The Brave and the Broken

Who Cares

     I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my head, letting out an exaggerated breath. "Sure, whatever. I'll be there," I replied, winking back then rolling my eyes again. I dropped my hands to my sides. A smirk from Ben and a shy smile from the other kid were the only response I got. After a moment of silence, I turned to leave.

     "Well, see you there, Greenie," Ben said as I walked off.

     "See you there, Ben." I smiled in spite of myself. He was quite cocky, but at least he wasn't a total dickhead. I walked past the gardens and decided instead to go there, hoping to find Newt. I found him and walked over.

     "A bonfire, huh?" I said upon approaching.

     "Huh? Oh. Yeah, we have one every so often. You know, lighten up the bloody mood in this hell-whole."

     "I know exactly what you mean; everyone here acts so weird. Always so secretive, and confusing, and touchy, and moody. And just plain weird, you know? We could use something to cheer everyone up every once in a while. And I haven't even been here that long. And I've been around people even less."

     "Yeah," was all he said. I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen Minho in a while.

     "Hey, where's Minho?" I asked.

     "The buggin' Maze," Newt replied, "where else would he bloody be?"

     "Well, I just thought—I don't know, it's just—well, he was here earlier."

     "Yeah, but that was only to make sure you were okay. As soon as you were up and feeling better, he had to go and do his job just like the rest of us."

     "So, he stayed just to make sure I was okay?"

     "Don't feel so special, he'd do that for anyone. He may act all tough, but he really does care," Newt replied. "Him and Gally, both," he added after the fact. He looked off to something behind me but I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't think much of it.

     I thought back to the moment between me and Gally in the washroom and touched the pocket of my jeans where I had stuffed the bandana he gave me. "Yeah," I said, "him and Gally both."

     "What about me?" I heard from behind me. I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

     "Oh nothing," I said, turning to face Gally. "Just that you're a slimy Shuckface." It was another one of those interesting words the boys loved to use. It came out more naturally than I expected, so I went for it. I heard Newt laugh behind me.

     "Oh really, now?" Gally smirked.

     "Yes sir, Cap" I smirked back and winked at him.

"Cap?"

     "Short for captain, of course, Captian Gally."

     "Of course," he chuckled. "But if I get a nickname, you get one too."

     "Oh yeah?"

     "Yeah."

     I smiled and licked my teeth. "What is this brilliant nickname, then?"

     He thought about it for a moment and eventually settled on "Em".

     "Em?"

     "Yeah."

     "Like, the letter 'm' or, like, 'e' and then 'm'?"

     "I don't know... either one, I guess."

     "Okay..."

     "Hey, if you're calling her 'Em', then I'm calling you 'Gal'" Newt chimed in.

     "Gal?" I asked.

     "Yeah, he's only gonna call you by the first part of your name so I'll only call him by the first part of his bloody name."

     "That's stupid," Gally said.

     I glared at him then looked back at Newt. "Is not," he said.

     "No, Gally has a point; it's kinda ridiculous," I replied. "And 'Em' is much better than 'Gal'"

     "No, you're right; I was joking."

     "Okay..." No one talked for a moment and I realized it was getting awkward so I wanted to break the silence. "So..." I thought out loud. "Oh, there's a bonfire again tonight, right?"

     Gally looked relieved to have something to talk about again. "Right," he said, "and I plan on you actually being there this time. Y'know, not fainting."

     "Haha, very funny," I replied, rolling my eyes. He chuckled. But still no real smile. I found myself wondering yet again if he ever smiled full-on. Or, frankly, if anyone here other than Newt and I ever smiled full-on.