Choosing Day
Finally, the day had come. The day had come where I would finally be free of my monotonous agenda and I would finally get to join the Dauntless. There I would learn to be brave and strong. It was the place where I could learn to be able to protect myself. The place where I wouldn't be constantly reminded of my mother everywhere I turn. But also a place where I would be reminded of how I could have saved my mother from the smart but non-fighting Erudite family.
Leaving my naturally light brown hair free and untamed, I washed my face and body, not bothering to apply any make up but a light touch of mascara. Make up was highly discouraged in Amity as people claimed that everyone's natural selves were perfect and that harsh chemicals like that ruined us. Like everything else that Amity believed in, I laughed and ignored it. I knew that this would be my last hour or so in Amity, so I didn't bother forcing myself to wear a skirt, and instead I wore a similar attire to what I wore on Test day. With a gleeful and giddy expression, I left my bedroom. The only thing I took with me was the locket bracelet with my mothers picture inside that forever rested on my right wrist. That was the only thing I wanted to keep.
" Morning, Daddy." This was the last time I would probably ever see him - unless of course by some miracle he decided to come see me on visiting day. Desperately, I wanted him to notice the fact that I'd called him Daddy, rather than dad. But he didn't even look up from his painting.
" It's choosing day today, are you coming with me?" I despised the hope in my tone, but I couldn't help it. The one person I wanted there with me was him. I wanted his attention, his love and his support; like any normal parent would give. It always felt to me as if I was living in a house with a mechanical, artistic robot.
" I'm painting." Was my dad's response, my hope of having a normal parent crumbling at his words. " I'll see you tonight so you can make dinner."
How on earth was my dad going to look after himself without me? Ever since mum had died, I'd looked after him; I'd made tea, cleaned, washed up and even laid out fresh clothes for him. Now what was he going to do? I quickly diminished these worries. It annoyed me that he expected that I was coming back tonight. It just proved that he knew nothing about me anymore.
" I love you daddy," Were the next words I found myself saying softly, approaching him cautiously and hugging him from behind. He instantly tensed at my touch and wriggled out of my grasp, going back to painting. This very gesture was want made me no longer care. Unfortunately, though, all children had unconditional love for their parents, so even though I want to hate him, I still care.
" I'll see you tonight." My dad repeated, as I backed away from him with a hurt expression. Hurriedly, I headed for the door and ran from the apartment down to the farmers truck where I would be taken to the stage where the choosing ceremony took place - in the same building that the Aptitude test was taken in. Every other Amity child sat bubbly with their parents, each of them chatting serenely. These were the times where I wished I had my family back...
The journey seemed to drag by, as all I did was watch the boring all trees again. My imagination ran wild, imagining what the Dauntless compound would be like, what was built there, how they trained us to be brave and strong. I'd always been an average height; neither horrendously tall or a cute small. Despite the healthy fruit and veg we always ate at Amity, I still had fairly decent muscles from the farming we'd been taught since we were young. I didn't look completely fragile - I hoped anyway. My weight had always been higher than the others in my class, so this meant I wasn't as easy to beat in a fight? Right?
My worries about being too fragile continued until I was sat among the other Amity children and their families in the large theatre area. Everyone were sectioned into their own factions. Abnegation at the far left, Candor next, Dauntless in the middle, Erudite next and Amity on the far right. In the centre of the stage stood the 5 bowls, one for each faction. The sizzling coals was the one that I planned to choose.
To begin the ceremony, the leader of our city stepped up from his seat with the abnegation. The man, who I believed to be named Marcus Eaton, wore typical, grey abnegation clothing and stood in the center of the stage with a polite smile on his face. I listened begrudgingly to the boring speech Marcus gave about the history of the choosing ceremony and why which faction we chose wasn't important. By the time I was ready to fall asleep, he began to call out names. All of the names were in alphabetical order, meaning I had to wait a long time for my name to be called.
" Adrianna Jones!" All eyes were on me as I stepped up from my seat, my face wiped of emotion. Amity people stared with frowns as they realized that I was on my own, but I did my best to ignore them. Making my way to center stage, I avoided Marcus' beaming eyes and took the knife out of his hand, cutting my palm like everyone else did. This year there had been very few transfer initiates. Thankfully, however, I wasn't the first.
Once I'd successfully drawn blood, I stared at the 5 bowls for a second before determinedly hovering my hand over the sizzling coals, allowing a drop of blood to spill on them. Gasps and whispers echoed around the room as I made my way over to Dauntless, where some of them cheered as I sat down. I chose at this point to wipe all of my thoughts of family out of my mind and switch my mind off for the rest of the ceremony.
It turned out there were a lot more of us that trasferred to Dauntless than I expected. Even someone from abnegation transferred. As soon as it was all over, the Dauntless stood with energetic expressions, sprinting up the stairs to the door. Eagerly, I followed with the abnegation girl behind me. I paused at the top of the stairs, watching with bright eyes as I saw them sprint down corridor, hooting with joy.
" What's your name?" The abnegation girl asked, stopping beside me politely.
