The Dauntless Choice
The safety of the apple orchard will give me cover, though everyone in Amity should be sound asleep. The soft breeze rustles through the branches. He should be here. The silhouette of a teenage boy is visible in the distance. I run to him. I land in his arms, and he holds me tight.
"You did come," I whisper into his black jacket.
"Of course I did," he answers. "I couldn't leave my beloved."
I smile, and his cool lips collide with mine.
"I love you," I say quietly.
"Did you forget what I came here for, little one?" He asks, teasing me with his superior age.
"No," my smile fades to a solemn blank stare. "The test is tomorrow, Reza. I'm afraid."
"There's nothing to be afraid of," he says, "the test doesn't have to determine your choice. Please," his voice pleads, "come with me."
"I know but..." I drift off and turn away from him and toward the empty orchard where I harvest apples every year.
"But what?" He asks, following my gaze.
"What if I'm not cut out for Dauntless?" I ask. "What if I'm meant for Erudite, or Candor, or..." I pause. "To stay here."
He strokes my cheek with his long, pale fingers. His ivory skin almost glows in the moonlight, providing a sharp contrast with the dark sky and his black hair. "You are cut out for Dauntless," he smiles, "you're the bravest girl I know."
"Yeah, right," I push his hand away.
"No one else would do this, would come out here in the middle of the night to be with me."
"Yes," I say, planting a firm kiss on his cheek. "Because no other girl loves you."
•••
The knock of a heavy wooden door fills my small bedroom.
"Breanna!" I hear my mother's melodious voice call. "Get up! You definitely don't want to be late today."
I moan and slide out from under the covers, slipping into a pair of bright yellow slippers. I stand up and stretch, looking out the window of the sturdy log cabin, my home-for now. I walk over to my dresser and pull out a pair of bright red skinny jeans, and then shed my pajama bottoms and put the jeans on. I pair them with a plain yellow v-neck tee shirt, the color combination a tradition in our faction. I then pair the outfit with a pair of red slip-on shoes, made of twill. Pulling my black hair into a ponytail, I walk out into the houses kitchen, which smells of cinnamon and apple pie. My mother stands at the stove, stirring a pot of apple sauce.
Apples, apples, apples. They're all my faction seems to eat. My brother already sits at the table, reading a book and crunching an apple, the juice almost spilling on the pages. He shrieks and pulls the book away before it is defaced. I swear the kid is Erudite. I ruffle his hair and then take my seat beside him. My mother hands me a plate of fresh bacon and eggs, homemade like most of the food around here. That's one thing I'll give my faction, we're great cooks.
After I eat breakfast, I grab my leather shoulder bag and drape it over myself. Filled with several books, pencils, and apples, it weighs down my shoulder, which is something I'm accustomed to, thanks to years of harvest. I hurry out the door, my friend, Finn, is waiting in his old blue pickup truck to take us to school.
"Goodbye, love!" My mom waves a rag at me from the doorway and blows me a kiss.
I climb into the passenger side of Finn's truck, lucky for us he persuaded the leaders of Amity to let him fix it up and use it for school transportation. He's supposed to shuttle several kids in the back, but usually it's just us.
He smiles at me as I climb in, his amber hair and tan skin glowing in the sunlight. "Morning, sunshine," his very existence is the polar opposite of Reza's, and though I've pledged myself to my Dauntless lover, the way Finn smiles gets to me.
"Morning," I beam. He puts the key in the ignition, and the ancient engine purrs, although 'purr' is not the word, it's more like growl.
"Buckle up," he says, and then takes off down the dirt road leading to the gates at Amity's entrance, or exit, depending on which side of it you come from.
As we move along, I decide to ask him something that's been pawing at the back of my mind for weeks. "Finn," I say. "What faction do you think you'll choose?"
His smile slowly fades, in a way that wouldn't be noticeable if I hadn't been studying his complexion for years.
"Breanna," he pauses. "That's something I wanted to talk to you about," he pauses again. "Our future."
Excuse me, our future?
"Bree," he says.
Bree. I like the sound of that.
"I've decided to go to Dauntless."
The words ring in my ears. Dauntless. Where I will go. Where Finn will go. Where Reza, my betrothed, is. That is where I will go. And that is where I will have to make my choice.
•••
The crowd of busy teenagers swarm around me, all of them pushing and shoving like we were taught not to in Amity. I hear someone shout my name, and turn to see Sydney, my crazy Erudite best friend pushing toward me. As usual, her brown hair is disheveled and her glasses are on crooked. A thick book is shoved under her armpit, and her messenger bag is heavily loaded with books full of information and texts her faction requires.
She heaves her bag onto the cafeteria table I sit at. I set my book on music-my passion-next to her stuff.
"You look tired," I say as she plops onto the seat next to me.
She rubs her eyes under her glasses. "I am. You see, for a girl of my age and weight, you need at least eight hours of sleep a night. Based on my calculations, I only got six last night. I was up studying Pythagorean's Theorem. You see, it shows up in nature and-"
"Syd," I cut her off.
"Was I rambling again?" She asks, oblivious to her tendency to go on.
"Yes," I smile, "Erudite."
She playfully shoves me and I tilt to the other side of my seat and laugh. We both chuckle, but then the bell rings.
"Crap!" She says, something we're not allowed to say in Amity. 'Curse' words are not loving or peaceful. She grabs up her bag and stands up. "I guess I'll see you later?" She asks.
"Yeah, before testing," I force a smile, and then pick up my own bag, and head off the science.
•••
One class at a time, they herd us into the cafeteria, where we will wait for our turn. People in black, white, and grey surround me, and I try to find the small spot of blue.
"Breanna!" I hear her unmistakable shout, and then see her hand raise up above the crowd. Her long nails are painted a bright blue, and her fingers wrap around my arm and pull me through the crowd. I almost crash into the table she pulls me to. She sits down and tosses her bag onto the table, then grabs me by shoulders and shakes me.
"It's today! Like, right now!" She squeals.
"Yes Sydney," I laugh.
A flash of a red t-shirt and before I know it Finn is next to me. "Hey sunshine," his hazel eyes flash green.
"Hey Finn," I smile.
"Hey there," Sydney purrs with a hint of playful seductiveness in her voice.
"Back off," I tease, "he's with me." We all laugh, and Finn's hand rests gently on my lower back.
I swear things just can't be easy for once.
"Do you have any idea where you'll go, Breanna?" Sydney asks, and it dawns on me that it's something I haven't discussed with my best friend outside of my faction.
"Well," I pause.
To Dauntless, with Reza, you idiot.
"No, I don't know," I lie. "I guess it more or less depends on my aptitude."
I catch Finn's eyes as he gives me a look of remorse.
"What about you, Syd?" I ask her.
"I don't know," she says. "I'm pretty cut out for Erudite, but there's something missing there. I want adventure."
Finn takes his hand away from my back. He leans close to my ear, so close, that his breath tickles my skin. "Or do you know, sunshine?"
•••