What is wrong with you?' I shake my head. 'Pull it together.' And that's what it feels like: pulling the different parts of me up and in like a shoelace. I feel suffocated, but at least I feel strong.

Veronica Roth

Categorized in : Together Strong Different

I did not know that my entire personality, my entire being, could be discarded as the byproduct of my anatomy. What if I really am just someone with a large prefrontal cortex...and nothing more?

discarded what-if personality

But Christina and I are not people who cry together; we're people who fight together. SO I hold my tears in.

fighting tears people

I never used to understand why people bothered to hold hands as they walked, but then he runs one of his fingertips down my palm, and I shiver and understand it completely

running hands people

This is bizarre," I say. "I think it's beautiful," he says. I give him a look. "What?" He laughs a little. "They each have an equal role in government; they each feel equally responsible. And it makes them care; it makes them kind. I think that's beautiful.

government beautiful thinking

You may have succeeded in shutting down the attack simulation, girl, but it was by luck alone, not skill. I would die of shock if you managed to do anything useful again for a long time" This is the Marcus that Tobias knows. The one who knows right where to hit to cause the most damage.

girl skills long

I love Tris the Divergent, who makes decisions apart from faction loyalty, who isn’t some faction archetype. But the Tris who’s trying as hard as she can to destroy herself … I can’t love her.

loyalty eye believe

Then his eyes focus on something over my shoulder, and he starts walking. I turn to see Uriah jogging from the elevator bank. He is grinning. “Heard a rumor you were a dirty traitor,” Uriah says. “Yeah, whatever,” says Zeke. They collide in an embrace that looks almost painful to me, slapping each other’s backs and laughing with their fists clasped between them.

eye laughing dirty

I wish we were alone,” he says. “I almost always wish that,” I sa... by Veronica Roth

I wish we were alone,” he says. “I almost always wish that,” I say.

wish

Be careful, though." "Aren't I always?" "No, I think the word for... by Veronica Roth

Be careful, though." "Aren't I always?" "No, I think the word for how you usually are is 'reckless.

reckless be-careful thinking

You are far less likely to soil your pants and cry for your mother if you’re prepared to defend yourself.

soil pants mother

Yesterday he told me he thought I would have to pretend to be weak, but he was wrong. I am weak already. I brace myself against the wall and press my forehead to my hands. It’s difficult to take deep breaths, so I take short, shallow ones. I can’t let this happen. They attacked me to make me feel weak. I can pretend they succeeded to protect myself, but I can’t let it become true.

wall yesterday hands

Then Drew shuffles into the dining hall. I drop my toast, and my mouth drifts open. Calling him “bruised” would be an understatement. His face is swollen and purple. He has a split lip and a cut running through his eyebrow. He keeps his eyes down on the way to his table, not even lifting them to look at me. I glance across the room at Four. He wears the satisfied smile I wish I had on.

cutting eye running

People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them.

heart believe people

I kiss him as the train slides into unlit, uncertain land. I kiss him for as long as I want, for longer than I should, given that my brother sits three feet away from me.

kissing land brother

I am no longer Tris, the selfless, or Tris, the brave. I suppose that now, I must become more than either.

selfless divergent brave

Before we sit down, he puts his mouth next to my ear and says, “I... by Veronica Roth

Before we sit down, he puts his mouth next to my ear and says, “I like your hair that way.

mouths ears hair

Nothing else is all right.” His whisper tickles my cheek. “But we... by Veronica Roth

Nothing else is all right.” His whisper tickles my cheek. “But we are.

insurgent cheeks

THE SERUM WEARS off five hours later, when the sun is just beginning to set. Tobias shut me in my room for the rest of the day, checking on me every hour. This time when he comes in, I am sitting on the bed, glaring at the wall. “Thank God,” he says, pressing his forehead to the door. “I was beginning to think it would never wear off and I would have to leave you here to … smell flowers, or whatever you wanted to do while you were on that stuff.

wall flower thinking

Sometimes,” he says, sliding his arm across my shoulders, “people just want to be happy, even if it’s not real.

real want people

Are you conceding?' he says, his mouth falling open with mock surprise. 'Seems like that serum did you some good after all...' I shove him as hard as I can. 'Take that back. Take it back now.' 'Okay, okay!' He puts up his hands. 'It's just... I'm not very nice either, you know. That's why I like you so- ' 'Out!' I shout, pointing at the door.

nice i-like-you fall