Subject A250: The Fangirl (COMPLETED)

Eleven: Waiting For Waiting in the Rain

The next morning, Alby and Minho entered the maze. Trace watched from a distance as Newt shook hands with the two of them, wishing them luck. With a pang of sadness, Trace suddenly wished she'd arrived earlier. Months earlier, in fact. Maybe then she could've done something to prevent what happened to Newt. Maybe she could've helped him.

She'd arrived far too late.

It wasn't long before Zart came along, grabbed her by the ear, and pulled her over to the fields, telling her to stop staring and start working. He didn't even give her time to have breakfast; she made a mental note to complain to Newt about that later on, considering Alby wouldn't be able to chat for a while now.

Alby.

Alby!

Trace hadn't even said goodbye. She hadn't even made the most of pre-Changing Alby. She'd just watched him go from a distance, knowing he was heading towards a terrible, awful fate.

Trace was an idiot. A real slinthead. Worse than Gally.

Though, the more she thought about it, the less she realised she could've done; she couldn't have stopped Alby from entering the maze, and there was no way he'd take her with him and Minho. She had no way of stopping him from being stung.

Alby was a goner.

Still, maybe this meant he'd die a movie-style death and it wouldn't be as bad. Maybe.

Zart had her weeding the gardens for most of the morning, but by the afternoon, they'd joined forces with Thomas, Newt and Chuck to chop wood. Trace knew this meant her time was near. The moment she loved so dearly.

The rain scene.

She'd get to huddle under shelter with Newt and Thomas, humming her favourite song from the movie. The one she played on repeat.

Waiting in the Rain.

Of course, Alby being stung and Thomas and Minho having to spend a night in the maze was sad and all, but Trace was pretty excited to see it all play out. Besides, she'd always wondered what life was like in the Glade during that night. She assumed it'd be pretty depressing, but maybe she could gain something out of it. Place some bets on Thomas and surprise the other Gladers with her astounding insight.

She'd sort that out when the moment came. Right now, she was having enough difficulty generating enough force to actually cut through the log in front of her.

"But why would Alby go into the maze? I mean, he's not a Runner," Thomas said, after a long silence.

She knew the line. She knew it well. She knew it triggered a wonderful little inspirational pep talk from Newt, but right now, Trace was preoccupied. She was waiting for the rain, so that she could wait in the rain. The sky was overcast, but she hadn't felt one droplet of water yet, and was getting apprehensive. She knew just how intense life was about to get; it was just a matter of the rain coming down first.

"Things are different now. Alby went to retrace Ben's footsteps before sundown."

There was a pause, and Trace suddenly felt as if she was being watched. Still, she peered up at the sky.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, Ace?"

She looked down to the group to find every pair of eyes on her. She'd been staring straight up into the air for a good few minutes now. She supposed that would've looked a bit weird.

"Nothing," she replied, unable to come up with anything remotely witty.

"Then do something. We're all working hard here."