The next morning, Tris could not manage anything without thinking about Tobias. The questions kept racing in her mind. Why wouldn't he tell me his result? What is he going to choose? That last question was burned into her mind replaying in an infinite loop.

She was exhausted by the time she got to school. Usually only the families of the ones choosing were able to attend the choosing ceremony. But Tris already had a plan. In fact, Tobias had suggested it. The choosing ceremony was at the end of the day after school. She would hang around until just about everyone was inside the auditorium and she would stand at the back of the Abnegation section. She would blend in well enough. No one would ever know she was there. There was no way in hell that she would miss this.

It felt like the longest day of her life. She kept trying to find Tobias throughout the day and could not seem to come across him. After lunch, she had almost convinced herself that he had skipped school and wouldn't show up to the choosing ceremony at all. Of course, that was wishful thinking on Tris's part because then he couldn't choose to leave her. But then again, he wouldn't be able to choose to stay either and he would become factionless. And that was definitely not what she wanted. She was starting to believe that he was deliberately avoiding her because he didn't want to tell her that he was leaving Abnegation so he didn't have to deal with her reaction. It was the absolute worst thing she could have thought about Tobias. Had she lost all of her trust in him? She was at her locker starring into a void when she realized she had lost track of her time. If she didn't hurry, she would be late and the doors would be closed!

She walked into the auditorium just in time for the ceremonies to begin. Janine was already trying to get the crowd's attention. Tris found a perfect spot in the back. She was able to see it all and not be seen, which is exactly what she wanted. While Janine, the leader of the Erudite, droned on and on about how important this choice is, the rite of passage of their society and so on, Tris scanned the Abnegation section to find Tobias. She finally spotted him toward the front sitting next to his father. She couldn't really see his face but at least she knew he was there.

Janine started reading names, one by one. When their name was called, the student would go up on the stage. There were five fountains set up, one for each of the factions. The student would take a knife and cut their hand and place it over one of the five fountains. Once the blood hit the bottom of the symbolic bowls, the choice was made and the student was now a member of the corresponding faction.

Tris was so nervous as she waited for Tobias's turn. It felt like it took forever. Jenna Abernathy, Morris Albright, John Bolton, Ashland Byfield…. Finally she heard the name she had been waiting for:

"Tobias Eaton."

Tris stood up on her toes to get a good look. She could not keep her eyes off of him. He got on stage and picked up the knife and cut his hand. Then he hesitated. He just stood there. She had a feeling that he might be having second thoughts. The way he strutted up to that stage, it seemed like he was certain. But now he was still thinking. This was the longest a student had taken today. Usually most have already sorted all of this out after they get their result.

Suddenly he turned around to face the audience. He searched the faces. He was looking for someone. Then he spotted her. Tris held her breath as he met her eyes. It seemed like she was giving him the strength he needed to make his choice.

"Abnegation," Tris whispered, knowing that Tobias couldn't hear her. "Pick Abnegation."

Tobias seemed to have figured out whatever it was that he needed to think about, because he turned back to face the fountains. He was cradling the blood in his hand now. He walked over to his fountain and made his choice. The blood dripped from his hand and it was sealed.

"Dauntless."

Janine's voice echoed in the hall and Tris's hear t broke. For a minute she though she heard wrong, but there he was walking toward the Dauntless. He sat down with them. At some point Marcus had stood up. No doubt, completely blindsided by his choice. Marcus recovered rather quickly and sat back down. Tris didn't recover though. She wanted to scream, but she would be seen and cause a scene.

There was a voice deep within her screaming, why? She should have seen this coming. Something was wrong yesterday. She should have pushed harder for answers. It really was a goodbye kiss. All these thoughts were rushing through her head. She felt tears drop down her checks. She felt betrayed. How could he? He didn't even say anything yesterday to make this any easier. He should have told her. He should have said something, anything. She was angry at him now. Why didn't they talk about it yesterday? They talk about everything! Why was this a secret all of a sudden? How could he let her find out like this?

They had fixed things with his father! Things were ok now. They weren't perfect but he wasn't hurting him anymore. Her mother had taken care of that so that he could be able to stay in Abnegation if he wanted to. Well, it all came down to that then. He didn't want to stay in Abnegation at all. How stupid could she have been? He had always wanted to leave. He was just using his father as an excuse until she took that away from him. She sobered then. What kind of lunatic things was she thinking? That he wanted to be abused so that he had an excuse to leave Abnegation. Now, that was ridiculous. There had to be another explanation. She knew Tobias, and knew he would not make a decision like this lightly.

Tris was frozen in the back of the auditorium. She didn't even realize that the ceremony was almost over until everyone was standing up. She turned around and left before anyone could realize that she wasn't supposed to be there.

She walked out of the school with her head hanging. She felt defeated. She thought about Tobias and how he was going to go straight to his new faction for initiation. She wouldn't see him again for a long time. Suddenly, she thought of something. Tobias had asked her to meet him in the ally after choosing. Her tears stopped and she broke into a run. She hoped he would be there somehow, even though the dauntless were leaving. She ran with all her might and prayed that she would get there in time.