" Adrianna. Yours?" I replied simply, smiling at the girl kindly. The girl was a few inches smaller than me and thinner. She didn't look like someone who could ever win a fight. But if her results had been Dauntless then the girl obviously had something to prove, just like I did.
" Beatrice. Shall we run?" Beatrice asked with her eyebrows raised expectantly. I couldn't help but grin.
" Hell yeah!" I shouted, leaping forward off of my feet with Beatrice following behind. Soon we were both entangled in the sprinting Dauntless crowd, running out of the building towards the oncoming train. I was in front of Beatrice, but not by far. My lungs and limbs were burning, but the exhilaration of sprinting for so long for the first time in my life was enough to keep me coming.
" Are they jumping onto a moving train?" Beatrice asked, panting deeply for breath as her eyes widened.
" Looks like it," I answered with a simple shrug. Easily enough, I followed the rest of the Dauntless, watching them closely as they each threw themselves to grab the handle before swinging themselves onto the train. With half an idea what to do, when it came to my turn I did this same, using all the strength I could muster to throw myself forward. My eyes brightened as I gripped onto the handle, swinging my foot onto the floor of the carriage. However, my Amity shoes hadn't been made for running, and as I attempted to use my foot to propel myself onto the train, I slipped.
Letting out a shriek of shock, I tried to grab onto anything in front. In an instant, a hand grabbed onto my arm firmly and easily pulled my full body up onto the train. In shock, I stumbled forward into the persons hard chest and breathed for a moment, my eyes blinking rapidly. After a few seconds I realized how to close to the person I actually was, so I quickly moved away with bright red cheeks as he let go of my arm.
" Thanks." I looked up to meet steel grey eyes and an emotionless expression. The man had swept back, light blonde hair that was shaved at both sides, hard features, tattoos on both his arms and neck, and a piercing above his eyebrow and in his left ear. Somehow, he seemed familiar. But I brushed this feeling away and quickly tried to hide my embarrassment.
" Don't expect anyone to do that again." The man stated firmly, looking down at me with confused eyes but an almost angry expression. I was perplexed by his mix of emotions. " We don't give second chances here, so don't let that happen again." The man stalked off without another word leaving me puzzled. I watched him as he left, thinking hard of where I knew him from. Even his voice sounded familiar...
" Er, excuse me, did you get on the wrong train? You know this is for Dauntless right? Peace keepers like you aren't meant for here." I looked up with a hard gaze to meet a tall, broadly built boy with dark hair and arrogant eyes. Already I knew he was one to watch out for.
" And Candor's are welcome here? I don't think telling the truth will win you a fight. Your smart ass mouth might just get you even more hurt." I glared at the boy angrily, not liking his attitude. Wow, I was starting to sound like I belonged here already. Should it scare me that this comes so easily to me? It felt nice to finally release all the comments I'd kept stored in my brain since I was born.
" Wow, ditsy. You've got some guts. I just hope you're as dirty as your mouth." The boy winked at me and I rolled my eyes in annoyance.
" I guess you'll never know. You're not really my type, or anyone's for that matter." Beatrice giggled from next to me and so did another girl, who was also dressed in Candor clothing.
" I think you just got owned, Peter." The other Candor girl smirked. Peter. That was a name I knew I wouldn't forget.
" Shut it, Christina." Peter snapped back, glaring at her. Turning my back on Peter, I smirked at both Christina and Beatrice who were now stood together, introducing themselves.
" You." Christina turned to me, smirking back. " I like you already. What's your name?"
" Adrianna. I already know yours, Christina." I replied.
" If you keep those smart come backs up, I'm sure we'll be friends for life. Watching Peter's expression when you insulted him was so funny!" Christina commented, giggling as Peter turned to glare at her yet again.
" Well there's a lot more where that came from." For a few minutes, me and Christina talked eagerly while Beatrice added comments in every now and again. Soon, though, we were all concentrating as we heard someone shout to us to get ready.
" Wait, are they jumping?" Beatrice asked. Looking out the window, I saw the Dauntless throwing themselves off of the train and landing cleanly on the roof, before running off towards the center.
" Now this is what I call fun," I said to Christina and Beatrice, my eyes wide with glee as I watched others near me jump off when it came to there turn. Knowing it was me next and that Christina and Beatrice were never going to go before me, I stood back. When the time came, I sprinted forward and threw my whole body forward, using all the strength I had. The adrenaline that came with flying through the air was amazing and one that I knew I would definitely want to feel again soon.
" Wooo!" I shouted as I landed with a thud onto the pebbly ground, wincing slightly as it dug into my skin. Standing up with a large grin, I brushed away the pebbles and watched at both Christina and Beatrice flew threw the air, hand in hand, before landing like I did. Somehow I knew that I was definitely going to be friends with them - especially Christina. Each of us still beamed with exhilaration as we followed forwards to where the rest of the crowd were huddled together.
I'd done it. I'd passed two of the very first Dauntless tests. This is what it felt like to be Dauntless. I wouldn't change it for the world.