Aberrant

Thirty-Seven: Dex

"Ok," Amar announces, somewhat nervously, "Today, we are going to be mixing up the order of who is going in." He smiles, but my eyes narrow. Beside him, there are five people clad in black with their arms folded. 

We are sitting in the hall waiting to go into the simulation room. Since yesterday, things have been pretty quiet. Sam, the person who does most of the talking, has barely said a word. My eyes dart to him. He's across from me, staring at the floor and sitting in between Jo and Amy. Jo is looking at Amar and Amy is glancing down at her's and Lyra's interwined hands. I turn my attention back to Amar. 

"We are the leaders of Dauntless, but just pretend that we aren't around," says one of the people, "We'll just be here for a routine inspection." She smiles, and both Sam and Jo stiffen, as if she's just told a massive lie. I wince. This is what I feared most. The Dauntless leaders coming. But, as Tori pointed out, they only throw Divergents into the Pit at night. So even if I do get found out, I'll have a good few hours to do something about it. 

"Ok," Amar says, fiddling around with the paper he's holding. He glances at the name on the list, "First up, Lyra." Lyra smiles, gives Amy one last squeeze and stands up in the corridor. She makes her way over to the room. Amar enters first, then Lyra, and then all of the Dauntless leaders, the door slamming shut behind the last of them. 

There's silence for a few minutes, then Hayley says, blowing a bubble in their mouth, "What are they doing here?"

"You heard them," says a Dauntless-born I vaguely remember being called Ollie, "Routine inspection."

I snort, but before I can say anything, Amar opens the door again, pokes his head out and says, "Plato."

"Where's Lyra?" Amy demands, noting that Lyra hasn't come back out. 

Amar shrugs, "Went out the back way," he says vaguely. Plato, beside me, visibly whitens, but he gets up steadily and enters the room. Again, the door slams shut. 

"Maybe they're here because Amar faked the times," Violet says, continuing our conversation. She grins at me, "Heard you got first yesterday, Dex." 

"What did you go?" Hayley asks, "Sweet talk Amar?"

I laugh and shake my head, "No way."

"Any tips?" Violet asks, "I could really use some help."

"Wow," remarks Makena, "I never thought I'd hear you say that. Like, ever."

She flushes, "Everyone needs help from time to time."

There's a pause and the door opens again. Amar pokes his head out, looking, if possible, even more shaken than before. "Dex." He says and motions for me to join him in the room. 

I take a deep breath and walk inside. 

"Hello Dex," says Amar. He doesn't even bother smiling.  He's standing as his normal seat is taken by a Dauntless man-the same one I saw on the roof. The other Dauntless leaders are leaning against the wall with their arms folded. They're staring at me. 

"Sit down," Amar commands, gesturing to the chair. I nod mutely, not sure what to say, and sit down. My hands are sweaty and are shaking and I grip the sides of the chair to calm myself down. They might not notice that I'm Divergent. I remind myself. And if they do, I'll have until nightfall to come up with a plan. I've been telling myself this ever since I saw my result yesterday-first. But now, the words just don't ring true. 

 Amar prepares the injection in silence. He tries to smile reassuringly at me as he approaches me, but even that seems false. Like he already knows that I'll fail. He takes a deep breath, as if it's him and not me who's about to go into the simulation, and then he plunges the needle into my neck.