literature

City of Divergence (Chap. One)

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One



    If my eyes weren't deceiving me right now, I was standing on the edge of a brick building, arms extended to my sides. I stare down into a gaping pit, unable to decipher whether it's bottomless or not. The wind brushes against me, and I feel as if I'm going stiff. Funny, seeing as I was Abnegation. However, now that the Choosing Ceremony was over, I decided to remove those memories from my mind. Now, I was going to be Dauntless - one without cowardice, one without fear. The name Alexander Lightwood, however, did not belong to a fearless defender, as the name would lead you to believe.
    My results determined that I would fit into my home faction, but also into my new chosen faction, and into Candor, as well. But, for some odd reason, moments before I dripped my blood into the pinkish water of the Erudite bowl, my hand jerked to the sizzling coals of Dauntless. Now, I was regretting my decision a bit. I had never trained in my life-Abnegation finds self defense to be too selfish-, and now  I was going to join the most athletic faction. I was actually more smart than I was brave, unlike my best friend from Abnegation, named Jace. He was always very defensive, and protected everyone from any outside threat. I guess that's why I hung around him so often. I also assume that's where my crush on him developed. And now that we had both decided to join the same faction, maybe, just maybe, this meant that we actually had more in common than just being outcasts in our old faction.
    I closed my eyes, draining out the angry comments from those behind me, sucked in a breath, and let myself collapse from the ledge.
    My eyes fluttered open instantly as I tried turning myself onto my back. However, I just continued dropping face first. I would have tried screaming, but I decided not to alert anyone below. Continuing to fall, I felt my chest crash into something springy and light. I bounced upward as I opened my eyes once more. A net was cushioning me, keeping me from smacking into cold, cracked concrete. In the back of my mind, I thanked whoever decided to put the net there. Dauntless seemed like they would most likely rather collapse into solid ground and say that it was endurance training instead of a net. It just seemed too protected for them.
    I rolled over to meet a man standing near the net, who holds out a hand to assist me.
    His black eyes pierce mine, not allowing me to leave his gaze. I smile gently, nodding him a thank you as he pulls me from the net and assists me to the floor. He pushes me forward, as I meet the gazes of a few more people. They all clap, and smile at me. I decide that their smiles are artificial, since their eyes remain cold, emotionless.
    "What is your name?" The man behind me asks, sending a chill up my spine. His voice is haunting.
    "A-A . . . Alec," I stutter, turning to him. Great, I screwed up already, and they didn't even write my name down yet.
    "Last jumper, Alec." He tells the people who stand in front of me.
    I mentally smack myself before he then motions me to follow the group of initiates into a long, darkly-lit corridor.

~ ~ ~ ~
    
    If I expected to see my friend and/or sister waiting for me, I certainly would have been disappointed. However, I didn't expect much, since my sister, Isabelle, had probably already made friends with some Dauntless girls, and Jace was probably already flirting with those same girls. I sighed, my eyes scanning my feet as I sit in my bed at the end of the initiate's room. My bed is near the bathroom, but thankfully not close enough for it to bother me. Though, I wish I was closer to Isabelle or Jace. It would have at least given me some hope that I wasn't going to have to make new friends.
    Though, as luck would have it, a tap on the shoulder took me out of my depressive thinking.
    "Hey, bunk buddy. I guess we're sharing the bed, ay?"
    I turned to see a boy standing next to my bed, grinning and waving in a friendly manner. He has bronze-colored skin, almost like Jace's, but slightly more mocha. My gaze lowers to his body, which is lean, and slightly muscular, and by god, his is tall. At the very least he is six feet tall. His hair is spiked up in an almost careless way, and his green eyes shimmer brightly. I'm almost surprised to notice his Asian features, but, then again, his eye color could have been the result of contacts.
    "Hello. I assume we are sharing beds, then. Are the rest taken?" I ask, my gaze bouncing across the room. Many empty beds are scattered among the room, and I almost feel surprised that he chose to take the same bunk I had picked.
    "Nah, but I wanted to share with you. You seem lonely, and I think you need someone like me to be sleeping above you," he laughs, while I attempt in vain to hide a blush. His innuendo was obvious, but I still couldn't contain my slight chuckle.
    His eyes went wide as he heard my giggle.
    "Are you okay? Do you need water?"
    I look at him with an equally shocked expression.
    "What do you mean?" I ask, blinking slightly.
    "Is that how you laugh?" He responds, leaning forward and staring at me.
    I nod slowly before he bursts out laughing.
    "You Abnegation are hilarious, do you know that?"
    In moments, I smile warmly and laugh a tiny bit, only making him continue to giggle.
    "Oh, god, well, I'm Magnus. Y'know, the only Amity transfer?" He smiled.
    It seemed all of our sentences together were questions, I noticed, before I nodded in response.
    "Yeah, I can tell," I point at his red shirt and yellow pants, both of the articles of clothing clinging to his body as if they were a second skin. Only, I preferred his first skin much more.
    "Hpmh, don't push your luck, Abnegation. I could just as easily go pick someone else to bunk with." He faux-threatens me, raising an eyebrow in a curious fashion. "By the way . . . what might your name be?"
    I swallow hard, smiling roughly as I tried not to gaze at his shirt which was now retreating from his lower stomach. By how the tan-colored blotch in my peripheral moved, I could tell he was very skinny. I tried hard not to let my blood flow to my cheeks so easily.
    "Alec. I really like your name. It means 'great', right?" I add, smiling gently, feeling blood flow into another area of my body.
    He nodded, "Yeah, I am very much of that. Anyway, wanna go get new clothes? I mean, I love how bright these ones are, but if I want to be Dauntless, red and yellow won't exactly cut it. Besides, the Dauntless have sexy black clothes."
    I nodded, unable to come up with a response.
    Suddenly, his arm wrapped around my shoulders as he pulled me up to his level. Correction: he was six foot four, and I was a measly five foot eight. I smiled, and chortled a bit as he then pulled our sides close. He looked down at me, giving a warm, inviting smile.
    "I think I'm going to like you, Alec."
Alec Lightwood, Abnegation initiate and last jumper, becomes bunk-buddies with Magnus Bane, Amity transfer with pretty green eyes. Suddenly, Jace isn't exactly Alec's dream guy . . .
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