Okay, so I'm 64thestarkidwholived. I hope you like Tuvia, because Tuvia the original character and I are great friends now, and he's a really great guy, even if he's fictional. Thanks!
Tuvia:
"Nechemia?" I asked, shivering from the contact of bare feet on wooden floor. I hope I didn't startle him, a voice hidden in the shadows. He must be awake and deep in thought.
Nechemia, my older brother, moaned, his constant, house-vibrating snores interrupted, and rolled over drowsily on his side to face me. I suppose I was wrong, and he's more laid-back than I thought.. "Wh...What is it, little brother?"
I turned red, but he couldn't notice in the midnight darkness. "Are you transferring tomorrow? You know, factions?"
He sighed, probably silently laughing at his foolish little brother, even though he's just a year my senior. "Listen, Tuvia, you know how it is - I can't tell people!"
"I know...but..." I paused, trying to find the correct words. "I'll miss you, big brother," I finally said, sounding like a child.
"I'll miss you, too," he beckoned me closer with his right hand, which I could hardly see in the unlit room.
My eyes widen, which he can now see with the reduced distance. "I mean, if I transfer. Which I may or may not be doing!" He added quickly, but I was not convinced.
"Aren't you nervous?" I asked.
He laughed quietly, and rustled my curly mop of black hair. "A bit, but I'm also exhausted."
"Sorry," I apologized for forcing him out of a much-needed slumber.
"It's alright. Whether I switch or not, this is my last night as a kid under this roof," Nechemia shrugged, then yawned. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, little brother."
That night was one year - and about six hours - ago, and that year's made all the difference. In one year, I've had to adjust to a Nechemia-less Amity, only to be stuck in a situation just like his had been.
Nechemia, the jerk, transferred to Candor mere hours after that conversation. The secret of his chosen fate - kept until the initial Choosing - was likely the last secret he ever will hold. I don't get it. Why would he just leave me? I needed him, and he was gone with no warning before. I thought we were brothers, the ones who tell each other everything. Not...brothers, who hide.
"Tuvia...my little Robin..." Mama whispers gently, flipping on the light switch to my bedroom. I open my eyes, which had been closed, feigning rest, though I have been awake and worrying for a few minutes prior. "It's the day of the Ceremony," She says with a sad smile. I sit up and give her what may be my final hug with her.
We pull apart, and Mama leaves the room and shuts the door, leaving me to get dressed in solitude. I stand in front of the mirror in my red sweatpants and hold today's Amity red and yellow outfit - maroon jeans and a dark red blazer, not exactly complimenting my yellow button-down dress shirt but, for we Amity men, such things will have to suffice - in front of my bare chest.
I'm considered fairly handsome among people my age. I thought for a long time that the compliments on my exterior appearance were just Amity being Amity, but even some other Factions' girls - even a few Abnegation - flirt openly with me. 'Adorkable', I've been called. I suppose maybe I am, with my abundant jet-black curls and noticeably angular, rather thick eyebrows. Thing is, I don't want all these girls throwing themselves at me. I'm not 'oh-my-gosh-I-want-that-guy-for-a-birthday-present' good-looking, in my opinion; I'm just 'oh-hey-it's-Tuvia-Gutman'.
Nechemia was good-looking in a muscular, chiseled way that always made him look Dauntless. He, when I last saw him, had slightly overgrown brown hair and was beginning to grow a mustache. His favorite aspect of his appearance, which he pointed out frequently, was his crooked jaw, which always moved to the right when he opened his mouth. He had lots of girls hooked on that, mainly Dauntless and Candor.
This is the last time I will ever wear these colors before I trade my wardrobe for a new closet full of other colors and...and a new life. I take a deep breath and get dressed, then take one last glance around my bedroom, shut the door, and slowly walk down the hallway to the kitchen.
"So, Tuvia," Mama takes a large gulp of coffee as we sit at the table a minute later, unsure of what to say. As Amity, we are all taught to be excellent with conversations, so this lapse is unfamiliar.
"Choosing Ceremony at noon, right?" I ask, already knowing the answer. I just hope that I can finally know where I want to live my life if I keep making the day seem more real.
She confirms this with a nod. "Do you...know where you're going?"
I think back to that night, when Nechemia wouldn't tell me what he was going to do with his life. I wonder if this is how he felt, knowing that he's going to let his family down. No, I think bitterly. Mama and I aren't as close as Nechemia and I are - were.
"You'll find out soon," I kiss her cheek.
"But, Tuvia, my little Robin," She chokes back sobs. "I'll miss you."
I don't bother denying that I'm going to leave. "If I stayed, I'd become Factionless. I'll always be your Robin, but I need to fly eventually."
"You're such a great boy, Tuvia," Mama smiles. "Never forget."
A few hours later, Mama, Papa, who woke three hours after we did, and I make the long five-mile walk - Papa's a big health-nut, and likes when we all walk instead of drive - to the Hub. We exchange final words, one last hug, and I take my place onstage, standing between some Candor boy with red hair and a twitchy Dauntless boy with shaggy blond hair and a spray-tan a dreadful shade of rotten clementine. The order of Choosing is in reverse alphabetical order, so I have some time to think.
I have approximately seven minutes, four people, before I will be called up, and I'm still unsure of where I'm switching. I stayed up all night, wondering - but I'm just not sure. The Aptitude Test said I'd be good as Dauntless, but Dauntless sounds a bit nutty, jumping off of trains and all. I'm not scared, but I hate looking stupid in front of other people. I'm a tad vain, I'll admit, but looking dumb is why I don't think I want to be Dauntless.
As Tikvah Habibi, the girl two people before me, transfers from Erudite to Abnegation, earning her various insults shouted from a blue mass of people, I attempt to be rational and use the process of elimination.
I know I want to switch, as I have developed a very unpredictable personality in Nechemia's absence, almost like frequent mood swings, which do not pass in Amity, I reason as "Habachor, Eliyahu", the boy with the tic sitting beside me, strides forward confidently to alter his destiny with a drop of blood. That leaves four.
I'm positive I don't want to switch to Candor as well, though I'm not sure whether this is because I don't want Nechemia to see me, or because I don't want to see him, I decide as Eliyahu cuts a gash, without breaking a sweat, over the Dauntless coals. That leaves three.
In addition, I'm pretty sure I'd lash out at someone, after following everyone's orders constantly, so Abnegation Tuvia would be a complete disaster, I think as "Gutman, Tuvia" is called forward, takes the knife, and stands before everyone. That leaves two.
Oh. My. G-d. It's time. And I'm not even sure what I want to do yet, I realize, my heart thumping like a million children jumping up and down on my ribs. Wait, wait, wait, I calm myself. Be logical. Erudites are bullies to the Abnegation. I may be leaving Amity, and I may be kinda prone to bad moods, but I can't go there. That leaves one. That leaves... I approach the coals and cut my hand, watching in regretful horror as the condemning droplets of blood sizzle. That leaves Dauntless.
The Dauntless cheer, and the Amity, who think it rude to challenge a decision that has already been made, stay silent, but I think I hear quiet sobbing in the crowd. I sit back down and wait as the redhead boy sitting beside me, "Goldmann, Yaakov", and "Goldmann, Avigayil" - probably his sister or something - transfer from Candor to Dauntless, and as the rest of the kids from "Goldman, Tehila" to "Aharoni, Atalia" spill their blood.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, Tuvia! I scold myself, following the others outside. You'll die! You'll look stupid! Because you are stupid for becoming Dauntless! You could've stayed, or gone someplace sane!
It's within you, a small voice in my head whispers. Dauntless blood boils within you
