My mother stands behind me, helping me brush my long, blond hair back into a nice bun. She puts in the last few pins and turns me around so i can see the back of my head in the mirror.
"Thank You." I say in a small voice.
"Of course." she replys.
Today is the day, the day i've been waiting for for my entire life. Every four years, the children
born in my city are told their fate. They watch us from the time that we start school, the leaders. They know our grades, the clubs we participate after school in, who our friends are, and what we do in our extra time, and they document us on it. The group this year will span from sixteen years olds, like me, up to nineteen year olds. Every one of these kids will be told where they go in society and whether they are of 'wanted' genes or not. The kids that are labeled as wanted are given there faction, where they will live for the rest of their life. In order to be a wanted, you generally have to have done something noticeable, or had a skill deemed a necessity. It helps if you are a good looking person to, as generally, your offspring won't be too terrible looking either.
My problem is that I don't have anything that would deem me a wanted, so they'll probably send me off with the other unwanteds to have no faction and live alone. I won't be allowed to marry, or have kids, and i'll be givin a job like being a school janitor or a garbage truck driver, or i'll work assembling parts in a factory. the wanteds go through the training for their faction, and then are generally given a job based on their skills and what's in demand. They only let the wanted reproduce because they have the wanted genes, being smart, kind, or brave. Knowing how to code Malbolge or learning how to assemble and reassemble radios can pretty much guarantee you as a wanted. The unwanteds aren't allowed to reproduce as it is seen not necessary to produce more unwanteds for the future.
I hear the clocks from the square chiming, and i know it's time to go. I walk to the square alone, as i'm supposed to, wearing one of my nice grey dresses. My parents were assigned to Abnegation, the selfless, several years ago, where they had my older brother Caleb and I. Caleb is four years older than me, and he was assigned to Erudite and married a nice lady. he was always a smart kid when we were younger, and as he got older, i remember him sneaking backs upstairs under his jacket and reading them with a flashlight under the covers at night. Abnegation see it as selfish to indulge in such knowledge, and we are supposed to follow our birth factions rules before we are assigned our own. but i'm not smart like Caleb, I only got Bs and Cs, and the occasional A in easy classes. And i'm not pretty. Caleb looks like both mom and dad, with mom's high cheek bones and dad's narrow nose and sea green eyes. I'm short, unlike my parents, im not athletic, and i have tangled dirty blond hair and pale blue eyes. I don't think it's very likely i'd be chosen as a wanted.
When I get to the square, I see that i'm one of the last people to get here. There are almost a hundred and twenty people this year. The leader that announces is generally the Abnegation leader, Marcus. I see him walk up to the microphone a and tap on it a bit, making sure it is on. Marcus had an eighteen year old son this year, Tobias. he's a quiet kid, but he does well in school and lays low. I have seen him running down an alley behind my house before, and he was fast. The leaders probably noticed that to. Soon, Marcus announces that the ceremony will soon begin. The way they announce if you are wanted or not is the giant screen currently lit up behind the leaders. in alphabetical order, your name, faction, age, a picture of you, and your assigned faction, of you are givin wanted status, show up on the screen.
They start with a boy tall, handsome boy from Amity, Joshua Adams, is givin wanted status, and is given Amity as his assigned faction. The fourth name to show up on the screen, Amanda Clarity, is the first to be given unwanted status. people gasp, and Amanda cries, but the screen quickly moves on. Tobias Eaton, along with a picture of him, pop up, and i pay attention. 'Wanted' flashes on the screen, then 'Dauntless'. He nearly skips as he energetically walks over to the Dauntless area. A tall, broad boy by the name of Albert Greene from Candor is assigned to go to Dauntless, and soon enough after that, I see my name. I see Tobias looking at me out of the corner of my eye as a wait for the screen t flash my name. And what I see is not truly what I expected.