Before Thomas {A Maze Runner Fanfiction}

S1-Ep14: Awkward Encounters

"What's on the menu tonight, Frypan?" Minho asked, taking a seat at the table. The friendly boy just smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

"That would be a surprise, my friend." Frypan was already everybody's friend, even though he had been there the least amount of time. It wasn't just that he was the cook--his friendly, approachable manner was accompanied by a slightly chubby, sort of endearing demeanor that drew the others towards him. Ever since the day he'd arrived in the Glade, his clothes had been a mess, and it was no different tonight. Except that the mess was created by a certain, tomato-y substance that Minho thought he would never see again.

"Spagetti?" he said, getting excited. "Now we're talkng!" He tapped his fingers on the table and waited while Frypan brought the pot of spagetti to the table.

"Congragulations Minho, you get the first serving!" Frypan made a swooping bow, and as if they could sense food, the other Gladers started pouring around the table, ladeling heaps of noodles onto their plates. Ben sat next to Minho on his right, and Will took the seat at his left. As per routine, Elizabeth and Newt sat together, and P.F. and Dalton started arguing about which was better--spagetti without the tomato sauce, or with. P.F Argued against the sauce, while Dalton took the sauce-on side.

"What klunkhead wants to eat naked noods?" Dalton asked. A couple of the Gladers around him laughed, but P.F. shrugged and twirled his fork in his hand.

"Sauce just gets in the way. If they're alone, you can just melt butter on top with a little bit of salt..." he closed his eyes and shook his fist. "Mmm sounds good already!"

"Whatever. I know how to settle this. Yo! Elizabeth!" Dalton signaled the girl with a head-bob. She looked up from her food with a noodle still halfway out her mouth.

"Would you rather eat spagetti with sauce or without it?" he asked. Elizabeth slurped the rest of the noodle up and pursed her lips.

"I would have to say without it," she said, her nose wrinkled as she looked at Dalton. "Sorry."

"TAKE THAT YA ROTTEN SHANK!" P.F. pumped his fist into their air and started gloating. Several other boys joined in, but most of them sympathized with Dalton.

"Man that's messed up! She likes naked noodles, too?"

"SHUCK! What is this world coming to!"

"You won't catch me buttering noodles."

Elizabeth waited for the chaos to calm down before she posed the question: "It's my turn, then, isn't it? "

Minho raised an eyebrow. "Turn? We weren't playing a game," he said. Elizabeth shrugged.

"Dalton asked me a question, and so I get to ask someone a question, too."

Alby stroked his chin, interested. "Any rules to this game of yours?"

"Let's make it so we can only ask 'Would you Rather' questions," Elizabeth replied. The noise level at the table gradually quieted. Elizabeth's proposition of playing a game as a whole Glade was intriguing and seemed fun.

"Aw what the hell," Nick said, twirling a noodle around the end of his fork, "Count me in."

"Then my question is for Frypan to answer," Elizabeth said. Frypan looked up mid-chew. He hadn't expected to be chose.

"YEAH, GO GREENIE!" Hank whooped.

"What sort of bloody nonsense is this?" Zart grumbled beside him. Elizabeth cleared her throat and clasped her hands together, apparantly trying to appear formal and compsed.

"Would you rather be stuck in the Maze alone, or with someone you hate?"

Frypan blinked. "Um...I don't really hate anyone," he said.