Still pissed about the previous night, I sat down for breakfast the next day. My nose felt as if it was broken and Gally had bruises on his face, which honestly made me want to grin.
"I must say..." Mike started. "That was quite entertaining."
I took a bite of my food. "Sure it was."
Gally gave me the nastiest glance ever and remained silent the whole meal. Some boys laughed at him and teased me, but when Newt showed up, it got completely quiet.
"Good morning to you too." He gave them a nod and sat down next to me. I scooted away from the rest and listened to the Brit, who talked quietly.
"Okay, so I spoke to Alby." He explained. "Said you had changes of changing your job. You just have to repeat what the Greenies do, so basically you try everything out."
"Even running?" I gasped. Greenies didn't get to try running.
"Well, I'm not sure about that, but maybe." Newt rubbed his chin. "Also, these boys are acting a bit weird."
I turned my head to look a the Builders. They all stared at Newt like he was a shuck Griever. Annoyed by them, I sighed, "Don't mind them."
"Yo, Newt!" One laughed. "Come to visit your girlfriend?"
His cheeks turned red in shame. "She's not my girlfriend."
"Convincing." They teased.
"Those bastards ever shut up?" Newt mumbled.
I chuckled. "Welcome to my life."
"Well, they scare the klunk out of me, honestly." He whispered. "Staring like they're seeing a bloody Griever for the first time."
"Bloody this, bloody that." One mimicked. I bit my lip. Once it came to Newt, I could get angry really fast. Like, really... really fast.
"Want some British tea with your breakfast, Newt?"
My heart started to race. "It's still the Second-in-command you're talking to here."
"What's he gonna do? Curse with bloody?"
I moved toward the boy and punched him in the face hard enough to cause a bleeding nose.
"Make you bloody." I corrected.
"Hey!" They protested.
"She broke the rules!"
"We were just teasing!"
A grin was hidden behind Newt's face. "She's lucky she doesn't tease me. Since I'm the Second-in-command I have a big role in deciding what will happen now she broke the rules. She's my friend but unlike you guys..." He trailed off, then put himself together again. "And I think mentally 'harming' someone is also breaking the rules. Guess spending a night with the Grievers is fun too."
I covered my giggle with a cough. Their absurd faces were too good! Newt gave me a nod in satisfaction but sadly left again. He probably didn't want to get teased anymore.
Later, I left too.. to build. My favorite hobby, not. I was helping patch up a tower, which had a beautiful sight once you climbed on top of it. The bad thing was, it was super unstable, so I hoped to work on it helped.
My tongue stuck out of my mouth, sweat damped on my forehead, and my fingers hurt from working, yet I didn't give up. Perfection. No matter how bad I was at building or anything else, it had to be perfect anyways.
"Getting pretty concentrated on there, aren't ya?" A Builder shouted at me. I fully ignored him, wanting to succeed so badly. But all those boys seemed to get it done so easily and then there was me.. who took half an hour to even slam a nail right.
Another one whistled. "What did I hear? You're trying to change jobs?"
I rolled my eyes, not surprised rumors were spreading through the Glade. It happened often, and fast.
"I bet you'll turn into a Slopper!"
"A Slopper? No, man. I think Newt and Alby would looove some help with their leading. Maybe she'll become Third-in-command!"
"Her?" A guy scoffed. "Third-in-command? Keep dreaming, my guy. Girls shouldn't be in charge."
"Yeah! Let her do the dishes and do the laundry. That's what women do. Plus, it'll save our dear Joe from his work.. maybe he'll even get something nice after!"
"Hey!" Gally warned. His voice pitched through the air. "Shut your holes and go to work, all right? Slim it, you shuckfaces!"
Mutters about protecting and girlfriend were shared, but eventually, it turned quieter. Through my eyes lashes I looked up at Gally, but he was already focused on his own work. I wished to thank him, yet I knew that would be embarrassing, and also, he didn't mean it to protect me from the boys or stop their comments because he felt bad. The look on his face said enough; he really wanted them to go on with working. He wasn't helping me.
