Aunt Taylor's Library

Chapter 9 (Lily)

(Lily)

I tried to act surprised when Eric told us that only ten initiates would be made members. Kylie did better; she gasped and stifled a fake sob. I think I just looked emotionless.

Finally, though, the two of us were alone. In the bathroom, the only place we could really talk in private without wandering off and getting lost. Kylie sat cross-legged on a bench next to the shower, and I paced back and forth from the sink to the locked door. We both had on the signature Dauntless black. Those scratchy Abnegation clothes were starting to drive me crazy.

"Lily, do you think we should try to get back? If we can make ourselves go home, we should be able to get back here without a problem." Kylie pulled the book out of her Abnegation-gray satchel.

"How would we do that, though?"

"Well, how did we get here?"

"I don't know! You were reading, and then we just...appeared here!"

Kylie put a finger up to her mouth. "Shh!"

"Sorry," I whispered. "Maybe we should try reading it. Maybe the book is just magical."

Kylie shot me a skeptical look. "Magical?"

I shrugged. "Well, what other explanation is there?"

"Maybe Aunt Taylor drugged our lemonade, and we're hallucinating."

"Yeah, right, cause that's any more believable than magic. Anyway, we're both conscious of this. We wouldn't both be hallucinating the same thing."

Kylie nodded thoughtfully. "Well, let's try reading." I sat down next to her and closed my eyes as she began. She read on for several pages before sighing and putting the book down. "This isn't working. What's wrong?"

I frowned. It should have worked. I got up and started pacing again. "I don't understand, this should have worked." What did we do differently? Maybe we had to be in the library? No, because then we'd never get back. Maybe we had to wait until the end of the story? Yeah, except we apparently changed the story, accidentally. Suddenly, I froze. The blood stained from my face.

"What?" Kylie frowned at me. "What's wrong?"

I suddenly felt faint, and sank down next to my sister. "What if we can't get back? Because we changed the story? What if we're stuck here forever?" I love this book, don't get me wrong, but being stuck here forever? That didn't sound so great, considering the massive amount of deaths in this series.

Kylie stared at me. "We changed the story..." She trailed off. I nodded, miserable. We'd never see baby Beatrice again. We'd never get to play soccer again. I missed my parents, and Beatrice, and soccer. Heck, I even missed Ryleigh right then. I glanced at Kylie, but she didn't look miserable at all. She looked...excited?

Suddenly, she grabbed my arm. "If we changed the story, who's to say we can't change it back? I mean, obviously we can't go back in time, but if we work things out so that they turn out the way they did in the book, maybe we'll be able to go home!"

It was my turn to stare at Kylie skeptically. "And how would we do that?"

She frowned, concentrating. "Well, first let's think about what Tris staying in Abnegation would change. She won't fall in love with Four, of course."

"And she won't find out about Marcus being evil."

"And she won't shoot Will. Not that I want her to, but it's a big part of the story."

"And she won't be able to tell Caleb to research the simulation serum!"

I gasped. "And she won't find out about the Dauntless simulation attack-"

"So she won't be able to stop it! Four will wipe out Abnegation under the simulation!"

"But," I said practically, "how are we going to fix any of this?"

Kylie frowned, deep in thought again. I have to admit, while we're both fangirls, she's certainly the more dedicated one. Not that I'm not dedicated, exactly, but she practically memorized the books.

Finally, she looked up. "I have a plan."

I raised my eyebrows. "Already?"

She shrugged. "It's pretty simple, which probably means it's pretty bad, but it's the only thing we've got so far." I gestured for her to go on. "Ok, first, on Visiting Day, we both need to sneak out. I'll go see Caleb, and you'll go see Tris. Convince her that she doesn't belong in Abnegation. Earn her about what's happening. After that, we have to find a way for Tris and Tobias to meet. They're soulmates, so hopefully it'll be love at first sight. Then, we have to help them set it up for Tris to sneak here and go through his fear landscape, then hers. Four and Six, right?"

I stared, open mouthed, at my genius of a sister. After a minute, I quickly shut my mouth and made an effort to speak. "Sounds great, Ky."

She raised her eyebrows. "Ky?"

"What? That's what Four called you."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"So, anyway, what do we do until Visiting Day?" I asked.

"Train. Don't get cut, but don't try for suspiciously good rankings. We're supposed to be weak little Abnegation girls."

I smiled and put my arm around Kylie's shoulders. "What would I do without you?" I said, laughing. "Let's go to bed."