I nervously tug down my shirt as I look at myself in the mirror. At sixteen, I'm supposed to be taller, curvier, just a lot more…grown up, I guess? I inspect my image with critical eyes. My feet are encased in my lucky high-tops, which are raggedy and coming apart but loved nevertheless. I haven't shaved since last night, so my legs are a little prickly. My gray denim capris hit right below the knee. My soft, faded black tee clings slightly to my waist but has room on the shoulders. I sigh and look at my silhouette. I'd be lying if I said I saw a hint of curves. My light blonde hair is in a ponytail, mostly because I really don't care enough to make it look nice. My nose occupies too much space on my thin face. At least my eyes look good. They're probably my favorite part about me, gray-blue with a certain twinkle about them. My friend Susan always said that with a little makeup, my eyes could knock out anyone who dared to stare at me. Of course, we were twelve at the time and going through our "rebellious teenage phase"- neither of us actually had the intention of trying anything of the sort. My parents always taught that modesty was the best, and makeup for them was like a gateway to skimpy clothing. I didn't blame them, to be honest. I've always been repulsed by girls who cake on the makeup, and I just don't have the time or effort to put it on anyway.

"Beatrice?" I wince as my mom calls my name. I sound like my great-grandmother. After all, I was named after her. "Ready to go?"

I adjust my shirt again. "Coming in a second!" We had just moved to Chicago, and it was a world away from our little town in Oregon. With a new house came a new youth group. Today, I was going to my new church's youth group, named Dauntless. My parents had made me go to youth group every Wednesday at our old church as soon as I was of age. It wasn't that I minded, but our old youth group, called Abnegation, had always felt a little lacking. There were only four people in the entire youth group: me, Susan, my older brother Caleb, and Susan's twin brother Robert. Usually, one of the pastors would be assigned to teach that night and would drone on about rules, rules, and more rules. I mean, wasn't Christianity supposed to be all about grace and Jesus and discipleship? What I had liked about our youth group, though, were the community service projects. We had two every month, and I loved tending to the homeless in the church's soup kitchen and serving in the food pantry.

"Beatrice! You're going to be late!" I hear my mom's exasperated voice and realize I have been thinking for way too long. I find my Bible and grab my purse as I run out the door.

A/N Hey guys, I'm really glad you stopped by to read my fanfic! This is my first fanfiction, so I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if you guys would give me some constructive criticism about my writing. Also some tips about how this whole website works would be really helpful, because everything is so vague, argh! Please leave reviews!