Sapphire Stones

Frypan spills the tea!🍵

"Hey, Fry!" I say happily, bounding over to the Cook. He smiles at me, waving before turning back to the taco meat he's cooking. "Hey, V!" He replies, a smile on his face. Frypan is by far one of the nicest, happiest people in the Glade. He's never without a smile and food, not to mention he loves his job, which just makes him all the more happy. "Saw you and Gally earlier." He raises his eyebrows at me, one hand on his hip while the other stirs the meat.

I feel my face darken, setting Bark down before turning back to Frypan.

"You two don't seem like one of those couples who love PDA. I guess it just surprised me." He shrugs, adding more spices to the meat.

"We're not, but we have our moments, I guess." I reply, my face still red.

"I'm glad you two are together now."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"I mean, it was just sickening to watch you two flirt, but yet not realize that you liked each other. Everyone seemed to know except you guys." He pauses before adding, "He had liked you for so long, too."

"He had?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. Frypan nods.

"I think we all knew he liked you before he knew he did, though. I mean, we all saw the way Gally looked at you. It was like seeing a kid finally look up and realize that there are stars in the sky. He looked at you in a way we'd never seen before. It was obvious that the way he looked at you was the kind that people wait their whole lives for." He pauses again. 

"And it was crazy to see his interactions with you compared to the rest of us. Me, Winston, and a few others seemed to be the only few people he could stand being around, and even then, he was constantly short tempered with us. Then you came. It was like every time he was around you, he was a completely different person. He was constantly looking for you in crowds or sneaking glances at you during work. He'd watch you when you would lay in the grass and make those flower crown things you used to make so much. No matter how crappy his day had been, he'd see you and he seemed to relax. He was always smiling. We'd barely ever seen him smile before."

"I always thought he hated me though. He was so mean to me my first year. He only started being somewhat nice to me around my second year here, but even then, we could only be around each other for short periods of time before we started arguing." I say, trying to recall all the information Frypan just told me.

"He never hated you, Ven. I think he was just mad at himself for starting to let down his walls. He was mad because he started catching feelings for you, so he tried to be mean to see if the feelings would go away. Clearly, they never did."

"So he liked me all that time and I just never noticed? That seems impossible."

"He was good at hiding it around you, I guess. You're also pretty oblivious though."

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not oblivious!" I say, furrowing my eyebrows at the Cook. Frypan turns from the stove to look at me, raising his eyebrows.

"Venus, do you even know how deep Gally's feelings are for you?"

"What do you mean? He likes me and I like him. That's it."

"Then you're even more oblivious than I thought." Frypan mutters.

🪐🪐🪐

"It's hopeless." Minho huffs, sitting down on the bench next to Newt, who's across from me. Ben sits down next to me, grabbing my hand and squeezing it tightly. I look up and notice the tears in his eyes. My heart sinks.

"What was it?" Newt asks, looking over at me quickly before turning his attention back to the Runner beside him.

"Nothing, that's what. It was absolutely fucking nothing."  Minho snaps, running his hands through his hair over and over again. "It was a waste of our fucking time, that's what."

I look up at Ben again, tears forming in my eyes.

"It wasn't...?" I start before trailing off, my voice caught in my throat. He just shakes his head, eyes fixed on the ground. I can tell that it's keeping everything in him to not fall apart right now.

"Was there anything in it?" Newt asks, his voice quiet. Minho shakes his head.

"It was a shit ton of dead ends and loops. We ended up exactly where we started. It was basically like a smaller version of the actual Maze."

"Maybe it was designed to distract you guys." Newt suggests. "Maybe the Creators wanted to-"

"Don't you get it, Newt?!" Minho shouts quietly, still trying to keep his voice down so that the other Gladers eating dinner around us don't hear. "There's nothing out there! This whole place is a trap! We're never gonna escape! We're stuck here for the rest of our miserable, fucking lives!"

A silence falls over our small group as we register what Minho just said. Newt looks over, making eye contact with me. We don't need to say anything to each other. We both know that Minho's right. There's no way out. We're gonna be stuck here for the rest of our lives.

"But maybe-"

"No, Newt." Ben says, his voice quiet. "Minho's right. We've just been running in circles these past three years. We've mapped everything. We know every route, turn, tunnel, and section. We've drawn pictures. We've taken notes on any slight changes. We even built a miniature Maze out of small sticks from the woods. We know everything there is to know about the Maze. This was our last chance. Trust me. There's no way out."

Something about the way Ben said it; how hopeless he sounded, makes everything seem suddenly real. Nobody says anything. Instead, I lay my head on Ben's shoulder, letting my tears silently fall down my cheeks. I give his hand another squeeze, which he returns halfheartedly. 

Newt looks away, directing his gaze to the ground.

Minho's staring at the stone walls, his eyes, sad and hopeless, yet angry.

The four of us sit in silence for the remainder of dinner, saying nothing, yet still comforting each other at the same time. Mine and Ben's occasional sniffles are the only sound that passes between our little group.