Aberrant

Five: Brooke

"Brooke Kang," the voice of Jeanine Matthews resonates throughout the room. I'm at the Choosing Ceremony; only it's empty. There's no one around- just me and Jeanine. Hesitantly, I take my knife she's offering, hilt first, and survey the five bowls in front of me: Erudite, Dauntless, Amity, Candor and Abnegation. 

"Choose," Jeanine says. I look at the bowls and head towards the Candor one. There's a brief pain as I slice the knife into my left palm but it quickly fades and I watch drops of my crimson blood drop onto the glass in the bowl. 

"No," she hisses, "That's the wrong choice."

"What?" I turn in surprise, "You can't tell me whether my choice is wrong or not!" I protest, "It's supposed to be my choice. That's why it's called the Choosing Ceremony."

"You must make the right choice," she insists. 

"Why should I?" I retort, "What's it to you whether I make the right choice or not? It won't affect you."

At this, Jeanine Matthew's body begins to change. Her body begins to turn green and tentacles begin to sprout from where her limbs have been. I recognise this monster. Thank you brain for picking one from that horror book I read recently. 

"Choose," she hisses, and steam evaporates from her mouth. 

"Fine," I say, "But this is my dream. I get to choose what happens. Not you," I visualise in my head a sixth bowl in between the Dauntless and Abnegation bowl, and lo and behold, it appears. 

"I choose this one," I say, and move my still dripping hand over the bowl.

"No!" The Jeanine Matthews monster hisses, "You can't-"

But as drops of my blood land in the bowl, she disappears. 

"Looks like I can," I smirk, "I name this one the Brooke Kang Faction."

I wake up to the light streaming through my bedroom, but remain lying in my bed as I watch the specks of dust glide and tumble through the air. This is it. The big day. The day of the Aptitude Test. 

As I stare at the sunlight, contemplating how long I can delay getting up for, I hear my sister's voice drift up from downstairs. 

"Brooke! Wake up!" Clara yells, "If you don't get down this minute you're going to have a very cold cooked breakfast!" And because I know she's telling the truth, I leap out of bed, still in my pyjamas and my hair still dishevelled, and sit down at the table. 

Throughout breakfast and on my way to school, I'm too anxious about the Aptitude Test to say anything, and just let the conversation of my dad and Clara roll over me. I want to be like them. I want to be like my friends. Fitting in is so much easier than standing out, and I'm worried that the Aptitude test will reveal that I'm something of a freak. I might even not get a Faction-is it possible to get Factionless in the test? 

Back at school, I begin to make my way discreetly towards the library. It's one of the few places where I feel truly calm. But when I'm halfway there, I spot April and stop to look at her. She's standing with her back to me but I would recognise her self-cut short brown hair anywhere. She's looking out of the window, with an Amity boy and shorter blond-haired Abnegation girl beside her. 

"April," I call and she turns round to face me. I see that there's a bruise over her eye where Isaac hit her, and the look she gives me shows that she evidently hasn't forgotten the events of yesterday. Nor has she forgiven my involvement. 

"Kang," she responds coldly. No chance she'll call me by my first name then. 

"What you doing?" I ask, attempting to appear at ease.