Greetings!
I am super happy to welcome you to the actual guts of my fanfic. Detergent was a prequel, only opening up the doors to what was about to come. Sure, it wasn't a very well-written story, and this one probably won't be either, but I try to work my hardest on it. This story has mature content, meaning that it isn't suitable for younger readers! Read at your own risk, ig. Thank you for understanding! Please enjoy my story! Also, vote and comment. If you have any questions, PM me. I'll always answer. Maybe not immediately, but I will eventually. I am taking over this account for my old co-author, Madison, just so you know.
Now for the story:
"Maddie, come on! Mom says that you need to be up and downstairs in five minutes!" My brother says as he beats on my door. I sigh, sitting up in my bed.
Ready for your aptitude test?
My mind almost seems to mock me when the thought crosses it, and my stomach lurches. I feel nauseous when I think about having to discover what I'm truly made of, just because I'm fine the way I am.
I walk over to my closet quickly and slide open the mirrored door, revealing a mass of black and maroon clothes, from pants to shorts to t-shirts and shoes, worn out combat boots that sit in the corner, waiting for me to wear them again.
I pull out a random maroon shirt and a pair of jeans, my typical outfit out every day. I then gaze at my combat boots, but finally deciding on sneakers. I grab my jacket, sighing as I pull it on.
I pull my hair back into some form of a ponytail-bun, and walk to the bathroom. I put on mascara, just because my eyelashes are nearly non-existent without it, and brush my teeth.
"Madison! Hurry up!" I hear my mother across the hall and I sigh, opening the bathroom door. She rolls her eyes as she opens up my bedroom door, and I merely turn and walk downstairs.
My brother and sister wait for me in the living room. "Where's Alex?" I ask my father when he emerges from the kitchen.
"Asleep. He's sick, so your mother will stay with him. But, there's nothing to eat here, so let's head to the Dining Hall." He opens the front door, and we all walk out.
We meet Zeke and Ashton on our way to the Dining Hall, just as we're crossing over the Chasm bridge. Zeke slaps a hand on my father's back, and I fold my arms over my chest, suddenly feeling a chill.
"Shut the fuck up!" Ashton exclaims as he looks at Hunter, who sighs. "Shut it! Seriously! Today's the day and I don't need your B.S. filling up my empty mind." He says as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in.
I look over at them and bite my lip. My sister is stick thin, so skinny that you can see her spine under her thin skin when she curls into a ball. My brother is only slightly muscular, just really lanky.
I, on the other hand, am not fat, but also not skinny. I'm not short like my mother, but I'm not talk like my father or brother either. My stomach isn't flat, it's slightly pudgy. I've always been insecure of myself.
It's just one thing that's always been an issue for me. Every mirror in the whole compound, the whole city—it's almost as if they're morphed, like these weird funhouse mirrors that I see down at the Pier.
"Maddie, you okay?" My father asks me. I snap my head up, looking straight into his dark blue eyes and nod.
"Yeah," I say as we step into the Dining Hall, "I'm fine."
The Hall is packed with people who look just like me, only their skin is covered in ink and glint in the sunlight from the many piercings that they have. Zeke points to a table in the corner of the Dining Hall, and they all race there. I don't feel like running, so I just jog.
With every step I take, I think about the Aptitude Test. Step, What if I have to leave my family? Step, I cannot prepare for the test in any way. I don't know what the test may hold. Step, I watch as everyone laughs at the tables around me, and somehow, leaving this place doesn't seem like an option, and a smile spreads across my pale face.
>>
"Good luck on your test today, guys!" My father and Zeke shout at us as we stand, walking to the Dining Hall exit. No one turns around, but I do. I smile at my father and Zeke, and I wave.
They wave back, and smiles cover their faces. Soon, I follow Ashton out the door, and he slings his arm around my back when we enter the Pit. "How's my Maddie darling doing?" He asks.
I bite my lip, and smile. "I'm doing fine, Ashton. How about you?" He grins, running a hand through his somewhat short chestnut blonde hair. His eyes are a green-blue hue, just like Olivia's are.
"I'm doing GREAT!" He shouts as we begin to jog, and people in the Pit stare at him, raising their eyebrows, but eventually they all go back to talking and dancing and jumping off of the rocky ledges.
There are no railings here, not even on the highest paths. You fall, you find a way to survive, or you die. Hunter leads the way, and he pushes against the compound exit door, opening it and exposing us to daylight.
Daylight has always seemed weird to me, but that's probably because I never really see it. We step outside and see all of our other friends. They all huddle together and talk; even Ashton leaves my side. I just stand near the tracks and wait for the train to arrive.
Soon, I hear gravel shifting behind me, and I turn to see Jordan standing by my side. "Go away." I say to him. He's my on again, off again boyfriend. I don't like how clingy he gets, especially because I just want to be alone all the time.
Pushing people away is in my nature, but I just think it's funny when I push someone away, and they actually stay away. "Why do you want me to leave? I'm your boyfriend." He says as he raises an eyebrow.
I turn back to the tracks and sigh. "I just want to be alone." I whisper, and he pushes the gravel around with his feet, covering his shoes in dust.
