Forever

Prologue

Evelyn was graceful. I remember that. I also remember how she looked as she came into the room I shared with Tobias. She closed the door and sat on my bed, facing me and Tobias at our desk. She removed a smooth blue sculpture from her grey Abnegation robe. She placed it on the table by our beds. It was so polished, so perfect, all I could do was stare.

"What does it do?" asked Tobias, voicing my thoughts. Evelyn looked at him, a smile playing at her lips.

"Nothing obvious,"she said softly. "But it might do something in here," she tapped the middle of her chest. "Beatiful things sometimes do." He stood up and lightly kissed mine and Tobias's forehead. "I love you both." She stood up to leave, but before she left, she turned toward us and placed a finger on her lips. Then she slipped silently into the hallway, leaving me and Tobias alone with the sculpture. We both looked at it for a few minutes before Tobias placed in under a blanket in an old, worn box with a broken hinge. The last place Marcus would look for something secret. I might have been young, but I knew enough to not tell him.

Now I sat on my bed, ten years later, holding the same sculpture. Today was the anniversary of my mother's death. It also happened to be the day of I would take my aptitude test. I heard footsteps coming down the hallway to my room. I leaped off the bed, shoved the sculpture back in its box and locked it. Just in time. Marcus grabbed the door knob and opened my door without knocking.

"Your aptitude test is today." Gee, thanks Dad. He had been planning my test for days now. He told me what would happen, what choices to make. Cheese over knife. Throw myself in front of the dog. Refuse to tell the man I recognize the picture until he says it will save him.

"I asked you a question!" Marcus growled. Oops. I mumbled something of an apology and asked him to repeat his question. He glared at me, but didn't refuse. "I said, are you nervous?"

"Oh. No. I know what to do now. Thank you for helping me." He looked satisfied.

"Good.You'll do fine." I guess this is what most people saw my father as. The comforting, caring type. Not me. I knew what happened when no one was around.

He got up and left the room. I stood up and dressed. Grey dress down to my ankles, a grey sweater over it, and plain grey boots up to my ankles. I brushed my hair and pulled it up into a bun,pushing hair pins in here and there. The Abnegation are supposed to keep their hair a uniform length, just below the shoulders, but I hadn't cut mine in five years. It was now brushed my hips when it was down. I slipped downstairs to grab breakfast, a plain bowl of oatmeal, and packed my lunch for school. A salad of lettuce, tomatoes, and chicken, some plain crackers, and a pack of dried apples. I was heading out the door to begin my walk when Marcus stopped me.

"Don't fail the test." He growled, grabbing my arm. "If you fail the test, you fail me and you fail your faction. Got it?"

"Yes sir." How do you fail the aptitude test? What could you do that was so dangerous as to fail your faction?

"Good." He said, releasing my arm. It throbbed we his hand was. I walked out the door and down my street. Fail the test? Even if I got another faction, that still wouldn't be considered failing. Then a thought hit me. Marcus wouldn't know my results. He would know what I told him. This was the one thing he couldn't control about my test. Me.