I exhaled and ignored the comments that kept repeating in my head. I wished for them to shut their holes sometime... to leave me alone, to accept I was the only girl, and respect me a bit. All I was doing was trying to survive and get through it, not to get comments about my gender or appearance.
My own thoughts disturbed me from my work, causing my grip on a piece of wood to loosen and my nail hit it wrong. I bit my lip, worried someone would shout at me for not doing it right.
With another sigh, I changed the position of the wood and tried to apart my thoughts from my work and not think about it too much. It would bring me nowhere good.
"Valerie, you're not supposed to do that."
My stomach and face dropped. I looked at the boy who said it, Carl. His face seemed serious, so he must've told the truth. Then I turned to Gally, whose face was like stone too.
"Just turn the wood a little bit, I mean," Carl added.
It felt like my whole face gained color in relief. I nodded and kept working. Soon I noticed boys were draping off and I was staying behind by my slow and unprofessional work.
My hands started to shake. I couldn't be the last one standing at work! But my finishing product had to be perfect.
Frustrated, I bit my lip again. Sweat trickled down to my eyebrows, and my hands wouldn't stop shaking.
What is wrong with me? I wondered. There was no need for me to react like that. I took some deep breaths once I felt tears sting in my eyes.
But crying seemed forbidden. One, it would be lame to cry about some stupid job, and two, everyone would laugh at me. No one ever seemed to cry in the Glade and the one time I did because of my period, things didn't end well.
"You almost done?" Gally peeked at my work, his eyes twitching all over it making me nervous.
I swallowed deeply. "Yeah, almost. I think... is it all right?"
He scoffed, which was more of an exhale that came out of his nose. "Wouldn't say it looks the best, but it's definitely neater than those other shuck-faces their work, right?"
My shoulders relaxed completely, relief washing over me. "Good."
"It doesn't have to be perfect," Gally added.
"Oh, so now you're turning into nice Gally?"
His eyes twinkled in amusement. "Nah. Just sayin' it's better to get more work done but a little messy than doing everything perfectly and wasting hours."
"I'm not so sure about that." I frowned, then smiled lightly. Gally really could be nice, he just didn't show it much.. or he was ashamed to act like that around others? I didn't get it.
"Hey, and uh..." He leaned against the tower. "Try not to listen to those comments."
I raised my eyebrows. "And you don't make comments?"
Gally scoffed. "Did I ever sexualize you? Be sexist?"
"No..." I slowly shook my head. "You didn't."
"See? I'm not that bad."
"You are." I protested, laughing slightly. "And if you keep leaning on that tower it'll fall apart completely."
He never laughed.. he simply didn't, but his eyes said enough; he was enjoying it. "You done? It looks fine."
I glared at my work. "Hm. Seems like it needs three more hours of work."
"Wow, Ginger. You're so funny." Gally took my arm and forced me to walk away from the tower. Resisting wouldn't work with him.
The minute we arrived with the other Builders, Gally let go of my arm. It made me feel weird, still unappreciated, since comments would be thrown after anyone saw me and someone else is close... so maybe it was good what Gally did, yet it made me sad.
~
"Yo." Newt awkwardly limped over to our table at dinner. I didn't know where he got that limp from but decided to not ask him about it a long time ago. Someone did that once, let's just say that didn't end well.
"Mind if I steal Valerie for a second? No. Awesome!" He lifted me off the bench and forced me to walk with him.
"What's happening?" I wondered, suspicious of whatever Newt was doing.
"Want a more fun dinner than you have with those... beasts?" A sly smirk was on Newt's face. Before I got to answer, he pulled me further with him.
"Ah, no, no, no, Newt." I tried to resist once I saw what he was doing. "I will not spend my dinner with Runners. Shuckin' Runners!"
"Why not? They're less bad than those Builders, trust me." He assured.
"But... but that's Minho!" I added in a high-pitched voice.
Offended, Newt raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with Minho?"
"Uh, nothing, but still! I will die, Newt."
