Transparent: A Divergent FanFiction (Book One) ©

Chapter 44

                After having gone through so many fear simulations in the past few days; I’d come to learn that more often than not, emotional pain easily outweighed the physical. Watching Randi back away from me, I again felt the stab of agony; like a knife, it cut deep and had me wincing.

                “Please, we need to talk,” I repeated; taking a step back to give her space.

                “About what?” She asked; looking like she was ready to bolt.

                “I think you know what,” I answered softly. “You’ve been acting strange since stage two started, and I’m not the only one who’s noticed. Why have you been avoiding me?”

                “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped hurriedly.

                I looked at her; the way her hands were clenched, how her eyes kept darting away, and how she was talking in a higher register than was normal. She was lying to me, and I hated it. Why didn’t she trust me?

                “Stop lying Randi, please, just stop,” I begged.

                “No, you stop,” Randi hissed, suddenly snapping her head up and glaring at me; all traces of her anxiousness gone. “Stop trying to read me! I’m not some open book for you to figure out!”

                “I wouldn’t have to try if you’d just talk to me,” I retorted back.

                “Maybe I was just trying to spare you! You ever think about that?” She jabbed a slender finger into my chest. “Maybe I finally realized I deserved better than you and I just wanted to spare your feelings. Seriously, I thought you’d get the hint by now.”

                “What?”

                “You heard me you piece of candor-trash,” she hissed. “I. Don’t. Like. You. Okay, do you understand that? I can’t stand you! Now get the hell out of my way and leave me alone.”

                Maybe if I’d been raised in a different mindset, if I’d had another faction, maybe if I just hadn’t wanted to deal with all the drama, I might’ve forced myself to believe her. But that wasn’t the case. Every word, every syllable, that came out of her mouth was so laced with deception that it was all I could do not to plug my ears and start singing at the top of my lungs. I stared at her; pained as I wondered what it was that was making her feel like she had to lie me.

                “Didn’t you hear me? I said, go away,” she growled; trying unsuccessfully to shove me back.

                I didn’t move, didn’t say anything; I just waited and watched her.

                “Damn it Sage, are you deaf? Just leave!” Her lower lip quivered, and then she was pummeling my chest with her small fists. “Are you stupid? Just go away!”

                I stood still while she released her frustrations on me, and then, when it seemed that she’d tired herself out; I held her as she sobbed quietly. I could feel her tears seep through my shirt. I wrapped my arms around her, and she resisted only for a moment before she hugged me back.

                I didn’t say anything. Slowly, her sniffles quieted, and when she seemed calm I pulled back a little and stared down at her. Her red-rimmed eyes met mine, and in them I could see that she seemed resigned. Sometimes to get to the truth, you had to break down barriers; and it was in these times that things could tend to get messy.