Chapter 1: Abnegation

Beatrice

I stared out into the cold, foggy night. Tomorrow was the big day for me to decide whether I stay with my family or leave all this behind. My brother Caleb hid himself in his room. I, on the other hand, crept down stairs after my family went to bed. I might not see this house ever again.

Did I want to wear gray all my life? Or blue? Or black? I already knew that I could fit in with Erudite, Dauntless, or Abnegation. All I didn't know was which I would join. My brother helped me make dinner that night. I knew that he wanted to join Erudite. My brother has been hiding himself in gray too, but he was a lot better at hiding than I was.

"Beatrice?" My brother's voice cracked. I looked at him. His eyes were squeezed shut. "I am going to dauntless with you." I was shocked.

"What?" I was near speechless. He looked right at me.

"I am going to dauntless with you." He was being so abnegation right now that I couldn't believe it. He was willing to give up his whole future just for me.

"Why?" There was nothing else to ask.

"I don't want you getting hurt... Or worse." He didn't need to say anything else. Those few words brought tears to my eyes. I blinked a few times but it was no use, they still spilled over.

"I love you too, Caleb." We finished the dishes in silence.

The next morning, we rode the bus to the Hub, the tallest building in the city, where we would decide the rest of our lives. I knew that Caleb would go with me to dauntless. I felt tears rise up and burn my eyes. We both stood in the middle to give our seats to an elderly amity couple.

I figured I might as well do a few good things before I do something selfish in front of many people.

We stood in a line in reverse alphabetical order. My brother would choose before me. I didn't pay attention to any of the other 16 year old's until it was my brother's turn. We squeezed each other's hands for reassurance.

He walked up next to Marcus, who handed him the ceremonial knife. My brother looked at the Erudite bowl longingly. He stood next to the dauntless bowl and abnegation bowl. The next movement was quick. He cut his palm just enough to draw blood.

I saw him place his hand over the dauntless bowl, I couldn't hear the sizzle of his blood over the pounding of mine. After he went and sat with the dauntless, I was called up.

I stood between the two bowls just as he did.

I took the Knife from Marcus. I held my hand out, not over any of them. I sighed, bracing myself, and made a small cut on my palm. A few drops of blood fell on the floor, but I quickly cupped my hand.

I moved my hand to the left over the dauntless bowl and poured the blood onto the red hot coals.

I barely heard my blood sizzle over the gasps of the other factions. I understood their outrage. It wasn't just one Abnegation leaving for dauntless, it was two. Not to mention two years earlier, a boy named Tobias Eaton, Marcus' son, left for dauntless.

I handed a very shocked Marcus back the knife and went to the dauntless section of the room. I sat next to Caleb on one side and a candor girl with dark skin on the other.

"Hello, I'm Christina, and you are?" She stated plainly.

Beatrice didn't sound quite right anymore. It was an abnegation name, not dauntless. "Tris." Yes that sound better. Caleb gave me a funny look.

"Caleb." He said to Christina. She nodded.

"That's cool." But we didn't get to say much else. After the last boy picked Amity, the Dauntless were the first to leave. We thundered down the steps. It was different than the Abnegation coming up.

We were in sync almost, quiet and serene, but these brutes were shouted and ran down with no order.

I loved it.

Eventually I joined in the shouting. Caleb stared at his feet so he didn't trip. I laughed when he did. He nearly ran into the blonde Erudite in front of us.

"Sorry." He had to shout just to be heard.

"No problem. I'm Will." He said smiling.

"Tris, this is Caleb." I said returning the smile. It felt so good to shout without reason. Without fear of being scolded by her family.

"It's nice to meet you." Will said. He held out his hand for us once we were no longer on the stairs. Caleb hesitated before taking it. Shaking hands was the formal greeting for the Dauntless. Abnegations just nodded their heads at each other.

I took his hand quickly. It was a firm handshake. It nearly hurt my hand. I really needed to toughen up.

"Well, we really need to focus." Will said spotting the train ahead of us.

We saw the Dauntless-born jumping on the trains easily. I got ready. We ran alongside the train. Will jump on and helped Christina. I grabbed onto the door handle. Christina helped me inside. Caleb was struggling. I reached out my hand. He took it. I wasn't strong enough to help him in, so Christina and Will had to help me.

"Thank you." I said. I heard someone scoff. It was a Candor boy with black hair.

"Who let the stiffs on the train?" He said. I was angry.

I started to move but Caleb stopped me.

"Let it go. We will be getting this more often." He said. I wanted to argue, but I knew that it was probably true.

I sat back down and leaned my head back and closed my eyes. As we traveled, I listened to the roar of the wind through the open doors. It was almost peaceful. Like when we were thundering down the steps in the Hub.

Chaotic, but somehow peaceful. It doesn't make much sense, but it's the truth.

"Do they expect us to jump off now." Christina asked. I opened my eyes and looked where she was looking. We were several stories up, verily close to a building. I watched as Dauntless born started to jump off and onto the roof of the building. We stood up and stood by the door.

"You will have to drag me out of this train." Christina stated.

"Fine, I will." I said. She smiled gratefully at me.

"Are you insane?" Caleb asked. I smiled at him.

"No, we have to do this. We need to be brave." I stated with more confidence that I thought possible. He rubbed his face.

"Fine, but you need to drag me out too then." I nearly laughed. I grabbed one of each of their hands, backed up a bit, ran and jumped.