Pain In The Ass (Eric Divergent Fanfic)

Choosing Day

Elizabeth

My family eats in silent the night before Choosing Day. Every other night is usually loud and chaotic because of my two younger brothers, but they sit quietly. The only sound in the entire house is silverware scraping against glass plates. When dinner is done, my parents gather the dirty dishes while my brothers and I put the leftovers in the fridge. My mother sends my brothers to their room and tells me to sit on the couch in the living room.

"Elizabeth, we want you to know that we will love you no matter what faction you choose." My mother says, tears in her eyes.

"We don't want you to feel like you have to pick Candor to make us happy. Whoever you decide to be will make us proud." My father gives me a small smile.

~

I join the other sixteen year olds as we line up in alphabetical order. The order is the same as it is every year, starting at the end of the alphabet rather than the beginning, so I am close to the start.

A table with five bowls stands on a stage in the middle of a room inside the Hub. Each bowl has a faction symbol on it, and the bowls hold objects that represent the factions. On the stage stands the Amity faction leader, Johanna Reyes. She is dressed from head to toe in various colors of red and yellow, and there is a smile on her face. She says each faction manifesto, starting with Amity and ending with Dauntless. She says her own version of the speech each faction leader says before the children change their lives forever, and she then begins to call names.

Four others stand in line before me. Two Erudite, one Amity, and another Candor. Each one steps onto the stage when their names are called, and they each take the knife from Johanna when she offers it to them. They stand before the five bowls, cut the palms of the right hands, and choose their lives. Both Erudite choose to transfer, one going to Dauntless and the other going to Candor. The Amity boy stays in his faction, and my fellow Candor transfers to Abnegation.

"Elizabeth Montoya!" Johanna yells.

There is a sharp ringing in my ears as I walk up to her and take the knife. I stand in front of the five bowls and look at each of them. Grey stones for Abnegation, Water for Erudite, Soil for Amity, Hot Coals for Dauntless, and Glass for Candor. I drag the knife over my palm and hold my hand out as I find my family in the crowd. The crowd silences as my blood makes a sizzling sound when it hits my choice.

"Dauntless!"

I put a small bandage over the cut on my hand and join my faction as they burst into chants and cheers.

~

When the Choosing Ceremony is over, the factions filter out of the Hub and go their seperate ways. The Dauntless crowd moves like a wave of water as they run to the train tracks. We stand at a part of the tracks that isn't on ground level, and the Dauntless take turns on who is climbing the structure beam. The group of transfers, including me, is left at the bottom with a handful of the older Dauntless.

"This is the first of two parts into getting into the Dauntless compound." A man says, climbing up the structure beam slightly to look at all of us. "Climb up and jump onto the train. If you can't do that, you're not fit for our faction."

We each take turns climbing the beam, and I easily pull myself up onto the platform the other Dauntless members stand on. The loud horn of the train drowns out all of the noise as it barrels around the corner of a building. The Dauntless at the other end of the platform start running, and I follow behind the sea of black. The train charges past me, and I see doors of the cars open and black masses flying in with ease. I am one of the first transfers to make it onto the train, a man grabbing under my arm and pulling me in as I hang onto the side.

"You're a quick learner. I'm surprised you're not from Erudite." The man says, clamping his hand down on my shoulder.

The man has a mess of brown hair. Two piercings are above his right eye, and his ears are pierced. A black tattoo covers most of the skin on the front of his neck, and I can see a different color of ink peeking out from the bottom of his right sleeve.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I ask, crossing my arms as I stare at him. "If it is, you need to work on your communication skills. Complimenting someone for climbing into a moving train and saying they should've been born in another faction is rude."

"Candor. I should've guessed from your clothes. You'd think I'd keep my mouth shut around you people." The man shakes his head.

"For the record, I'm not Candor anymore. I'm Dauntless now, unless I fail the entrance exams." I stare out of the train car and watch the city buildings go by in a blur.

"Then lose the Candor behavior. Lie sometimes. Don't continue to say things without a filter."

I roll my eyes, and I hear a high pitched whistle. The man steps up to the door of the train car and holds onto the side as he looks out. He turns back to face everyone in the car, all of which are transfers, and he keeps his eyes on me as he speaks.

"Here's the next part of your test to get into the compound. You have to jump off of the train and onto the top of the building that's coming up." He says.

Some of the people behind me start to whisper, and the man smirks as he stares at me.

"Go." He says, his eyes to the side as he looks outside.

I very quickly run toward the door, and I send myself flying into the air. My feet hit the ground, and I tumble across the pebbles that line the top of the building I land on. I get to my feet and brush off the pebbles as the man who was talking to me walks by unscathed. I follow behind him, but he disappears into the crowd of Dauntless that have gathered together by the edge of the building on the opposite side to where I landed. I stand back enough to see the front, and I see the man clearly as he stands on the small wall that lines the building's edge.

"My name is Eric." He yells. "I am one of the leaders of Dauntless. Those of you have made it this far shouldn't celebrate. Behind me is an opening in the building next to this one. For your next challenge, you'll have to jump into it."

"What's at the bottom? Water?" Someone asks.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out. Now, who's going to go first?" The man, Eric, smiles.

His eyes scan across the crowd until he finds me. His smile remains as he stares directly at me, silently challenging me to be the first to jump. I scoff and make my way through the crowd, pushing people out of the way. I don't look at Eric when I stand on the edge beside him, looking down at the large hole he spoke of.

"It would've been nice to know you're a faction leader. I wouldn't have talked back the way I did." I whisper to him.

"I got you to be Dauntless. We talk back, no matter who we're talking to." Eric says. "Let me jump before you do. I want to check and make sure everything is good."

He turns and faces the same way I am and takes a large jump, sending himself directly to the middle of the hole. There is no sound from him as he falls, but he whistles at the bottom of the hole. I take a deep breath and push off of the ledge. I do a front flip as I send myself forward, and I hear a girl scream behind me as I fall. I am enveloped in darkness and cold air once I am past the opening in the building.

My back hits something before I can begin to panic, and I bounce into the air a few times before I stop. I roll onto my stomach and realize I am laying in the middle of a large net. Eric stands at the side and holds his arm out to me. I take his hand, and he pulls me to the edge. He holds my hips as I jump off of the net, and his hands remain there when my feet touch the ground.

"What's your name?" He asks, the question shining in his eyes as if he's saying I can choose one.

"Eli." I breathe.

"Eli?" He smirks. "Are you sure? You can't change it again."

I open my mouth to question him and remember he was at the Choosing Ceremony. I choose to answer his question instead.

"Yes. I'm sure."