Page 108 of The Sixth Fraction

That, more than anything, jolts me back into myself. It’s been almost two years since Amar—our initiation instructor—died. They found his body right before the final initiation test. They claimed he jumped, but I’m not convinced.

He died right after he told me—cheerful, like he didn’t know what it meant—that he was Divergent. And instead of finding out what really happened to him, I ran scared. I turned down the invitation to train for Dauntless leadership and picked a strange, isolated job where no one was likely to give me a second glance.

Amar deserved better than that. But I can’t go back and change it now.

I follow Zeke over to the group, and Mia offers me the flask.

“To Amar,” she says. “He helped us all survive Eric.”

I try to return her smile. “To Amar.” And then, a beat later: “He gave me my name.”

She gives me a crooked smile. I drink deeply from the flask, ignoring the burn of liquor in my throat. I pass it to Zeke.

Shauna sidles up to me, slinging an arm across my shoulders even though she’s not quite tall enough to reach them. She leans in a little too close—Shauna’s depth perception is the first thing to go when she drinks—and says, “Now, who was that girl I saw you walking with earlier?”

I look at her sideways.

“No one,” I say.

“An initiate?” she guesses.

“A friend.”

She gives an exaggerated nod. “Sure. Got it.”

“We’re strongly considering a game of dare,” Zeke says to me. He throws his arm over my shoulders from the other side, so I’m sandwiched between the two of them. His breath is dark with moonshine. “You in?”

“You know I can’t.”

Zeke sighs. “No shenanigans until initiation is over. Got it.”

“God forbid the new kids find out he has a personality,” Shauna says.

“Oh, they know he has a personality, they just think it’s all serious and grumbly,” Zeke says. “None of them have ever heard him laugh like a toddler after absconding with that Candor wall banner.”

“I defy you to look at that banner without laughing,” I say. “Only when you bare yourself to your friend will you become one with them. They should be thanking me for stealing it. I did them a favor.”

Zeke is grinning. “All right. So no dare. But we’ll see you at breakfast?”

I nod, and they both pull away, leaving me feeling strangely weightless. I wave to Mia and watch them all walk up the path to the top of the Pit. I hear the churn of the chasm water behind me, the roar of laughter from the people at the railing as the water sprays.

I go into the dining hall to get my dinner and spot Tori sitting at a table in the corner, alone, a book propped up in front of her. It’s bad form to interrupt someone while they’re reading, but I can’t help it. I slide into the seat across from hers.

She glares at me over the top of the book.

“I know, I know.” I hold up my hands in surrender. “Two minutes, I swear.”

Tori sighs, folds down the corner of the page she’s reading, and closes the book. It looks like a book of poetry, which surprises me a little. But then, I don’t know Tori that well. She could have all kinds of unseen depths.

“So, my friend from earlier. You know her from somewhere?”

Tori raises an eyebrow. “I administered her aptitude test.”

“Oh.” I drum my fingers on the table. “Do you remember it?”

She shrugs. “There was a system error during her test, and the results had to be logged manually. Otherwise it was unremarkable.”

Tori’s a good liar. If I hadn’t seen Tris’s fear simulation, I’d probably believe her.