Urgent

Chapter 2

The tests begin after lunch. The test administrators call ten names at a time, one for each testing room. 

Currently, I'm sitting at the end of one of the long tables in the cafeteria with the rest of the Abnegation. At the moment, I was lying down on the bench, my head in Caleb's laps while she played with my hair. 

Beatrice was engaging in small talk with Susan Black, another Abnegation girl whom I didn't like. Beatrice had always accused me of disliking because Susan had feelings for Caleb and I was just jealous. 

I had told her to shut up. 

While the Abnegation table is almost dead silent - the other factions are talking with their friends amicably. Laughing with each other. Playing fun games. Gossiping. All the things the Abnegation are forbidden from doing, since fun is a foreign word to them.

Even the Erudite look like they are having more fun than us - the Erudite who permanently had a stick stuck up their a -

'From Abnegation: Ariadne Graves and Caleb Prior,' said one of the Abnegation volunteers. Caleb untangled his fingers from my hair, gently pushing my head aside before standing up and leaving. I did the same, following him down the hallway. 

'Remember, the test doesn't affect your choice,' I said blankly. It was the words which I had memorized. The words which his parents had been repeating since yesterday. It was those words which made him smile sadly at me.

'Good luck.'

Waiting for us outside the cafeteria is a row of ten rooms. They are used only for the aptitude tests, so I have never been in one before. Unlike the other rooms in the school, they are separated, not by glass, but by mirrors.

I look at myself in the mirror - unable to help myself even though looking at one's reflection is forbidden in our faction. I am more pale than usual, and I seem to be a radiating a nervous energy. 

Caleb smiles at me one last time before walking into room 5. I walk into the room beside his, room 6, where I am greeted by a Dauntless woman. 

She is not as severe looking as some of the young Dauntless I have seen. She has small, dark, angular eyes and wears a black blazer - like a man's suit - and jeans. It isn't until she closes the door that I notice the tattoo on the back of her neck. A tattoo of a black-and-white hawk with a red eye. 

'What does it mean?' Her eyebrows raise in surprise at my question, and for a few seconds she says nothing before giving me an answer.

'In some parts of the ancient world, the hawk symbolized the sun. Back when I got this, I figured if I always had the sun on me, I wouldn't be afraid of the dark.' I stare at her in awe before looking around the room in which I will be taking the test. 

Mirrors cover the inner walls of the room. I can see my reflection from all angles: the gray fabric hanging loose around my slender figure. My hands are shaking, and I'm paler than usual.

The ceiling glows white with light. In the centre of the room is a reclined chair, like a dentist's, with a machine next to it. It looks like a place where terrible things happen.

'Should I be worried?' I ask, eying the chair warily. The woman shakes her head, though I don't miss the amused smile on her face.

'Just take a seat,' she says, gesturing at the chair. Rather hesitantly, I sit down. 'I'm Tori, by the way.' I open my mouth to say name, before dismissing the thought. She already knows my name - I didn't have to personally tell her.

So, I don't say anything and instead recline the chair. It may look like a torture machine, but it is oddly comfortable. I lean back my head, and immediately close my eyes as the bright light flashes directly in my eyes. Who are they trying to blind?