divergent-excerpt

“Or your nipple” Will says with a snort.
I groan.
Now that training is done for the day, we can do whatever
we want until it’s time to sleep. The idea makes me
feel almost giddy, although that might be from fatigue.
The Pit is swarming with people. Christina announces
that she and I will meet Al and Will at the tattoo parlor
and drags me toward the clothing place. We stumble up
the path, climbing higher above the Pit floor, scattering
stones with our shoes.
“What is wrong with my clothes” I say. “I’m not wearing
gray anymore.”
“They’re ugly and gigantic.” She sighs. “Will you just let
me help you If you don’t like what I put you in, you never
have to wear it again, I promise.”
Ten minutes later I stand in front of a mirror in the
clothing place wearing a knee-length black dress. The
skirt isn’t full, but it isn’t stuck to my thighs, either—
unlike the first one she picked out, which I refused to try
on. Goosebumps appear on my bare arms. She slips the
tie from my hair and I shake it out of its braid so it hangs
wavy over my shoulders.
Then she holds up a black pencil.
“Eyeliner,” she says.
“You aren’t going to be able to make me pretty, you
86