Chapter 3
Sorry , this chapter is a little short.
xx
AnnabethEverlarkPrior
I wake to sweaty palms and a pang of guilt in my chest. I am lying in the chair in the mirrored room. When I tilt my head back, I see Susan behind me. She pinches her lips together and removes electrodes from our heads.
"Congratulations." she says with dull enthusiasm.
"Your result was dauntless."
I pause, then she breaks the silence, noticing the pain in my face.
" the test, is just to give you an idea of what faction you are suited to. You are still free to choose."
I nod and follow her to the door, and she guides me out whispering "good luck" as she closes the door.
I decide not to take the bus. If I get home early, my father will notice when he checks the house log at the end of the day, and he will probably have a go at me, but I have other things to worry about now. I walk in the middle of the road. The buses tend to hug the curb, so it's safer here. Sometimes, on the streets near my house, I can see places where the yellow lines used to be. We have no use for them now that there are so few cars. We don't need stoplights, either, but in some places they dangle precariously over the road like they might crash down any minute. Renovation moves slowly through the city, which is a patchwork of new, clean buildings and old, crumbling ones. Most of the new buildings are next to the marsh, which used to be a lake a long time ago. Tomorrow is the choosing ceremony. Choosing a different faction means I forsake my family. Permanently. It means that I can be free from my father.