A knock startles me awake from my sleep, my father calls from outside of my room to tell me that he needed to get up for the ceremony. I groggily get out of bed, shuffle my way to the bathroom next to my bedroom, and turn the shower. As I wait for it to heat up I close the bathroom door and strip from the clothes that I wore yesterday, I throw them into the laundry receptacle in the closet next to the sink. The shower was quick, just enough to make sure that I looked presentable today. I get out of the shower and wrap a towel around my waist, I stand in front of the sink and open the mirror. Since this was my last day as Abnegation I thought it wouldn't hurt to see my reflection one last time in my childhood home.
"Alexander, breakfast is ready." My mother says in a cheerful voice, I could only guess that it was cheerful because I am about to leave Abnegation, or at least that's what my mother thought. I quickly dried off and went back to my room to get dressed, in minutes I was downstairs with my mother and father at the table with a plate of eggs and sausage in front of me. I could feel eyes on me yet I didn't dare look up to see which parent was looking at me, I didn't want to strike up a conversation with either of my parents. I clean my dish and waits near the front for my parents, in all honesty, I was surprised that they wanted to come to watch my choosing ceremony.
The streets were crowded with people from every faction, Dauntless of course had to run everywhere, Erudite held their heads high, Candor walked with swiftness and darting eyes, Amity walked slowly and precisely, and Abnegation walked the same speed as Erudite but they kept their head tucked into their chest as not to draw attention to themselves. Well every Abnegation walked like that except for me, I walk with my head held high and eyes watching Dauntless, I knew that he was going to find a home in the faction of the brave. People talked among themselves but I could hear my neighbor's hushed whispers about me and what faction I will choose. I push that to the back of my mind as I speed up my pace and before I knew it I was running alongside Dauntless on their way to the Hub. A few Dauntless offer me a smile when they see a stiff running along with them, others scoff and speed up so they don't have to be near me. Soon the Hub is just a few feet away, I slow down to a walk so I don't barrel into anyone on their way into the hub. The crowd filed into the auditorium, there are five sections in the auditorium, one for each faction. Dauntless sits in the middle, on their left is Erudite, then is Candor, on the right of Dauntless is Amity and the section farthest away from the entrance to the auditorium sits Abnegation. Once everyone has taken their appropriate seat, Jeanine the leader of Erudite takes the stage, she stands from her seat with the rest of the leaders of the factions.
"The faction system is a living being composed of cells, all of you." She motions to the crowd in front of her, "And the only way it can survive and thrive is for each of you to claim your rightful place. The future belongs to those who know where they belong." She sits down and Marcus stands from his seat,
"When we leave this room, you will no longer be dependents but full-fledged members of our society. Faction before blood." Everyone in the audience responds,
"Faction before blood." Marcus starts calling the 16-year-olds forward to choose where they will spend the rest of their lives, faction sizes grow and deplete as people of different colors merge together. "Alexander Eaton." There are whispers from Dauntless, I suppose that my brother has a big reputation within the faction.
I walk to the stage and pick up the knife from the center table and walk to the dishes that hold the hot coals for each faction. I quickly cut my hand and holds it over the center dish, Dauntless. In slow motion my blood hits the hot coals and sizzles away, Marcus calls out my new faction, and here is an uproar from the Dauntless that attended today's ceremony. I hardly remember putting down the knife and exiting the stage before I am surrounded by people a few years older than me, they clap me on the back and cheer me on.
"Settle down," Marcus tells Dauntless, I take a seat in the front row as the ceremony continues. Soon everyone had chosen their factions and were dismissed from the auditorium. A boy that looks to be the age of eighteen leads the group of Dauntless out of the building, as he exits the auditorium I look back to get a glimpse of my parents. A smile graces both my mother and father's face, despite what they said last night I am sure that they know that I will succeed in Dauntless.
We are led towards the train track that towers over the streets of the city, as a kid I always saw people dressed in black on these trains, Dauntless either going from their home to god knows where or coming from god knows where to their home. The last time I saw my brother was climbing up the supports to board the train to Dauntless, I knew how to get up to the train and how to board but beyond that, it was a whole new world to me. I follow the other Dauntless up the supports and wait on a small platform, I can hear the train coming in the distance, and once it rounds the corner people start to prepare to run. I spring into a jog when the train draws nearer, soon I am parallel with the first car of the train. I wrap my hand around one of the handles on the side of the door and hoist myself into the car. Everyone in this car is dawned in black and they look at me like I've done something impressive.
"Never seen a move like that from a stiff." One of them says, I chuckle and rub my hand against the back of my neck. "Pretty impressive." He claps me on the back and goes to the train car door and looks out. Everyone engages in their own conversations, I felt left out but didn't try to talk to anyone. For the moment they still thought of me as a stiff, it would be a while until anyone in the faction I joined would think of me as one of them. The guy that complimented me earlier turns to the car and says, "Get ready." The train starts to pass a building and one by one the people in the car jump out and onto the roof of the building. I take my place at the back of the line and jump from the train, it feels as though I am moving in slow motion as I cross over the drop between the train and the building. I surprisingly land on my feet, I laugh to myself before hurrying after the people from my car. They stand near the ledge on the other side of the roof, standing on the ledge is a fairly attractive man looking over us. I notice the tattoos on his neck, I wonder what they stood for but they are interesting to look at nonetheless. As his eyes scan the growing crowd his eyes meet mine, those steely blue irises would be ones that I wouldn't soon forget. He clears his throat as the last of the jumpers join the group,
"All right, listen up! I'm Eric. I'm one of your leaders. If you want to enter Dauntless, this is the way in. And if you don't have the guts to jump, then you don't belong in Dauntless."
"Is there water at the bottom or something?" Someone that was from Erudite asks,
"I guess you'll find out. Or not. Someone gotta go first. Who's it gonna be?" Without blinking I step towards the ledge, there wasn't any use waiting, just get over with and be done with it. Besides they had to have something to catch us or they wouldn't be a faction anymore.
"I will."
"There we go stiff, start us off." Someone from Erudite says. I step up to the ledge, I would much rather prefer to not see what I will be falling into so I turn to face the crowd in front of me. Shock is written across most people's faces. As I fall backward I manage to catch a glimpse 0f Eric's face which seems to be impressed with what I have done. Before I knew it, I was bouncing back on something, I feel under my body to feel a net. As I look around there is a giant net cast between two buildings to catch people as they arrived to Dauntless. Someone waits by the edge of the net on a platform as I get closer I can distinguish their facial features, I let out a loud gasp. Tobias was standing in front of me with a look of shock on his face, it is soon overcome with a smile. He motions me to the platform and helps me off the net,
"It's good to see you, Alex." He wraps his arms around me, I hug him back. He lets go and looks towards the roof that I just jumped off of, "First jumper, Alex." He then turns to me and says, "Stand behind me near that door. Welcome to Dauntless, brother." He smiles and shakes my hand, I smile back at him before following his directions and standing near the door that he pointed to.
