The Other Prior: Candice Prior || Divergent Fanfiction

Chapter 3: The Choosing Ceremony

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I'm sitting in front of a small but clean mirror, which is usually hidden behind a panel in the wall. Abnegation don't use mirrors, as it is considered a tool to aid vanity. And vanity is self-indulgent. My mother stands behind me snipping off locks of my blonde hair to shorten it to the Abnegation-approved length. Not that it will matter after today, I think viciously. I gaze into the mirror blankly, which, if my mom had noticed would have earned me a reprimand. She doesn't notice. On a normal day, she would have noticed. But today, is anything but a normal day. Sure, my father is bustling about in the kitchen making breakfast like he always does when it's his turn. Sure, Bea and Lebby are helping him, while expressing their excitement loudly. Sure, my mother is cutting my hair normally, like she does every three months, but today isn't a normal day.

Today is the day that I choose. Today is the day that I make a choice that determines my entire life. Either to succumb to the inertia that pulls me towards a safe life or doom myself by going into the very faction that hunts people like me. It's a simple choice that any sensible person can make with ease.

I've never been good at making sensible decisions.

The snipping sound becomes in sync with my pounding heartbeat. Locks of hair fall to the ground, like the dropping assurance I have in my decision. Every time I hear Bea shriek with laughter, or my dad chuckle good naturedly, I am reminded of what I am going to be leaving behind. I am going to be leaving behind part of myself. My parents. My sister. My brother. My hair is twisted back into a bun, much like how my stomach twists when I think about what I am going to do. A ribbon is tied into my hair, like the need for freedom which keeps my decision from falling apart.

"There you go Di" My mom says, after she finishes tying my hair into a low bun with a gray ribbon. I stare into the mirror in front of me, and it is a mark of today's abnormality that she doesn't stop me. In the mirror I see a striking girl with blonde hair, a soft jawline, a long nose, full lips, and unforgettable bright green eyes, staring back at me. I don't know where I got my eyes from. Nobody in my family has green eyes, but I wouldn't know, because Abnegation are not allowed to keep pictures.

"Thanks mom." I say, my response delayed. She gives me a sad smile, as though she knows that no matter what, I'm not staying with her. And she just may.

+++

The Abnegation are sitting in the left side of the hall, as am I, breathless from our climb up many flights of stair in order to make space for other people to use the elevator. I'm waiting nervously for my name to be called, half hoping they will miss it. In the center of the room there is a large podium. On the podium, there are 5 bowls and a knife. Each of the bowls are filled with contents which represent a faction.

Soil in the Amity bowl.

Water in the Erudite bowl.

Shard of glass in the Candor bowl.

Gray pebbles in the Abnegation bowl.

Smoldering coals in the Dauntless bowl.

Each 16-year-old when their names are called are to walk up to the podium, slice their hand and drop the blood into the bowl of the faction they choose. An eternal bond. An irrevocable promise. Until they decide you aren't good enough and kick you out.

The first Abnegation transfers to dauntless. His name is Tobias Eaton. Marcus Eaton's son? It seems unfitting that our leader's son is the first faction transfer. Just as I am about to be, I realize, my heart feeling like it is plunging into ice-cold water. Dauntless gains a new member. I barely remember the chosen factions being called. Amity. Abnegation. Abnegation. Dauntless. Candor. Erudite. A few more calls later, it's my turn.

"Candice Prior"

I get up slowly, my mom squeezes my hand encouragingly before letting go. I let my legs take me to the stage, my heart pounding. I see my family sitting in their seats as I pick up the knife. I slit my palm. The blood drops on the floor in front of me.

Bea whispers something to my mother, they both laugh quietly. My father turns his head to quiet them, but his heart is not in it.

A perfect family. Without me. That much is clear.

Suddenly I realize. The test does not define who I am. I do. And with that, my mind is made.

The entire crowd seems to go silent as I slice my hand and drop the blood into the bowl.

The bowl with the coals.

Dauntless

My blood sizzles on the coals just as the look of disappointment on my fathers' face is burnt into my brain. He turns away, most probably ashamed. The dauntless crowd claps as I walk towards them, not fully conscious of what I'm doing. My mother smiles warmly. Caleb's eyes are wide. Beatrice is waving at me, but I cannot muster the energy to return her smiles and waves.

More names are called. The ceremony goes on. It seems wrong. How can the world go on when my heart has stopped? How can everyone else be so oblivious to how I'm feeling?

I stand, a speck of gray in the sea of dauntless black.

My choice astounds even me. The dauntless initiation, a test you have to get through in order to truly belong to the faction you choose, is supposed to be the hardest of them all. That is for people who have an aptitude for Dauntless. What chance do I have?

My heart hurts, although I'm unsure why. I have left my family behind, is the obvious answer, but it is untrue. Sure, I will miss them, terribly, but Abnegation was never on my list of choices, especially after my talk with my mother yesterday. And if my worry was about disappointing my father, then I should be happy! My original choice would have affected him a lot more wouldn't it? I guess my heart hurts because I chose another prison for myself. I chose a faction to which I don't truly belong, except this time, I am bound for life.

The crowd which I am standing in start cheering wildly, which can only mean one thing: The Choosing Ceremony has finished. They start jumping up and down, clapping and screaming. The back row of the crowd, made fully of transfers joins in unsurely. I turn back as the black crowd starts to move. I spot my parents and siblings and wave goodbye to them. I am no longer Abnegation.

I turn around and start to run, like the rest of the crowd. We run through the halls of the HUB, where the ceremony was held and into the stairway. Dauntless upon dauntless trample down the stairways in a way that no other faction could, or would, and I join in. We emerge from the building, me breathing the fresh air in deeply, unlike I have ever done before. I run, my legs slightly burning, wind rushing into my face. I let go of my gray cardigan, whooping for the first time in my life.

They, no, We head to the train platform which is suspended above the walkway by large pillars. We start to climb. I climb with speed and agility that I have never been able to showcase before. I feel free!

I reach the top of the platform along with a wave of dauntless initiates. "Nice going stiff!" Someone calls at me, using the nickname for Abnegation. A nickname that once used to bother me. A train approaches, and I know I have to jump on to it, just as I have seen Dauntless students doing at school. I run alongside the train, aware that the other Abnegation transfer, Tobias is a few paces behind me. I screech with joy as I grab onto a rail and pull myself into the carriage.

I did it.

Nothing matters anymore. The choice is made.

I am Dauntless.

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