"You'll die if you keep spending your meals with those guys that look at you like you're the meal." Newt sighed. "Come on! I'm trying to help you here. Maybe you get a good bond with Minho and you can try for a Runner."
My face lit up at that thought. I wanted to prove I was useful, so being a Runner seemed perfect. "Fine."
Newt seemed way more excited than me and pushed me down right next to a blonde boy I knew was called Ben. Newt sat down next to me, so the boys squeezed me on both sides.
"Looks like we got a Valerie Sandwich." Minho, the Asian, immediately spoke up. He always did.
"Y-yeah."
I mentally punished myself for stuttering.
"Well, you've seen the Builders. I felt bad for our girl so brought her here. Of course, this won't be an usual thing, unless she turns a Runner." Newt quickly explained before he started eating.
The Runners definitely looked nicer than the Builders, though their muscles were quite the same. Maybe even better... oh god, I can't think that!
I stared at Minho for a few seconds. We never talked much and I didn't see him often, so this seemed like the perfect time to inspect him better.
His black hair was perfectly styled with gel, just as always. His tanned skin was covered with a layer of dirt and sweat, yet he didn't seem to stink. His eyes turned smaller when he laughed, which he barely did though. And his arms were thick with muscles. When he crossed them I thought his shirt would rip from the veins pumping out and the muscles tensing.
(A book written by Vera isn't a book written by Vera if there isn't a description of Minho's biceps)
"So... girl." Ben started. The way he pronounced girl wasn't as disgusted as the Builders, yet it sounded weird. "What brings you here?"
Nervously, I started talking. "As Newt said, the Builders are quite annoying and he kind of forced me to sit with you guys, so here I am."
I didn't mean that in a funny, yet they laughed. Even one corner of Minho's mouth moved up, forming more of a grin.
"Newt always has the best plans as the Second-in-command, doesn't he?" Minho took a bite of his food. "And what else did I hear? You want to be a Runner?"
"All those guys are quite sexist, say I belong in the kitchen or as a Slopper. I want to prove them wrong and show I can do something else. But if it's not possible for me to be a Runner, I'm fine with being a Track-Hoe or something. As long as I'm away from those weird guys."
It surprised me how smoothly I talked. Was it a sign of comfort? I did feel normal around the Runners.. you know, not covering my mouth when I ate or stammering with everything I said.
"I must say you have a pretty nice mindset," Minho commented. He seemed thoughtful for a second. "Can you run?"
"Run?"
"Yeah, run." He stated. "The action when you move your feet at a fast pace and are quicker than if you walk. That little thing."
"I can run," I confirmed.
"If you want to be a Runner, I suppose you indeed can run." Ben chuckled. "How far can you run?"
"I don't know." I shrugged.
"At least two hours on full speed?" Minho suggested. "That possible?"
I bit my lip. "I hope."
"You hope..." His eyebrows furrowed. "Hmm."
"Hmm? That's it?" Newt leaned in.
"Yes. That's it." Minho simply said. "Hmm in the context of, I'll think about it."
"Means he won't," Ben added.
Satisfied, Minho clicked his tongue. "Ben states the facts."
"So I can't be a Runner?"
"You see... one, I've never seen you run. Two, you don't know if you even can run. Three, you hang out with bastards like Gally so I'm not sure if..." He trailed off, then continued. "Four, you're a girl. And five, I won't let everyone be a Runner that fast."
"One, you'll see me run. Two, I know I'm able to do the action of moving my feet faster than walking. Three, I don't hang out with bastards like Gally. I kind of hate him. Four, I indeed am a girl. Is something wrong with that? You're a stinky boy, right? And five, as you should. But at least think about it." I sassed back.
I shocked myself even more. I would've never said that around the Builders... or literally anyone.
Minho's face softened to a small smile. "You might have a bigger chance now."
"What?" I gave Newt a glance, confused as hell. He seemed to know exactly what the Keeper was talking about.
"He likes you," Newt explained quietly as the others started talking again. "So then you have more chance."