Opia (Newt x OC) -The Maze Runner-

Chapter 7

The next morning Flora woke up feeling heavy. The stress of the night before weighed on her chest. She laid in her cot and stared up at the ceiling. She lifted her arm and unwrapped the bandage, revealing the scabbing wounds from yesterday. Running her fingers over the uneven skin, she shut her eyes and sighed. She was expecting to go outside and be swarmed by concern and questions. Reluctantly, she rolled out of bed and slipped on her shoes.

As expected, the Glade was already bustling with hard work and people looked up to watch her walking through the grass. She walked swiftly and tried to make her way to Alby as soon as possible. Finally, she spotted him outside Council Hall.

"Alby?" She said sheepishly. The older boy turned to face her.

"Flora, what happened last night? Are you sick?" He asked urgently. Flora shook your head furiously.

"No. No, I just, uh...I don't know." She stuttered over her lack of explanation.

"Are you sure? Do you need to take today off? We may be able to manage without you for today."

"No, I'll work today. I'm...fine." Her voice trailed off and one of her legs gave out for a split second. The realization that she had skipped dinner last night and not eaten any breakfast came to her and she suddenly felt weak. Alby grabbed her arms when her leg buckled.

"Ok, you're not working today, shank, and that's final. Go eat something and rest. Tomorrow you can jump back in." He said sternly. Flora opened her mouth to protest but he insisted and she looked down at her feet. She agreed against her will and turned to leave.

Without much choice, Flora walked to the kitchen. Frypan was cleaning up from breakfast and noticed her come in.

"Hey, there you are. I saved you a plate." He greeted her warmly and placed a generous plate of eggs on the counter. Flora took a seat and began to eat slowly. Fry turned to her and leant over the counter to look at her.

"I heard about what happened in the dining hall. Are you okay?" He asked kindly.

"I'm fine, Fry." Flora grumbled, pushing the eggs around her plate with a fork. Fry sensed the tone in her voice and backed off a little.

"Hey, I know people are probably gonna keep bringing it up. And you probably would like to move on, but just know it's because we care about you."

Flora smiled and slowly began to eat.

"Thanks, Fry." She mumbled through a mouthful of eggs. She sat and talked with him and ate her breakfast, staying longer than expected. Since she didn't have to leave to get to work, she stayed in the kitchen with Fry for hours.

By lunchtime, boys start to trickle in and get their food on the way to the dining hall. As they passed through, some of them stop to ask you how she are and what happened. She told them all it a "girl thing", which was enough to silence any further questions.

After a while, Newt came into the kitchen and sat beside her at the counter. Fry went off to eat his own lunch in the dining hall, leaving Flora and Newt sitting together. They were both quiet for a while, neither of them sure of what to say.

"So," Newt said finally, "You left me to do all the work by myself today."

Flora let out a quiet chuckle.

"Sorry, shank. Alby made me take the day off." She replied with a shrug. He nodded in agreement.

Flora's chest tightened and she took a deep breath. She wanted to explain everything but she wasn't sure how. It was quiet again for a while until she finally found the courage to speak.

"Hey, um... remember when we talked about the possibility of me maybe having some kind of magic power?" She began nervously.

"Sure. Why?" Newt turned to face her.

"Well....uh, you were right." She worriedly bit the inside of her lip. Slowly, Newt's eyes widened and he smiled a little.

"Are you serious?" He exclaimed.

"Please be quiet." Flora said and anxiously looked around to see if anyone was within earshot.

"What is it?" Newt whispered, leaning closer to her.

"It's kind of complicated. I'm not sure how much I can do, but it seems like I can manipulate liquids? At first I thought it was just with water but then..." She trailed off and gulped nervously.

"Then, what?" Newt urged her to continue. Flora swallowed the lump in her throat and forced the words to come out.

"Yesterday, with Gally. When he said I burned him...he wasn't lying." She paused and Newt squinted in confusion.

Flora continued, "When I grabbed his wrist I could...feel his...blood. Moving through his arm. And it felt so gross but I was so fired up I guess I burned his blood? Which sounds so brutal but I didn't mean to." She stopped and waited for Newt to respond, hoping she hadn't freaked him out too badly.

"That's...." He began. Flora winced, unsure of his reaction.

"That's bloody awesome!" He said brightly.

"Shh!" She shushed him again. He rolled his eyes.

"No one's around. It's fine." He said, "So when did you find out?"

"A week ago, maybe. But please, please, please don't tell anyone. I have no idea how they'll react. I could get in trouble."

"What no one else knows?" Newt wondered.

"Why would I tell anyone else?" Flora replied, then remembered the one other person that did actually know.

"Well, actually," She started. Newt looked at her expectantly.

"Chuck knows, too. He found out by accident." She almost laughed a little.

"Chuck? And you're worried about me blabbing?" Newt chuckled. Flora joined him in the laughter, but just a moment later her face turned serious again.

"The other night with the fire? That was me. Again I didn't mean to but...I did it. It scares me. I feel like it's out of my control." She sighed.

"You could try to practice." Newt suggested with a shrug.

"I have. I go to the stream in the woods all the time. But I've barely improved. And now I can apparently work with any liquid and I'm not used to that."

"Well, in the meantime. Why don't we go to the stream now and you can show me what you've practiced." Newt nudged her with his elbow.

"Why should I?" Flora smirked.

"It'll be an enriching experience." He said seriously, trying to keep a straight face.

"Yeah, right." She snorted, "You just want to see what I can do."

"Maybe. So are we gonna go?"

"Fine." Flora sighed and stood up. She grabbed Newt's wrist and pulled him away from the counter and out of the kitchen.