Revelation | ✓

Chapter 16

A week later we have no plan on how to get back at the factionless. Of course, it was voted upon and agreed on the matter with Jack- everyone was for him joining us and accepting him into our ranks, but only on one condition, which he agreed to without complaint.

"So you're sort of like a princess around here, aren't you?" He asks one day.

I raise an eyebrow. "What?"

He shrugs. "Well you figure, your dad is a Dauntless leader and your mom might as well be, and you're always doing this." Usually I make my rounds with Ryde- giving out some old clothes in good condition to the people that need it, giving the kids on the verge of flinging themselves into the chasm some moral support. But we haven't talked for days, and so I'm with Jack for now.

"Point? I just like to help people. If it weren't for Ryde, I might be in their shoes. And I'm not talking about the people that just need some new clothes."

He looks completely baffled. "What do you mean?"

He questions me for the next hour, but I tell him nothing. When we're done I turn to him. "Look, I'm not going to tell you anything more about it, got it? Just...don't bring it up. Especially not in public."

He nods, defeated. "Alright, so what's next?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I need to go clear my head. Take a walk, ya know? I have a lot to think about right now."

He nods. "Alright. Talk to you later?"

"Definitely."

He shoves his hands into his pockets and slowly walks away, as if he's waiting for me to change my mind.

I make sure no one's watching and go down to our usual spot by the chasm. Hopefully, he's here.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

And sure enough, Ryde is there. It's almost like he was waiting for me. Maybe he was, I think. I shake it off- what a stupid thing to assume, especially when he can be kissing his slutty girlfriend, Elissa.

I sit down on the rock next to him, not saying anything.

After a minute, he speaks. "Oh, so now you're alone without that asshole."

I look over at him in surprise- Ryde rarely swears when talking about people. He must really hate Jack, which makes me angry. He doesn't even know him!

I play it off. "You act as though I'm always around him."

"Because you are! I haven't been able to so much as look at you without him just popping up near you! It's like he's a parasite or a leech or something." He grits his teeth.

"Why do you hate him so much?" I ask. "You two just met. You've barely talked. What gives you the right to make snap decisions about him like that?"

He glares at me. "You have no idea how much I've talked to him. And you have no idea what the hell he's said to me. Maybe if you knew, you wouldn't be so quick to fall at his feet." He gets up to leave.

I stand up too. "Oh, come on, Ryder! Just admit that you're jealous because I have another friend that's a guy!"

"You think I'm jealous?" He whips around, eyes blazing with fury. "I'm not jealous, Vae. I'm just really freaking pissed at him for doing whatever it is he's doing here, and at you for falling for it!"

"Falling for what?" I ask. "The fact that he's nice? The fact that unlike you, he hasn't been throwing me the cold shoulder and making out with his slut of a girlfriend that cheated on him two times whenever I walk into the room? Because if that's it, then I guess you aren't the person I thought you were all these years."

He lets out a frustrated huff and runs his hands through his hair, pulling at it. A black feeling opens up in me, swallowing up my anger. I've heard of people fighting like this with their friends before- usually after it they don't speak again.

I don't want that to happen. Not with Ryde.

"God, I hate fighting with you." He mutters.

"I hate fighting with you too." I chew on my lower lip, looking up at him through my eyelashes. I've never felt so afraid. I can feel our friendship stretched thin, forming a clear barrier between us. It's like how it was on the railing- tip one way, I lose Ryde. Tip the other, and we can mend it. "Let's just...try to put this whole thing behind us. Okay?"

He nods. "Okay." I open my mouth, but he claps a hand over it. "Nope. No apologies."

I smile and peel his hand away. "Alright. No apologies. Got it."

He grins. "Want to go get some cake?"

"Arguing makes you hungry?" 

He shrugs. "Not really. I could just go for some cake."

"Only if it's chocolate." I grin.

He laughs. "Of course."