he drew away and their kiss ended, but it was still fresh in her mind and the butterflies in her stomach ceased to wither. she blushed and leaned against his chest in an attempt to hide her rosy cheeks. she could feel his chest move as he laughed.
she noticed alby making his way towards them and moved away from newt but he still held her hand in his. alby's eyes glazed down to their entwined hands but didn't comment on it. "get some rest tonight, you'll be joining the builders first thing in the morning. they like to start work early so they don't have to be working all night."
hayley felt newt tense up beside her. she looked up at him confusedly and he said, "gally's the keeper of the builders." his jaw clenched.
"oh," she said, looking down at the ground. so far every interaction she's had with gally has been unpleasant and she wasn't looking forward to spending almost an entire day with him. in fact, she was dreading it.
"she shouldn't have to work with him," newt said to alby. "you and i both know how dangerous that could be. gally has made it abundantly clear he doesn't like her. for the safety of hayley, we need to keep her away from him."
"the rules of the glade say that the greenie has to try out every job to find out where he," alby paused and quickly corrected himself. "or she, best fits. she won't be alone with him. there are other builders who will report to me if anything happens."
newt scoffed, earning himself a glare from alby.
"it'll be alright," hayley said. she looked up at the boy, wanting nothing more than to ease his fears.
"fine," said newt. "but i'm going with her."
alby was already shaking his head. "no, you have some things to do around the glade. we have a meeting with minho in five minutes. don't be late."
newt stared angrily at alby's back while he walked away. hayley squeezed his hand comfortingly, getting a small smile out of him. "look on the bright side," she said. "we're not in the slammer and we don't have to sleep on hard ground."
"c'mon," he lead her in the direction of the hammocks. "i'll show you where yours is."
they walked hand-in-hand all the way there. the moment his hand let go of hers, she couldn't deny she felt slightly sad. she climbed into her hammock and snuggled into the blanket. it felt amazing after spending the night in the slammer.
"i'll come find you in the morning," newt said. "don't let the grievers bite."
"i won't," she shuddered. "good night, newt. try not to have bad dreams."
his smile didn't reach his eyes. she didn't know if it was because he was thinking of the bad dreams or because he was worried about her working with gally tomorrow.
"good night, hayley."
she didn't know what to say to him, so she just watched him go.
hayley was awoken by the sound of someone walking through the grass. she rubbed her eyes and sat up in her hammock, straining her eyes against the dark to see who it was. thomas.
she climbed out of the hammock and walked in a quick pace after him. he heard her behind him and turned around. complete shock registering on his face. she stopped walking when she was a couple steps away from him; afraid to get too close in case he didn't want her anywhere near him after what she said to him that day in the forest.
"thomas, i-"
"hayley-"
they began talking at the same time and stopped when they realized the other one was saying something. she felt her cheeks burn. thomas smiled slightly and said, "you can speak first."
"okay," she took a deep breath. "i wanted to apologize for pushing you away. i don't regret doing it, though. i just wish i did it a different way... you just wanted to be there for me, but i thought i was doing the right thing. i didn't want to put you in the position i was in. i didn't want you to be banished, which makes me frustrated because i don't know you, not really. you're just a boy i was with during the most terrifying experience of my life, yet i can't help but feel like-"
she paused and thought about newt. she cared about him and knew he cared about her, but she couldn't lie and say that she trusted him with her entire being.
"....i just feel like you're all i have."
"then don't push me away," he took a step towards her.
"that's what's so frustrating," she groaned. "i probably will because i have no idea who you are and you don't know who i am, but when i do i'll literally feel sick to my stomach."
she knew she wasn't making any sense, but the entire situation didn't make sense. she doubted anything in the glade would ever make sense to her.
thomas closed the distance and caressed her cheek, leaving her skin tingling. "we can get to know each other," he said. "follow me, i want to show you something."
he tugged her arm and they began to run.
10 minutes later they stood in front of a riveted metal door. thomas pulled out a key and unlocked the door, cranked the wheel-handle, spinning it until an audible clock sounded from inside, then pulled. with a lurching squeal, the heavy metal slab swung open.
"they gave you a key?" hayley asked, staring at the door in amazement. "you're just a greenie. they must really think you're special. i was stupid to think they'd ever banish you."
"they didn't give it to me," thomas said awkwardly. "i stole it."
he ran inside the room before she could reply, leaving her stunned in the doorway. she scoffed and walked inside. the dark room had a musty, wet smell, laced with a deep coppery scent so strong she could taste it.
thomas had hit a switch and several rows of fluorescent lights flickered until they came on full strength, revealing the room in detail.
about twenty feet across, the room had concrete walls bare of any decoration. a wooden table stood in the exact center, eight chairs tucked in around it. neatly stacked piles of paper and pencils lay about the table's surface, one for each chair. the only other items in the room were eight trunks, closed, they were evenly spaced, two to a wall.
"welcome to the map room," thomas said, watching her take in the room to see if she liked it as much as he did.
she grinned widely and walked over to the table to examine previously drawn pictures of the maze. "the runners drew this?" she asked, holding up a paper.
thomas nodded.
"this is amazing," hayley breathed.
thomas seemed to relax slightly. he was waiting for her to be unimpressed. he loved the fact that she thought it was just as interesting as he did.
"i'm guessing we aren't allowed in here though," she said, raising an eyebrow up at him. "who did you steal the key from?"
"minho," he said. "he was in the showering room and the key was in his jeans outside the door."
"how long have you had the key?" she asked.
"two days," he said in a quiet voice.
"thomas," she gasped. "we have to return it. who knows what minho or alby will do if they find out the two greenies have it. being banished won't be punishment enough. they'll have our heads on a stick!"
thomas's face scrunched up. "that's a horrifying image, hayley."
she rolled her eyes. "alby is horrifying."
"okay," he sighed. "we'll return it."
"you two shuck faces are the dumbest people i've ever met... and that's saying something because i know gally," a voice came from behind them.
they spun around and saw minho standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. hayley and thomas shared a panicked look.
"i, uh, i found the key," thomas stammered and held it up.
hayley grimaced. "please don't have our heads on a stick."
minho plucked the key out of thomas's hand and stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans. then as if he just now processed what hayley said, he looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "that's shucking horrifying. sheesh greenie."
thomas tried to ask questions about the map room but minho cut him off.
"only runners are allowed in here," said minho. "so only runners are allowed to know this stuff. that's why we lock the door."
he ushered hayley and thomas out the door and locked it back up, stuffing the key back in his pocket before storming off, all the while muttering how idiotic they were. hayley felt relieved and alive after breaking the rules. she knew it was wrong but she liked the feeling.
"that was amazing!" she squealed and wrapped her arms around thomas in a hug before she really knew what she was doing. she awkwardly pulled away, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment. "i'm sorry."
"i'm not," said thomas, smiling.
she didn't know what else to say, so she stood there awkwardly for a few minutes before saying, "i should go to sleep. i, uh, have to work with gally tomorrow so i need all the rest i could get."
"you're working with gally?" thomas asked, disappointment crossing his face. he was worried about her, that much she could tell. it was the same look newt had when he found out. and again, she didn't know what to say to ease their fears.
"thank you for forgiving me," she said instead and gave him a small wave before going turning around and walking back to her hammock.
"oh," she stopped and quickly turned around. "and thomas, i look forward to getting to know you."
they shared a connection for a few moments. it caused something to stir inside her. thomas watched her leave, feeling the exact same thing stir inside him.
sorry if this needed abruptly. it's almost 4am but i wanted to finish this chapter for you guys(:
please vote and leave a comment!