Lean On Him

When we entered the school we were lead to the waiting area; normally known as the cafeteria. We followed the other Amity student to a table and took a seat. Unfortunately Alexander found his seat right next to me pressing against my side. I looked at Christian and tried to shove him over but he held his spot and I could see the laughter in his eyes. I narrowed my eyes at him vowing payback later as I settled in waiting for it to quiet down.

Looking up I notice an Erudite woman standing up front watching and waiting for the students to settle before she began to speak.

“Good morning, my name is Rebecca Cauthen and I will be over seeing the testing today. Five names will be called at a time to come back to perform the test. Remember that while the test will tell you where you would be suited it is ultimately up to you to choose your faction. Thank you and let’s begin.”

I didn’t hear the first few names as I sat waiting but I felt when Alexander got up to take his test. About fifteen minutes later I felt him return and when he sat down it was a little further away from me. They called a few more groups of names I heard them call Christian. I look over as he gets up and mouth good luck at him.

When he returns he smiles at me and nods. I let out a smile still worried about myself but relieved that Christian was good. I hear my name in the next group and feel Christian squeeze my hand as I get up nodding at me and whispers I’ll be fine. It takes less time than I thought it would to get to the testing room.

When I walk in the first thing I notice is how white the room is. I see someone beside me and when I turn my head it’s just my reflection, apparently on of the walls is covered completely by a mirror. I turn away and notice an Abnegation man waiting patiently as I take in the room.

“Good morning. You can have a seat”, he says as he motions to a reclining chair like a dentist would use. Once I sit he hands me a small glance with a clear liquid in it. I just stare it not sure what he wants me to do.

He smiles, “You drink it to start the test”. I stare at it for another minute before bringing the glass to my lips and swallowing the liquid as quickly as possible. I hand the glass back and stare at the ceiling for a minute before turning to ask what is supposed to happen when I notice I’m alone. I stand up and head towards where the door was to find it no longer there.

“Hello” I call out. I move closer to the mirror thinking maybe there was a way out by it when I notice something behind me. Turning I see two stands on one there is a large hunk of cheese and the other a knife.

I jump a little when a voice I don’t know calls out, “Choose”.

I don’t hesitate when I reach for the knife. I turn when the stands disappear and I hear a snarl behind me. It’s from a large brown dog with black eyes bearing its teeth at me. I watch as it slowly prowls towards me. I stare at it until it starts towards me. I steady myself and when it lunges I let throw the knife watching as the knife buries into the dogs chest and it drops to the ground in front of me. Sighing I turn to see the door has returned.

When I step through the door I expected to be in the hallway not on a bus. I grab the pole closest to me waiting to see where I was headed. While waiting I notice a man sitting on the bench to my left reading a paper. The newspaper actually caught my attention the main headline reading Murderer on the Loose above a grainy picture of a man’s face. It has been a long time since I last saw or heard the word murder.

The man looks up at me, “Do you know him”?

Feeling that I do know him but feeling it would be a bad to say I do I just shrug my shoulders and look away.

He stands up and asks more forcefully, “Do you know him”?

“No, I don’t” I reply.

“If you know him you could save my life”, he shouts in my face.

“Well, I don’t know him”, I tell him a little angry he’s in my face.

I blink and I’m sitting back in the chair with the Abnegation man beside me smiling.

“Congratulations you have finished. The aptitude test shows you are best suited for Dauntless. You may go back out now. Just remember you are not to discuss your results”.

I sigh I had gotten Dauntless. I feel like a weight has lifted off my shoulders as I head back out to wait for the tests to finish. As I sit down beside Christian I smile and nod letting him know everything was going to plan. He sighs as well and smiles. I notice Alexander is still tense sitting there. I don’t understand why as we all know he will stay in Amity. When everyone has finished with the test we are allowed to go back home to think about what which faction we will choose at The Choosing Ceremony tomorrow.

After the quiet ride home me and Christian head to our separate rooms to change before going for a run. When I arrive my parents are still out working so I quickly change into my running shoes before heading down to meet Christian.

As soon as I saw him I sprinted into a run right past him. I heard him laugh as he ran to keep up. When we finished we stopped on the far side of the field to wait for Maloki and Kristopher.

“I can’t believe we finally made it, tomorrow we head to Dauntless”, I smile as I say it. “It’s been such a crazy year and it’s finally over”.

“I have to admit I was worried we wouldn’t get what we wanted even after all the training or that we would get different factions”.

“I know I was worried as well”.

“Well we weren’t”, I heard Kristopher say from behind us. I run over to him and he catches me into a hug, laughing. When he sets me down I stare up into his eyes. Okay maybe my crush hasn’t left me completely I can still get lost in those dark eyes. I let out a small scream when I’m grabbed from behind.

“Hey no forgetting me now”, Maloki laughs throwing me over his shoulder. I can’t help but laugh as well.

When my feet are finally settled back on the ground we all sit down.

“So, it was all fine just like we said it would be”, Maloki asks.

“Of course, you were the ones who trained us after all”, Christian responds.

“Then what was that we heard about being worried”, Kristopher asks.

“Just some jitters, it was a big deal you know,” I say.

“Tonight’s the last time we get to train you tomorrow you’ll head to Dauntless Headquarters. There are some things we waited to tell you just in case. Make sure you don’t jump first and stay to the middle of the pack and don’t show off too much,” Maloki explains.

“If you are too far ahead you’ll paint targets on your backs for the other initiates and you don’t want the extra trouble”, Kristopher says.

“I thought you wanted us to be in the front of the pack. I thought that was why you agreed to train us”, Christian says.

“Yes but not in the beginning, the leaders and trainers will expect you to be weak and not know anything. If you show off too much it’ll draw attention to you”, Kristopher answers. “Show how much you improve through the training will and in the end you’ll be higher in the ranks than the others”.

We spend the rest of the time training before returning to the compound to the compound and joining our families for dinner. It is always quiet in the cafeteria the night after tests since we’re supposed to be thinking on which faction to choose.

I go to sleep early that night ready to start my new life tomorrow.