Becoming Determinant - Tobias' Story

Divergent Chapter 32 - Final Rankings

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! A lot of you took the time to respond, and I really appreciate that. Thank you also to my fantastic beta reader, Rosalie, who turned this chapter and the next three around incredibly quickly. I'll be posting the other three in the near future, which will complete the rest of "Divergent" from Tobias' POV. Then, I'll move on to the first part of "Insurgent" (as previously mentioned, I'm only writing the first ten chapters of that book, up to the point where Wee Kraken's "Killing Four" story starts).

"Divergent" Chapter 32 – Final Rankings

I have rarely felt this happy. Zeke would call it unfounded, I suppose, since all Tris and I did over the last couple of hours was sit on my bed, talking and kissing and relaxing. But I loved every minute of it.

It's impossible not to smile as we walk to the dining hall for the initiation banquet. I don't hold Tris' hand – not in public, not yet. But it adds to my good mood to know that I'll be able to do that soon. We're almost done hiding.

When we reach the dining hall, I let her go in first so she can join her friends before I enter and join mine. Zeke grins at me as I sit next to him.

"Man, Uriah kicked butt," he exclaims, clearly thrilled by how the fear landscapes went. "I bet he's in the top five."

I barely have time to nod in agreement before he thrusts a bottle of beer at me, but I wave it away good-naturedly. I'm still wary of drinking, after the whole incident with Tris last time. Besides, I want to have my full senses about me as I watch her place first, so I can enjoy every second of it.

"Yeah, Uriah did well," I tell him. Looking at Shauna, I add, "Lynn did, too. I'm certain they both made it in."

Shauna beams. "That's my sister!" she declares proudly. In that moment, I can tell just how much they were both stressing over their siblings' chances before today.

Turning to Zeke, Shauna abruptly adds, "I bet she beats Uriah." I chuckle. It's amazing how quickly worry turns to overconfidence in this faction.

"I'll take that bet," Zeke responds eagerly, holding his hand out to shake.

"Loser buys drinks?" Shauna confirms, before shaking his hand to seal the agreement. I can't help grinning as I watch them. Everything feels light now, compared with just a day ago. After all the stress of initiation, I'm about to watch my three favorites rank high.

"How'd the others do?" Zeke asks, turning toward me enough to hide the suggestive waggling of his eyebrows. He's obviously referring to Tris.

"Tris had the shortest time," I answer plainly, not bothering to hide behind the term "Stiff" or talk about anyone else first. "And Drew had the longest. The others are somewhere in between." I shrug to indicate that no one I care about is going to become factionless.

"What about Peter?" Shauna asks, her expression suddenly sour. I can feel the frown that forms on my own face in response.

"He'll probably make it in," I admit with a sigh. "Though he might or might not be in the top five. He had twenty fears."

Shauna actually laughs at that. "Pathetic," she says, shaking her head. I don't bother commenting that there's much less of a difference between her fifteen fears and Peter's twenty than there is between her number and mine.

But Zeke looks more serious. "If we'd gone after him," he says regretfully, "maybe we could have given him a few more fears, and he'd be out now."

"No," Shauna answers firmly, gripping his arm reassuringly. "You can't think like that. There's no way of knowing how he would have reacted." Her mouth turns down at the corners. "Besides, if he tries anything else, we'll get him then."