"Rita! We're up here!" Tamino's voice comes from the attic, since the apartment building is so old and Rita's family is the only one that lives there, they have plenty of room. She's not surprised the thin walls manage to carry her brother's voice across the flat.
The ladder wiggles under Rita's weight, she peaks into the attic where Tamino and her "sister" Ada, are playing with what looks to be a train set. "Woah, what's that?" Rita can't help the excitement in her voice, they never had such nice toys when they were younger. Tammi answers before turning back to help Ada set it up, "Does it work?" Rita asks as she sits on the floor near it.
"Dunno, about to find out aren't we?" Ada claps her hands in excitement as Tammi plus the cord in. A spark flies from the outlet before the train begins moving slowly.
Three pairs of brown eyes meet as they all smile brightly at the amazing thing before them. "Where'd you get it?" Rita asks her brother and his face grows sheepish.
Ada answers for him, "Tammi took me to the trash yard and got it!" Rita knows that Ada's old enough to understand secrecy. "What?" Ada asked, eyes wide, "Ritty was gonna find out anyway, dummy." Rita laughed at Ada poking fun at Tamino but their brother just rolled his eyes.
"Why are we just sitting here? Let's crash this thing!" Rita exclaimed with a big smile as she picked up her old rag doll. It wasn't long ago when she played with Ruth every day, everywhere Rita went, Ruth followed. But now Ruth was Ada's doll, Rita outgrew toys very young and in their absence, she turned to books and indulged in any information she could find.
It's why Rita works as a tutor in the first place, she managed to teach herself a lot with the help of her parents and cousin David since he's not much older than Rita.
The three siblings, despite their age differences, began playing with the toys and before they knew it, the sun was setting over the city.
—
"Rita Rose" The sound of her mother's voice startles Rita, to say the least.
She meets Tammi's eyes, "Does she sound mad to you? I can't tell?" Tamino offers no help as he just shrugs and continues playing with Ada. In that moment, Rita wishes she could be twelve years old again... naive and young, still a child in some ways. With that thought, Rita stands up and ruffles Ada's short black hair. "Don't have too much fun without me, guys."
"We won't, Tammi's not as fun as you are, Ritty."
As Rita climbs down the ladder, she hears the beginning of an argument start between Tamino and Ada... she shakes her head, old habits die hard. "Yea, ma?" As soon as she steps into the front room, Rita sensed something was off. Then she settles her brown eyes on who -- or rather who caused the sensation.
A blonde woman, clearly not factionless from the way she is dressed in a typical Candor outfit, stood by the door. Black and white, transparency, Rita thinks. "Hello, Rita, my name is Candance," She extends a hand toward Rita and the young woman stares at Candance for a moment. The only thoughts in Rita's head are about how Candance sounds like Candor.
"Shake her hand, Rita." The sound of her mother's voice makes Rita blink before smiling at Candance. Rita shakes the woman's hand before letting her mother do the same. "My name is Zahara, welcome. You may sit if you like."
The couch, which typically looks like a patchwork of different fabrics, had a blanket expertly covering Zahara's attempts at making it last longer. "I'm fine with standing, this shouldn't take much time." Candance shifts her eyes to Rita, "We've been watching your progress with your students, Rita and to say the least, we are impressed."
"That I'm smart or that they're not?" Rita bites on her tongue after the words slip out, she can see the glare her mother sends her way because of it.
Candance merely smiles at Rita's response, "Because of how good of a teacher you are, your progress with the Abnegation students especially. So many good things have been said about you. And because of that, I, on behalf of all of the factions, have an offer you can't refuse."
Something about Candance's intonation makes Rita uncomfortable, "Thank you... uh, what's the offer?" Rita asks nervously.
"To put it simply, we're offering you a place in the choosing ceremony." Rita's eyebrows draw downward. She doesn't understand.
"What do you mean? A place. Like... I get to choose a faction?"
"Exactly so," Candance nods.
Rita's eyes widen as she looks to her mother who looks equally surprised. "Wait till baba hears about this," With that statement, the door is opened and in comes David.
"What's with that car outside? Haven't seen one like that in age--" He pauses as he looks Candance up and down, "We're not in trouble are we?" Rita can hear the suspiciousness in his voice as she shakes her head no. "Then what's with this one?" He points at Candance.
Zahara's smile is contagious, "She said they're letting Rita join a faction, how amazing does that sound?"
David's uneasy smile falls, "Sounds like bullshit, how do you know she's not lying?"
The atmosphere in the small living room feels electric. Rita didn't have enough time to even process the original offer, she wasn't even able to consider if it were a hoax. "I can assure you, it's very much not bullshit,." Candance extends a hand toward Rita's mother and Zahara takes the file confidently.
"I suggest you return back with your answer soon because chances like these are far and few in between." And with that, Candace walks out the door silently. Rita and David look at one another and Zahara reads the file.
"I did not like the energy that lady was putting off, this whole house feels bad now."
Rita lets out a sigh, "David why'd you have to go and do that?"
"Some factioned is in our apartment and I'm not allowed to make her uncomfortable?"
Zahara exclaims loudly, ignoring the tension between Rita and David, "Oh my!" If possible, her smile grew even larger than before.
"What is it?" Rita questions.
"If you take the offer, they'll compensate us by giving us double your pay... Rita this could be good for all of us." Her mother suggests and with those words, Rita can already tell she's in for a ride.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
