CHAPTER ONE
6:37am
The sunrise never fails to amaze me. When night falls, it looks as if the world is doomed forever into a perpetual state of darkness, like the color has been sucked out of the sky with a vacuum. But when orange streaks start to appear in the dull grey sky, suddenly everything has hope again.
I rub my palms against my pajama pants since they have become red and irritated from digging into the roof shingles for so long. I have been sitting here for an eternity it seems, waiting for the glowing ball of fire to rise high up into the clouds.
Streaks of orangish-pink light dance across the sky, a torch to the new day. While the sun illuminates the city, casting beams in every direction, I find myself sighing. I have climbed onto the roof of my house every morning since I was eleven to wake with the city and the sky. It used to be a small act of defiance, because my father once scolded me and my best friend Poppy for climbing up onto the roof while he and my mother were away at work. At this point it isn't even something I enjoy; it's just something I naturally do.
The sky becomes more and more radiant as the vivid colors rise higher, reaching beyond the stretches of the Hancock Building, the old abandoned Ferris wheel over by the pier, and my very own faction's headquarters, nicknamed the Merciless Mart.
In Candor we are raised to be brutally honest, even when it might hurt to tell the truth. Our blunt nature is often mistaken for rudeness, but it's better to hurt someone with the truth than to comfort someone with a lie.
7:39am
I scramble to get under the ruffled covers as I hear my mother's footsteps coming towards the top of the stairs. For the five years I have been sneaking out onto my roof, I haven't been caught once, and I intend on keeping it that way. The door creaks as my mother enters, humming an unfamiliar tune.
"Morning, Eleanor!" she says in a singsong voice, one she only uses when she is trying to get me to do something I don't want to. "Rise and shine!"
I groan, pretending I just woke up five seconds ago and not two hours ago. My mother is under the pretense that I am the exact opposite of a morning person.
Slowly, I rise out of my bed, my sheets still marked with the ghost of where my body was lying moments ago. My mother throws open the window that I had purposely closed after I climbed through it back into my room, so she wouldn't become suspicious.
"Is it Aptitude Test day?" I grumble, a fake sleepy tone laced in my voice.
"Yes it is. Go on downstairs, I've already made breakfast. I'll make your bed, just this once," she says with a wink.
"Okay. Thanks, Mom."
I trot downstairs, eager to let her make my bed for me. My stomach feels knotted with both apprehension and anticipation as the full realization of what Aptitude Test day really means for me: I'll be deciding the rest of my life. It feels almost cruel that they force us all to make such a big decision when we're only teenagers.
I turn the corner and enter the small, squat kitchen, a steaming plate of sausage and toast sitting on the table. As I inch closer to the worn wooden table, I notice a folded piece of paper taped to the back of my chair.
"Happy sixteenth birthday, Eleanor! I am so proud of you. -Mom"
It just so happens that my birthday is on the same day as the Aptitude Test, which means twice the fussing. My smile fades as I set down the piece of paper and halfheartedly begin to shovel a sausage link into my mouth. Nervousness overtakes the sure celebrations that will happen tonight after school.
I hear the creaking of the bottom step as my short and stout mother waddles into the kitchen, her strange gait caused by her bad knees. My mother steps towards me, running her hands through my thick, chestnut brown curls. She looks at me with intelligent green eyes, a delicate smile playing on her lips. Her eyes are wrinkled from years of smiling, laughing, and old age.
"Ah, my baby," she croons. "My last baby! And she's already sixteen!"
All of mom's other "babies" have long since transferred to different factions. I have one older sister and three older brothers, and not one of them have stayed in Candor.
My eldest sibling is my half brother Ethan, who is in his mid-thirties. He isn't blood-related to my mother at all; he's the result of my father's previous marriage. When he and his wife got divorced, they had already had Ethan. My father remarried my mother, and they had four more children together. Since he mostly lived with his mother, I was never close to Ethan. There's also the fact that he transferred way before I was even born.
He transferred to Amity when he was sixteen, much to the surprise of both my parents. He's been married since then, but my mother has never met his wife.
My only sister is Jennifer. She, like Ethan, is in her thirties, and last I heard, married a Dauntless and had three children with him. She transferred before I was born as well, but my mom has told me how she always used to tell wild stories and exaggerate. My parents knew that she would never be cut out for Candor.
My twenty-five year old brother Noah transferred to Erudite when I was just a little girl. He graduated top of his initiation class, which is impressive even by Erudite standards. All I remember is how quiet and unsociable he was when he was a teenager. My mother often compares us, which I'm not sure how to take. On one end it could be seen as a compliment because she thinks I'm smart, or it could be taken as an insult because she thinks I'm awkward around people. Which wouldn't be untrue, I suppose.
