I hold my breath as I walk up to the stage. Marcus Eaton hands me a knife and steps aside to let me make my choice. I look carefully at the bowls. I already eliminated Erudite, Candor, and Amity. So, which do I pick? Am I brave or am I selfless? I glance to the side and see Caleb sitting with the Erudite. My parent's faces come to my mind. I hold my hand out and watch as my blood drips onto the grey stones. I am Abnegation. The rest of my faction politely clap and bow to me in Abnegation style as I sit down in the initiate section.
The rest of the ceremony goes by in a blur, and we are the last ones out since we let the other factions leave first. The rest of the initiates nod to me as they walk by me holding the door. We walk back as a group through the factionless sector and return to our respective homes with our parents. Transfer initiates go to a guest house where they will be staying until the end of initiation. When I walk through the door to my house my parents are waiting for me by the door. "Beatrice, honey, we are so proud of you," my mom says. "Thanks mom," I reply, giving her and my dad a hug. "It's late, we better head to bed, you have a big day ahead of you, you will need to report to the center square to receive your instructions for initiation," my dad says. I nod my head and go into the kitchen. It would have been Caleb's turn to make dinner, but since he's not here I step up and take the task. I make the dinner and eat the meal with my mom and dad. After everything is cleaned up, we decide to have an early night and head to bed.
My mom comes in the next morning and tells me it's time to get up. I acknowledge her then quietly start getting on my Abnegation robes and head downstairs. "Beatrice, will you go get your father and tell him it's time for breakfast," my mom says setting the food on the table. "Okay," I reply. I walk upstairs and knock on my parents' door, "Breakfast is ready dad," I say. "Okay honey, I'll be down in a second," my dad says. When everyone is seated we eat a traditional Abnegation breakfast, passing food to the left until everyone is served. After breakfast, my parents give me a hug goodbye, and I head down to the square.
Once I'm there, I see a few familiar faces and also some of the transfers, changed into their new Abnegation robes. In the central area of the square, a young man, Tobias Eaton I think his name is, sits alone on a bench. Seeing as all the other benches are full, I go sit by him. At first we're both quiet, but then he addresses me saying, "Beatrice Prior, right?" "Yea, that's me, and you're Tobias Eaton right? I think our dads work together," I say. He visibly flinches at the mention of his father, then quickly covers it up, as if it were never there. We sit in silence together until Marcus Eaton beckons Tobias to come to the center where he is standing. Marcus holds up a hand signaling us all to be quiet. People quiet down immediately and wait attentively for Marcus to tell us what we'll be doing today.
"Welcome, initiates. Today is your first day in the process of becoming a member of Abnegation. For those of you who are transfers, you should know that we have some rules here that you will be expected to follow," says Marcus. I zone out a bit while Marcus explains the rules to the transfers, seeing that I'm already familiar with them. After he explains the rules, Marcus then proceeds to tell us about the community service we will have to do for the next few weeks. I am assigned to giving out food to the factionless. I get into a group with the people who have the same task as I do and we head down to the factionless sector. When we get there, I notice Tobias standing among our group. He must be the one who will be organizing us. Tobias makes his way to the front of our group and clears his throat. We all turn to face him, awaiting orders. "Um, so will half of you guys go stand over by that table there," he points, "and organize the food by type and put it in separate boxes on that table," he points again. "The other half of you guys will get into pairs to round up the factionless," Tobias finishes. I am in the half rounding up factionless, there is an odd number of us so someone will end up alone.
It ends up being me, and to my surprise Tobias comes up to me and says he'll be my partner. We walk in silence, enjoying the quiet companionship of one another. The first factionless member we encounter is an older man sitting alone inside a building. As we enter the building the old man looks up at us. Tobias is the first to speak. "Sir, we have food and other provisions at the sector entrance today if you would like to have some," he says. The old man nods and follows us back to the sector entrance. Tobias and I turn to the direction we were headed before and continue rounding up more factionless members. Once the last of the supplies run out, we all decide to call it a day and head back to the square.