Heavenly was an understatement for the way warm water, clean clothes and fresh scents felt for Mae. She felt reborn, and ready for the next phase of her life. Even though the outside world wasn't much of what she was expecting, she knew anything had to be better than being trapped in the Glade for eternity.
She couldn't even begin to fathom how Newt, Frypan, or Minho were feeling, after being there all that time. Hopefully, they were embracing the next chapter of survival. A man who had introduced himself as 'Mr.Janson' (Although Minho had whispered to Mae that his name might as well have been Ratman due to his distinctive features) had led the group into a separate part of the facility, that had a more comforting appeal to it. He separated the two sisters from the rest of the boys, and sent them to different rooms with several empty stalls to shower in.
Mae was handed a pair of grey sweatpants, a black t shirt, a white sweatshirt, and one single hair tie. It was a plain outfit, but she had no complaints as she set it outside of one of the shower stalls. She glanced down at her wrist for a moment. The bracelet Chuck had made for her was withered and drooping now, but she swore she would wear it as long as she could. She slipped it off and placed it on her pile of clothes. She saw Teresa placing her new clothes down as well, and gave her one last little wave before stepping in and closing the curtain behind her.
After she showered, Mae used a towel that had already been provided to her in the stall to dry herself. She then slipped on the new clothes, and her bracelet, appreciating the feeling of fresh fabric on her skin, and took the towel to wrap it around her hair. Swiping the curtain back, she heard the rush of the water a few stalls down, figuring her sister was still soaking up the hot water.
The towel delicately plopped onto her head, Mae found a mirror in the bathroom, taking the first real look at herself she'd had since before she could remember.
Even though she'd gotten rid of all the dirt and dried blood, her skin was still littered with bruises and scars from her adventures. Her lips were chapped and her eyes slightly red from the mental anguish. Staring intently at her reflection, she reached up to her towel-wrapped hair and shook the cloth from it, letting the damp curls fall at her shoulders.
When she'd been in the Glade, she didn't have time to worry about whether she had split ends or if her hair had gone flat. But now, she took a minute to play around with it a bit, scrunching the ends with her hands to emphasize the waves.
Teresa appeared from her stall, wearing a similar outfit to Mae.
"Hey, Teresa?" She asked, her gaze shifting from the mirror to her sister.
"Hm?"
"Would you mind if I borrowed your hair tie?" She asked, an idea forming in her head. Perplexed, Teresa nodded and slipped her dark band off her wrist, taking a few steps to toward her focused sister. Mae smiled gratefully, accepting the hair tie. She pulled out the one she had been given, her eyes lit with joy. It was the little things, like trying out a new hair style, that made the girl so excited for a new life.
"You go along, find Mr. Janson and the boys. I need to do something. It'll take just a second," She explained, urging Teresa to go on. She nodded, walking down the hall and past the stalls, disappearing through a door to another part of the facility.
And then, Mae turned back to the mirror. She leaned her head down slightly, parting her hair into two sections. She swung the hair on her right side in front of her shoulder so that it wouldn't be in her way, and took the left section in her hands. Then, she proceeded to take that hair and further divide it into three sections.
She didn't know when she learned to do this, or how she remembered it so vividly, but she did it anyway. It felt natural. Maybe she'd done this every morning before school. Or maybe she used to practice on Teresa, forcing her to hold still so she could live out her dream of a hair stylist.
Mae was braiding her hair.
Weaving the strands in and around each other, she kept going until she reached the end and she could no longer cross the sections over each other. When she finished, she reached out to the sink where she had placed the rubber bands and grabbed one. She put her braid through the rubber band, twisting it around several times until it was tight enough.
She glanced at herself in the mirror again, before she began her sequence on the other section of hair.
When Mae had finally finished, she stared at her reflection for a moment. She didn't care if the braids made her look childish. They had a certain kind of nostalgia, a memory.
And besides, it's so much easier to run with your hair out of your face.
"Really? I never pegged you as a seven year old school girl."
Mae nearly had a heart attack, her hand clutching her chest as she shook her head.
"You nearly killed me! Maybe a little warning, Minho?" She snapped, turning to glance at Minho. He was leaning on the door frame, wearing dark grey cargo pants and a red shirt.
"How did you even get in here, anyways?" Mae asked, folding her arms.