My youngest brother is Aiden, who transferred to Dauntless just a few years ago. We used to bug the crap out of each other growing up, but I never knew how much I'd miss him until he was gone. He failed initiation and became part of the Factionless, a group of poverty stricken people who either failed initiation or were kicked out.
I have siblings in every group, except Candor. It's strange how even though all my brothers and sister were raised virtually the same, they all turned out so different.
I smile sadly at my mother. After my father's suicide six years ago, she's always relied on her children to keep her from growing lonely and depressed. Now they're all gone; in a sense, they've abandoned her too.
My mom glances down at her watch, her eyebrows furrowing as she says, "Eleanor, you're going to be late for school if you aren't ready within the next ten minutes."
"Shit," I mutter under my breath as I rush by my mom and clamber up the stairs, wishing I could spend more time with her today instead of going to the Aptitude Test. Unfortunately, it's mandatory.
I yank open my drawers once I reach my bedroom, tossing different pairs of unsorted pants and tops onto the floor behind me. I finally settle on a pair of black and white vertically striped skin tight pants, a white t-shirt and a black blazer.
I stare into the mirror as I run a comb through my knotted hair, still frizzy from being squished against my pillow. When I was younger, my father used to call me his little 'husky' because I have heterochromia, something that is common in husky dogs. My right eye is a deep chocolate brown, the same color as my mother's brownies. My left though, is an ugly ditchwater colored greenish brown.
I sigh, looking forlornly back at my warm, comfy bed. Despite loving sunrises and the fresh morning air, I find myself longing for the comforts of sleep.
"Eleanor! Hurry up!" I hear my mother shout from downstairs, interrupting my desire to clamber back into bed. With an annoyed huff, I march out of my room.
7:54am
"Poppy!" I shout to my next door neighbor and best friend, who sits on the railing of her porch, biting into an apple.
Her serene blue eyes meet mine and she grins goofily. "Eleanor! Hurry, we're going to be late!" Her voice is muffled by the apple still half chewed in her mouth.
Her dark brown bob bounces as she trots towards me in black sneakers, black jeans, and a long sleeved white shirt. She clutches a brown paper bag, probably filled with the disgusting health food her mom always makes, tightly in her fist. I usually buy my lunch in the cafeteria, but today I will probably skip it since I don't have any appetite.
"Happy birthday, Ellie! Oh my God, you're actually sixteen!" Poppy squeals, squeezing my arm hard as we start towards the school.
"Ugh, will you shut up?" I say, rolling my eyes playfully. "And you really need to work on not being so spastic." I pull my arm away and shove her good naturedly. I act like I hate all the attention, but I really don't mind it.
I'm not self-absorbed, but it's nice for people to show their appreciation towards you once in awhile. It reminds you that you're not just another person, one who could be easily forgotten. I think that we all need that sometimes. Reassurance.
"Fine," she says grumpily, but I know she's not really mad. "I'm just so anxious for the test that I can't even control myself. I might just walk right up to Griffon and kiss him, right in front of everyone!"
I snort and pinch her arm. "Yeah, right. Kiss a Dauntless in front of all his friends? I'll believe it when I see it."
"Oh, leave me alone. Let me be in love!"
"Just because you seem to be obsessed with every sixteen year old boy at our school, does not mean you know anything about love. That would be called infatuation, my dear Poppy," I inform her, flipping my hair subconsciously.
We approach the edge of the school's property, one of the few places where you can see all of the factions together at once.
Three Erudite girls sit on the bottom steps of the old building built of now crumbling bricks. Hiding behind their false glasses, their heads are buried in thick books, probably as heavy as a desk.
An Amity boy and girl are lounging at the base of an ancient oak tree, relaxing in the shade and talking peacefully.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a group of severe and threatening looking Dauntless hopping off the trains. They like to pretend they're rebellious and punk, but I can tell they just like to show off.
A whole group of Candor boys and girls, including Poppy's friend Isabel, seem to be in a heated argument about something, their expressions stern and forceful. I don't really socialize with many of them, because I'm not very talkative or outgoing. I mostly just hang around the fringes of the group.
There is however, no grey clothed Abnegation anywhere to be seen. They are most likely helping teachers prepare their lessons for the day, or roaming the halls, waiting for the bell to ring. If the Stiffs stay outside any longer than needed, they can easily be harassed by some asshole Erudites looking for a fight.
Which faction will I choose?
Amity? Abnegation? Erudite? Candor? Dauntless?
The choice is impossible. But I'll have to make that impossible choice in less than six hours.