One more hour. One more hour and I may never see this room again. I never thought I would get emotional over a room, let alone this one. The only room I have ever gotten emotional over is my brother's room, and I was sad about loosing him - it didn't really have anything to do with the room at all.
This room is too cold in winter and too hot in summer; the ceiling has faint cracks on it; the pastel blue wallpaper is peeling. But I still don't want to leave it. It has good memories too. Like the time my brother hung wooden birds he made me from the ceiling and pretended they were real. I was five, but I still have them in a box in my wardrobe. The raven, the sparrow and the tiny little robin. I haven't looked at them since he left. We all tried to forget, like they say we should. Faction before blood. Sometimes I hate the system, but I also love its order, its clarity. You know where you stand. But, then again, I thought my brother stood in Erudite. With me.
~~~
I have a table pinned to the inside of my wardrobe. All of the faction symbols are drawn at the top and I have listed all of the pros and cons. It's the easiest way for me to make choices. Lists, tables, charts - I'm Erudite through and through. Or so they think. Truth be told, Erudite doesn't have the most pros on my list. Erudite may be where I live, but it's not home. No where is home without my brother.
I remember him quite well. Dark hair, brown eyes, nice smile. But they are a child's memories, altered to make him perfect in my head. The photos have a different image. His eyes look cold. I saw those eyes when his blood fell onto the coals, with a wicked smile. After that, I didn't smile as much. I didn't have my brother anymore. The Dauntless had him. There was no one left for me, that could make me laugh when I awoke crying form nightmare, or make games for me to play on his computer. He's gone now anyway. A Dauntless leader. He has tatoos, piercings and black clothes. If had different eyes I wouldn't have known him. But I always know eyes. And his were the first I saw when I opened mine.
~~~
"Are you nervous?"
My mother asks one of the oddest questions you can ask a sixteen-year-old on choosing day.
"Yes." I reply. There is no point making the awnser longer than it needs to be.
"I know you'll make the right choice, Artemis."
She's wrong. I will be making the choice that could destroy her, but I won't change my mind now. I can't. It's wrong for her; right for me. Still, every bump in the road seems to be trying to throw me away from my decision, every face we pass seems to be accusing me.
~~~
When we get out of the car, my legs are so shaky I feel as if I might fall over. The buzz of voices only grows louder as the elevator rises, packed with Erudite, Candor and Amity. Dauntless and Abnegation take the stairs. Dauntless for the thrill of running and Abnegation to give the elevator to others.
I take a rubber band from my pocket and twist my hair into a tight knot, like the Abnegation do. The ritual calms me. I admire the Abnegation, with their selflessness and contentment with the simpler things in life. Erudite are extravagant and fancy. That's why I'm leaving them.
Chapter one by @MagicaeSeptum.