"You always want to be alone." He says, and I send him a death glare.
"Exactly, so just, just go hang out with the people that actually like other people." I snap at him, and he turns, sighing as he jogs back to the huddle. I cover my face with my hands. I honestly don't know why I'm so depressed. I think it's because I'm nervous about this test.
Maybe it's also because I haven't found people that are quite like me. Ashton is too much of an extrovert. He loves to party, just like Olivia. Abby is into fashion and makeup and dresses, just like Ariana and Ashley. They're all into that kind of stuff.
Jordan and Hunter are the same, even though I don't really know what they like. They both like working out, I guess. I don't even know what I like. I'm too busy stressing myself out to know what I like.
Soon, the train whizzes past me, and I begin running. I run ahead of my friends, who all chant for me since normally I'm the last one on the train. I lick my lips as I make a jump for the door, missing it slightly.
I groan, then leap for the handle. I make it, and my friends cheer. My hand hits the open button several times before the door actually opens, and when it does, I haul myself in.
Ashton is the only other one who makes it into the same car as me. He smiles at me when he gets in, then groans when his phone (a/n: yes, a phone!) rings.
"What do you want, you fat fuck?" He says into his phone. Sometimes, well, most of the time, Ashton's a punk, a bully, a jerk. Normally, I wouldn't hang out with someone like him, but he's hilarious, and he's one of my best friends.
"I don't actually give a fuck!" He says, then sighs. "Where do you think I am? Can you hear the wind? I'm on the train, on the way to fucking school."
"Bye, Asshole." He says, and my mouth is gaping when he slides his phone into his pocket. He turns to face me and laughs. "It was just my brother." He says, and my jaw seems to drop to the ground.
Ashton only laughs.
>>
I sit in the cafeteria at a table with my friends. I look around the room, at the other factions. The Amity braid each other's hair and play hand-slapping games, the Erudite sit at a table quietly and read, the Candor talk amongst themselves, probably arguing, and the Abnegation simply sit silently.
My stomach wrenches at the thought of the test. Names are being called every 5 minutes or so, in alphabetical order. They're already to the last names that start with a D.
I stare at the door, waiting for a woman to come out and lower her bifocal glasses to the edge of her nose, then call forward the next ten people for the test, but she doesn't come out. Seconds are beginning to turn into hours in my mind, well, until Hunter sends me a crooked look.
"You okay, sis?" He asks me. I nod. "Your face is really pale." He says and I feel Jordan's eyes burning into me from the next table. I told him not to sit with me, that I didn't want to talk to him.
I hope he chooses to join the Abnegation or the Amity or something, that way I don't have to see him anymore. "I'm fine, Hunter. I'm just nervous for the test." I tell him quietly and he nods.
The woman with the bifocal glasses comes out of the door, then calls a few names, ending with "Hunter Eaton, and Madison Eaton." I cringe when the woman says our last name, because some of the Abnegation's eyes move over to us as we approach the door. Hunter sticks his hands into his jacket pockets as we march to the door where the woman stands.
Everyone waits in a line, and Ashton waves in our direction. I roll my eyes as I grin, then follow Hunter when we begin walking down a long hallway. It's pretty dim, considering that most of the hallways are brightly lit, or have lots of natural light from the large glass windows.
I stand at door number eight, two Amity members at nine and ten. I close my eyes, then look at Hunter, who sends me a reassuring thumbs up.
That's when the doors open, and my heart flies into my throat as I step inside. An Amity woman waits for me beside a dentist-like chair, her arms leaning on a metal table where a computer sits. She types a few things into the computer, then smiles at me.
I look around the room, at the mirrored walls, gazing at my reflection. My skinny jeans that bunch up a little bit at my knees, my loose t-shirt, my slightly dust-covered sneakers. Everything.
"Hello, my name is Meredith. Take a seat, Madison." She says cheerily. I nod, sitting down in the chair, and I swallow hard. She places a few electrodes to my head, then pours a turquoise blue liquid into a small glass.
"Here, you must drink this, Madison." She says, passing the glass to me, and I nearly cringe. I'm getting very annoyed by the use of the name Madison, mostly because it's been used like twelve times today in reference to me.
"What is it?" I ask her. She shakes her head as she looks down at the glass.
"I can't tell you. I just, I need you to drink it." She says sternly as she bites her lip, and I nod, then drink it. It's flavorless, but feels thick when it glides down my throat, like molasses.
I hand Meredith the glass, and she smiles at me. "Good luck." She says, and I try to smile, but I can't, because everything goes black and soon, my eyes are shut.
>>
I wake up in the school cafeteria. It is empty, except for two bowls, the size of the ones used for the choosing ceremony. I walk up to them, and see that one cradles a block of cheese, and the other holds a clean, sharp knife.
"Choose." A voice commands.
I look up but don't see anyone. It's just me, I'm all alone. I smile, and then I look back at the cheese and knife. I can't decide which one to pick. "Choose!" The voice commands again, but this time, the voice is deeper. I furrow my eyebrows and reach out for the knife as the bowls shrink into the ground.
