This supper is the most awkward thing I have ever experienced in my life. Usually my parents will have conversations, and my mother will exchange a few words with me. Tonight is whole new ball game. Nobody is talking at all. The only thing you can hear are forks and knives clattering on plates. That's not even the worst part!

The worst part is almost every time my dad takes a bite out of his steak, he is giving me the evil eye. Dude! There are like seventy billion other things you can stare at! Stop looking! After like the eleventh stare he decided to stop. Thank God! Am I the only one who thinks it is weird to be stared at while eating? I don't think I am.

Supper continues in silence. I pour myself some more water, and all I can think about is how unfair everything is. I take a sip of water and smash my glass on the table where all of our utensils just flop around like a fish out of water. My parents look at me like I grew another head mixed with the 'Are you crazy!' face.

In a stern voice I say,"I shouldn't have to marry someone I don't like, much less know! This is bullshit!"

I swear my dad hates me. The look he just gave me is deadly. "You will do as you are told. You will help Erudite grow strong, and most importantly you will show respect to me. Don't you dare use that language in MY HOUSE ever again!"

We are both head to head. My mother stands up and moves to my father's side, rubbing his arm she says,"Derek calm down. I'm sure Morgan didn't mean that." My mother turns to me,"Morgan, take it back."

WTF! "No! I have had enough of all the sneaking around and not telling me what involves me! Tell me why I have to get married!"

I can see my father is getting irritated by the subject as he keeps scrunching his fist and then relaxes it. "All you need to know is that you are being married in two days and that this will benefit everyone. Discussion over." He sits back down and continues to eat and my mother moves back to her seat.

I'm still standing, mouth agape, and fire in my eyes. "Discussion not over. This has never made sense to me! WHY DO I HAVE TO BE MARRIED!?"

My father slides his chair back and stands up abruptly. With enough effort he screams back at me,"BECAUSE I SAID SO!"

I have never seen him so red nor heard him scream so much. I feel hopeless. I sit back down in my seat and begin to cry. I look up and try to speak again. Only to be met with the fact that I can't. It's like glass is wedged into my throat.

I finally found my voice to say"I've been losing my mind. You don't even see it. You don't even care about me."

"Morgan, we do care. I love you honey. I really do. And I know these last few months have been hard on you and-"

"What do you know Daddy? All you do is sit on your ass drinking the day away and hurt the people around you, but you are probably too drunk to notice it aren't you? You know what Daddy? Why don't you go back to the whiskey bottle you crawled out of? Oh wait you probably left that in Dauntless with your manliness!"

He is beyond furious now. "Why you ungrateful little bitch! You have no right to talk about my past! I am much of a man today because of my past!"

"Then how about you act like a man? How about you treat your family right? Why don't you come home sober for once in your life?"

"I AM A MAN!"

"Really? Every problem you cause you walk away like a dog with his tail tucked between its legs! Instead of trying to make things better you make them worse! You won't fix them because you are afraid! You are afraid of what people will say!"

He is shaken with anger,"I'm afraid of nothing!"

"Then why do you hide behind the bottle? Why do you think things will get better with it? You are a coward!"

The next thing I know is I'm on the floor gripping the left side of my face and my vision blurry. I raise my hand from my face and see blood. He hit me. The back of his hand is red. I can't believe he just back handed me. I try to stand up, but fall to the floor. This whole time my mother didn't do a single thing. She stayed in her chair watching.

I look up to his face and he looks regretful. I try to stand up again. This time I use the dinner table for support. After I stand, my dad moves to me but I back up.

"Baby I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry." He moves toward me again, and I back away again. "I- Morgan, please..."

"Well I see why you left Dauntless because real brave men don't hit women now do they Daddy?" With that I left him and my mother in the dining room as I moved to my room.

I sit on my bed. Dare I look in the mirror to see my face? I'm scared to see what my dad is capable of. I can hear my parents speaking in their room. Tomorrow is the Choosing Ceremony. Tomorrow I will choose Dauntless. With the ceremony on my mind, I fall asleep.

The next morning I wake up to a soft knock on my door. The figure opens the door as I turn my body facing away from the door. I hear the click of heels. My mother. She sits on my bed and begins to rub my arm.

"Honey, your father and I are leaving so we can help set up for the ceremony. Okay?" I don't respond. She knows what is on my mind. She sighs,"Honey, your father really does regret hitting you. He didn't mean-"

"Please. Just. Go." My bed shifts, and I hear her exit to the door. I hear them walk down the hall and exit our home. I'm alone. The ceremony starts at 9 A.M. It is 7 right now. I remember I promised my friends that they could come over fourty minutes before the ceremony so we could walk together and enjoy our last moments together. I better get ready. I move to the bathroom across the hall and start the shower. While the shower is heating up I go back to my room to gather my clothes and then to my parents room. I cross over to my father's side of the bed and open his bedside table drawer up.

My father keeps a knife in there for protection because once they had a Factionless sneak into our home and try to take everything we had, even our lives. Unfortunately, for the Factionless man, he was stabbed by my dad. That happened when I was thirteen. Since then my dad has been strict on home safety. He taught me how to throw a knife and how to shoot a gun and very little hand to hand combat. I have no earthly idea how he got a gun or knife from Dauntless though. Anyways, I take the knife back into the bathroom with me.

The bathroom is steamy, so I strip out of my clothes. I look into the mirror at my face and see that my cheek is horrible looking. My under eye is swollen, and my cheek is this purple blackish tint with a little dry blood on it. Well there is no way my make up will cover this up.

Stepping into the shower felt really great up until I put my face under the water. I screamed in pain. It felt like someone took a cigarette lighter and held it up to my face moving it constantly under my eye. After washing up, I dried off and looked at myself in the mirror again.

Today is a day where I will be free. I want to transform myself. My mother never let me cut my hair that's past my butt. That is why I brought the knife in here. With that, I cut my hair off. Don't get me wrong. I like my hair long but not too long. It now lays in the midst of my back. I think I cut a nice two feet off. Checking the time I realized that it is 8:15. I need to get dress before my friends show up.

I was going to wear my ceremony dress that my mother picked out, but I think I will change that too. Instead I opt for a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and some sneakers. Of course all blue and to get my hair out of my face I pull it up into a ponytail. I like the new me. I look wild, not confined.

*Knock Knock*

Thank you for reading. Please comment your thoughts. I would like to hear y'all's opinion on the story. If you do comment please don't be rude. Thank you guys so much.

- Elizabeth G.