The sun creeping softly through the open window was accompanied by a breeze that gave Beatrice goosebumps on the back of her neck. She was stood in the kitchen, patiently waiting for her mother to finish doing her hair, waiting for her chance to see her reflection in their small family mirror.
Abnegation rejected vanity, she understood that, but today it was important that she could see herself. It was not only the day of that she would choose her faction but her birthday. It was bad enough that her birthday fell on the day of the choosing ceremony but this year was the year that she turned 18. Officially, the most important day of a teenager's life was their choosing ceremony, after all it was the day where they became a proper adult, could ascend the ranks of their faction, and finally become a valuable part of society. The public on the whole disagreed with this official idea and instead had a different special day.
It was the day of the words. Every person in the city received a tattoo on the day of their 18th birthday, it always appeared somewhere on the left side of their body, anywhere from the wrist to their ankle. Some were very short, a simple "hello" or a "sorry, we haven't met", others were longer, more complicated, like her mother's that ran from her shoulder blade right down to her hip. They were the words of your soulmate, their first words to be exact. Second only to members of your faction, your soulmate was the most important person in your life.
It was very difficult for people with the "hello" variety of tattoo to find their soulmates because, as you can imagine, a lot of people's first words are "hello". This is why Beatrice wanted a good one, like her mother's, something interesting that would begin what would be an exciting life together.
Her mother turned from her daughter's hair and left the room with a comforting smile, leaving Beatrice alone to search for her words. No one was allowed to see your soulmate tattoo before you found your match, to prevent manipulation. A shaky breath left her lips as Beatrice pushed back the sliding door hiding the mirror and started to remove her dress. It didn't take her long find it, it was just under her collarbone, on the left side of course. Her breath caught in her throat as she studied the delicate writing, it was smaller than she had expected it to be, taking up no more room than the handle of a wooden spoon. It was also a lot more beautiful than she had thought it would be, but she guessed that was partly due to the elaborate blue cursive in which it was written, denoting her soulmate's faction. She could tell right away that it wasn't abnegation. Their font was very plain, like it had been written by a computer and a dull grey colour. this navy script told her at once that her soulmate belonged to Erudite.
She had been hoping to see the scrawly black hand of Dauntless. Beatrice was secretly fascinated by them, their bravery and their recklessness. The way they didn't obey any rules or social norms like the other factions. Until now she had been considering transferring to Dauntless at the choosing ceremony. She couldn't do that know could she? A Dauntless and an Erudite? They'd be the laughing stock of the entire city.
In her annoyance Beatrice forgot completely about what her tattoo actually said. Straining her eyes she focused all her efforts on the mirror.
"and you are?"
Great. What the hell would she do with that?