Tris POV

My eyes burst open. I sat up in my seat with such force that it made my head dizzy. My palms were sweating and wiping them on my clothes did no good.

Beside me, I could hear the sound of fingers flying across a keyboard. When I glanced back, I could see my test administrator staring intensely at the screen, her fingers nothing but a blur. Is this normal? She looked tense, her eyebrows were scrunched together and her jaw was clenched.

When she noticed that I was staring at her, she paused for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" I blurted out, again. God, what is wrong with you? I clenched down on the armrest, feeling the hard leather twist against my palm.

"No-well...yes." She took a deep breath, staring at me with a look that could kill.

I was too scared to talk.

"The test didn't work on you." She finally said.

Immediately, I felt a million questions flying through my mind. I could feel my heartbeat picking up, beating faster than she could type. My hands began to dampen with sweat, and I could feel my face burning up. "What do you mean the test didn't work on me? Do I have to take it again?"

She shook her head, and didn't answer me. I stood there, completely confused while my mind was beginning to throb. And in a split second, I saw her face completely change. Her expression fell and her hands stopped mid-type. She stared at the wall in front of her, and her entire body had been frozen with shock.

Slowly, very slowly, her entire body slowly turned towards me. And her next words came out in barely a whisper, "The test didn't work on you."

But I couldn't quite hear her. I leaned in closer, "What?"

"The test didn't work on you." Her words came out louder. Clearer. Stronger. "You're Divergent." It only took her a few seconds to restart. Her fingers immediately began flying across the keyboard again, her gaze now sharply focused on the screen in front of her. "I need to report you to Jeanine." She muttered under her breath.

My eyes widened, her words finally sinking in. Divergent? I was even more confused than ever, and I didn't think that that could be possible. The word sounded familiar, it itched at the back of my mind. I recognized it from somewhere and I just couldn't put my finger on it. But all I needed to hear, was Jeanine's name.

I've hated her all my life.

And I wasn't going to let her take my family away again.

My parents died in a car crash. That's what people have been telling me since the moment I could ask questions. How did they die? Did they run into someone? Did someone run into them? Why were they driving in a car?

Your parents died in a car crash.

Only one person has ever answered me. Only one person who has ever wondered the same way I used to.

My brother.

But ever since he met Jeanine, he changed. He was no longer the same person that I knew, that I loved. That I trusted. It was as if she had brain-washed him, she treated him like a puppet on her strings. And he was only one of hundreds that she was already controlling.

He left me behind to join the Erudite faction. I was only eight years old when he abandoned me. One day he was there, and the second...he wasn't.

Caleb was only a year older than me when he decided to move in with our aunt. I never bothered to learn her name, but I was told that she was my dad's sister, and that she was an Erudite. I don't know what was told to him to make him want to leave me.

Maybe it was my fault.

Maybe I did something to make him hate me.

But no matter what it was, he made his decision and I made mine. I'll never forget the look on Zeke and Uriah's face, when they came into my room in the morning to tell me that Caleb was gone. I remembered it so clearly, and I've replayed it in my mind over and over again.

Zeke was wearing a loose shirt over some baggy sweats and Uriah was still in his pajamas. They knocked on the door so faintly, that I didn't even bother to open my eyes. Then one of them knocked again, before pushing the door open. Zeke poked his head inside my room, his eyes glancing over to the bed that used to belong to Caleb.

It was five people living in an apartment, it was cramped to say the least. But I've always thought of it as "cozy". They walked towards me with a smile plastered on their face. At this point, any sleep had been wiped from my mind, and I was alert as ever.

They both walked with such caution. I've never seen them so scared before. It was a sight that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't force out of my mind.

They delivered the news, the way you would rip off a bandage.

It was quick.

And it stung.

After that day, Caleb ceased to exist in their mind, and my life.

The memories washed over me in a wave of dizzying nausea. I felt like I was going to puke. But I forced it down as I jumped out of my chair and ran over to my test administrator. I grabbed ahold of her wrists and held them as tightly as I could. She whipped her head to stare at me, confusion, and the slightest bit of fear shone in her eyes. I loosened my grip, but just barely.

"Please," I begged, staring into her eyes. "Don't do this." I hated how desperate I sounded, how pathetic I must have seemed.

She glanced between me and the door. Her breaths were coming out in short pants now as she tried to pull away. But her skinny Abnegation arms were nothing against my Dauntless-trained muscles. She shook her head as she realized that it was pointless. "What do you want from me?" She whispered.

I never broke my stare. And then all of a sudden, it clicked.

Divergent.

Tori's brother.

I'd overheard a conversation between Tori and my mother (adoptive) a few years back. They'd just discovered the body of Tori's brother, and she had come crying to my mother. I remembered it so clearly. Just before bed, Uriah had challenged me to see who could chug more bottles of water. Of course, I'd won. And all that water woke me up in the middle of the night. While stumbling in the dark, I heard whispers coming from the living room. They were both on the couch talking in hushed voices. I didn't remember the exact words, but the conversation went something like this:

"Tori, you're acting crazy."

"They killed him, I know it."

"Why would they ever do such a thing?"

"Stop lying to yourself, you know just as well as I do, he was Divergent."

"Don't say that word," my mother had snapped in a tone so harsh that I flinched.

There was a long pause before Tori replied. "You knew George. He wasn't broken."

"I never said he was, but you just never know with these things Tori."

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing to you."

And after that, neither of them said a single word.

I pushed the memories away, burying them in the back of my mind. "Please, don't report me."

"Why shouldn't I? You're divergent," her expression had undergone such a drastic change from the way that it was before, it made me want to back away.

Desperation laced my voice as I pleaded with her, "Please, don't do this. They'll-they'll kill me! I have a family, a family that needs me."

All of a sudden, her expression softened, she stopped trying to fight against me, her wrists going limp against my hand. I saw the conflict in her eyes, as she glanced at me, then her computer, then at the door, then back at me again. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she said, "I'll help you."

I was wary of her sudden assistance, but I let go of her, and instead of running away like I expected, she walked over to the computer. She grabbed ahold of her water bottle, and opened it. I watched in shock as she tilted it, just slightly, and the water came gushing out. The computer immediately began fizzling and small sparks flew out, before the screen went completely black.

Then she lead me to the door, and opened it for me to leave. Before I left, she stopped me. Her eyes were emotionless and hard now, and her smile was completely gone. She looked me straight in the eyes as she said, "I may have saved you this time, but remember this. I don't mean to be blunt, but you are Divergent. You will never be a part of our society. Trust me, it won't take them long to find you. Be careful, sweetie."

She didn't wait for a response.

She brushed past me hastily and walked down the bare hallway, her figure slowly fading away. I stopped for a second, feeling a cold sweat rush over me. My heart was pounding against my chest and my ears were ringing. I leaned against the wall, letting it support my whole weight. My whole world was collapsing around me, and there wasn't a thing that I could do to stop it.

And for the first in my life, I felt like a true coward.