Rampant: A Divergent FanFiction (Book Two) ©

Chapter 44

               Too much tension. We’ve reached a breaking point. Can’t lose control now… A faint voice at the back of my mind warned. Electricity seemed to course through my veins, and it felt as if every cell in my body were vibrating with the need to touch her. Grinding my teeth, I mustered up all the self-control I could find.

               “What?” I demanded when all Ally did was look up at me. Though my tone was harsh, in reality all I wanted to do was pull her close.

               “You,” she cleared her throat, and then gave me a narrowed look. “You didn’t have to do that before, agree with Banks and humiliate me in front of everyone. I mean, I know we’re not friends anymore, but to be purposefully cruel? I didn’t think you’d stoop so low.”

               “I didn’t have to do anything to humiliate you,” I shot back defensively. “You did that yourself by completely losing it in front of everyone.” Smooth Stronghold, smooth. “What happened in there?”

               “As if you care. I saw you, your face was disgusted when I came out of the room.” She glared. “And then you were shamelessly flirting with Jade. What happened to keeping it professional? Or did that only apply to me?”

               “Flirting with Jade?” I repeated, completely dumbfounded. “What are you talking about?”

               “How did she put it? Oh yeah. ‘Hey big guy, like, come find me and stuff,’” Ally said sarcastically as she attempted to mimic Jade’s cadence. She gave the end of her hair an ostentatious twirl, and then batted her eyes dramatically. “The only thing left for her to say was rawr!”

               “So she’s a little extroverted, it’s not a big deal. Candor girls are always outgoing like that,” I protested. “Besides, what you’ve just described are all Jade’s actions, I don’t see how I’m involved.”

               “Your eyes were all over her,” she insisted. She glanced at my belt. “And you didn’t seem to mind at all when she tried to tow you around with her finger.”

               “She wasn’t towing me anywhere,” I said as I crossed my arms, though admittedly, that had felt a little like a breach of my personal bubble. “And my eyes were definitely not on her.” Because they were on you.

               “Not on her? Hah!” She said dryly. “Liar, so much for those candor results of yours.”

               “Liar?” I hissed. Leaning down, I suddenly had the maddening urge to grab her face and make her look me in the eye. I wanted to embrace her and extinguish the mere inches between us. Her lips, I wanted to graze them with my own. “Ally, my entire focus was on you.”

               The passion in my voice seemed to throw her off, and before my eyes, her cheeks began to turn a lush pink.

               “W-well,” she stammered as she cleared her throat and tried to appear aggressive again. “You didn’t have to embarrass me.”

               “That was for your own good,” I said quickly. “I was looking out for your benefits.”

               “My own good?” She interrupted with a snort, craning her head and moving an inch forward so that there was even less space between us. “It seems like you’re always using that as an excuse.”

               “Ally, I couldn’t treat you differently in front of the other initiates and you know it.” I said with frustration. “Now tell me, what truly happened to you in the fear landscape? Never before had I seen you that unhinged.”