"Ratman should really up his security for the girls bathrooms." Minho shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright, Teresa said you wanted a moment."
"So then why didn't you give me a moment?" Mae had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.
"Because I didn't feel like it. Anyways, we should probably hurry up before one of those doctors thinks we're doing something we shouldn't be. Come on, Pippy Longstockings." The boy teased, gesturing for the door behind him.
"Who's Pippy Longstockings?" Mae asked, while she reluctantly moved over toward Minho, letting her arms fall to her side. She ignored the aching pain that was still there from their earlier Griever incident.
"No idea. It's just deep rooted in my mind." He shrugged, glancing down at her.
Minho wasn't amazingly tall, but Mae wasn't extremely short either. However, the height difference was enough to make it awkward as they stood for a second.
They were right next to the door way now, the metal door sealed tightly with only a small cloudy window above Mae's head able to see through.
"Thanks for trying to help me earlier. If you hadn't have reached out, I might've been cuddle buddies with that Griever, which doesn't sound too fun." Minho muttered suddenly. Mae stared at him with wide eyes, nodding slowly. His gaze on her was intense, almost uncomfortable.
But that was Minho, after all. In the time Mae had known him, he was always either extremely serious, or far from that. And it seemed like he was in the serious realm right now.
"Yeah well, I'm sure you would've done it for me." She squeaked, feeling odd with the attention he had thrown at her. She desperately wanted someone to burst in and cut the tension in the room, but she didn't want to be rude. She liked Minho, and she liked talking to him, but it was hard to think about what she really felt.
She'd been so busy fighting for her life she hadn't stopped to think about how much all of those boys meant to her.
"I would have." His strong hand was clasped to her arm now, and she thought he might have done that without noticing, since his eyes were still glued to hers.
Minho's words generated butterflies in her stomach. Maybe it was because she had always thought of him as being this emotionless, sarcastic running machine who didn't care for anyone but himself and his hair. Maybe it was because the way he had grabbed her arm made her really nervous. Or maybe, it was because she cared about him the way he seemed to care about her.
"Thanks." She finally said breathlessly. "Now would you let me go? You're starting to scare me. Don't tell me you're having an allergic reaction to all that food," Mae smirked, trying to fend off the emotion breaking through her. Her demeanor had changed in a matter of seconds-she didn't want to have to deal with all this- she just wanted to start her new life first.
Minho's stone cold expression didn't change.
"I mean it. When Gally had that gun- I thought he was going to get you or Thomas. That's why I threw the spear." He stated. His voice faltered on the word 'gun', as if he was being sent back into a memory. Mae's smirk melted away, and she turned her gaze back to his eyes. "And when that Griever got you? I thought you were gone. And it was my fault."
Mae was going to say something about them having only known each other for a week or two- but by the look on his face, she shut her mouth. She knew what he was talking about. That same feeling in the pit of her stomach when the Griever came crashing down on him- or when Thomas ran into the Maze.
"I know," Was all she could manage. Minho had slowly began releasing her arm from his grip, Mae assumed he just realized he had taken hold of it in the first place.
"But we're alright now? Let's just get out there, find Thomas and Newt and them, and forget all that shit ever happened." Mae persuaded, giving him a reassuring smile. He nodded slowly, glancing to the door for a moment. Still trembling herself, she reached out and pulled on the door handle, opening it slowly to the outside of the bathroom.
The other Gladers were already out there, talking amongst themselves as if they'd been waiting for their friends.
Minho brushed past her, his expression empty as he moved over to Newt and Frypan, leaving Mae standing right outside of the door with one question echoing in her mind.
What the hell just happened?
FINALLY A CHAPTER FOR YOU GUYS! Ok, I feel like we're moving a little fast, and that this chapter was sort of all over the place. But I think since they're teenagers, their relationships are all over the place. It just seems more realistic. And if Mae annoys you- I'm sorry bc she annoyed me too bc like who wouldn't want to be all serious and have a love confession with minho- but that would be too easy. Sorry lmfaoooo. Minho was kinda all over the place since that poor boy has no idea how to express emotions. Now don't worry Thomae people, there are more moments for you. Remember to comment which relationships you like because believe it or not, what you guys like and prefer will play out in the story. I haven't edited this yet but I will later. THANK YOU FOR READING!