„Are you nervous?"
„No." I replied keeping my eyes closed.
I was lying on the rooftop of my apartment enjoying the morning sun with my best friend, Kate, right next to me. This was one of my favourite places in the world.
I always came here when I needed time to think or just wanted to be by myself. Up here I always felt secure and peaceful. It was a place where all troubles and challenges seemed unimportant and where I could simply relax and forget about everything.
My Aunt and I lived in a little apartment in the center of the city. She had a leading position in Erudite so we could afford living on the top floor which meant having the best view.
Kate lived right next to me so we could always hang out and meet on the roof, which connected our apartments. It wasn't very dangerous climbing up here but of course we preferred to not tell our parents about it.
"Are you?" I asked her after a while.
"I don't know. A little. What if my test says I'm Abnegation. I don't think I could live the way they do." She sounded worried.
"Don't worry Kate, you'll be fine. And you're definitely not Abnegation. You enjoy looking at yourself in the mirror way too much." I joked.
Even though I had my eyes closed I knew she was glaring at me.
"Heey!" she exclaimed while slightly hitting my arm. "I just can't help it. I like what I see." She said flipping her hair back while smirking at me.
Kate was the complete opposite of me. She had short black hair cut into a long straight bob flattering her high cheek bones and pointy nose. She was a bit taller than me and had the most beautiful ocean blue eyes I had ever seen.
A lot of Erudite people had blue eyes...But I didn't.
My eyes were light green like my mother's. I had long blonde wavy hair and pale skin. The thing I liked most about myself were my lips. Full and plump in a light pink shade. All in all I was pretty satisfied with my looks.
Not that it mattered anyway.
They say that the face is the mirror of the mind because It's usually the first thing people notice when they meet someone but in my experience it often is the feature they rely on to make snap judgments...
I preferred personality over looks any time. So for me only the mind was the mirror of the mind and not the face.
I'd much rather be an ingenious person, unpleasant to look at than a simple-minded beauty.
Unfortunately, this is not how our society works.
I looked over at Kate. She was truly one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen, not because of her appearance but because of who she was underneath.
Kate was genuinely good. A sweet person with a kind-hearted soul, extra-ordinary in everything she did. I loved her with all my heart.
We grew up together and were inseparable ever since the day we first met when she and her family moved here 12 years ago.
We both started laughing and joking about what faction we would end up in.
"You'd definitely be a terrible Candor. You're always lying!" Kate laughed.
"Excuse you! That's not true. I just prefer keeping certain things to myself."
I'm not a liar. I appreciate honesty but sometimes it's smarter to keep your mouth shut.
When I wanted to lie back down to relax a little more, Kate reminded me that we had to take our tests in half an hour so I groaned and got up to get ready.
"C'mon lazy." She teased and gracefully jumped off the roof.
I wasn't worried about the test. At least not like Kate was. I knew I'd be fine with my test result because I could imagine living in every faction, except maybe Abnegation.
I liked that they were selfless and dedicated to helping others. I just didn't think I could live like they did for the rest of my life.
I didn't mind living in Erudite and I valued knowledge. Even though I wasn't the best in my class, I was still quite smart.
However, I felt like something was missing. A part of me was longing for more, something new, something exciting, maybe even dangerous.
Something I had never seen before.
The only thing I was actually worried about was losing Kate.
. . .
We arrived at the school, where the Aptitude Tests were executed, and entered the building.
Teenagers of all factions gathered in a great hall waiting to be tested. I know that the factions were created to divide these people into communities that they fit into.
Dauntless for the brave, Candor for the honest, Abnegation for the selfless, Amity for the peaceful, and Erudite for the intelligent.
But when I looked at all those kids chatting and laughing with each other it just felt like we were all the same. Most of them looked anxious or scared, some of them didn't even seem to care.
On the whole I just saw a bunch of young people trying to figure out who they were and what they wanted in life.
We patiently waited until it was our turn and walked up to the testing rooms together. Kate stood next to me and looked at me nervously.
"You'll be fine." I smiled at her. Then the doors opened and the students piled into the testing rooms.
I found myself in front of a tall, middle-aged man dressed in green and orange. His clothing was old and slightly frayed in places. Amity.
He was slim but muscular with a long, lean face and a stern expression. His dark hair and bearded cheeks framed his grown features.
When he noticed me he broke into a smile showing off his pearly whites and gestured for me to come closer while introducing himself.
"Hi I'm Rick. I'll be administrating your test today. You'll be offered a series of choices to test your aptitude for each faction until you get one result."
I nodded. "I'm Elizabeth."
"Sit down, please. I bet you're a bit nervous but don't worry you don't have to be."
He kept his voice calm and steady while speaking and I wondered if people who supervise these tests had to undergo a special training beforehand.
"Actually I'm not but thank you." I smiled back at him. "So how does this work?"
"You have to drink this." He showed me a small vial filled with blue liquid.
"It will put you into a simulation which will test which faction you'd fit best into." I nodded at his explanation and took the vial out of his hand.
"Good luck."
Rick's friendly expression was the last thing I saw before darkness consumed me completely.
. . .
I woke up breathing heavily trying to get as much air into my lungs as possible.
Something went wrong.
"What happened?" Now I definitely felt scared.
Rick looked up from the screen in front of him with shock and confusion written all over his face. All of the calmness from before was gone and he looked like he had just seen a ghost.
"Rick, what happened?" I repeated more sternly.
"I ended the simulation early... it was... it was inconclusive." He stuttered.
Shit.
I knew what that meant. At Erudite I had heard a lot of rumors about it but I thought it didn't really exist.
"I am...divergent?" Just saying it out loud sounded so weird to me.
"Shh...No one can know. It's dangerous for people like you. My nephew was divergent, they found out when he had his test and killed him right away.
My heart missed a beat when I heard what he said. They just killed him?!
"But don't worry I won't let that happen to you. I will just change your results manually."
"So it's true...they actually haunt divergents?" I couldn't believe it. "But what are my results?"
"Erudite, Candor and Dauntless." His voice was barely above a whisper.
Great. I can't stay in Erudite as divergent. I know they despise them.
I also can't transfer to Candor because I know the initiates get injected a serum which makes them tell the truth. At least that's what Kate's mother once told us and she used to be in Candor so she should know.
I can't risk that.
So that leaves... Dauntless. If they find out they'll definitely kill me but if not I could at least learn how to fight and defend myself, so I guess that's a pro.
I didn't hesitate.
"Change the result to Dauntless, please."
Rick nodded. "Not the worst choice but be careful Dauntless can be ruthless."
I stayed and talked to Rick a little longer until the official test time was over. He told me to keep the results to myself.
"Thanks for everything." I said and he pulled me into a hug which caught me a bit off guard but I eventually returned it and left.
I figured Kate was waiting for me outside and I was right. When she saw me she ran into my arms and gave me a tight hug.
"God that was so exciting! What's your result?"
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