Maddie Eaton||Just call me stiff

Room 7

ONE||ROOM 7

"Madeline we are going to be late!" My father yelled up the stairs. I quickly brushed down my messy, long hair, then ran out my room. My hair was up to my hips, as I hadn't cut it since my brother left two years ago. Before he left he used to cut my hair on the second day of every third month, but once he was gone, it felt wrong doing it myself. I was wearing a simple grey skirt with a white t-shirt and a grey hoodie. It was the closest anyone would ever see me to wearing Abnegation clothes.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, my father sighed at my untied hair. In abnegation we are meant to keep our hair tied in a simple bun. I glanced into his eyes and saw the look of hatred glare back at me. He knew he couldn't do anything though, because if I turned up to the choosing ceremony beaten and bloody, then the other factions, especially Erudite, would become a bit suspicious. 

We slowly walked down the quiet Abnegation roads. My mother used to point out where the cameras were, when we walked along the street, as if to say 'I see you too'. She passed away a while ago. After around a ten minute walk, we reached the bus stop and caught the first incoming bus. There was one seat, so being an Abnegation, I offered it to the elderly Abnegation man who got on behind he. He thanked me, then sat down. My father nodded in approval towards my gratitude. 

Twenty minutes later my father and I exited the bus and I joined the rest of Abnegation while waiting to be let into the school building. Amongst the small crowd I saw a girl who I knew, named Beatrice Prior. I say I knew her, but really I had just seen her before, and my father was friends with her father. I smiled slightly at her, then concentrated on tying my hair up.

________________________________________________________________________________

I ran into the hall. I was late. My maths teacher was worried about why my grades were slipping, and I used the faction choosing as my excuse. Quickly, I took my seat at the table of quiet Abnegations, and glanced around the room. Amity were laughing and braiding each others hair. Candor were talking loudly amongst each other. Dauntless were yelling and having fun. And Erudite all had their noses in their books. I noticed among the Erudites, a short girl with long brown hair and hazel eyes filled with mischief. Freya. It was obvious to me that she was just pretending to read, but it was something that I recognised easily after knowing her for 5 years. She looked up and her eyes met mine. We both grinned.

"Madeline Eaton and Leah Dyson, rooms 7 & 8," a tall, blonde women commanded.  Quickly I broke eye contact with Freya and walked toward the doors. Gently, I pushed open the door to room 7, but before I stepped in, I glanced back at Freya, who gave me a small thumbs-up and a smile.

The room I stepped into had mirrors covering every wall, and a chair in the middle, that looked like it belonged in a dentist. A young lady stood by the chair, grinning at my curiosity towards the mirror. She had long purple hair, that was pulled up in a ponytail. She was wearing a plain black top and a leather skirt. Typical dauntless.

"Hi, I'm Adela, and I will be administering your test today," Adela said, the smile never leaving her face.

Slowly I sat down on the chair. I looked up at Adela and she handed me a blue liquid

"Will it kill me?" I asked, genuinely confused. Adela chucked to herself then said, "I guess I'll leave you to find out."

Carefully I drank the liquid. This was it, I was going to find out where I belonged. Please don't be Abnegation.

I was in a room full of mirrors. I turned around, and saw three bowls, one with a knife, one with a piece of cheese and one with some meat. I looked into one of the mirrors wondering what to do, when my reflection spoke, "Choose," it said. I jumped back surprised. All three seemed useful. Which one should I choose?

"Have it your way then!" The voice boomed at me and all of a sudden the bowls were gone, and standing in their place was an untamed dog. I remember reading somewhere that when a human is panicked it produces a chemical which triggers certain animals to attack. All I had to do is stay calm, which would be easy if I weren't afraid of dogs. Calmly I dropped down to my knees, crossing my arms over my chest. The dog turned into a puppy as I dropped down. I yelped out in shock. The puppy came over and licked my face, I think I prefered the crazy dog. All of a sudden a small girl appeared and the untamed dog was back and it was chasing the girl. I ran after them and jumped on the dog. Then I stood back up and grabbed the little girl. Running I put her on my back. Suddenly I was transported on to a bus. There was a man sitting on a chair reading a newspaper. The little girl was gone. He turned to me.

"Do you know this man?" He asked I gently shook my head.

"If you do you can save me!" He cried out.

"Yes, I know him," I muttered

"Thank you," the man said.

I was back in the room with Adela, and her smile was no longer there.

"How long do you think you were in there?" She asked worried.

"20 minutes?" I guessed.

"You were in there for 5 minutes, four times quicker than the average person," she told me gently. 

I was completely shocked.

"Do you know what a divergent is?" She asked. Of course I knew what one was, bust I decided playing dumb would be safer, so I shook my head. She sighed and explained.

"I'll see you at the choosing ceremony," Adela said, plastering a smile on her face.

"Wait," I called back once I reached the door, "What factions did I get?"

"Abnegation," she said, as I frowned.

"What else?" I questioned hopefully. It was probably something depressing like Amity.

"Erudite and Candor," She continued. Those were the two I was most likely to get. 

Just before I walked out the room Adela sighed, her purple hair falling out her ponytail and covering one eye, "You also got Amity and Dauntless."

I stopped breathing. All five. How is that possible? 

"What are you entering into the system?" I inquired, letting the curiosity take over me.

"Well I'm guessing you're going to follow your brother and choose Dauntless," she replied. I nodded then left the room. As I exited I heard Freya's name being called, and as she passes me I whispered good luck to her. She smiled up to me then walked towards room 5.