Divergent

I smell something acrid and unpleasant on his breath.

This sort of thing has been happening to others in my faction for months now— the Erudite have been releasing antagonistic reports about Abnegation, and it has begun to affect the way we relate at school.

“Your intelligent response to the dog indicates strong alignment with the Erudite.

A group of Amity girls in yellow and red sit in a circle on the cafeteria floor, playing some kind of hand-slapping game involving a rhyming song.

This sort of thing has been happening to others in my faction for months now— the Erudite have been releasing antagonistic reports about Abnegation, and it has begun to affect the way we relate at school.

They are used only for the aptitude tests, so I have never been in one before.

I blurt out as she attaches an electrode to my forehead.

Candor values honesty, but our faction, Abnegation, values selflessness.

My heart pounds and I clutch the pole to keep my hands from shaking, from giving me away.

I cringe, wiping the drool from my skin, and laugh.

In front of it is a large metal sculpture that the Dauntless climb after school, daring each other to go higher and higher.

The gray clothes, the plain hairstyle, and the unassuming demeanor of my faction are supposed to make it easier for me to forget myself, and easier for everyone else to forget me too.

The atmosphere feels hungry, like every sixteen-year-old is trying to devour as much as he can get of this last day.

People who get this kind of result are…” She looks over her shoulder like she expects someone to appear behind her. “… are called… Divergent.”

My biology textbook said that dogs can smell fear because of a chemical secreted by human glands in a state of duress, the same chemical a dog’s prey secretes.

At another set of tables, the Erudite chatter over books and newspapers, in constant pursuit of knowledge.

And as the last few cars pass, a mass exodus of young men and women in dark clothing hurl themselves from the moving cars, some dropping and rolling, others stumbling a few steps before regaining their balance.

Today is the day of the aptitude test that will show me which of the five factions I belong in.

But choosing a different faction means I forsake my family.

It never feels genuine.

There are no whites in its eyes, just a black gleam.

I can’t tell if he’s smiling or grimacing.

The light fixed to the front of the train clicks on and off as the train hurtles past the school, squealing on iron rails.

I don’t understand— how could inconclusive test results be dangerous?— but I still nod.

Because they failed to complete initiation into whatever faction they chose, they live in poverty, doing the work no one else wants to do.

I’ll have to intercept Caleb before he mentions anything to our parents, but Caleb can keep a secret.

Every time it hits a patch of uneven pavement, it jostles me from side to side, even though I’m gripping the seat to keep myself still.

I WAKE TO sweaty palms and a pang of guilt in my chest.

“That,” she says, “was perplexing.

Caleb’s expression is placid as the bus sways and jolts on the road.

Because they failed to complete initiation into whatever faction they chose, they live in poverty, doing the work no one else wants to do.

We don’t need stoplights, either, but in some places they dangle precariously over the road like they might crash down any minute.

His voice is raspy.

Renovation moves slowly through the city, which is a patchwork of new, clean buildings and old, crumbling ones.

Why doesn’t she reprimand me for staring at myself?

The train whistle blares, the sound resonating in my chest.

“I’m older than I look,” I retort.

“If you had shown an automatic distaste for the knife and selected the cheese, the simulation would have led you to a different scenario that confirmed your aptitude for Amity.

He scolded me for not giving my jump rope to a little girl on the playground who didn’t have anything to play with.

I scowl and cross my arms.

My biology textbook said that dogs can smell fear because of a chemical secreted by human glands in a state of duress, the same chemical a dog’s prey secretes.

Just past the Abnegation sector of the city is the stretch of building skeletons and broken sidewalks that I now walk through.

She is not as severe-looking as the young Dauntless I have seen.

A shudder goes through me.

“Typically, each stage of the simulation eliminates one or more of the factions, but in your case, only two have been ruled out.”

The dog snarls, and I can almost feel the sound vibrating in my skull.

A stern voice in my head says, Duck your head and keep walking.

I can tell by the constant shift of his eyes that he is watching the people around us— striving to see only them and to forget himself.

He gave his seat to a surly Candor man on the bus without a second thought.

She looks tense and pale.

When I tilt my head back, I see Tori behind me.

I sneak a look at my reflection when she isn’t paying attention— not for the sake of vanity, but out of curiosity.

I should wonder what courage— which is the virtue they most value— has to do with a metal ring through your nostril.

My stomach wrenches.

I REACH MY street five minutes before I usually do, according to my watch— which is the only adornment Abnegation allows, and only because it’s practical.