Jewel's POV
It's as if I never spoke to Eric to begin with. Ever since Natalie showed up, he has avoided me like the plague. She made her presence known over a week ago and since then Eric has made little to no appearances.
Work has been tough without him around. I am his assistant and it's hard to assist someone that you never see.
Every morning I walk into his office and there's a piece of paper with a list of things to do. He's become a ghost.
Honestly, I'm angry. He has no right to stay away like this and keep me wondering. He owes me an explanation. Something.
Things have gone back to the way they once were. Jake and I see each other every day and Addie has made a reappearance in my life. She apologized several times for the way she acted and like the softy that I am, I forgave her almost instantly. Truth is, I just need people around me to distract me from this never ending storm that is Eric.
"When's the last time you saw him?" Addie questions as she comes the back of my hair with a brush. I sit on the edge of her bed and think, interlocking my fingers and then letting them fall to my sides.
"The other day. He was coming out of the cafeteria with Max." The look he gave me when he saw me was one of complete hate. I don't understand. Did I do something?
"And this Natalie girl, is she still at Dauntless?"
I hadn't thought about that. Did Natalie ever leave?
Addie begins braiding my hair as my mind searches for impossible answers.
What if she's still here?
Jake walks into the room just when I'm going into deep thought. He plops down on the bed next to us eating an apple.
"Heard that someone at Amity got killed."
My eyes widen in horror. I pull away from Addie and look at Jake intently.
"Who? When?" I sound panicked.
Jake shrugs his shoulders and takes another bite. "Dauntless patrols found the body by the fence a couple of hours ago but apparently the guy's been dead for a couple of days."
I think my heart stops. Eric's voice rings in my ears. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him.
"Do you know how he died?" I calm myself slightly so not to raise suspicion in front of my friends.
He examines the apple carefully before throwing it across the room and into the trash can. "Someone broke his neck."
That sounds like something Eric would do.
"But I doubt anyone is going sweat over an Amity getting killed. No offense, Jewls." Jake looks at me and smiles. I let out a shaky laugh, returning to my former position so that Addie can finish the braid.
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I'm surprised I can even walk from how bad I'm shaking. Eric's apartment is only a few more steps away and I have to keep telling myself to not turn back around.
Don't do it.
Knocking seems inappropriate for some reason but my fist comes up to the door and my knuckles connect with hard wood. I hear voices from the other side. A female voice to be exact.
I cringe as to what is to happen next. Eric forcefully pulls open the door and he glares down at me. Natalie comes up behind in that moment.
"What is she doing here?" She spits as she clutches onto Eric's arm. He pulls away from her and pushes me out of the doorway and back into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
He looms over me, not giving me any space. "What are you doing here?" His teeth grind together as he speaks. Where is all this hostility coming from?
I try to step back from him but he follows my movement and I'm suddenly trapped between him and the cold stone wall behind me. I look up into his eyes, searching for answers.
"What's going on, Eric? 1 minute we're fine the next, you're stomping around acting like you hate me. Some Erudite girl is held up in your apartment, who apparently hates me by the way and then I find out today that someone from Amity got killed. Sorry, if I'm just a little confused." I should probably be worried that he could lash out at me, hurt me. Physically and emotionally.
He continues to glare as he takes yet another step towards me, his body now leaning into mine, making it almost hard to breath.
"You don't get to question me. And if you know what's good for you, you won't come back here again." The way he said here sounds like he's implying that his apartment isn't a safe place to be. It's like he's warning me of something.
His right thumb comes up and grazes over my hip bone and I have to stop myself from falling into his touch. He looks at me one more time with sorrow in his eyes. It quickly disappears, though and he grabs my arm roughly shoving me in the direction that I came.
"Don't come back here again, Amity." He yells at me.
Sorry for taking so long to update and sorry that this chapter isn't that long. I'm working in a time crunch. I can't promise I'll update tomorrow. I'm going out of town. Sunday is probably when you should expect another update. Comment and Vote! I haven't forgotten about all my wonderful readers.