I turn around and see nothing. The room is empty. That's when I hear a snarl, and I see a dog. I look down at the knife. I can't just kill the dog because it's snarling at me. I can't do it. That's heartless. I back up slowly, until I'm near a wall. I slide down against the wall, then curl into a ball, the knife still in my hand.
I hear a whimper, and look back up to see that the dog is now a puppy. I furrow my brows. The dog was just a beast, a menace, and now it's a puppy?
I pet it. I see a girl come up and run towards the dog and I. "Puppy!" She shouts, jumping up and down and laughing. She's a little Amity girl, her red hair tied into a braid that flows down her tiny back.
The dog snarls, and I see it curl back, as if it's about to pounce on the little girl. The dog begins running, and I look down at the knife in my hand. I can't just stab the dog. I run forward, beginning to chase the dog as it chases the girl. "Help!" The girl screams, and I run as fast as I can, jumping on the dog as if it's the train, then stabbing it's leg with the knife, just so that I don't kill it.
I don't want to kill anybody. The scene fades, and now I'm on a bus.
A man with burnt hands is holding a newspaper. He's Candor. He looks up. "Do you know this man?" He asks. once I get a good look, I feel like I do know him, but I can't put my finger on it.
I need to get out of this place. I can't just randomly transport from the cafeteria to the bus. It's not real. I bite my lip, tuning out my thoughts and paying attention to the man on the bus.
He's Candor for sure, the white clothing that he wears, the hands that are slightly burnt from all of the cigarettes and lighters he's undoubtedly been around. The man does look scary, though, so I bite my lip. "I don't know." I say, looking the man straight in the eyes. The man nods, and the scene fades.
I wake up, and see Meredith come back in. She types a few things in the computer, then she sits in front of me. "Madison." She says, then looks over her shoulder, as if someone is standing there and will hear her. "You're Divergent." She whispers.
"What?" I ask her. I'm confused. Divergent? What? How is it possible?
She rolls her eyes, and says "It means that you have an aptitude for two or more of the five factions." I nod. "You can't tell anyone about this. Not even your parents. No one."
"What were my results?" I ask. I want to know. How bad is this? I can't have an aptitude for more than two, right?
"Dauntless..." She pauses. "And Amity, Candor, and Erudite." She says. I nod, biting my lip, the back of my eyes burning.
"Four factions? That's impossible...unheard of." I say.
"It's possible. You would've just had the Dauntless aptitude by picking up the knife, but then you didn't want to kill the dog, so that showed some form of kindness, enough for the machine to register it as that, and you still tried to protect yourself." She says, then pauses, looking back at the door.
"That's intelligent, so it's Erudite. Then, in the bus scene that I added into the simulation, you told the man that you didn't know. He accepted that answer, which gave you the aptitude for Candor."
I put my face into my hands, covering my mouth. "You might not even have the aptitude for Candor, only Candor children usually pass that one. It could just be the machine, but you've definitely got an aptitude for Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. The machine says Candor, too, though." She bites her lip.
I sigh.
"You have to understand hat you cannot tell anyone. Divergents are considered dangerous, Ms. Eaton. You must be careful." She says, then smiles at me.
"Have a great rest of your day." She says, then ushers me out of the room, and back into the hallway. I look back behind me and see that the door is shut, and I sigh, then make my way back out to the cafeteria.
>>
That night, I sit at the dinner table with Hunter, Olivia, and my parents. Alex is asleep again. They all eat and talk quietly, and I sigh. "I'll be in my room." I say, then pick up my plate and walk into the kitchen. I scrape the leftover food into the trash, then wash my plate.
I walk back to my room and lay down in my bed. You're Divergent. Divergents are considered Dangerous. I cover my face with my pillow and scream.
I then just lay there, looking up at the ceiling until my mother walks into my room. "Go away." I whisper as she closes the door. She locks the door, then sits down beside my bed, on the floor.
"What's wrong?" She asks me.
"Nothing." I say quietly.
"No, seriously Maddie. Tell me what it is. Was it the test?" She asks and I feel my eyes widen. "So it was the test?" She asks and I nod slowly.
"I can't talk about it." I say, and she rolls her eyes.
"You can, Maddie. Just, just tell me what your results were." She says quietly. "I'm your mother. I'm serious when I tell you that you can trust me."
I gulp, pulling the covers up to my mouth. "Dauntless," I say, then pause before finishing. "And Erudite and Amity, and Candor." I whisper, and she nods.
"It's okay, Maddie. You'll be okay. I promise. Do you know what you're going to choose?" She asks, and I shake my head. "If I were you," she whispers, "I'd choose Dauntless. You already blend in here, so you're less likely to stick out." She stands, then kisses my forehead.
"Just think about it." She whispers, then turns and walks out, leaving me to my own devices to make this decision, this decision that will affect the rest of my life.
a/n: Hope the first chapter was a good one. A little generic, but when you get deeper into the events, it won't be generic. I promise. So read on! I'm probably going to go for 100 chapters, maybe even more on this story. So be ready! Bye!
~~~~~Question{s}~~~~~
A} Did you enjoy this chapter?
- fun to write
B} anything you want to happen in this story?
- Maddie to find love.
C} outlooks on Maddie?
- daring.
****rewritten on 7/19/16