Soon I will honor my parents by dying as they died. and if all they believed about death was true, soon I will join them in whatever comes next.

Four!" I call out. Why am I calling a number? Oh yes. Because that's his name. — Tris.

He looks like a man who has spent most of his life frowning.

He touches my face, covering my cheeks with his hands, sliding his fingertips down my neck, fitting his fingers to the slight curve of my hips. I can't stop.

It's not often real that you encounter the real person behind a good-natured mask, the darkest part of someone. It's not comfortable what you do.

I used to go outside every day and invent these elaborate worlds and scenarios in my head, and when I grew too old for playing pretend, I started to write everything down instead.

That's the first time I've ever said those words out loud, and now I hear how strange they are. How many young men fear that there is a monster instead them? People are supposed to fear others, not themselves.