" WHITE BLOOD " T. MAZE RUNNER¹

eight.

[CHAPTER EIGHT]

~

Later that day, after Eleanor had finished up her work at the Blood House, she lay on the cot in her and Minho's room. Her nose was buried in a random book that she had found on the single dresser in the room, her eyebrows pulled together in concentration. She tried to focus on reading the book, though her mind kept wandering away from the words printed on the page.

She began to wonder when she was taught how to read, and who taught her. Was it her mother, her father- perhaps an older sibling? She couldn't remember learning how to read, and yet she did it so fluently, and this saddened her. Her mind then began to wander to the events of earlier that day. She had seen a boy standing in the Maze, calling out to her as if he were begging her to come to him. And yet the boys looked at her as if she were crazy when she told them so. She could still taste in her mouth the coppery taste of whatever black substance that she had thrown up.

Eleanor was so busy drowning in her thoughts that she hadn't heard the door of her room squeak open, and the floorboards creak as someone entered the room. That is, until she heard the sound of Nick's voice. "Sorry for pushing you earlier. I just didn't want you to put yourself in danger."

Eleanor looked up from her book, startled by the sudden voice in the room. She stared at Nick for a moment, slightly confused, before responding. "Oh, it's fine," she said simply before looking back to her book.

"We're having a bonfire tonight," Nick informed her.

"Why?" Eleanor asked without looking up from her reading.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nick shrug. "I like to have them every once in a while. It reminds the shanks that our new lives don't have to be so gloomy and boring. It helps us act like the kids we still are."

Eleanor, seeing sense in his words, nodded slowly. She looked up at him once more, a small smile on her lips. "Am I allowed to come, or am I being punished for taking a single step into the Maze?"

"You can come," replied Nick quietly. "In fact, I came up here to ask you if you would like to come down now- you know, help prepare."

Eleanor shrugged, closing her book and setting it on the bedside table that was between her and Minho's cots. "Sure, I'll come."

Once outside of the Homestead, Eleanor immediately noticed Newt standing beside Alby in front of a large pile of logs. The blonde boy turned to look at her, his eyebrows pulled together as he noticed her walking beside Nick, though a smile formed on his face as he limped over to her.