The Girl

Chapter Thirty Two

  I wake up on my own. The sun is shining and some of the other gladers have already awoken, filling the glade with morning sounds. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and sit up carefully, trying not to wake Newt. It must be close to the wake up. I stretch out my shoulders and my arms, letting out small satisfied moans as I do so. I exhale and smile brightly. Today feels good.

Half of the gladers are still asleep, while the other half are spread out among the glade. The gardeners are already up and at it, watering the plants and digging up fertilizer. They work in a line, tilting the watering can slowly until just enough water trickles out of the spout to fall over the plants, and then passing it down to the next boy. They complete their tasks well together, all cooperating and helping each other out. I see a stronger, older boy that I'm not too familiar with help a smaller, weaker boy, still older than me, thrust a shovel into the ground and hoist it back up. I smile at the older and younger brother relationship. I turn my head left to see the builders, hard at work, neatly patching up the map room. Gally is among them, having been let out right before sunrise because of his status of Keeper. He picks up a rather large pile of wood and carries it to the map room, dropping it outside the door in front of the hole. He wipes his forehead with the back of his hand and pants. Another boy comes over and claps him on the shoulder. He immediately straightens up and smiles in seeing the other boy. They engage in a conversation as a third boy brings hammers and nails over to the unorganized pile of wood. All the way to the right I can see the Blood house. A shiver runs down my spine. The Blood House always gives me chills. Murdering animals doesn't sound very entertaining to me. I shake my head, attempting to rid the thoughts of slicing apart the bodies of animals, and turn my head back forward. I see a few bodies running out. The runners are setting out for the day. Among them I catch Minho, running quickly, swiftly, and taking even strides. Two years of running seems to have paid off. He had huge muscles on his arms that bulged out when he crossed them, and his shirt was tight over his chest and abs. He's quite attractive, but I'm happy with our friendship status. I've already got something more.

The runners all gather in front of the door and form a huddle. I narrow my eyes and tilt my head in confusion. Minho seems to be giving them directions before tossing packs at everyone and then running off with everyone following behind. I shrug and stretch my hands down my legs, continuing to stretch. Unlike Minho, I haven't been running for two years. All the running I did took its toll on my body, for I could barely get up without every muscle in my body burning and aching and screaming for rest. But I've got things to do, people to see, and places to be.

I'm just about to get up and go to my medical duties when two hands grip my waist and pull me down.

"Woah!" I half shout and half laugh. "What do you think you're doing? I have things to do sir!" I giggle and try to wriggle out of his grip.

"Don't leave. Just stay here with me," Newt pleads, hugging my waist tightly.

"You know as well as I do that we can't stay here. We don't wanna miss the wake up," I lightly kick my legs out to try and escape. He groans and sits up, making the hammock swing slightly so I have to use my foot to steady it.

"I know. I don't like being responsible," He complains. I laugh.

"Yes you do," I tell him. Newt smiles, knowing I'm right.

"Maybe sometimes," He says.

"Are we still debating whether to banish me?" I ask, changing the subject. Newt looks surprised at my question, but I wait with wide eyes for his answer as I pull my boots on.

"No. Those slintheads just don't like that they can't really survive without you. I'm still second in command, I do have a little say in things like that," He says matter of factly.

A small smile crosses my face and I look down to try and hide the pink in my cheeks. I pull back the front of my hair to try and get it away from my face. It gets hot in the Glade and I don't really like hair sticking to my face. I feel someone looking at me. I turn my head to find Newt watching me.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"I just, I like your hair like that," He tells me. I grin and raise my eyebrows at him. He gives a small laugh and pushes himself out of the hammock. "Wanna work in the garden today?" He offers me his hand to help me up.

"I guess until I have to go back to the medtent," I agree, happily taking his hand to follow him to the tool shed. The door creaks when it opens, and most of the tools are still where we had put them yesterday. I watch Newt pick up a shovel and some other tools I'm not familiar with. I shrug and swing a shovel over my shoulder. There's a table at the back of the shed with weapons on it. I approach it, wondering why they're not in the weapon shed, while Newt says hello to some Gladers who just entered the shed. I reach out to touch one when I hear my name.

"Beth, are you coming with us?" Newt asks, probably because I wasn't following him like he'd thought.

"Um, yeah, sorry," I shake my head, trying to forget about the table that seemed out of place. I follow the boys out of the shed and into the garden.

I'm not sure what to do. I haven't started my day in the garden before, when I see them they're normally putting things away. I look across to see the boys doing many things. Planting, harvesting, digging, watering. I shrug and pick up a basket, heading to a blueberry bush and kneeling in front of it to pull the blueberries off the bush and fill the basket.

"Ah, the part that's not difficult," I hear Newt say as he walks behind me carrying tools. I smile and shake my head, turning my attention to the bright plant speckled with blue. It would take a pretty short time, if there weren't so many cute bugs and pretty flowers to look at. Well, and there's Newt too. But it's not a bad place to pass time.