I look at myself in the mirror. My dark hair is straight and long, my eyes are small, dark and angular. I comb my hair back and wrap it in a tight bun. I clip my bangs to the side and button up my blue cotton shirt. I look like a typical Erudite, just like my mother, but I don't feel like one. I tuck my lucky charm in my pocket. It is a hand painted picture of a bird. We are not allowed to have pets at the Erudite compound, but I have always enjoyed their sweet melodies in the morning. It tells me that the darkness in going away and the sun is rising. I smile at myself in the mirror and mess up my hair just a little cause I'm a rebel. From downstairs, my mom calls me. "Victoria, come and eat breakfast, today is a very important day for you."
I sigh. Today is the aptitude test to tell us which faction we should belong. I want to be erudite, I really do, but I know it is just not right for me. I love art, and action movies, not science and math. I walk down the stairs, and pull up a seat next to my brother.
"Ay there Georgie," I punch his arm. He is giant, way too big to be a scrawny Erudite. He looks more like the dauntless I've seen.
"How you feelin' Tori?" he says wile chewing his pancakes. "You scared for the test?"
"Not really, they tell us about the serum all the time in neurobiology class." I smirk. "It's like a scenario set up to test your values, but I'm not scared because it's all in your brain."
"Not bad for a girl who routinely gets Cs in her classes." My mom scowls at my brother for being so rude. It's true though, I don't understand half the thing they tell me. I don't belong in Erudite, and my brother knows it. My dad walks in just now, his glasses on his large face make him look funny.
"You two stop bickering," he orders. "Can't you see how tired your mother is of all your shenanigans?"
I scowl at him. A couple of days ago he threw away my art supplies. "You brought home more Cs Victoria. I cannot have you wasting your learning time with this illogical amity nonsense! From now on no more art!" I begged him not to do it, but he did it anyway. He will never really understand me. No one will, except maybe George. He sees me struggle to fit into the intelligence-based system that is Erudite and sympathizes. But I have a feeling that he is going to be Dauntless. Suddenly I begin to worry. Where will I go? I always imagined being with Georgie but I don't think I could be in Dauntless. I am not brave at all! I'm scared of the dark for crying out loud!
I get up from the table and pull Georgie with me. "We have to go mom, I said that I'd meet Carrie, Luke and Emma to go take the test." She turns to me and frowns.
"Oh sweetie, your hair is a mess!" she reaches to fix it but I duck and give her a hug. She smiles and she bends to kiss the top of my head. "You are a wonderful daughter Victoria," she says in almost a whisper. "I will always be proud of you." I turn away not wanting her to see my eyes. They burn with sadness at the fact that I'm leaving her. I just know that I'm not Erudite on the inside.
Georgie and I walk toward the school. I see Carrie, who is my best friend, walking with Luke and Emma. George blushes and spikes up his hair in the front. I smirk at him; it's no secret that he is totally into Emma. Emma smiles and runs to hug me, her blonde ringlets bouncing. She squeals in my ear and then turns to George and smiles at him. She grabs his hand and puts his arm around her shoulder.
He blushes some more and stutters hello. We crack up at his awkwardness. Laughing I say, "Smooth move Johnny, now I know why all the girls love you." Luke is laughing so hard he has to take off his glasses and wipe the tears away. Carrie fist bumps me and runs her fingers through her pixie cut. Luke manages to calm his amusement and flips his auburn hair out of his eyes. "What's up with you Tori Wu?" he asks. I smile.
"Ha ha, you must be so clever to rhyme! I just know you'll be Erudite!"
He laughs, "Baby I am erudite." Carrie laughs at his flirting with me.
"Where do you get off calling me baby? I want nothing to do with your scrawny ass!" I joke.
"Ooooohhh," my brother says. "You gonna take that?" Everyone is laughing again. I laugh with them until I see the building that we'll be tested in come into sight. A knot of fear rises into my stomach. I'm not ready to take the test that will decide my life.
Someone shouts that the building is here. I smile at Carrie and we walk into the building. We all walk down the hall and sit down to wait to be called in.
There are kids from other factions here. I see some Stiffs sitting quietly with their hair in their face. I would hate to be in Abnegation. They don't have any fun and they always look so depressed. A twosome from Candor talks loudly. They seem rude and loud, but I guess that's because they always have to say what they think. I shudder at the thought of always telling the truth. Amity girls giggle and braid flowers into each other's hair. Their life would be a nice life to live, but I think I'm too human for Amity. They are just unnaturally calm always.
The Dauntless are grinning and laughing amongst themselves, playing some kind of daring game. It's weird to think Georgie will probably be one of them. Suddenly they all look at me and shout, "do it Dray, do it." at one kid who backs out of the crowd. He walks over to me smiling. He has thick brown hair and a glimmer of playfulness in his eyes, or is it defiance? I can't tell. I swallow hard and start to get scared. What does he want with me? "What do you want?" I demand.
"Hey I'm Drake," he seems friendly so I smile and stick out my hand to shake his.
"I'm Tori," I say. Suddenly he grabs my hand wraps his other hand around my back and kisses me hard on the mouth. I push him off and turn on him furiously, but all I can do is stutter. I feel my eyes start to burn and my cheeks glow. The Dauntless are all roaring with laughter and he sticks up his arms triumphantly like he defeated an enemy.
"What the hell was that?!" I see my giant brother beside me menacingly, and a flicker of fear appears in the Dauntless guy's eyes.
"Nothing, just a dare. Sorry is she your friend?" he gulps back fear.
"SHE'S MY SISTER!" he says and punches the guy in the stomach so hard he looks like he might throw up. An administrator of the test runs out and pulls my brother back. The person's friends pull him up and sit him down. They look at by brother with hatred and in their eyes and I realize something. If I was right, and John is going to dauntless, this means trouble for him when he gets there.