying what she felt, which most likely would be, “Sir, I don’t see how you haven’t tipped over with that giant thing taking up half of your face.”

                  Some days, it was easy for me to see that it would be incredibly easy to just stay in candor. I’d lived this way for all my life; it was what I knew and was comfortable with. My mind would make thousands of arguments to convince myself to stay.

                     Stay, you’ll be fine here. You know this. You believe in the manifesto. You’re meant to be candor. Honestly is the most important thing in life. Lies are like a disease that spreads and consumes you, they must be eradicated. Anger at lies can last forever, but anger at the truth will eventually pass.

                How these words moved me. But even then, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was attempting to deceive myself. Even if the lie was beautiful, the truth was what I’d have to face at the end; and the truth was that deep down, though it burned and raged and I wanted desperately not to believe it, I knew I didn’t belong in candor either.

                Something, though what it was I had yet to know, kept me from settling; kept me from believing I could stay in my faction. If I didn’t belong here, then where? Where?

                 “Yo, earth to Sage, come in Sage,” Danny said as he snapped his fingers in my face.

                “What?” I asked, startled when I saw that we were the only ones left in the classroom. I looked at the clock on the far end of the room and quickly grabbed my books when I saw the school day had ended.

                “So where’d you go space cadet?” Danny joked as we made our way through the empty halls. “You seemed pretty out of it. Haha, you should’ve seen your face.”

                I rolled my eyes and gave him a playful punch as we got to our lockers.

               “I was thinking about the aptitude tests,” I said as I shelved my books on one of the little shelves and then closed the door.

                “Oh yeah, they’re coming up soon huh? I was kinda thinking about it too,” Danny agreed as he crammed his own things into his overflowing locker; the sound of crumples sheets and candy wrappers distinct. “Can’t wait to just get it over with,” he said as he grabbed a half-empty bag of chips before slamming the door closed.

                “How long have those been in there?” I asked when I saw him reach in and pop one in his mouth.

                “Not sure, but they’re still good,” he offered me the bag, “want one?”

                “No thanks, I’m good,” I said with a laugh, “I’m pretty sure you bought those a week ago.”

                He grinned and deliberately began to chew loudly.

               “Yummy, week old chips, my favorite,” he tipped the bag into his mouth, “food is food Sage, you know I don’t discriminate.”

                I laughed and we continued to joke around as we made our way out of the school. A group of amity kids were still hanging around the outer part of the building and when I saw one of them wave in our direction, I realized who it was.

                “Sage, Danny!” Grace called out as she continued to wave. Her friends turned to look at us and for an instant I felt uncomfortable.

                “Sup’ Grace face!” Danny answered as he jogged over to join them.

                I smiled respectfully and followed behind him.

               “Hey, why are you still here?” I asked when I was within earshot. “The dauntless sometimes stay behind and not to be rude,” I looked pointedly at each face in their group, “but if something were to happen, you guys wouldn’t stand a chance. I can stay if you want,” I offered as my eyes searched the school grounds for any signs of life.

                “It’s ok Sage, we saw them leave already. And besides, we’re in a group so it’s not so dangerous this way,” she said as she pulled Danny and I closer to her friends. “These are the guys I told you about, the ones that helped me. Their names are Sage and Danny.”

                The boy in their group raised an eyebrow and I saw his eyes go wide.

               “You didn’t tell us they were candor,” he said in awe. The other girls also stared at us, a little surprised.

                “Why does that matter?” I asked.

                “Well our factions don’t normally get along, and with all this bullying that’s been going on I just figured…” the boy trailed off.

                “You figured we’d be joining in on the harassment,” Danny stated when he saw no one would continue.

                “Well, yeah,” he admitted sheepishly.

                “Not all candor see amity the same way,” I said, then decided to rearrange my words, “well, I guess I should say some of us are more, ahem, accepting of the way you live.”

                Grace smiled and her friends were quick to follow her example. They grinned and nodded at my words.

                “This is Calum, Allison, Mia, and Joy,” Grace said as she motioned to the boy and girls who accompanied her.

                “Nice to meet you,” Danny said. Then he frowned when he peered at his watch. “Sorry to cut this little introduction short, but if we don’t go now we’ll miss our bus,” he laughed and rolled his eyes in my direction, “Mara will throw a fit if we’re late.”

                I snorted and nodded. Mara had been steadily rising in the ranks as a top-notch debater, and today she was going to have an open dispute held at candor headquarters; the Merciless Mart. At the young age of eighteen, she was already gaining fame as a skilled speaker. She wanted to eventually become a lawyer and so this event was of utmost importance.

                How had she put it? Oh yeah. 'If you’re late or you forget to come, I’m disowning you as my brother,' she’d said to me, and then turned to Danny, 'and if it’s your fault Sage didn’t make it, I’m going to personally hunt you down and skin you alive.'

                “Yeah, we better go,” I agreed. “See you around!” Giving them a final wave, Danny and I raced to the bus stop.