Experiment Erudite (A Divergent Story)

Chapter 9- The Note

~2 weeks before the aptitude test~

My bed is so comfortable that I don't want to get out of it, but eventually I do. I have to go to school. I climb out of the blue covers with difficulty and pick out my clothes for the day. A blue button down shirt with a black khaki skirt that hugs my legs. I wear blue flats with the outfit. Everything fits perfectly.

After getting ready, I check the time. It's 8:30. I should be heading out to school now. I leave my room but see a small card on the kitchen counter. I go over to it to read what it says. Jeanine never forgets anything and she wouldn't just leave a piece of paper on the table for herself if she doesn't make trips to the apartment in the middle of her work day.

I pick up the card and read the message scrawled on it in Jeanine's handwriting. The card only has two things on it; a time and a place. I can only assume that it's for today. On the card reads "9:00 am" and "Laboratory 8C". It's not Jeanine's place of work. But she often uses other rooms depending on what machinery they hold. I recall the 8's having reclining chairs in them.

I need to go to school, but this information is probably for me, and so I have to go to the lab. I might get away with being late, but Jeanine will find and get me if she needs to. Instead of heading to school, I leave the apartment and quickly go to the laboratory labeled "8C". A knot forms in me but I fight the urge to just head to school.

Sure enough though, when I get to the lab doors, Jeanine is visible through the other side of the glass. I glance at my silver watch. It's 9 o' clock and Jeanine still can be seen forming a mixture without even glancing at the door.

I want to walk in, but I suddenly consider the conversation that Jeanine and I had three months ago. What if she wants to test me for Divergence and my result is positive? What if she suspects me being Divergent and wants to run experiments on me. I look at the time. It's nearing the end of 9 o' clock. I take a deep and nervous breath, and walk through the cold, steel doors.

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Jeanine was startled at first, but smiled, a smile that was similar to the one on the first day that we met. Something was wrong, or there was danger in a hole around a corner, and I was stepping into it. "Hi, sweetie!" Jeanine squealed with excitement. "Can you do something for me?"

I didn't say yes or no, nor did I show any signs of doing so. I only gave scared eyes. "Can you go and sit in that chair and wait patiently?" Jeanine asked moving me towards a chair that looked like it had come from the aptitude room. I didn't want to show any fear, so I did it. I only waited for a minute as Jeanine went quickly to the other side of the room to get something. She came back with a small box. In it, was a needle and syringe filled with a pink liquid. Jeanine's smile was gone now. It had been for a long time. She carefully took the contents of the box out, grasping it in her hand. "This might hurt," The leader muttered and moved my neck, preparing the right place to stick the needle in. After washing the area with an antiseptic wipe, Jeanine looked at me once more before sticking the needle into my neck. I winced but tried to keep still, and then... I saw nothing.