Why Can't I Hate You?

~1~

We were strangers. Every single one of us. I remember the day I first came up in the box, surrounded by a flock of boys I had never met before, all staring down at me with wide eyes and open mouths. My memories were gone. All I had were these strangers, who took me into their home and accepted me as one of their own. That, and the name given to me, didn't really feel like mine.

Today, the box would come up again with another stranger. I hoped it would be another girl, but there hasn't been another one since my arrival. I laced up my shoes, planting my feet on the floor in unison and headed out into the heart of the glade.

People were already out working. Building, cooking, gardening, you name it. There was no room for slackers here. The busy chatter of the gladers hung in the air and made me feel at ease as I made my way towards the medjack hut.

"Good afternoon, sleeping beauty. What time do you call this?" Jeff folded his arms in amusement.

I cracked a smile at him. "Work time?"

He shook his head with a snicker. The thing I loved most about being a medjack was getting to be around Jeff all day. Boredom was non-existent.

"It's noon, the day's almost over!"

I picked up a crate full of medical supplies and started organising them into their places. "I didn't sleep last night. I couldn't pull myself out of bed at dawn even if I tried."

"You're lucky Alby is fond of you Y/n" He sat on one of the badly made beds, it creaking when he put his weight on it "He doesn't let anyone else get away with oversleeping."

"Yes, bloody lucky."

Newt stood by the door, arms crossed like a little kid. Scowling as usual. He was second in command, which empowered him to boss us around, and I just happened to be his favourite victim. "You should be working overtime to make up for your lateness."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not like we get many people here anyway, other than the occasional slicer or cook."

"Regardless, everyone else is working their arses off while you get to snore in bed, so do your damn job."

He took off, and I angrily finished the rest of my work. Who did he think he was? Some sort of god? I could never understand why everyone else liked him so much. He was a complete arsehole. For reasons I can't explain, he hates my guts, but I hate his more.

The familiar sound of the box coming up indicated the greenie's arrival. So me and Jeff abandoned our posts to join the others, crowding around to get a glimpse of the newcomer.

"Hey SheBean," Minho, the keeper of the runners, was standing next to me. Most likely, he just returned from his run in the maze as he had beads of sweat on his forehead. "You think it'll be a girl this time?"

"If only"

"If it's a girl, I'm calling dibs." Ben chuckled.

"You can't call dibs on a person!" I exclaimed.

Ben groaned and pouted, clearly over- exaggerating on purpose. " That ain't fair, someone already called dibs on you."

If it weren't for the box halting at a stop, Ben's statement may have blown it right over my head. However, the box did stop making its usual racket, and my eyebrows furrowed closely, my eyes widening in shock. "Wait- What?"

I stumbled forward as Gally pushed through the swarm of people to get to the box. Minho grabbed a hold of my arm tightly, keeping me upright. Ben had become lost in the horde.

Someone fell flat on the ground, face in the grass. Everyone laughed, circling around him. This is the new greenie, then? I felt sorry for him, I knew how he was feeling in this moment, and the gladers were all making fun of his confusion.

Then he bolted.

"Looks like we've got a runner!" Zart yelled.

He sprinted for about fifty meters before he tripped and rolled onto the ground. Laughter erupted again from the swarm. That was when Alby called it all off and told everyone to get back to work. I shrugged at Minho before he jogged away to the map room.

"Y/n!" Alby waved to me, standing next to the greenie. I walked over, praying internally that he wouldn't bring up my late morning. "This is Y/n, greenie, our one and only girl."

I looked at him. He was decent looking, with brown hair and brown eyes. He held out his hand, which I took. "Nice to meet you, Greenie. Sorry about that whole thing back there. Sometimes, they get overexcited."

"You're the only girl around here?" The curiosity in my voice intrigued me. Most greenie's would just silently accept their new fate, but this one, he asked questions.

"That's me. It's one of a kind. If any of the guys are giving you a hard time, you can always come talk to me."

"Always playing the nice girl, aren't we love?"

My jaw clenched so hard, I thought I might have chipped a tooth. He always turns up at the worst possible moments. "You should try it, Newt. I know it's completely against your nature to be nice, but who knows, maybe you'll be less of a slinthead."

"I'd avoid this one if I was you, Greenie." He stares into my eyes with almost satisfaction, like he could see the steam boiling from me. "She's a bit... mad in the head."

"You little-"

"That's enough," Alby threw his arm between us. "Both of you get back to work while I give the Greenie the tour. If I see you within a metre of each other, it's dishes duty all week."

"Gladly," I scowled, storming off and getting as far away as possible.