Factionless

Chapter Eleven: Vidya's point of view

I watched Basil put her duck into her pocket then pull it out again. She ran her long fingers down the rubber green side of the duck. She looked so happy. The happiest she'd looked in about seven years.

Joslyn was closely examining her duck. It wasn't really blue, more of a turquoise really. It looked like a blend of her two eye colors.

"I can't tell them. I just can't. I don't want to...but I have to. No!" I snapped at myself. "They'll find out at the  choosing ceremony in September." I sipped quietly at my chocolate milkshake.

"Should I try for an aptitude test?" Joslyn asked curiously.

Basil had a startled look on her face. "An aptitude test? Really? Do you think you need one?" She asked.

"No," I said. "I don't think we need aptitude tests and I doubt Reagan would give them to us."

"Regals don't use aptitude tests. A Regal can apply for an aptitude test, but they are not absolutely necessary, as in other factions."I recited to myself, I had gotten it out of a book on factions. It had been really good.

Joslyn frowned and examined her duck closer. "I just want to be absolutely sure of my choice before...before..." She fell silent.

Basil nodded and looked at her feet. I sipped my ice cream. "Anything else?" I asked.

Joslyn drew in a deep breath. "I...I have a confession to make," she said.

"Yeah?" Asked Basil, eating her milkshake with a spoon.

"I...I'm going..." Joslyn's voice trailed off. She drew in a deep breath, rallying her courage. "I'm going to choose Dauntless."

Basil smiled and looked up at our friend. "Seriously, Jos. What are you gonna choose?"

"I was being serious," Joslyn whispered. "I'm joining Dauntless."

Basil screamed and dropped her milkshake on the floor. "No! No! No! No!" She screeched at Joslyn. She broke into tears and ran out of the shop sobbing: "Not you too. Everyone's leaving. Everyone's leaving..." The door slammed shut behind her.

I gaped at Joslyn. "You made Basil cry! Why?"

"I dunno," she said. "But I am choosing Dauntless. How 'bout you?"

I looked at the broken glass. "Erudite," my voice was rough and raspy. "I'm going to Erudite."

Joslyn nodded. "I thought that, maybe, you'd go to Erudite. I guess Basil did too."

"Yeah...Maybe she'll choose Abnegation," I said.

"I doubt it," Joslyn replied. "She'll come back to Regal. There's no way she'll leave."

I sipped my shake and the bouncy little waitress came back. "Wow," she said. "What happened here? Where's Basil?" She asked and started to clean up the mess.

"Basil had to, uh," Joslyn thought for a moment. "She, um...her mother had to come and get her."

The waitress gave me an odd look. "Her mother?"

"Yes," I said, picking up on the story. "Her mother needed her home right away. Uh, something about, um..." I thought for a minute. "Her brother dying. He wanted to celebrate Vidya's birthday with his whole family."

The waitress gave me a smile. "Nah, Basil's mum has been dead for years," she walked off.

Joslyn and I stared at each other. "Dead?" Joslyn said. "Dead?" I could tell hysteria in Joslyn's voice.

"Calm down, Jos. Just calm it down," I said. "There's a reason she didn't say. Figure it out."

"I...am...not...the...Erudite!" She hissed at me, still in shock.

I frowned. "She didn't tell us because she...I don't know!" I threw a spoon across the room. "I just don't know," I hated not knowing.

"Maybe you should be in Dauntless," Joslyn said eyeing the spoon that I'd thrown. It was now stuck in the bulls eye spot on a dartboard.

"I don't like Dauntless," I grumbled.

Joslyn sighed and buried her face in her hand. "Does it matter, Erudite?"

"Yes," I said. "I guess it does."